Images of donors holding offerings of flowers or incense burners are depicted on the pedestals and on the verso surfaces of Chinese Buddhist sculptures.These figures are worshippers wearing the layman garments typical of the period of the sculpture s creation.They are shown in offering or worship scenes,either offering flowers or water to a Buddhist image,or burning incense and praying.These donor images are not essential elements of Buddhist sculpture,as are Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. The author investigates examples of Buddhist donor images in Chinese Northern Wei dynasty sculptures, and posits that the donor figures depicted in Buddhist sculpture w ere thus faithful Buddhists worshipping the Buddha who reflected theirself awareness in the temporal world as both vassals of the emperor and individual members of the nation and society They used the religious activity of Buddhist sculpture commissions as the “place” for their expression of their thoughts towards their rulers and society, and the depiction of donor figures functioned as the expressivement if of such self- awareness.
