Visualization Meditation and the Siwei Icon in Chinese Buddhist ...

Visualization Meditation and the Siwei Icon in Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
Author(s): Eileen Hsiang-Ling Hsu
Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2002), pp. 5-32
Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers
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EILEEN HSIANG-LING
HSU
VISUALIZATION MEDITATION AND THE SIWEI ICON
IN CHINESE BUDDHIST
SCULPTURE
s early as the fourth century of the Common Era, a particular type of icon featuring a bodhisattva
A seated in a pensive pose began to appear in Buddhist cave temples in Central Asia, and in the following
centuries it spread to north China. With one leg pendant and the other raised and brought
across to rest upon the knee of the pendant leg, and with one arm raised towards the face and one or
two fingers gently touching the cheek (fig. i),v these figures in deep contemplation have long caught
the attention of historians of Buddhism and art.2 In the fifth and sixth centuries, particularly during
the late Northern Wei (386-534), Eastern Wei (534-550) and Northern Qi (550-570) dynasties, pensive
statues were made in increasing numbers, as attested by the many extant dated sculptures. In the
sixth century, this popular icon was introduced to Korea and Japan.
The unusual gesture of the hand, the subtle inclination of the head towards the viewer, and the soft
smile on the face give the pensive bodhisattva special sense of both ethereal aloofness and human kindness.
These figures obviously possessed a very important religious meaning for those who commissioned
and made them. That they still captivate and intrigue modern scholars is reflected in such comments
as: "It is not an exaggeration to say that images of the meditative bodhisattva (hanka-shiyui-zo a) are
among the most fascinating of Buddhist statues,"3 or "One of the most tantalizing problems in Chinese
Buddhist iconography is the reemergence of the ssu-wei [siwei] or pensive figures as a principal icon
during the mid-sixth century A.D. in northeast China, and the spread of this icon to Korea and Japan."4
The word siwei appeared in non-Buddhist Chinese literature as early as the first century CE, and
continued to be used in contexts referring to deep thought, reflective contemplation, or serious consideration.5
It was adopted by translators of Buddhist scriptures to render Sanskrit words with the prefix
cint- that connote the action of thinking.6 During the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties,
the term also came to be inscribed on some Buddhist figures in the pensive pose, explicitly identifying
them as "siweib statues." Modern scholars of Buddhist art have consequently used designationsuch
as "siwei figure" and "pensive figure" interchangeably. A number of them, relying primarily on surviving
Chinese sculptures in Western and Japanese collections, as well as on pensive images made in
Korea and Japan, have identified the contemplating image with either Prince Siddhartha - Sakyamuni
before his enlightenment - or Maitreya, a bodhisattva preaching the supreme Law in Tusita
I For a brief description of this posture and its development, see Saunders I960, I30-13I.
z See Mizuno I968, 243-250; Rei Sasaguchi, "The Image of the Contemplating Bodhisattva in Chinese Buddhist Sculpture"
(Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, I975); Berthier 1982; Matsubara 1995, vol. I, I07-1I22; and Lee I993.
3 Berthier I982, I.
4 Leidy 1990, 2I.
5 See Luo Zhufeng ed., Hanyu dacidian (Shanghai: Hanyu dacidian chubanshe, I99I), vol. 7, 443.
6 Soothill and Hodous 1987, 302a.
5

Heaven in preparation for his future Buddhahood;7 some have even suggested that the iconographic
meaning changed over time from the former to the latter.8 The pensive figures are also sometimes
thought to prpresent minor bodhisattvas when they are attendants of a major deity, often Maitreya.9
Chinese scholars, on the whole, have so far not attempted to give a specific identification to this
type of icon."e Instead they simply use the designation siwei found in the inscriptions as a generically
descriptive term, even though the figures themselves show clear formal and iconographic variations
ranging from the types of accompanying motifs or figures, to their relative size, to their placement
within more complex configurations. In this essay, I will argue that the pensive images can be inter-
preted in two iconographic contexts, one related to the cult of Prince Siddhartha, and the other that of
sixth-century Buddhist meditation practice. In the case of the latter, I propose that certain devotees
recognized in what they called "siwei statues" a specific type of icon with a distinct identity and ritual
significance. I therefore use the words "pensive" or "contemplative" in the following as a descriptive,
generic term and the designation "siwei" to refer to those images defined as such by their inscriptions.
While some of the pensiv statues e clear ly identified Prine as Siddhartha in dedicatory inscriptions,
the association of the figure type with Maitreya is primarily drawn from textual and circum-
stantial evidence related to Korean and Japanese counterpart images." But since no inscriptions pos-
itively and indisputably identify a pensive figure produced in China as the future Buddha Maitreya,12
the iconographic interpretation of most Chinese pensive images remains tentative. In an attempt to
elucidate the meaning of these enigmatic figures in the sixth century, when their production reached
a zenith in China, Denise Leidy emphasized the importance of the Dasabhgmika-sgtra-sastra,1
a com-
mentary on the Dassabhumika-sitra (Chinese: Shidi jing, c the Sutra of Ten Stages).I4 That sutra expounds
the ten stages of a bodhisattva's advancement towards enlightenment, a very important religious tenet
7 See Mizuno I968, 243-250, and Tamura and Hwang I985, 22-25. For an overview of early scholarship on Chinese pensive
bodhisattva images, see Lee I993, 3I7-318.
