飾耳佛像=Buddha statues with earrings; 四川南北朝隋唐佛像=Buddha statues of the Sui,Tang,Southern and Northern Dynasties in Sichuan; 南詔大理國佛像=Buddha statues of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms
Statuary of the Buddha with earrings is a unique cultural phenomenon of Buddhism influenced by Han Chinese culture that originated in the later period of the Southern Liang dynasty in Chengdu and continued to develop for more than a thousand years. Sichuan is the primary area for the development of this style of statue, where the popularity of peach-shaped earrings used to decorate the Buddha became a widely recognized regional feature of Buddhist statuary from the area. From middle Sichuan, this style spread to north Sichuan in the late Northern and Southern Dynasties where it eventually obtained greater development during the early Tang dynasty. The number of Buddha statues with earrings in other places in China is extremely limited, though some have been recovered from archaeological sites of the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, though these statues also exhibit a clear influence of the Sichuan style. The first truly unique examples of Buddha statues made with decorated ears may have been constructed in such a way as to indicate that Buddha Sakyamuni pierced his ears to exhort all beings to seek enlightenment. The later development of this style, however, occurred as a matter of course related to various causes and was aimed primarily at achieving a unique aesthetic style.
