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

out to the waist ; in the freedom and movement imparted to the drawing mainly by the
treatment of the flowing drapery ; and in some minor peculiarities of armour and dress.
Though Virūpākṣa's face is quiet, without any distortion such as usually imparts a grotesque
look to the Lokapālas of the 'Chinese' group, we note the oblique cut of the eyes which
is peculiar to it, as well as other Chinese features.

The rich armour and dress with which the Guardians of the World are always depicted
and the manifold variations in their details are obviously of considerable antiquarian interest
and have been fully discussed elsewhere.⁵⁷ The painting in our Plate illustrates them with
particular clearness. Virūpākṣa's head is covered by a helmet made of scale-armour and
strengthened with leather bands and a wide leather brim curling up at ear-level. That the
scales represented on the helmet and elsewhere are meant for scales of lacquered hard leather
is made highly probable by actual scale-armour remains of this kind brought to light by my
excavations at sites in the Taklamākān and Lop deserts.⁵⁸ A lotus-shaped spike is fixed on
the top with a recurved gold stem in front, supporting a plume. Beneath the helmet comes
a gorget, apparently also of scale-armour, descending on to the shoulders.

From there down to the hips the body is protected by a coat of mail, made of round-edged
scales overlapping downwards as far as the waist-belt and of oblong scales laced sideways
beyond it. A strong corslet, supported by straps from the shoulders and fitted with orna-
mented metal discs over the breasts, is fastened across the chest. Below is fixed an upper
belt, apparently of ornamented leather. The lower belt, of black leather, carries a centre-
piece in the form of an elaborate beast's mask. The coat of mail is finished off at the bottom
by a short pleated frill, shown here in green, and above the elbows by what looks like a ruff
made of petal-shaped scales. From within this protrudes swathed drapery of red and dark
grey, as if of sleeves.

From beneath the mail coat descends in rich folds a red skirt with blue border and
whitish lining, leaving the knees bare ; also the ends of a long girdle, looped up in front,
curl about the legs. These from below the knees are encased in greaves, probably made of
stiff leather like the corslet. A row of metal clasps secures them in front, while a large disc
of dark purple leather set with a central gold boss covers the calf. The greaves are finished
off at the bottom by ankle-guards, in the form of a stiff ruff, apparently also of leather.
Guards of closely corresponding shape protect the forearms. The feet are shod with plain
sandals held by a single toe- and heel-strap. A greenish stole, hanging round the shoulders
and festooned across the front of the body, completes the Lokapāla's rich costume.

The nude demon underfoot is shaded blue and has a dog-like face ; the hands on which
he crouches are misshapen and a flame bundle rising from his head takes the place of hair.

The banner reproduced on the left (Ch. 0036, scale seven-ninths) represents the
Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī seated on his white lion and, apart from the lost accessories, is remark-
ably well preserved. Its style, in instructive contrast to that of the Lokapāla picture just
discussed, provides a good example of the maintenance of Indian tradition in Chinese
Buddhist art.

The Bodhisattva, whom we have met already in several of the previously discussed
paintings,⁵⁹ is seated on a scarlet lotus which a golden pedestal carried on the back of his
'Vāhana' supports. Mañjuśrī's figure is entirely Indian in physical type, pose, and dress.
With his right leg bent across and the left pendent and resting on a small blue lotus, he
keeps his body inclined to the left proper. To the right hand stretched downwards in the
vara-mudrā corresponds the pose of the head, which is bent over the right shoulder and
balances the slant of the body. The left hand rests on the lotus-seat and holds a long-stemmed
gracefully curving lotus. The body has feminine contours and is painted a dull pinkish
yellow. The hair, light blue in colour, shows flat above the forehead and straggles down to