Pāla-sculpture; Five Tathāgatas (“Dhyāni”-Buddhas); iconography; Maṇḍalas; votive inscriptions
摘要
A complete set of bronze images of the five Tathāgtas (or “Dhyāni”-Buddhas) from Pāla Times, stored unnoticed for a long time in the Palace Museum in Peking, is discussed iconographically and their inscriptions are, for the first time, read and interpreted. This allows for important insights into the interrelation between Maṇḍalas and images, particularly because the donor Yaśodeva, a Śrāmaṇera, expresses not only his wishes associated with his pious gift, but also records the names of individual Buddhas and had besides their Mudrās also their Vāhanas depicted. In two appendices, the history of the term “Dhyāni”-Buddha is briefly traced and attention is drawn to some (occasionally unrecognized) examples of the five Tathāgatas preserved in stone sculptures.
目次
Introduction by Luo Wenhua and Ruan Li 41 Reading of the Inscriptions and Commentary by O. v. Hinüber Introduction 46 The inscribed five Dhyāni-Buddhas 47 1. Vairocana. 47 2. Akṣobhya. 48 3. Ratnasambhava. 50 4. Amitābha. 50 5. Amoghasiddhi. 51 Appendix 1 A Short Note on the Term Dhyāni-Buddha. 52 Appendix 2 The Five Tathāgatas represented in Stone Sculptures Some Examples 53 I. Vairocana 53 II. Akṣobhya 54 III. Ratnasambhava 55 Addendum 55 II. Akṣobhya 55 III. Ratnasambhava 55