8 Berthier I982, 1-13.
9 Jonathan Best, "The Sosan Triad: An Early Korean Buddhist Relief Sculpture from Paekche," Archives of Asian Art 33
I0
(1980), 97.
For a brief summary of the Chinese scholarship on the pensive icon, see Lee 1985, 4I-57.
11 See Berthier 1982, 2-13; Tamura and Hwang I985, II5-I3I; and Mizuno I968, 258. See also Christine M. Guth, "The
Pensive Prince of Chuguji: Maitreya Cult and Image in Seventh-Century
Japan," in Alan Sponberg and Helen
Hardacre eds., Maitreya, the Future Bzuddha (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988), I9-2I3.
12 For a detailed study of the Maitreya cult and the images it inspired in early China, see Lee Yumin, "The Maitreya Cult
and Its Art in Early China" (Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University, I983). Citing an inscription that mentions Maitreya,
Lee Yumin implies that pensive images were already being made to represent the bodhisattva Maitreya as early as the
fifth century (see Lee I985, 45-47).
However, the dedication she quotes is actually inscribed on the base of a stone
pagoda, now lost, preserved in the Shodo Museum, Tokyo (see Matsubara 1995, vol. 2, plate 25 for the illustrations of
the base and inscription and vol. I, 24S5 for the text). The pensive figure in Lee's article is believed by Mizuno Seiichi
to be one of the oldest such icons, and although also dated 442, it is unrelated to the pagoda base in the Shodo Museum.
See Mizuno Seiichi, Chugoku no chokoku (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, I960),
that no inscriptions on pensive statues so far known mention Maitreya. See Lee I985, 50.
13 Translated by the Indian monks Bodhiruci and Ratnamati. See Taisho 26.I522.
14 Leidy I990, 23.
23-24. In addition, Lee also asserts
6

in medieval Chinese Buddhism that was later incorporated into the teaching of the Huayand School.15
The Dasabhzimika-stra-sastra became the scriptural foundation of the Dilune Sect, a popular school of
Buddhist philosophy and religious practice that claimed many high-status followers including
Fashangf (49g5-580), chief of the Buddhist church in the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties, and
Sengchoug (480-56o), an erudite scholar and chan masterI6 who also served as an imperial teacher and
chief abbot of the Northern Qi imperial monasteries.17 Leidy maintains that according to the Dilun
teaching, during the ninth stage of spiritual development, each bodhisattva "inhabits the Tusita
Heaven awaiting his final rebirth in which he will become a Buddha."18 She concludes that the prominence
of the Dilun school provided an iconological basis for the creation of "the numerous Northern
Ch'i images of ssu-wei figures [which likely] represent the innumerable bodhisattvas, including
Maitreya, who are the current inhabitants of Tusita."I9
This argument partially explains the secondary role played by pensive figures in late fifth- and early
sixth-century configurations, as for example in Cave 17 at Yungang (dated 489), where they appear as
a pair of bodhisattvas on either side of Maitreya (fig. 2),20 or in the well-known altarpiece of 524 at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art (fig. 3). But it does not explain the semantic change of the word "siwei"
from a common term seen in many Chinese Mahayana sutras to an appellation for a particular type of
icon. In the case of the Metropolitan altarpiece, in addition to the two pensive figures, Maitreya is also
attended by two standing bodhisattvas, as well as guardians and apsarases, a standard iconographic
grouping for such a representation. What, if any, are the iconographic differences between pensive
bodhisattvas and other bodhisattvas Leidy gives this elucidation: "While the standing figures rep-
resent Maitreya and his accompanying bodhisattvas descending from the Tusita paradise, the pensive
figures refer to the paradise itself."21 According to the scriptural tradition, Maitreya's celestial gath-
15 A version of the Chinese translation of the Dasabhumika-sutra by Kumarajiva, called the Shizhu jing,bx is in Taisho
I0.286.
I6 The Chinese term chan used here refers to chan meditation, a popular religious practice in Chinese Buddhism. It should
not be confused with the so-called "Chan School of Buddhism" (Chan zong), which is a more systematized sectarian
school developed during the Tang and Song dynasties.
17 For Fashang's biography, see Xu Gaoseng zhuan, in Taisho 50.2060, 485a-486a; for Sengchou's biography, see ibid.,
553b-555b. A detailed study of Sengchou can be found in Hsu I999.
