Embroidery of Great Compassionate Dharma King
Silk
Embroidery of Great Compassionate Dharma King
CHINA; Ming dynasty
This embroidery depicts Sakya Yeshe, a disciple of Tsongkhapa. Sakya Yeshe went to Nanjing in 1414 to meet Emperor Yongle (reigned 1402–1424) of the Ming dynasty, and made two visits to the Ming court as a spiritual adviser. In 1415, he was granted the title of National Master. On his second visit, he was honored with the title Great Compassionate Dharma King by the Emperor.
Seated in full lotus position on a lotus throne, Sakya Yeshe wears a patchwork cross-collar robe and an elaborate crown with ribbons hanging down to his shoulders. He holds a lotus and forms the Dharmacakra (Dharma wheel) mudra. The lotus has two stems that extend up to where the blossoms support a vajra and a bell. The image is surrounded by a multi-color ogee arch, decorated with a variety of symbols. On the left and right of Sakya Yeshe are inscriptions in Chinese and Tibetan.
For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts, page 74.
Cite this article:
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youji and Pokorski, Stefanie and Mankuang and Fan, Wen,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Artifacts },
pages = 74,
title = {{Embroidery of Great Compassionate Dharma King}},
volume = 18,
year = {2016}}