Hongfo Pagoda: Arhat
Clay
Hongfo Pagoda: Arhat
Hongfo Pagoda: Arhats
CHINA, Ningxia, Yinchuan; Western Xia period
The two Arhats were excavated from the heavenly palace of Hongfo Pagoda in 1990. They are depicted as young monastics with freshly shaved heads. The figure with his hands missing shows a slight frown in his eyebrows and one side of his mouth inclined upwards. He wears an inner robe that is cross-collared and pulled tightly over the prominent abdomen by a knotted belt.
The second Arhat appears more serene and looks straight ahead. He wears an inner robe that leaves the right shoulder bare and is also tightly belted. Over the inner robe is an outer robe that covers the feet as he sits in full lotus position with hands in the lap. Both figures are painted and originally had the folds of the robes highlighted in gold. A Tangut sutra was found inside one of the figures.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Sculpture G-M, page 436.
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 G-M},
pages = 436,
title = {{Hongfo Pagoda: Arhats}},
volume = 11,
year = {2016}}