As one of the representative caves of the Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang,Mogao Cave 45 has an Avalokitesvara Sutra Illustration that is a masterpiece of Tang Dynasty artworks.The wall painting was not finished during the High Tang period,instead being completed during the Middle Tang period.Generally,this Avalokitesvara Sutra illustration is regarded to date back to the High Tang period,contemporary with the other High Tang wall paintings.But an investigation of the cave construction suggests that,this illustration was not finished during the High Tang period and was completed in the Middle Tang when construction of the cave stopped,just like the images of Avalokitesrava and Ksitigarbha bodhisattvas.A comparison of this illustration with the High Tang and Middle Tang paintings in other caves also suggests it is indeed different from the High Tang murals,associated instead with the Middle Tang murals.Furthermore,the creation of this illustration is consistent with the unique popularity of belief in Avalokitesvara at that time.Therefore,this illustration would have been painted after cave construction stopped with the invasion of the Tibetans,and it thus might be in the High Tang period,prior to the Tibetan occupation(786 CE),no earlier than the date of the standing Avalokiestrava image on the south side of the entrance wall,but possibly as late as in the Middle Tang period after the Tibetan Occupation. Nonetheless,it is certain to have been done after construction of this cave stopped.This does not mean the artistic,historical,and academic values of this illustration should be denied or belittled.
