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

Their features drawn with extreme delicacy; eyes in many
cases almost straight. All wear shawl-like stoles draping
both shoulders; colours of dress applied and shaded with
solid tints, and not with transparent washes outlined with
solid colour as in banners. Their orns. and all altar vessels
and metal trappings of the Kings are painted, not yellow, but
dark red-brown picked out with narrow lines of yellow and
black.

Of Bodhisatvas immediately attending on Bhaiṣajyaguru,
one carries begging-staff, another fly-whisk. The two
enthroned are seated with legs slightly unlocked and one
foot exposed. The one on L. has R. hand horizontal at
breast, L. hand up and out with palm uppermost; the one on
R. supports on R. hand dish with lotus bud, and his L. hand
also is at breast.

(iii) The divinities attending behind them are unhaloed and
mostly in armour, two only being Bodhisatvas, who kneel
holding blue lotus buds. Immediately behind Bodhisatva
enthroned on L. is a personage with youthful features but
bearded, wearing above his white fillet a magistrate's head-
dress (as of Judges in Kṣitigarbha painting *Ch. 0021), with
backward-flying horns on top and a sq. panel in front. On
the latter is the Chin. char. 王. Corresponding to him on
R. stands a warrior with three faces (the two in profile of
demonic aspect), and a third eye upright in forehead. He
perhaps represents Brahman and the former divinity Indra
(cf. Ch. lvi. 0019).

Other attendants consist, on each side, of three warriors
attired like Lokapālas of banners, and a demon. On L. one
of Kings has a dragon coiling round his neck, and another
a spotted orange and red gryphon with outspread wings;
while the third wears helmet like that in Ch. 0040, but with
protective nose-flap. The two first are grotesque in aspect,
the last has ordinary human features; demon grotesque and
horned. Uppermost King on other side plays on lute, his
face framed by jaws of lion-mask helmet, while red disc of
sun containing phoenix appears over his R. shoulder. The
warrior below him has a white dragon standing on his
shoulders, and the lowermost a peacock, while the demon
raises a naked infant on his hand. (For the latter fig., see
also Ch. 00158, 00373.a.) These warrior and demonic figs.
not ordinarily found amongst attendant group.

Smaller Bodhisatvas filling remainder of terrace are of
impersonal attendant type, and have their hands in mystic
poses, or hold sacred emblems such as the lotus bud, censer,
and flaming jewel. About the altar kneel four nymphs
holding up sacred vessels; these like warriors, dancer, and
musicians are unhaloed.

(iv) The Thousand-armed Avalok. and Mañjuśrī in top
corners are seated with legs interlocked, and wear striped
dhūtis and white shoulder draperies. With his inner hands
M. holds light green, blue, or purple bowls, from which rise
small seated Buddhas; with the outer he holds plain black
bowls.

(v) The Dancer and Musicians. Latter sit cross-legged
on mats down either side of the dancer's platform. At head
of each line, in background, a fat half-naked infant with hair

light blue or grey, and scarlet shoes, dancing violently and
playing—the L. on a narrow-waisted drum, the R. prob. on
castanets.

Adult musicians like Bodhisatvas except that they wear
no stoles; they play on L. side, on harp, lute (2), and
psaltery; on R. side, on clappers, flute, Chinese reed-organ
(teapot-shape), and pipe. Lute is four-stringed with pear-
shaped body like the biwa of the Shōsōin (see Shōsōin Cat.,
i. Pl. 56), orn. with inlay and played with plectrum. Reed-
organ formed of reeds in pot with blow-pipe attached (see
also Shōsōin Cat., i. Pl. 60). Psaltery has oblong sound-
chest with strings stretched over it on movable bridges;
eight strings are here visible which player twangs with his
hands. Clappers made of five thin pieces of wood, cut in
shape of sail, and strung together by thong at top, while
lower ends are struck together by the hands. Harp large
and only partly visible, so that its exact type cannot be seen.
Flute and pipe are of classical type. For Miss Schlesinger's
notes on musical instruments, see Appendix H.

The dancer wears billowy orange skirt tied with green
girdle round hips, and close-fitting crimson jacket reaching
only to waist, but with long tight sleeves reaching to wrist and
studded with metal bosses. Most of jacket covered by metal-
bound plastron or collar, beneath which fringe of purple
draperies falls to hips. She has a tiara, white knots of
drapery at shoulders, and long narrow green stole which she
waves in her hands as she dances. Her hair, like that of
musicians, is here blue-grey; but it is generally black, and
her dress usually less elaborate, the arms and upper part of
body being bare except for scarves and jewellery.

(vi) The Twelve Kings, protectors of Lokapāla type (see
*Ch. 0019), have no distinctive marks. Some have their
hands in adoration; others hold sacred vessels or flaming
jewel; one carries large dish containing green egg-shaped
jewels and branch of the sacred coral. They appear only in
this Paradise, and in Ch. lii. 002, both being Maṇḍalas of
Bhaiṣajyaguru. For a list of them, see Appendix E, III. vi.

(vii) The trees in this painting are of four kinds:
(a) behind Bhaiṣajyaguru the conventionalized Bodhi (?)-tree,
with narrow pointed leaves arranged in star-like groups
round purple flower. This tree always appears behind
presiding Buddha, often behind all three of central triad. Its
flowers generally red, pink, and white, but replaced in Ch.
xlvii. 001 and liii. 001 by pyramidal fruits. Points of leaves
often, however, merged in uniform curved edge, so that each
group has effect of green cushion with red button at centre.
(b) About the pavilions are flowerless trees with plain flat
pear-shaped leaves, well separated from each other. (c) About
the towers, small-leaved trees with occasional small red
flowers close to stem, perhaps conventional willows; cf. lvi.
0016. (d) Rising from lake, conical flowerless trees with
pointed leaves arranged in groups like (a) and with sheathed
stems like palms. In some of other Paradise paintings, e.g.
*Ch. 0051, are flowerless trees with long, narrow, slightly
curling leaves, perhaps intended for palms.

(viii) The architectural setting is in purely Chinese style,
walls painted in white with red woodwork, concave projecting