National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

tenth centuries as hereditary governors under the suzerainty of the Emperors.⁴⁸ This per-
sonage, over a trailing white under-robe, wears a black jacket ornamented with symbols in
yellow, of which the discs emblematic of the Sun and the Moon, a pair of rampant dragons,
and the Svastika can be made out quite clearly. He alone appears as a worshipper, and an
elaborate head-dress of peculiar shape marks his high rank.

In his cortège we see officials wearing white under-robes and black jackets with various
formal patterns of a stiff black head-dress. Three among them carry long swords before
them, pointed downwards, while two hold rolls of paper. One of the latter, walking beside
the chief, is represented as a mere boy and may perhaps be a son. Two others in somewhat
different costume, including shirts of mail under shorter jackets, walk a little apart. The two
fan-bearers are attired in short jackets and white trousers, and on the feet of the coarsely
drawn figure to the right we notice string sandals of exactly the same type as attested by
plentiful specimens among my finds from the Tun-huang Limes.

There can be no doubt that the lower portion of the picture, with its animated if rather
rough drawing, represents a scene such as old Tun-huang must have often witnessed on
ceremonial occasions. It is hence specially to be regretted that the absence of any dedicatory
inscription leaves us in ignorance of the date and the particular local chief represented.

PLATE XXV

TWO PAINTINGS OF KṢITIGARBHA

Both the paintings of this Plate represent Kṣitigarbha, Avalokiteśvara's only possible
rival in popularity among the Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist Pantheon of the Far East. Though
well known in China as Ti-tsang and in Japan as Jizo, yet his early and frequent appearance
among the Ch'ien-fo-tung paintings was something of a surprise, considering that neither
in Indian nor in Central-Asian Buddhism does his figure play a prominent part. Among
the Bodhisattvas represented in our banners he is always clearly distinguished by the shaven
head of the monk and the barred or mottled mantle, the mendicant's garment.⁴⁹ Other
paintings help to illustrate the several aspects of his character which account for his still
prevailing popularity in the Far East.

' There he is still worshipped as one of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas. Through countless
incarnations he has been working for the salvation of living beings, and he is in especial
honoured as the breaker of the powers of hell. With his pilgrim's staff he strikes upon the
doors of hell and opens them, and with the lustrous pearl which he carries he illustrates
its darkness. He is represented as Lord of the Six Worlds of Desire, the world of the Devas
or heavenly spirits, of men and women, of Asuras or demons, of beings in hell, of Pretas or
devils, and of animals ; and also as the supreme Regent of Hell with the Ten Infernal Kings
or Magistrates under him.' ⁵⁰

It is in this last-named character that we see Kṣitigarbha represented in the large silk
painting (Ch. 0021) which is reproduced on the right of Plate xxv, on the scale of one-third.
The Bodhisattva is seen seated on a rock covered with a figured cloth. His right foot rests
on a lotus and the left is bent across. The left hand holds the mendicant's staff over his
shoulder, while the right, resting on the knee, supports a crystal ball. Over a green under-
robe he wears a mantle of grey, mottled with black, red, and green, and barred with yellow.
The traveller's shawl, grey ornamented with a spot pattern in yellow, is bound round his head