18 Leidy I990, 23. There is, however, no mention of Tusita Heaven in Kumarajlva's translation of the Dasabhhumika-sutra
(for the ninth stage, see Taisho 10.286, 524a-527c). Nor is the bodhisattva's residence in Tusita described in a Tangperiod
translation of the same sutra, the Foshuo shidi jing, or Sutra of the Ten Stages Preached by the Buddha; see Taisho
I0.287, 563a-567a. To my understanding, the scriptural tradition only speaks of Maitreya as the designated future
Buddha, and holds that the bodhisattvas who accompany him in the final descent will be reborn as his followers, not
as Buddhas. For another critique of Leidy's reading of the Dilun texts, see Lee I993, 34I, note 84.
I9 Leidy I990, 24.
20 See Mizuno Seiichi and Nagahiro Toshio, Unko sekkutsu (Kyoto: Kyoto DaigakuJinbun Kagaku Kenkyujo, I951-56),
vol. 12, pt. I., plate 12. This trinity appears above another niche which enshrines two Buddhas seated side by side; the
dedicatory inscription engraved beneath states that the main icons were Sakyamuni, Prabhutaratna, and Maitreya,
making it clear that the cross-ankled bodhisattva on the upper register is Maitreya. See ibid., plate 2I for the inscription.
Paired pensive bodhisattvas as attendants are also found in Yungang Caves I, 7, 9, I0 and I2. See Mizuno 1968,
243-244.
21 Leidy I990, 24.
7

ering consists of many other categories of members, including guardians, devas, rakshas, and specific
bodhisattvas, but the so-called siwei bodhisattvas are not among them. There is thus no direct scriptural
basis for singling out the siwei bodhisattvas as representing Tusita. Moreover, who would be more
suitable than Maitreya himself to represent Tusita The presence of the pensive figures in this and sim-
ilar configurations must have conveyed a different meaning, a meaning that needs to be sought in its
connection with the ritual practice of the time.
The reason for the prolific production of pensive figures in the second half of the sixth century is
still not fully clear. Leidy recognized a catalyst in the pure land cults, which were generated largely
out of the belief in the coming of mofa,h the Buddhist apocalypse.22 The pessimistic atmosphere of the
time was especially conducive to the development of the cult of the Western Pure Land, the blissful
paradise of the Buddha Amitabha, who rules in his Sukhavati heaven. Adherents of the Western Pure
Land placed deep faith in Amitabha's saving power, promised and realized after he himself fulfilled
all his vows while still a bodhisattva. The increasing numbers of visual representations of Amitabha
and his Pure Land, and of inscriptions found at Longmen and other Buddhist temple sites containing
references to them, attest to the gradual shift of devotion from Maitreya to Amitabha in the late fifth
and early sixth centuries. Leidy believed this devotional shift to be reflected in the many paired stand-
ing bodhisattvas and paired siwei figures found at the site of Xiudesii in Quyangj County, Hebei
Province, and other sites.23 Pensive bodhisattvas, she argued, appear to have become the generic visual
symbol of the paradises of Maitreya, Amitabha, or even Avalokitessvara; they represent the happy and
successful rebirths achieved by pure land devotees.24
Taking Leidy's iconological interpretation a step further, I propose in this study that a large number
of sixth-century pensive figures depict not Buddhist deities in a traditional sense, but rather the
actual devotees of the Maitreya cult. By specifically referring to these figures as "siwei statues," these devo-
tees indicated that they adopted an existing iconography and assigned to the image a new meaning
relevant to their own spiritual quest - rebirth in Tusita. My main body of evidence comes from the
archaeological material at the Xiudesi, where a group of statues in pensive pose were uncovered, some
well-preserved and many inscribed with dedicatory statements and dates. The Xiudesi finds constitute
the largest group of Buddhist statues known thus far with inscriptions containing the term "siwei"
as the name for the statues in pensive pose. Of the forty dated Eastern Wei statues, nine are inscribed
as "siwei." Twenty-four of the IOI Northern Qi, and thirteen of the eighty-one Sui sculptures are pensive
figures,25 variably termed "marble siwei statue" (siwei yuxiangk), "marble siwei" (yu siweil), or sim-
ply "siwei statue" (siwei xiang1).26 Interestingly, a number of sculptures from the Xiudesi are inscribed
22 Leidy I990, 24-26. For an in-depth discussion ofmofa and the Maitreya cult, see Erik Ziircher, "'Prince Moonlight':
Messianism and Eschatology in Early Medieval Chinese Buddhism," T'oung Pao 68, I-3 (I982), I-47.
23 For the excavation at the Xiudesi, see Luo I955, 34-38; Li I955, 38-44; and Yang Ig6ob, 43-60.
24 In discussing a group of late fifth-century small bronze altarpieces featuring Avalokitesvara as the main icon on the
front and pensive figures on the back, Leidy suggests that "While the primary icons of these altarpieces represent Ava-
lokitesvara as the savior of sentient beings, the ssu-wei figures seated under the branches of a tree at the back depict
this bodhisattva in his personal paradise." See Leidy I990, 24.
25 See Yang Ig6ob, 45, 47, and 49. This is a large number for one find, compared to about ten images in pensive pose in
Siren I925, pls. I35 (Northern Wei), I78, I79 (Eastern Wei), and 240, 243b, 244-248 (Northern Qi).
