Among the statues and images of Samvara Buddha(Shànglè Fó)in the collection of The Palace Museum now are there dozens of rare portraits of the Buddha inscribed or titled ever since the Qing court with Chinese characters of"白上樂"(Bái Shànglè)which was translated from ’bDe mchog dkar po’ or ’White Samvara Buddha’,who is seated cross-legged hugging his consort in the Yab-yum posture while holding an amrta-kalasa in his either hand,the consort lifts two Kapalas up in both of her hands over his shoulders towards the back side of his head whereas.None of the look-alike images have ever been found except from volumes of Three Hundred Images of The Buddhas(Sān Bǎ i Fóxiàng Jí)and Enlogies to The Sacred Images of The Buddhas and Bodhisattva(Zhū Fó Púsà Shèng Xiàng Zàn).The seated figure of ’bDe mchog dkar po’(Bái Shànglè)in The Palace Museum has close tie with the practice dharma for long life the way as the standing image of ’bDe mchog dkar po tshe sgrub’(Chángshòu Báisè Shànglè Wáng Fó)included in Five Hundred Images of The Buddhas(Wǔ Bǎi Fóxiàng Jí),but they are different by origin.There is a detailed discussion as to the issues concerning their sources in this thesis.
