The illustrations to the Lankāvatāra-sutra recorded in the painting history are now lost except for 12 extant versions surviving in Dunhuang Murals.The one on the south wall in Cave 236 dates from the Tibetan occupation,while the other 11 date from the Guiyijun(the Return to Allegiance Army) period.They were all painted according to the Lankāvatāra-sutra translated by Siksananda in the Early Tang period.This article interprets the murals by dividing it into various scenes,such as King Airavana inviting Sakyamuni to preach on a mountain, parables and forbidding of meat eating. It also discusses the source of the original draft painting for the earliest Lankāvatāra- sutra illustration at Dunhuang.