26 Yang I985, I48, I52, and 157.
8

as Maitreya, but he is never noted as the deity represented by statues in pensive pose,27 an indication
that there was an iconographic distinction between Maitreya and the siwei figures. Careful reading of
these inscriptions also enables us to distinguish the spiritual quest of the erudite ecclesiastics from the
religious goals of the less famed ordinary devotees, who followed beliefs and practices that were more
compatible with their practical needs and intellectual capacities.28
The Chinese reception of Buddhism in the early centuries after its introduction can be understood
on both an intellectual and a popular level. While the doctrines contained in the Dasabhumiki-s9trasastra
and related Buddhist texts served as the philosophical foundation for the theological pursuit of
the educated clergy, a ritual practice based on a number of sutras believed to have been compiled in
Central Asia in the third and fourth centuries dominated the religious life of both the monks and lay
believers. This practice - visualization meditation - became the most popular form of Buddhist med-
itation during this period;29 its popularity also coincided with the proliferation of the pensive images.
The teaching in these sutras required devotees to participate and engage in a specific method of men-
tal concentration relying upon viewing or seeing specific objects and symbols. Thus, visual works such
as painted icons or sculptures were made to aid in that process and to help achieve its goals. The most
famous artworks created for this purpose are the depictions of Buddhist pure lands in the ancient cave
temple site at Dunhuang, most of which date to the seventh and eighth centuries. The exalted glory
and magnificent splendor of these paradises, evoked by luxurious colors, highly imaginative pictorial
details, and elaborate ornamentation, were aimed at recreating on earth the realms desired by those
hoping for successful rebirths.
Although Buddhist scriptures on visualization meditation focus on various Buddhas or bodhisattvas,
their contents are essentially homogeneous, especially in their repeated and stressed instruc-
tions to fixate on proper thoughts (zhengniann) by intensely visualizing the resplendent paradise lands
and their resident deities. The term siwei, which can be translated as "thought," "thinking," "con-
templating," or "meditating" depending on the context, appears in a number of visualization sutras,
but in certain passages of the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra30 it pertains to efficacious meditation and its
positive results. With the proliferation of images intended as visual aids in meditation, the meaning
of the word siwei expanded to encompass a specific religious icon, which played a central role in the
visualization practices popular at the time.
27 Leidy I990, 2I, note 12 mentions that several pensive figures are inscribed as Maitreya and cites Yang Ig60b, figure 26
as her example. The illustration in Yang's article, however, shows this figure performing the abhaya and vara mudras
with both legs pendant and resting on a lotus flower, not in pensive pose. Other examples she cites from Matsubara
are without inscriptions. See also Lee I993, 342, note 92.
28 Another major difference between these two types of Buddhist adherents is that the scholarly inclination and extraor-
dinary deeds of the educated clerics merit their inclusion in the standard Chinese hagiographies, while the less learned
believers are almost never mentioned in Buddhist biographies.
29 Depending on doctrinal emphasis, different forms of meditation were practiced in early Chinese Buddhism. For example,
monk Sengchou, mentioned above, specialized in the sinianchubz meditation described in the Nirvana-sutra. See
Hsu I999, 52-65.
30 See below for a detailed discussion of this sutra.
9

THE PENSIVE IMAGE AND THE SIDDHARTHA CULT
The prototypes of the Chinese pensive image are found in Indian Buddhist sculptures of the Kusana
period in Gandhara and Mathura, and the earliest extant examples are datable to the second century
CE.31 In Gandhara, in addition to being represented as individual icons, these contemplative figures
were often depicted as paired attendants on either side of a Buddha.32 As with the Chinese pensive
figures, the identification of the contemplative images from Kusana India is also a subject of debate,
and some scholars believe that the Chinese followed the tradition of the Mathura school in representing
Maitreya in this particular posture.33 Pairs of pensive figures in subordinate positions are found in
a number of Gandharan reliefs of large configurations, and they frequently accompany a deity seated
with his ankles crossed, a posture closely associated with Maitreya.34
As Buddhism spread eastward, the iconography of paired pensive figures flanking Maitreya was
introduced to Central Asia, the most notable example being the fourth-century mural painting in Cave
38 at Kizil near Kucha, an ancient strategic and religious center on the northern Silk Road.35 In relaxed
pensive poses forming mirror images of each other, the two bare-chested figures are crowned and
bejeweled, and they wear the tight trousers of Central Asian fashion (fig. 4). They occupy the two upper
corners of the rear wall below a lunette on which is painted a spectacular scene of Tusita heaven with
Maitreya seated and preaching in the center (fig. 5). The physical location of the contemplative attendants
in the lower position is significant since their dress, body, and hair decoration are no different
from those of the bodhisattvas surrounding the Maitreya in the lunette. The two attendant figures are
conventionally identified as pensive bodhisattvas (siwei pusa 0), and this iconography is also found in
China, as for example in Cave 17 at Yungang (dated 489, see fig. 2).
