Shuiquan Temple: Stele
Stone
Shuiquan Temple: Stele
CHINA, Gansu, Pingliang; Sui dynasty
The stele was unearthed at Shuiquan Temple. The sculpture is separated into four registers and rounded at the top. Buddha niches are on both sides, and an inscription on the back dates the piece to 581.
The top register depicts Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna Buddhas sharing a seat, while seated Buddhas accompanied by disciples are in niches on either side. Maitreya sits between twin dragon-blossom trees in the tier below accompanied by Bodhisattvas and surrounded by worshippers. A Buddha seated with leg pendent is the main figure in the third register. Attendants accompany him while more seated Buddhas in niches are on either side. The bottom register shows a group of disciples gathered around Vimalakirti and Manjusri, listening to their debate.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture N-Sr, page 1090.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Lovelock, Yann and Chou, Yuan and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture N-Sr},
pages = 1090,
title = {{Shuiquan Temple: Stele}},
volume = 12,
year = {2016}}