Mogao Cave 205: Illustration of the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya - Harvest

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Tang dynasty

This image is near the bottom of the mural on the back (west) wall of the main chamber. On the lower right, a farmer and two oxen plow a field. The farmer steadies the plough with the left hand and raises a whip in the right. The oxen that pull the plow are in different colors; one green and the other a reddish-brown. In the center are bundles of unhulled rice, and on the upper right, another farmer raises a long scythe. In front of this farmer are two rows of rice, and above is a seated figure beside an urn. The image is likely based on a passage in the Sutra on the Descent of Maitreya describing “During that time in Jambudvipa, there will always be timely rains to nourish the rice, there will be no weeds at all, and farmers would gain seven harvests from one sowing with little effort.”