The pensive figure also appears early on in a narrative iconographic context. Already in Gandharan
reliefs a male figure in meditative pose is depicted next to a kneeling horse, a scene believed to show
Prince Siddhartha saying goodbye to his beloved steed Kanthaka.36 The scene captures an event in the
Buddha's life that demonstrates his determination to leave the comfortable and familiar worldly life
behind in order to seek a higher level of truth that can transcend the mundane. The contemplative
attitude signifies his mental concentration at the threshold of this spiritual journey. The motif was a
significant part of Indian Buddhist art in connection with Sakyamuni at the time when worship of the
Buddha was the primary focus ofHinayana Buddhism. As this form of the religion reached China, the
image of Siddhartha and his horse also appeared in early Chinese Buddhist art, as evidenced in a stele
dated 492 in the collection of the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art (fig. 6).37 According to its inscrip-
31 Kim I997, 223-228. A well-preserved pensive figure from Mathura is discussed in Martin Lerner, The Flame and the
Lotus (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1984), 30-35. See also Lee I985, 42-45, and Leidy 1990, 21.
32 Tamura and Hwang I985, 61-114.
33 Kim 1997, 227-228.
34 Tamura and Hwang 1985, 78-89; the examples are in figs. I5-I7; Lee 1993, 3I4-315.
35 See Xinjiang Weiwuer Zizhiqu wenwu guanli weiyuanhui ed., Kezier shiku (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1i989), vol. I,
plates 83, 87, and 88.
36 Tamura and Hwang I985, 69, fig. 4. See also Mizuno I968, 244.
37 Matsubara I995, vol. 2, plate 99a.
10

tion, the stele was made under the sponsorship of three brothers named Guo (and perhaps also a Buddhist
monk) and depicts a "statue of the siwei Prince" (taizi siweixidngP).38 The donors were natives of
Yinmiq in what is now Gansu Province, a region at the eastern end of the ancient Silk Road. Siddhartha
is here depicted frontally as a Buddha, eyes cast down in deep contemplation and surrounded by three
figures who likely represent Sudana, i.e. Sakyamuni as a prince in a former life, Siddhartha's father,
and an attendant.39 Their garments are carved in parallel incised lines in an archaic manner, and the
decorative pattern on the Buddha's robe resembles that seen in the Buddha of Cave 20 at Yungang,
executed about 460.
The image is also found as an independent icon isolated from the usual narrative setting, as seen
in Cave 6 at Yungang (fig. 7).40 Seated on a high dais in pensive pose while a horse (the head is miss-
ing) kneels down in front of him, this bodhisattva figure is a mirror image of the other pensive bod-
hisattva, without the horse, on the opposite side of the same wall.41 As a pair they flank the central
deity, probably Maitreya, as he is shown in cross-ankled position. While the paired arrangement is a
direct borrowing from Gandharan reliefs, the addition of the kneeling horse taken from a different
context as an appendage to one of the pensive attendants is a Chinese innovation. This small icono-
graphic modification suggests that the Prince's saying adieu to his horse was of special significance to
the Chinese, and despite the increasing popularity of Mahayana teaching at this time, the worship of
the historical Buddha prevailed.
In the late fifth century a variant of the prince-and-horse motif began to appear in China. It shows
a man in contemplative pose, but he is without company except for a tree which bends over him as if
to provide shelter. One of the earliest examples of this image is a small bronze statue dated 471 (fig. 8):
the pensive figure is on the back of a mandorla adorning a large standing Buddha and five small seated
Buddhas.42 Other fifth-century bronze statues share similar arrangements of the figures, i.e. a large
standing deity, sometimes identified as Avalokitesvara, is represented frontally as the principal icon,
and a seated figure in contemplative mode under a tree is shown on the back.43 A fifth-century stone
stele shows a cross-ankled bodhisattva as the main deity inside a deeply-cut niche, and two pensive
figures, back to back, are carved on the back of the stele in low relief on either side of a large broadleafed
tree.44 Figures in distinctively pensive pose are also shown on a number of four-sided stone stu-
pas or stelae; some are in pairs flanking a central deity,45 while others are single figures seated under
trees with large leaves.46 The popularity of the pensive icon seems to have endured longer than other
38 Ibid., vol. I, 255 for the text of the inscription.
39 I am deducing these identifications based on a Gandharan relief with a similar iconography in the Lahore Museum.
See Kim I997, 227, and Tamura and Hwang I985, 71, fig. 7.
