Open Collections

Niche 42 one thousand Buddhas, Niche 43 bodhisattva riding an ox, and Niche 44 seated images flanked by standing images, the southern cliff (南岩), Yuanjue Cave (圓覺洞)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

Niches 42, 43, and 44 are located in the southern cliff (南岩) of Yuanjue Cave Cliff Sculpture Scenic Area (圓覺洞摩崖造像風景區), Yujishan (雲居山), situated in the northeast of Anyue County (安岳縣), Ziyang City (資陽巿), Sichuan. The southern cliff contains fifty-eight niches (Niches 15 to 72) of rock carvings, mostly dating from the Tang Dynasty 唐 (618-907) to the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-960). Niche 42 depicts images of a thousand seated Buddhas on the middle and side walls. The Buddha images are distributed in fourteen layers. Most of the images are severely eroded. The altar on the middle wall contains one Buddha flanked by two disciples, two bodhisattvas and two donor images. The Buddha wears a double-collar drooping cassock, and is seated on a lotus throne with crossed legs. His head is missing. He has a two-layered oval halo. Two standing disciples are seated on either side of the central Buddha. Both disciples form Añjali Mudras (heshi 合十). The two bodhisattvas are also seated on lotus thrones with crossed legs. Their heads are missing, and they have oval body halos and peach-shaped head halos. The two standing donor images are severely damaged. The pigments on the above images were likely painted in later periods. The bottom of the altar and niche walls have some characters written by visitors. Niche 43 contains a seated bodhisattva image riding an ox. Its head is missing. A servant taming the ox is depicted on the bottom left side of the bodhisattva, while the right side has a standing figure dressed in a monk’s robe. A pair of oxen are depicted on both side walls, and two additional oxen facing each other are carved into the front side of the platform at the bottom of this niche. Both side walls contains an auspicious cloud motif with small human figures. Niche 44 has three sets of seated images flanked by two standing images on the middle and two side walls. All of them are severely eroded. Descriptions of the photos: Key to the niches [Image 01]. Overview of the niches [Image 02]. Overview of Niche 42 [Image 03]. Close-up of Niche 42 central images [Image 04, Image 05]. Close-up of Niche 42 left side [Image 06]. Close-up of Niche 43 [Image 07]. Close-up of Niche 44 [Image 08]. Metadata created by: Sau Ling Wendy Yu.

Anyue Xian (China); Sichuan Sheng (China); 30.11723; 105.3504

chi

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438595

Non UBC

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