Huikai (1183-1260) was a well-known Chan Buddhist master from mid to late Southern Song Hangzhou in present-day Zhejiang province of China. His work Wumen Guan was influential in the area of practicing Chan Buddhism. In Hangzhou, his most important achievement is sponsoring the construction of Huguo Renwang Monastery, and prayed for raining by controlling the miracle of the dragon living in the dragon cave behind the monastery. During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the dragon was called “Yellow Dragon”. Therefore, people respectfully called Huikai as the Master of Yellow Dragon. In the scenic site of Yellow Dragon Cave in Hangzhou, there is an artificial cave at the halfway of Qixia hill. Inside the cave was a clay statue of Huikai, in front of which was a stone altar. According the Ming dynasty texts, Huikai sponsored the statue for himself, but its date probably was late Southern Song or Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). The bust is helpful for the study of half-length portraits or images from Chinese history. Originally, it was a stone statue destroyed by the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864). After that, the Buddhist devotees sponsored the clay statue, which was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
