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

FRAGMENT OF PAINTING FROM KARA-KHÓJA

THE site from which this and other examples of wall-painting were gathered

is known as Dákiánús-shahri or Idikut-shahri, and is close to Kara-khója in

the Turfán basin, north of the Kuruk-tágh and the Lop desert, and about 250

miles due north of MIrán. The operations of eminent archaeologist—Profes-

sors Grünwedel, von Lecoq, and others while commendable in saving much

of the painted work from the ruthless destruction resulting from the very active

attentions of treasure-seeking villagers, left little but disconnected fragments,

a few of which were recovered by Sir Aurel Stein. The probable date of this

piece is about the ninth century A.D., and therefore about 500-600 years later

than those of Mirán (plates z to III). Fragments of manuscripts found included

Uigur, Chinese, and Sogdian, indicative of the various influences present.

i

Kao. I, ii. 077

This very beautiful fragment shows the upper half of a standing Bodhisattva,

probably Avalokitesvara, holding a floral branch, daintily supported by both

hands. One recognizes here in the round-cheeked Mongolian face the same type

as that of Mi. xiii. IO, above. With this type the artist treats the features of the

face with peculiar restraint, with a seeming reluctance to admitting them within

the contours of that expansive area. The eyes are mere narrow, oblique slits, with

a small dot for iris and pupil; the nose, long but pinched; the mouth, pursed and

inadequate; the eyebrow, a thin oblique straight line. Discoloration from

moisture and mud has spoilt the pale pink complexion. Although a great deal of

the mud which covered the painting was carefully removed during the process of

mounting, further clearing would have done more harm than good. The hands

retain most of their original tint. The ears are large with elongated lobes, deeply

slit and heavily jewelled. As in many of these paintings, the black hair is effec-

tively used to emphasize the line of the shoulder; and the manner in which it sur-

rounds the outer line of the ear is similar to the treatment in the Háriti in plate vi.

The effeminate character of this, and the long rippling lock in front of the ear,

suggest a possible transitional stage of the transformation of the Buddhist Avalo-

kitesvara into the Chinese goddess Kuan Yin.

Unfortunately the head-dress is missing but the white taenia is tied in a large

bow above the ear, one end floating upwards and another falling downwards

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