Siwei; Buddhist statue; Maitreya; Siddhārta; Northern Qi dynasty
摘要
The image of the pensive bodhisattva was widely reproduced in East Asian Buddhist art between the fifth and the eighth centuries, but the majority of surviving examples were carved at a small number of sites in central and southern Hebei over a period spanning just four decades (ca. 540-580). During this period, Hebei artisans elevated the pensive bodhisattva image to a new level of prominence by making it a central figure in their iconographie schemes. I argue on the basis of iconographic, epigraphic, and literary evidence that these innovative pensive bodhisattva images functioned as icons expressing patrons' reverence for an ideal of meditative contemplation. Considered together with hagiographie accounts, this interpretation of the Hebei pensive bodhisattva images sheds new light on the history of Buddhist meditation by revealing the existence of a distinctive local culture of meditation practices and associated beliefs in sixth-century Hebei.
目次
Abstract 57 From the Margins to the Center 63 Naming the Bodhisattva 69 The Religious Significance of Siwei 75 Buddhist Ascetics Meditation Culture in Sixth-Century Hebei 78 Conclusion 86
