尸羅=戒=command=Precept=sila=morality=rule=discipline=prohibition; 佛教人物=Buddhist; 佛教藝術=Buddhist Art; 法師=Master; 法難=Persecution of Buddhism; 圖像學=Iconography; 雕塑=雕刻=Sculpture
摘要
In North China, over seventy free-standing Buddhist sculptures dating from the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) remain in place in their original temple building. Many of them are masterpieces worthy of study for their own sake, and they are of great importance as a resource for the study of a large number of sculptures from that period now in collections in this country, Europe and Asia. In this study the sculptures in situ and selected examples from collections were subjected to a thorough examination in order to analyze the development of style, iconography and patronage during the period and to determine as much as possible the factors which influenced that development. The sculpture proved to be an important primary source for the study of the history of the Liao period, a period in Chinese history which has comparatively little documentation, and they provided important correctives to many generalizations about Buddhist art in China. They made it clear that the mid-ninth century persecution of Buddhism did not end the mainstream of Buddhist art of the T'ang period. Until now, the importance of Liao sculpture as a continuation and flowering of the T'ang tradition has been obscured by the tendency to link Liao art with that of the Chin and Yuan or Sung periods. With the lavish patronage and informed support of the Ch'i-tan rulers, artists of the Liao-period forged traditional Chinese styles and iconography into new and different forms that express distinctive qualities of the Ch'itan culture. The Liao images of Kuan-yin, especially, were found to be significant in the assessment of diverging artistic traditions of Hua-yen and Ch'an Buddhism in China.
