Colored sculpture usually refers to colored clay sculpture. Most Buddhism statues might originally have pigmented finish, however, due to less adhesion and dropping tendency of carved stones, colored drawings can only be seen on few legacy carved stones. By contrast, clay sculptures have high plasticity and color adhesion, leading to rich colors and lasting features of colored clay sculpture.As shown by the fifteen temple relics unearthed in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang, the time of these temple clay sculptures is about the 3rd to 4th century, when large colored sculptures could be created. It is clear that the tradition of combination of clay sculpture and colored drawing was gradually formed at the desert Qiuci, which gained further development in Dunhuang, Maijishan Mountain and other places. The form of colored sculpture had been spreading along the Gansu Corridor toward the inland, and rich experience for the development of colored sculpture had been accumulated in some famous sites like Liangzhou Grottos, Binglingsi Temple, Maijishan Mountain, Dunhuang Grottos, etc.When expressing the statues of Buddha "keeping still and in deep meditation", ancient Chinese artists had been emphasized on depicting their state-of-mind of "keep still and in deep meditation", i.e.. the wonderful flavor of quietness and "Buddhist pleasure" satisfying one’s body and mind as called by the Buddhists. Artists from Jiantuoluo highlighted the state of psychological quietness and reviewing thinking; artists from Qiuci described more about the joyful state of mind of Faxi; while artists from Liangzhou and Xiqin sought the most suitable expression between quiet thinking and Buddhist pleasure, which had presented a feature of mutual custom & cultural exchange and penetration among the southern, northern and aboriginal ethics.Development of Chinese earlier colored clay sculpture embodies the huge creativity and rich experience of sculptors from various ethic groups of China, which has provided a precondition for the glorious accomplishments in statuary art after the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
