CH. XIV MANJUSRI AND KSHITIGARBHA 225
Apart from Avalokitesvara there are two other Bodhisattvas whose claim to special attention from worshippers is attested by numerous paintings. One of them is Manjusri. In the well-preserved banner shown in Fig. 97 he is presented in a manner distinctly Indian as regards physical type, pose and dress. His lotus seat is carried on the back of a lion, his regular heraldic mount, guided by a black groom intended here to represent an Indian. The pose of the body with its rather feminine contours and the dress with its short loin-cloth and transparent skirt is characteristically Indian. The harmonious design and colour scheme give life to the whole. The hieratic conventions distinctly suggest derivation from an Indian prototype which had reached China not from Gandhara and the Indian northwest but from. the south through Nepal and Tibet.
Avalokitesvara's only possible rival in popularity among the Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist Pantheon of the Far East is Kshitigarbha, known as Ti-tsang in China and Jiso in Japan. In our banners he is easily distinguished by the shaven head of the monk and the barred mantle, representing the mendicant's garment. Through countless incarnations he has laboured for the salvation of living beings. As the trusted protector of travellers, he is represented in the fine picture reproduced in Fig. 98. Sitting cross-legged on an open lotus, he holds in his right hand the wandering mendicant's staff; head and shoulders are draped in the traveller's simple shawl, while the left hand carries a flaming ball of crystal to light up the darkness of Hell. With its simplicity of design and the harmonious quiet of colouring, the picture has a singular charm, expressive of serene beatitude.
IIIFカラー高解像度
