Mogao Cave 17: Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

CHINA, Gansu, Dunhuang; Northern Song dynasty

Avalokitesvara, wearing a golden headdress and ornaments, stands in the center of the painting. Red and green stoles flutter around the body. The aureole is outlined with bright bands of color. A canopy hangs at the top of the picture, flanked by two flying apsaras. The scenes on the right side of the painting include men locked in cangues (wooden collars), a refugee leading a camel through rain, and a person being chased by a bearded man with a knife. On the left, figures are shown encountering dangers including drowning, war, and wild animals. These are representations of the disasters that devotees can be rescued from by reciting the name of Avalokitesvara, a practice described in the “Universal Gateway Chapter” of the Lotus Sutra. In the lower register, male and female donors stand beside an inscription.