從大王窟看曹議金護國壇場的意義－兼論四角天王為金光明經變的一種樣式=A Look at Cao Yijin's State Protection Awareness from the Cave of the Great King - Also on whether the four-cornered heavenly kings are a form of the Mural of the Golden Light Sūtra
曹議金=Cao Yijin; 大王窟=the Cave of the Great King; 護國壇場=the Mandala of State Protection; 四角天王=four-cornered heavenly kings; 金光明經變=mural of the Golden Light Sūtra
The Cave of Great King Cao Yijin presents a model created during the time of Cao's Guiyi Circuit. In particular, the design of the four heavenly kings painted on the four corners at the top of the cave established a precedent. Many subsequent caves that were significant exhibited imitations of the Cave of the Great King in their form and configuration of the sūtra mural. P.3781 is a prayer manuscript that was inscribed when the main structure of the cave and the mural on its ceiling were completed. The prayer was to the four heavenly kings, asking for their protection, to destroy demons, and also to save humankind and protect the state through their benevolence. Further, P.2058V (15) (12) recorded that Cao Yijin organized the Mahā-pratisāraḥ and great mercy penitential bodhimanda and chanted the Golden Light Sūtra (Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra) to pray for world salvation and the protection of the state. These prayers naturally had a direct influence on the configuration of the sūtra mural and the spatial design of the cave. The thousand Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa painted on the four slanting surfaces at the top of the cave are the thousand Buddhas referred to in the prayer manuscript as objects of repentance. Their images echo the intent of repentance denoted in the Golden Light Sūtra. The four heavenly kings painted on the four corners at the top of the cave were intended to guard the altar. They were also derived from the heavenly kings characters depicted in the Four Heavenly Kings Protecting the State in the Golden Light Sūtra. The Golden Light Sūtra is one of the three Sūtras for the protection of the country. Although there was no land-cleansing style mural of the Golden Light Sūtra painted in the Cave of the Great King, the meaning of the four heavenly kings painted on the four corners at the ceiling of the cave was inspired by the Sūtra and hence can be perceived as an mural style of the Golden Light Sūtra. Both the construction of the four altar-guarding kings and the images of the repenting thousand Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa drawn on the ceiling of the cave reveal that the Cave of the Great King received the state protection awareness expressed in the Golden Light Sūtra.