40 Mizuno and Nagahiro, Unko sekkutsu (Kyoto: Kyoto DaigakuJinbun Kagaku Kenkyujo, 1951-56), vol. 3, pt. 2, plate 5.
41 Ibid., plate 4.
42 Matsubara I995, vol. 2, plates 36 and 37.
43 Ibid., plates 75, 86a, 86b, 88, and 89.
44 Ibid., plate 49.
45 Ibid., plates 26, 50, and II5b.
46 II89 Ibid., plate and 283b, and vol. 3, plate 329.
II

visual themes associated with Hinayana Buddhism, as the meditating figures under trees can be found
on stelae produced as late as the Sui, well towards the end of the sixth century.47
Despite their frequent appearance and distinct posture, fifth-century contemplative images were
not given specific iconographic notation in dedicatory inscriptions, nor is the term siwei, as they were
later so popularly known, mentioned. Their meaning must have been so universally clear to the Bud-
dhist devotees, patrons, and artists that their presence in votive monuments was a matter of course and
needed no further inscriptional clarification or emphasis. As demonstrated by representations of Prince
Siddhartha in pensive pose in Gandharan reliefs and in a few inscribed Chinese Buddhist sculptures,
there must have existed a popular belief centered on the contemplative Prince, a devotion so strong
and omnipresent that the image became a coded icon for his worship. The devotion to Siddhartha had
become an underlying belief for Chinese Buddhists adhering to different cults, to an extent that his
image, best known by the contemplative posture, is present on the back of votive stelae dedicated to
a variety of Buddhist deities.
The Chinese source for Prince Siddhartha meditating under a tree is the Guoqgu xianzai yinguo jingr
(Sutra on the Cause and Effect of the Past and Present Lives, abbreviated as the Yinguo jing), translated in
the fifth century by the Indian monk Gunabhadra (d. 429) when he lived in south China.48 A detailed
description of the life ofSakyamuni, the Yinguo jing enjoyed great popularity in both China andJapan,
serving as the primary text for a number of biographical illustrations of the Buddha. In one passage,
young Siddhartha was touring the countryside with his courtly entourtly entourage, and when he came upon a
farm field, he stopped under aJambu tree49 (yanfushuI) to watch the farmers work. As he watched, the
deity Suddhavasa-deva50 (jingjutiant) transformed himself into earthworms, only to be devoured
immediately by birds. Upon seeing this, the Prince entered a state of deep thought (siwei), feeling com-
passionate and sad about the desire that led to destruction. The sun was turning harsh, the sutra continues,
and the tree under which the Prince was sitting began to lean towards him to provide him with
shade. When Siddhartha's father and his officials came looking for the Prince, he was seen from a dis-
tance "seated calmly upright in deep contemplation (duanzuo siweiU)," and with the tree bent even fur-
ther to shade his body. The father and his officials were deeply intrigued by this unusual scene.51
This episode forms part of the biographical account describing the four encounters52 of Prince Sid-
dhartha in the Yinguo jing, in which siwei was used in the Chinese translation to refer to his attitude
of profound thought after seeing the sad result of desires. As stated in the first of the "Four Noble
Truths,"53 the quintessential doctrine of Buddhism, desire is the cause of all suffering. Siddhartha's
profound realization of this fundamental condition of life led to his final enlightenment. It is under-
47 For late sixth-century examples, see Matsubara I995, vol. 3, plates 53Ia, 544, and 545.
48 Taisho 3.I89. Gunabhadra's biography is in the Xzu gaoseng zhzuan, in Taisho 50.2059, 334b-335c.
49 See Soothill and Hodous I987, 452a.
50 Ibid.,357b.
5I This account is in Taisho 3.I89, 62ga-629gb. Junghee Lee gives a brief account of the episode contained in Indian texts
and calls the iconographic theme depicting Siddhartha's meditation under theJambu tree "the First Meditation." See
Lee I993, 3I2-3I3.
52 Siddhartha is confronted with the birth of a child, a sick man, an old man, and a dead man.
53 The Four Noble Truths are primary and fundamental doctrines of Sakyamuni; they are "suffering, its cause, its ending,
and the way thereto." See Soothill and Hodous 1987, I82a.
12

standable, therefore, that the image of the Prince in seated contemplation under a tree deriving from
the Yinguo jing became a viable visual motif for the Buddhist teaching of the need to transcend desire
and for ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The image was a potent icon, constantly
reminding devotees of the path already taken by the Buddha and which lay before them as well.
