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Frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra

Gold on indigo paper

法華經卷首圖

中國

置於《妙法蓮華經》卷首,為橫幅式構圖,描繪經中七卷二十八品的多個情節。以卷一〈序品〉靈鷲山說法作為開場,佛於精巧鋪磚的講台上說法,菩薩、弟子、天人圍繞;佛陀眉間白毫射出二波金光,照亮六道眾生。
 二波金光下方可見雕塑及繪製佛像的場景,即是卷一〈方便品〉所述塑、繪佛像皆成佛道的內容。〈方便品〉記載,「如是妙法,諸佛如來時乃說之,如優曇鉢華,時一現耳。」優曇鉢花,三千年開一次花,就如佛陀開顯的妙法,難遭難遇。
 〈方便品〉旁繪三車,即卷二〈譬喻品〉中的三車喻。接近畫面左邊繪一寶塔,內為釋迦、多寶二佛並坐,典出卷四〈見寶塔品〉,述說多寶佛踊現,讚歎護持。〈勸持品〉繪於畫面左上角,一僧人於高台說法,台前三人其一為耶輸陀羅,正傾聽佛陀的教誨。圖中漂浮海上的圓光內是文殊菩薩,臨近坐於岩石上者為觀音菩薩,騎象者是普賢菩薩。圖以行雲、流水區隔出各品大要,精緻而細密,為十二世紀的作品。

For more details, go to the Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, page 264.

Cite this article:

Hsingyun, et al. "Frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra." Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, vol. 14, 2016, pp. 264.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Graham Wilson, Manho, Mankuang, and Susan Huntington. 2016. "Frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra" In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H, 14:264.
Hsingyun, Youheng, Youlu, Wilson, G., Manho, Mankuang, & Huntington, S.. (2016). Frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra. In Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H (Vol. 14, pp. 264).
@misc{Hsingyun2016,
author = Hsingyun and Youheng and Youlu and Wilson, Graham and Manho and Mankuang and Huntington, Susan,
booktitle = {Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts: Painting A-H},
pages = 264,
title = {{Frontispiece of the Lotus Sutra}},
volume = 14,
year = {2016}}


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