Mogao Cave 55: Illustration of the Golden Light Sutra - Chapter on Prince Mahasattva Offering His Body to the Tigress (upper register)
Mogao Cave 55: Illustration of the Golden Light Sutra - Chapter on Prince Mahasattva Offering His Body to the Tigress (middle and lower registers)
Mogao Cave 55: Illustration of the Golden Light Sutra - Chapter on Prince Mahasattva Offering His Body to the Tigress
CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Song dynasty
This mural is located on the right side of the entrance on the front (east) wall. It tells the story of the compassionate Prince Mahasattva, who sacrificed his life to feed a starving tigress and her cubs, as described in the “Chapter on Prince Mahasattva Offering His Body to the Tigress” from the Golden Light Sutra.
The mural is divided into three registers, but the scenes are not shown in chronological order. In the middle register, the prince approaches the tigers with his palms joined. He throws himself from a cliff before being devoured by the tigress and cubs. In the lower register, people search for the missing prince outside the capital city, and group of mounted figures, led by the king and queen, ride along a mountain road at full gallop. In the upper register, the king and queen travel in the mountains and enshrining the remains of the prince.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo, page 877.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Johnson, Peter and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan and Edson, Gary and Neather, Robert,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Caves M-Mo},
pages = 877,
title = {{Mogao Cave 55: Illustration of the Golden Light Sutra - Chapter on Prince Mahasattva Offering His Body to the Tigress}},
volume = 7,
year = {2016}}