This icon is the art-historical symbol of the cult of Siddhartha, popular in China during the sec-
ond half of the fifth century and still claiming adherents in the sixth century. Three reliefs depicting
Prince Siddhartha sitting under a tree in deep contemplation can be found at Longmen, one in the
Lianhuadong, 54 and two others in the Weizidong,w
55 both executed in the first quarter of the sixth cen-
tury. Here the Prince is represented as the focus of processions consisting of imperial family members
and high-ranking officials, judging from their regalia and attributes. These are visual records of the
penetration of the cult into the highest stratum of Northern Wei society, as well as of the imperial
patronage of Buddhism at this time.56 The prestigious status of the sixth-century patrons of Buddhist
art is also revealed in the inscription on a votive stele made in 536 under the Eastern Wei dynasty, now
in the von der Heydt Collection of the Museum Rietberg in Zurich.57 The carving techniques and the
decoration of the various motifs on the stele are unusually versatile, particularly on the side panels,
which include a figure sitting in pensive a
pose under a tree (fig. ).9). The scene undoubtedly represents
Prince Siddhartha in contemplation, and standing in front of him in Confucian robe and gown is the
principal donor. The artistic excellence of the Rietberg stele can be explained by the fact that a large
number of donors were members of the Feng clan, a famous aristocratic family of this period.58
Very few fifth-century sculptures with Siddhartha as the main icon have survived, but a number
of sixth-century examples provide inscriptional evidence for the lingering practice of the worship of
the contemplative Prince. A beautifully executed statue in the Shanghai Museum (fig. Io),59 now par-
tially damaged, has this inscription engraved on its base:
In the fourth year of the Tianbaox reign of the Great Qi [553],... Monk DaochangY from... temple used the money collected
from saving on clothing and from alms, and venerably had a statue of the Prince (taizixiangz) made. May all sentient
beings, chiefs of the kingdoms, the emperor, teachers, students, fathers, and mothers all receive the blessing [from
the making of this image] .60
Although the right arm of the statue is broken, its posture, i.e. left leg pendant and right leg brought
over to rest on it, is the same as that seen in other pensive figures. The inscription gives a clear
identification of this finely carved statue as Prince Siddhartha, who is seated "calmly upright in deep
contemplation" as described in the Yinguo jing. This statue is representative of the best achievement
54 Ryumon sekkutsu (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1987-88), vol. I, plate 57.
55 Ibid., plates 92 and 93.
56 For a different interpretation of the Longmen siwei reliefs, see Leidy 1990, 23.
57 See Matsubara I995, vol. 2, plate 258.
58 Osvald Siren, Chinesische Skulpturen der Sammlung Eduard von der Heydt: Chinese Sculptures in the von der Heydt Collection
(Zurich: Museum Rietberg Zurich, 1959), 80-85. For a different interpretation of the pensive Siddhartha portrayed
on the back of a Northern Qi stele in the Museum fuiir Ostasiatische Kunst, Cologne, see Leidy 1990, 26.
59 Matsubara 1995, vol. 3, plate 389.
60 Ibid., vol. I, 295.
I3

of the highly-skilled stone masons and sculptors working with the micaceous marble abundantly avail-
able in the foothills of the Taihangaa Mountains along the border of present-day Hebei and Shanxi
Provinces. Buddhist sculptures produced in the nearby regions in the latter part of the sixth century
are characterized by their soft and sensitive modeling of the body, conceived as a realistic living object,
and their refined surface delineation. This distinguished style of stone carving is particularly evident
in the sculptural works of the so-called Hebei School, chiefly from Dingxianab and Quyang, which ere
praised by Osvald Siren as reaching a level that "is hardly inferior to that of classic Greek art. "6
Recent archaeological work in China has uncovered yet more examples of the contemplating image
inscribed as the " Prince," one of which is a sculpture unearthed in Boxingac County, Shandong Province
in northeast China.62 According to its inscription, a certain Gao Yead and his wife donated their precious
material belongings to have this statue of "taizi" made in the year 562.63 It should be noted that
Gao was the surname of the imperial family that ruled the Northern Qi, whose territory extended as
far as the coastal province of Shandong. In view of the donors' connection with the court, this elegant
statue was no doubt the creation of professional craftsmen whose services were likely to have been provided
by the imperial workshop. It is almost identical to the Shanghai statue in the way the body is
conceived and executed - with narrow shoulders and gently slimming waist in careful and smooth
modeling, and such decorative motifs as the large torque around the neck and the ribbons of the crown
trailing down the shoulders. Sitting on high stools, both figures wear tight upper garments which are
belted at the waist and their legs are shown through the draping folds of the skirts, characteristic of
pensive images of the Northern Qi dynasty. Although the heads of both statues are missing, the trail-
ing ribbons still visible on their shoulders hint at the crowns they originally wore.
Although the cult of prince Siddhartha continued to inspire the making of the siwei taizi image,
after the turn of the sixth century, some of the contemplative figures began to be inscribed as "siwei"
with no other specific identifications. This change suggests that their creation was motivated by a dif-
ferent devotional attitude and object from the cult of Prince Siddhartha. In the following sections, I
will analyze the inscriptions on the statues that contain the term siwei, the majority of which are from
the Xiudesi, and discuss the essence of visualization meditation, a religious practice that underlies the
bountiful production of the siwei icon in the sixth century.
"SIWEI" IN DEDICATORY
INSCRIPTIONS
While the inscriptional phrase taizi siweixiang or "statue of the siwei Prince" in the Osaka Museum
stele (see fig. 5) links the attitude of contemplation with Prince Siddhartha, the word siwei in the
Xiudesi inscriptions does not refer to any known Buddhist personality or deity. The earliest such
example is a dedication inscribed on the base of a marble statue dated 539 (fig. II):64
61 Osvald Siren, "Chinese Marble Sculptures ofthe Transition Period," Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities I2
(I940), 473-496-
62 See Chang Xuzheng and Li Shaonan, "Shandong sheng Boxing xian chutu yipi Beichao zaoxiang," Wenwu, 7 (1983),
plate 6,I.
