Buddhism on the ground
Buddhist art and practice
Buddhist art has a vast history and visual culture spanning borders and millenniums. Thanks to its location on the Silk Roads, Dunhuang bore witness to centuries of this multicultural Buddhist artistic expression. From the artworks found there, we are able to capture a glimpse of ancient Buddhist visual culture, the process of creating Buddhist art, and its connection with Buddhist practice.
The artworks found in the Mogao caves at Dunhuang include wall paintings, portable paintings on silk and paper, impressive large-scale sculptures, textile banners, and ritual objects. These items show the multicultural context of Dunhuang with influences from Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur cultures, among others. They also serve various purposes, which have grown with the development of Buddhist beliefs and practices. At its core, Buddhist art was used for worship, to express devotion to the Buddhist path, and share the Buddha’s word.
Wall paintings
A key feature of the Buddhist caves were the murals painted onto the walls and ceilings. These images were rendered in vibrant colour, using a mixture of dyes, powders and pigments from mineral or synthetic sources. The murals depicted the Buddha and bodhisattvas, told stories of the Buddha’s life and former lives and relayed the local history of Buddhism itself. Steeped in Buddhist iconography, these paintings would remind followers of the Buddha’s teachings. The paintings that took form as narrative scenes also aided the transmission of the Buddha’s word across language barriers. In this photograph of Mogao cave 217, one corner alone is adorned with narratives and devotional images of deities.
Photograph of Dunhuang Mogao Cave 217
This is a photograph of Mogao Cave 217, one of the ancient Buddhist grottoes at Dunhuang. The west-portion of the south wall shown here is covered in elaborate paintings. Although the photograph is in black and white, these murals are vibrant in colour, rendered in earthy red and bold blue pigment.
Painted on the ceiling is a grid of Buddha paintings known as the ‘Thousand Buddha’ motif. On the walls are devotional images of deities and narrative paintings. One of these narrative paintings, identified by imagery of travellers, horses and mountains, depicts a parable from the Lotus Sutra, the ‘Illusory City’. In this parable, a caravan leader guides a group of travellers on a long journey through the desert toward some treasure. The travellers soon become tired and discouraged. To ensure the group continue their journey, the leader conjures an imaginary city where they can rest. He then reveals that the city was an illusion, and that the real destination is close. In the story, the leader is the Buddha, the illusory city represents enlightenment, and the treasure represents Buddhahood, the highest goal in Mahayana Buddhism.
Some items recovered from the caves reveal a little about the process of creating these murals. This scroll originating from the 9th or 10th century features an early sketch for a mural in Cave 196 depicting the Sutra of Maitreya’s Paradise.
Sketches from the Sutra of Maitreya
Drawn on this 9th-to-10th century scroll are preliminary sketches for a large wall painting in Mogao Cave 196, one of the rock-cut Buddhist grottoes in Dunhuang. The ink drawings depict the arrival of Maitreya. In Buddhism, it is believed that there have been many Buddhas before Gautama Buddha, and there will be more in the future. Maitreya is considered the Buddha of the distant future, and it is thought that his arrival will a time of great abundance.
In these sketches the artist concentrates on groups of figures that are central to the painting’s meaning, celebrating an easy, fruitful existence after Maitreya’s arrival. The scenes depict agricultural work resulting in a productive harvest. A man urges his two work oxen to plough a plot with a wooden switch. A woman wields a sickle to cut the wheat, whilst other workers can be seen threshing and tossing the grain and sorting the harvest into bushels. At the end of the scroll, people feast in a tent.
Painting of Avalokitesvara with donors
The construction and decoration of Buddhist caves, such as the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, were often commissioned by Buddhist patrons. Along with the devotional Buddhist artworks stashed in these caves, it was also common practice to paint the image of donors as well. Doing so could generate karmic merit for the donors and their families.
The lower half of this 983 CE silk painting depicts the donor Mi Gongde, known as ‘Prefect of Dunhuang’. In the top row he is shown with his three sons, his wife and three of his daughters; on the bottom row are his four grandsons, another daughter, his granddaughters and grand-daughter-in-law. On the top half is ever-popular bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Donor paintings
It was common for patrons to commission the construction and decoration of Buddhist caves, and have their image painted onto the cave walls. It is believed that these images helped to generate karmic merit for the commissioners and their families, as well as those who had passed on. This painting from 983 CE shows the donor Mi Gongde and his family with the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Art in meditative practice
Statues and paintings of the Buddha and bodhisattvas were used in rituals of worship and meditation. In certain devotional rituals, one may prepare an altar, present offerings, and meditate on the image of the Buddha or a bodhisattva. In Vajrayana Buddhism, images are used for a tantric technique called visualisation. This involves focussing on an image of a Buddhist deity in order to ‘internalise it’ and eventually take in its Buddhist qualities.
One of the most important art forms used in Vajrayana practice is the mandala. Mandalas are symbolic representations of the universe used in rituals, ceremonies and as an aid for meditation. They can also represent the journey to enlightenment. They are intricate geometric designs, rich in symbolism, and at the centre is usually a Buddhist deity. At the centre of this mandala is the Buddha Vairocana, surrounded by deities, the Vajra, and lotus flowers.
Mandala of the Buddha Vairocana
This ornate red ink drawing on paper is a Mandala. It features the Buddha Vairochana surrounded by other deities, lotus flowers and the symbol of the Vajra. Vairochana (‘the illuminator’ in Sanskrit) is known in some traditions to be the primordial or cosmic form of the historical Buddha. In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, he is considered the first of a group of five transcendent celestial Buddhas who represent different aspects of enlightenment and have existed from the beginning of time.
Mandalas are symbolic representations of the universe in its ideal form. They are used in Vajrayana practice as a visual aid for meditation, and as a tool for visualising the spiritual journey to enlightenment. They can also represent the ‘palace’ of the deity that resides in its centre, and in practice, one may use the mandala to invoke and embody this deity. They can be created in a number of mediums, but are typically intricate symmetrical designs loaded with Buddhist symbolism.
Another example of Buddhist creative practice is the ‘Thousand Buddhas’ motif, found in several instances at Dunhuang. The replication of the image of the Buddha is an important way of spreading his word, and attaining merit for rebirth in the next life. This stencil or ‘pounce’ from Dunhuang was used to produce the repetitive ‘Thousand Buddha’ drawings seen on cave ceilings from the 9th and 10th centuries. The drawing is punctured with holes, which, once placed on a surface and brushed with powder, leaves an imprint to draw over.
Stencil for ‘Thousand Buddha’ motif
This pounce or stencil was one of nine from the Dunhuang cache of manuscripts. These designs, with holes punctured at intervals along thick, black lines, were used to produce the repetitive ‘Thousand Buddha’ designs on cave ceilings painted in the ninth and tenth centuries. The upper sections of cave-shrines were difficult to reach and the design demanded the execution of identical figures. In order to produce these images, one would place the pounce against the wall and apply powder over its surface. When removed, a skeleton of dots remained on the wall. Artists would then paint over these.
Examples of the ‘Thousand Buddha’ motif can be found in many of the Mogao caves in Dunhuang. Repetition of the Buddha’s image was believed to be one way of spreading his word and generating karmic merit. It also relates to a core Mahayana teaching, that every sentient being has the potential to achieve Buddhahood.
