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Serindia : vol.2 |
868 PICTORIAL REMAINS FROM THE THOUSAND BUDDHAS [Chap. XXIII
xxii. 0016, and also in the fragmentary silk paintings Ch. 00461 ; iii. 0013 ; Lokapalas alone or together with Bodhisattvas in Ch. 0054 (Thousand B., P1. xxiv), 00121 (ib., Pl. XLIII) ; xlvi. 0014. In the last-named picture there appear also two juvenile figures. These may correspond to the Good and the Evil Genius distinctly named by inscriptions in Ch. lvii. 004 (Plate LXVI) and there represented as young men standing on either side of Avalokitegvara.38 They may be represented also by the two men in peculiar head-dress who are seen standing by the side of Avalokiteévara in Ch. 00124.
Of the relatively few paintings in which the Four-armed Avalokitegvara is represented all but one show him carrying the symbols of the Sun and Moon with his two upper hands.37 We find these celestial bodies and the Bodhisattvas personifying them specially associated with Avalokitegvara also elsewhere. In the silk painting Ch. lvii. 001 (Plate LXViii) the figure of Avalokiteivara conforms in all respects closely to Indian tradition, whereas the two youthful attendants, probably meant for the Genii just referred to, as well as the figures of the side scenes showing the ` Calamities ' from which the Bodhisattva preserves his worshippers, are in thoroughly Chinese style. Among the paper paintings, Ch. 00395, 00397, 00522, the last shows Avalokitegvara surrounded by Bodhisattvas and small four-armed divinities.
Very large is a class of paintings which present Avalokite§vara's figure as six-armed. In most of them it appears seated, and in physical type, pose, and dress conforming with Indian tradition. But several sub-divisions may be distinguished according to the number of heads displayed by the Bodhisattva. He appears with a single head in numerous pictures 38 ;. in most of them the upper pair of arms carry the symbols of Sun and Moon, while the rest display diverse attributes or
Mudras'. In all silk paintings except one there are shown divine attendants of varying character and number, including Bodhisattvas, Lokapâlas, and the Nymph of Virtue ' and the Sage' to be mentioned below. In Ch. xl. oo8 attendants are replaced by side scenes representing ` Calamities'. Among the attendants also found in several of the paintings on linen and paper we meet again with the Good and the Evil Genius already mentioned.3° Ch. xx. 004 is curious as showing the Bodhisattva Maitreya in worshipping attitude and facing the donor below. A nine-headed form of Avalokitegvara is found only once, Ch. 00385, a paper painting which shows no other noteworthy divergence.
A numerous sub-division again is formed by the paintings where Avalokitegvara, six-armed, is macle to carry eleven heads.40 Two of these are discreetly shown in profile by the side of the chief head ; the remaining eight, all small, are arranged to form a pyramid above the tiara, the one at the apex usually representing the Dhyani-buddha.41 Among these paintings, which all share the conventions as regards type, hands, etc., already referred to, only two show Avalokitegvara singly without attendants. The well-preserved linen painting, Ch. xxi. oo5 (Plate LXXXIx), which is one of them, may serve as a good illustration of the group. With this we must finally mention two silk paintings, *Ch. 00102 (Plate Lx) and xxii. 0010, in which the eleven-headed Bodhisattva is given eight arms instead of six. *Ch. 00102 is a particularly sumptuous composition. It shows in
36 For the interpretation of these youthful figures, which M. Petrucci takes for attendants of Tantric character representing the benign and the terrible activity of the Bodhisattva and corresponding to the Japanese Dvjin, cf. his remarks in Appendix E, in. x. See also Chavannes, App. A, v. B.
37 Regarding the Chinese legends of non-Buddhist origin, from which these symbols are derived, cf. *Ch. 00102 in List below.
38 Paintings on silk are : Ch. 00103, 00460; xx. 004; xxii. 002 ; xxvi. ooi (Thousand B., Pl. XXIII) ; xl. oo8 ; lv.
003 ; lviii. 002 ; on linen : Ch. 00125, 00127, 00131 ; on paper : Ch. 00404 ; i. 0017 (Pl. XCI) —18 ; xvii. 002.
$9 See Ch. 00525 ; i. 0017 (Pl. xCI).
40 Paintings on silk are: Ch. oox05 ; xxi. 0014; xxii. 0025 (?) ; xxviii. 004 ; xxxvii. ooi ; xlvi. 0013 ; on linen : xxi. 005 (Pl. LXXXIX) ; lxii. oo r ; on paper : 00184, 00389-90; lxvi. 002.
4' For Indian representations of Avalokite§vara with eleven heads, cf. Foucher, Iconographie bouddhique, i. p. 106, note 2.
Paintings of Four-armed Avalokitegvara.
Six-armed Avalokite§vara.
Avalokitegvara with eleven
heads.
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