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

The site from which this and other examples of wall-painting were gathered
is known as Dākiānūs-shahri or Idikut-shahri, and is close to Kara-khōja in
the Turfān basin, north of the Kuruk-tāgh and the Lop desert, and about 250
miles due north of Mīrān. 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 Mīrān (plates I to III). Fragments of manuscripts found included
Uigur, Chinese, and Sogdian, indicative of the various influences present.

Kao. I. ii. 077

This very beautiful fragment shows the upper half of a standing Bodhisattva,
probably Avalokiteśvara, 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. 10, 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 Hāritī 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-
kiteśvara 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

30