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

in Plate xxvi. It appears also on the corslet, which is edged by bands of lacquered plate,
while the forearm guards and what is visible of the greaves show oblong scales secured by
transverse bands. The whole armour is gilded. Decorated flaps, probably of shaped
leather, descend over the hips and are joined in front by a stomacher in the shape of a hawk
or eagle mask. The shoulder-pieces end in a lion head, through the jaws of which the arm
passes. Gilded shoes cover the feet.
The high three-leaved crown on Vaiśravana's head, with the wing-shaped ornament
at the top and the white streamers flying up at the sides, unmistakably recalls the royal
head-dress of Sassanian times.⁹² The flames rising from his shoulders are an emblem also
likely to have an Iranian origin.⁹³ Their flickering tongues, like the fluttering streamers
and the freely floating stole, emphasize the Guardian-king's rapid movement.
The same curling maroon cloud on which Vaiśravana advances carries also his retinue
of varied aspects. Before him to the right we see the graceful figure of a nymph bowing
and presenting a dish of flowers. Her identity is uncertain ; in form and attire she resembles
the 'Nymph of Virtue' we have already met in the paintings of the Thousand-armed
Avalokiteśvara.⁹⁴ Of her rich attire may be specially noted the wide sleeves which almost
sweep the ground, the acanthus-like leaves covering her shoulders, and the wreaths thrown
over her arms.
The cortège behind the Lokapāla consists partly of demons, evidently representing the
Yakṣas over whom he rules, and partly of figures purely human, which are clearly indi-
vidualized but still await definite identification. Of the former, two in the background
have the heads of monsters, with fiery hair and tusked jaws. One of them carries Vaiśra-
vana's flag of the same elaborate design we have noted in Plate xxvi. Another demon in
front of the pair, with brown skin, hairy arms, and animal-like head wrapped in a scarlet
hood, carries a large round jar covered at its mouth. A fourth in the foreground, with
ferocious animal head and long upstanding hair, carries a club and wears a Lokapāla's armour
over a richly embroidered scarlet coat.
Among the human attendants the most striking figure is that of a finely drawn aged
man. He is clad only in a white skirt, with a scarf across the breast. His hair is tied in
a topknot and is white, like his eyebrows and beard, all painted with minute care. His
sunken features and the sidelong glance of his eyes are expressively rendered. In his right
hand he carries a gilded cup (or Vajra ?). Behind him we see a portly male figure with
placid clean-shaven face and a high mitre-like head-dress from which drapery falls behind
on the neck. He wears a green robe over what looks like a coat brocaded in a 'Sassanian'
pattern and carries a flaming jewel on a gilded stand.
In the rear is a bearded muscular archer, preparing to shoot at a bat-like demon in
the sky high up to the right. In the latter we can safely recognize a Garuḍa, the hunting
of whom is a frequent motif in Turkestān frescoes, and whose winged figure is well known
to Graeco-Buddhist sculpture also.⁹⁵ The drawing of the archer's figure as he bends down
to fit the arrow to the bow, while his gaze follows the flying Garuḍa, is remarkably firm
and vigorous. On his head he carries a high conical cap of white, with metal boss at the
top and wide upstanding brim. His dress comprises a blue tunic which leaves the right
arm and breast bare, white breeches, and black top-boots. His purposeful figure in move-
ment is cleverly set off by the serene appearance of a man standing in front with hands
folded in adoration. He wears a full-sleeved maroon jacket over a flowing white under-
robe and over his smooth black hair a gilded tiara of peculiar shape.
The special powers of Chinese pictorial art pervading the whole picture manifest
themselves with particular clearness in the masterly spacing of the background. This
shows the greenish-brown sea heaving in majestically rolling ridges of white-crested waves.
Far away in admirably conveyed distance rises a range of blue and green mountains,