Chinese Buddhist Art (Gallery 16)
© Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
338 Buddha, B60B1034
Didactic Material in this Gallery:
Panels:
Laminated Sheets
Gallery Highlights:
- 338 Buddha at right
- Dreaming and Meditating Maitreyas
- 532 and 533 Votive Steles
- Cosmic Buddha
- Wood Avalokitesvara (Ch. Guanyin)
- Marble Lohan
Additional Didactic Material in Cases, Sections
- The Image of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Chinese: Guanyin) in Tang Sculpture
- The Empress Wu and the Buddha of the Future, Maitreya
The development of Buddhism in China during the four centuries following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 is a momentous chapter in the story of China's religious and cultural development. At the end of the Han dynasty, China already had a two-thousand-year history, during which it had developed a strong centralized civilization suspicious of and often condescending to things foreign. Moreover, China had a strong state cult and entrenched beliefs in ancestor worship.
Why, then, did so many Chinese convert to a religion that was being spread by missionaries from India? The reasons are complex and must often have been very personal. Four fundamental reasons can readily be suggested: the widespread suffering that followed the collapse of the mighty Han dynasty, the resulting doubts in the institutions of Han culture, the appeal of new and different ideas, and the occupation of large parts of China by non-Chinese people. While compatible with some existing spiritual ideas, Buddhism offered an end to life's cycle of suffering and offered rebirth in paradise. In contrast with other religions practiced in China at that time, it offered salvation to all levels of society.
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Women and Early Chinese Buddhism
In 386 the Toba, a non-Chinese Central Asian people, conquered northern China and established the Northern Wei dynasty (386-535). Its leaders employed a number of methods to consolidate their rule over the Chinese population, including arranged marriages with important Chinese aristocratic families. As the wives and mothers of emperors, the women involved in these marriages were in a position to influence the development of Buddhism in northern China as well as the course of Chinese culture and politics.
One such woman was Lady Feng, who, as the mother of an underage emperor, was a considerable force at the Northern Wei court from 476 until her death in 490. Under her influence many Chinese were placed in positions of power, their language and manner of dress at court replaced those of the Toba, and the ruling clans were forced to use Chinese names. Lady Feng was also instrumental in bringing about the change from the Greco-Roman-influenced style of sculpture — exemplified by early bronzes in this gallery, among them the Buddha dated 338 — to thinner, flatter figures covered with extremely heavy robes. Not long after her death but probably in compliance with her wishes, Lady Feng's son moved the Northern Wei capital from a site near Datong (in the Toba's northern China homeland) southeast to Luoyang, the ancient Chinese city that had been the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty.
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In 845 the Tang emperor Wu, under the influence of Taoist and Confucian advisors, began to persecute those who practiced religions that did not originate in China. According to records of the time, some 4,600 Buddhist monasteries were demolished, their property was seized by the throne, massive numbers of Buddhist artworks were destroyed, and more than 260,000 monks and nuns were returned to lay life.
Although Buddhist institutions would never again be as strong or as rich as they had been in earlier dynasties, the religion nevertheless continued to play a vital role in Chinese life. What was the nature of the philosophical, religious, and governmental environment in which such drastic persecution occurred? How and why did Buddhism survive this persecution? And in its wake, how did the practice of Buddhism change? This complex and intriguing story is sketched out in the labels and illustrated by the objects to the right of this panel and behind the person reading it.
More examples of Buddhist iconography can be found among the later Chinese artworks in the second-floor galleries.
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Laminated Sheets or Section-Related Texts
Faxian
The series of Maitreya figures in this section of the gallery represent the rise to power of Wu Zhao (Wu Zetian), the only woman in Chinese history to claim the title of emperor and to establish her own dynasty and a hereditary matriarchy. [refers to objects near the Stele with the Buddha Maitreya B60S36+]