Below, on the left, is seen the figure, broken away at the bottom, of a youthful donor. Neither the space facing it on the right, nor the cartouche between, has been filled. We find the same unfortunately only too often in these paintings intended for votive offerings. The purchaser, probably buying the picture while on the way to or at the sacred site, may not have been able to spare the time—or the additional money—to have a dedicatory inscription properly composed and painted in by a competent scholar with that regard for fine penmanship that Chinese custom has always exacted.
But Kshitigarbha is worshipped perhaps even more fervently as the Lord of the Six Worlds, including that of beings in Hell. As supreme Regent of the Underworld he may use his power to pardon and deliver souls from punishment in Hell. It is in this character that we see him seated on a rock with his mendicant's robe and head-dress presiding over the ten infernal Judges. These in Chinese magisterial costume sit at their tables of office. Before Kshitigarbha a condemned soul, wearing the cangue, that Chinese instrument of punishment, is brought up by a mace-carrying demon. In a magic mirror he is made to see the crime for which he has been judged. Once again the space meant for a dedicatory inscription has not been filled nor the cartouches meant for the names of the donors.
Before we proceed to more elaborate compositions, we may note a group of minor divinities which often figure in these large paintings. By the great number of separate banners they are proved to have made a strong appeal to the imagination of Buddhist worshippers in the Tun-huang region. They are the Four Lokapalas or Guardians of the Four Regions. They are invariably represented as warrior
IIIFカラー高解像度
