国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

hue. A white girdle is held round the hips by a jewelled belt ; its end hangs down in
front of the skirt and is tied below in a butterfly knot. From a heavy gold necklet descend
jewelled chains, which are gathered together by a large circular jewel at the waist, and then
part again to loop up the skirt about the knees. A jewelled anklet seems to gather the end
of the under-robe above the feet, and these in either figure are set upon a pair of open
lotuses. On the outer sides of the figures gracefully drawn flowers and leaves are shown
as if floating down gently through the air.

PLATE XVI

FOUR FORMS OF AVALOKITEŚVARA

This well-preserved large silk painting (Ch. lv. 0023), reproduced here on a scale of
two-fifths, offers special interest.³⁷ It is the oldest exactly dated painting in the Collection,
the dedicatory inscription below indicating the year corresponding to A.D. 864. It also
combines in a curious fashion hieratic conventions of Indian origin, such as prevail in the
row of four Avalokiteśvara figures ranged stiffly side by side in the upper half, with the
more Chinese and more animate treatment of others in the lower half. There the Bodhi-
sattvas Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī are represented in procession advancing towards each
other on lotus seats carried by their respective 'Vāhanas', the white elephant with six tusks
and the lion, and accompanied by their attendants, just as we have already seen them in
the more sumptuous compositions of Plates III and IV. Samantabhadra has his hands
raised in the vitarka-mudrā and Mañjuśrī in the pose of adoration. Their dress, ornaments,
circular haloes, &c., as well as their cortèges, here limited to two lesser Bodhisattvas carrying
three-tiered umbrellas and a dark-skinned Indian attendant leading the divinity's mount,
all show very close agreement with the types displayed in those large paintings. These
conventions are shared also by the single Bodhisattva figures in many fine silk banners of
the Collection,³⁸ and our dated picture proves them to have been already fully established
by the middle of the ninth century.

In contrast to these two Bodhisattvas, always easily identified, only the short Chinese
inscriptions by the side of the four Avalokiteśvaras above can tell us which particular form
of this most popular Bodhisattva is to be recognized in each figure.³⁹ All are practically
alike in pose and dress except for some minor differences. All carry a red or red and white
lotus in one hand, and all, except the Avalokiteśvara on the extreme left, a flask in the
other. The dress comprises a long reddish-pink under-robe girt round the waist and
reaching to the feet ; a short tight upper skirt and a deep plastron passing over breast and
shoulders. On the upper arms are close-fitting sleeves, half covered by armlets. Pink
drapery hangs behind the shoulders and a narrow stole of green and red passes round
them ; thence it winds stiffly about the arms and ripples to the ground. The figure of
the Dhyāni-buddha Amitābha appears on the tiara.

In all the details just mentioned these Avalokiteśvaras attach themselves to a class of
Bodhisattva figures, largely represented among our banners, which reproduce characteristic
Indian conventions in physical type, dress, pose, and flesh colouring with sufficient close-
ness to deserve the general designation of 'Indian'.⁴⁰ Their juxtaposition with the more
'Chinese' Bodhisattvas in the lower half of our painting is instructive as helping to bring
out the distinctions of the two types.

In the narrow panel below we see ranged on either side of the dedicatory inscription