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0295 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 295 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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and elaborate bosses of the gold ornaments are distinctly
suggestive of Chinese taste. Very curious is the profile
representation of the halo, which is here indicated by a
mere colourless disk instead of the usual multi-coloured
circle.
The Chinese style of local art seems to have annexed
altogether the images, represented with relative frequency,
of the four Lokapalas or Guardian-kings of the four world-
regions. They appear to have been popular objects of
worship in Chinese Buddhism of the period, and the
numerous pictures of them are often executed with much
care. They are all represented in warrior guise, heavily
armed from head to foot. The inscribed miniatures which a
small illuminated Chinese manuscript gives of them enable
us to identify with full assurance Vaisravana, king of the
Northern Region, by his halberd; Dhritarashtra, of the
East, by his bow or arrow; Virudhaka, of the South, by
his club; and Virupaksha, who rules the West, by his
sword.
Another group of minor divinities which figure with
relative frequency among the banners, that of the Dharma-
palas or 'Protectors of Religion,' also bear a distinctly
Chinese look, though even here peculiar features of their
presentation are foreshadowed in Graeco-Buddhist sculp-
ture. As manifestations of Vajrapani in fury, they are
made to display an exaggerated development of muscles;
and thus, as M. Foucher observes, "they recall quite as
much the athletic demons of Japan as the horrible appari-
tions of Lamaistic worship. It is only fair to point out,
however, that they show as yet neither the extravagant
multiplication of limbs nor the monstrous obscenities of
the latter." Altogether, it is a relief to observe that
among the images represented by these painters, whether
on banners or in frescoes, very few are found of a form
not simply human. Female divinities also are extremely
rare. "The Pantheon which the paintings of Tun-huang
reveal to us," so M. Foucher remarks with full justice,
"was evidently composed for the benefit of donors reason-
able in their tastes and under the direction of monks still
heedful of decency."