住世護法,佈施福田 ─ 淺談夏荊山〈十八羅漢圖〉的表現 方式與其對貫休「禪月樣」羅漢圖式的繼承與拓展=Safeguarding the World, Giving Brings Blessings: A Preliminary Study on the Mode of Expression on Xia Jing Shan’s The Eighteen Arhats and How He Inherited and Further Developed Changyue Style’s Arhat Imagery
Arhat is a concept that originated in India, and it stems from the word “arahant” from the liturgical language of Paḷi, meaning “one who deserves to be honored, worshipped.” When translating The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom into Chinese, Buddhist monk Kumārajīva of the Former Qin dynasty interpreted Arhats as “slayers of thieves”, with the thieves in this case being those internal and external obstacles obstructing the attainment of enlightenment. In other words, Arhats are venerable ones that are thought to be eliminators of obstacles, who are beyond further need for training and not subject to life and death. Ar-hats could break all sorts of worries stemming from delusions and bewilderment and have obtained the following three insights: Insight into the mortal conditions of self and others in previous lives; supernatural insight into future mortal conditions; and nirvana insight that en-ables one to transcend beyond present mortal sufferings so as to overcome all passions or temptations. Furthermore, Arhats also possess supernatural power to appear in any place at will, to fly or go without a deterrent, to have absolute freedom; deva vision (instantaneous view of anything anywhere in the mortal world); ability to hear any sound anywhere; ability to know the thoughts of all other minds; knowledge of all formed existences of self and oth-ers; and the supernatural power of the complete extinction of afflictions. The four stages of enlightenment in Theravada are the four progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment as an Arhat, the final stage. Although the concept of Arhat originated in India, but a complete faith system based on Arhats and the image of Arhats was not developed in India. During the late Tang and the Five Dynasties, a faith centered on Arhats began to thrive in China, which resulted in an influx of paintings depicting Arhats. Two iconic Arhat painting styles emerged during the Five Dynasties and the Norther Song era, namely the “Changyue” style made fa-mous by the poet and painter-monk Changyue Guanxiu (otherwise known by his sobriquet of Chanyue dashi, Great Master Meditation Moon) and the “Longmian” style represented by Li Gong-Lin (also known as Longmian jushi, Householder of Sleeping Dragon). The former de-picted Arhats as a peculiar figure with heavy beards and exaggerated features. The latter painted using a much different style, portraying Arhats as monks with attractive, fine-looking lines and contours. Outstanding traditional Chinese culture is the core and essence of the Chinese ethnicity, and the content and wisdom embodied in such exceptional traditional culture that has been accumulating for generations should be doggedly acquired, preserved, and passed on, and its philosophical essence and ethos should be attained and expressed. Master Xia Jing Shan was born in Shandong, China, and he devoted his entire life to the art of Chinese ink painting and was dedicated in promoting traditional Chinese culture. He specialized in Buddhist portraits and had created over a hundred paintings depicting Arhats. This paper intends to examine the origin of the Arhat concept in India and further extend into the “Eighteen Arhats” belief in China, with studies conducted on the mode of expression on Xia Jing Shan’s earlier portrayals of Arhats to the Changyue Arhat painting style and development led by Gua