敦煌石窟八大菩薩曼荼羅圖像解說(上)=An interpretation of the representations of the mandala with Vairocana and the Eight great Bodhisattvas at Dunhuang Grottoes(Part Ⅰ)
Within Buddhist cave-temple art,whether in the form of sculpture or mural-paintings,the motif of the mandala of Vairocana Buddha in the center with eight great Bodhisattvas on both sides was very popular and widespread in both India and Tibet.This article gives a comprehensive iconographical study on the representations of the mandala,and discusses the motif in two parts.Here,Part Ⅰ,author has made a carefully check of related Buddhist canon concerning the mandala of eight great Bodhisattvas and investigated all of the existing iconographical representations in both India and Tibet,and introduces the identified examples of the mandala with Vairocana and eight great Bodhisattvas in the Dunhuang Grottoes.
