Faguang Temple Great Hero Hall: Life of the Buddha

TAIWAN, Taipei

These paintings by Chen Jin are kept in decorative frames on the walls of the Great Hero Hall in Faguang Temple. Unfortunately, the fourth, fifth, and sixth paintings in the original series of ten were stolen in 1999. The first painting, Birth of Prince Siddhartha, shows Queen Maya in Lumbini Garden, holding onto an asoka tree with her left hand. From a distance, the glowing image of the baby Prince Siddhartha approaches. On the right, the palace maids kneel and join their palms. In the second painting, Seven Steps at Birth, the prince is shown taking seven steps immediately after birth, with a white lotus appearing at each step. With his right hand raised and his left hand lowered, he declares “I am the sole master of the world.” The eighth painting illustrates the Buddha conferring the ten novice precepts on a group of monks. In the ninth painting, the Buddha teaches a group of farmers.
The delicately drawn, colorful paintings are closer in style to the art of 19th and 20th century Japan than traditional Indian or Chinese works.