63 The text of the inscription is from the rubbing, see ibid., 39, fig. 2.
64 Matsubara O995, vol. 2, plate 265.
I4

In the second year of the Yuanxiangaf reign [539], the Buddha devotee nun Huizhaoag had one marble siwei statue made.
May his highness the master of the country [i.e. the emperor], her [nun Huizhao's] deceased parents and family, as well as
all sentient beings rise to the realm of wonder and joy.65
Despite the fact that the right arm raised to touch the cheek is broken, this statue is otherwise in fairly
good condition. Compared to the 553 statue in the Shanghai Museum (see fig. IO) and others done a
few decades later, it lacks the quality of softness and smooth surface decoration, a feature differentiat-
ing the stiff stylization of the Northern and Eastern Wei carving from the realistic modeling of the
Northern Qi sculpture. Another pensive statue from the Xiudesi was produced one year later, in 540,66
and its inscription reads:
In the second year of the Xingheah reign of the Great Dai'ai [i.e. the Wei dynasty] [540],. .. the faithful lay devotee Di
Guangshouaj respectfully had one marble siwei statue made for his deceased father. May he ascend to the pure and wonderful
land and all members of the family forever live in wealth and comfort. May all the members of our seven previous
incarnations receive benefits and blessings.67
These two statues share one peculiar feature: the ribbons of the crowns, usually trailing down the
shoulders, are flung up like two squarish scepters pasted against the round haloes, a trait also seen in
bronze statues.68 Their multi-layered scarves worn over the shoulders echo the heavy material hung
over the legs, a manner of deep carving reminiscent of the sculptures at Yungang, although the Xiudesi
statues are made of a softer white marble. The Xiudesi images just discussed appear to have been cre-
ated as single icons without other accompanying motifs, but their exact function or original placement
in the temple cannot be determined. Stylistically, they are related to the figure in the Eisei Bunko
in Tokyo (fig. I2),69 a late Northern Wei sculpture said to be from Xi'an.7 Iconographically, they may
have inherited a common doctrinal system based on the cult of Prince Siddhartha, but the "siwei" in
the Xiudesi inscriptions suggests a new iconological direction for the pensive images of the Eastern
Wei and later periods.
Two other pensive statues from the Xiudesi produced in the 540s are inscribed as "siwei":
In the first year of the Wudingak reign [543], . .. devotee of the Buddha Di Fushi I honorably had one white marble siwei
statue made for his deceased parents. May they be reborn in a pure realm, meet with the Buddha, and attain true under-
standing of the doctrine. May their serene [souls] rise high and receive salvation. [I also wish that] my whole family forever
lives in good fortune and prosperity, my children and myself enjoy health and longevity, and seven generations of our
previous incarnations all benefit from the blessing of the Dharma world. With utmost sincerity I make this offering.71
65 Yang I985, I68.
66 Matsubara I995, vol. 2, plate 266.
67 Yang I985, I68-I69.
68 This trait is particularly noticeable in bronze statues of Avalokitesvara made in the late fifth century. See Matsubara
I995, vol. 2, plates 74, 86a, and 88.
69 Ibid., vol. 2, 2I4. The figure is also reproduced in Siren I925, plate I35.
70 Matsubara 1995, vol. I, 27I; Siren I925, vol. I, 34.
7I Yang I985, plate 24 and I69.
I5

In the fifth year of the Wuding reign [547], devotee of the Buddha Di Xian"a had one siwei statue made for his deceased
parents. May they return to their origin [i.e. attain nirvana] and may those still alive receive good fortune.72
As with the numerous dedicatory inscriptions found in the Northern Wei Buddhist cave temples at
Yungang and Longmen, the messages engraved on the bases of the Xiudesi siwei figures reveal the typical
desires, both spiritual and mundane, of the donors. In addition to wishing that their most-loved
ones, usually their deceased parents to whom the images were dedicated, be reborn in a Buddhist paradise,
they also prayed for the health and happiness of the emperor, other family members, and all liv-
ing beings. The messages are so similar in style and content that it is not unlikely that they were com-
posed by people who specialized in funerary arrangements. The involvement of the clergy in this matter
is mainly reflected in the subject chosen for the icon, and the sheer number of pensive figures with
"siwei" as the image's primary designation points to their undeniable iconographic importance.
Generous imperial support of Buddhism during the Northern Qi led to the creation of many highquality
Buddhist sculptures, the best-known being those from the cave chapels at Xiangtangshan. Of
the 247 dated sculptures unearthed at the Xiudesi, IOI are inscribed with Northern Qi reign names.73
Many of these sculptures bear inscriptions in which the term siwei indicates the subject, as for exam-
ple in the following two stelae (figs. 13 and I4):
In the seventh year of the Tianbao reign [556],... Han Zisi' respectfully had one siwei statue made for his deceased par-
ents.74
In the eighth year of the Tianbao reign [ 557], ... Zhang Yanao from Quyang County had one white marble siwei statue made
for his deceased wife Chen Waixiang.aP May she forever leave behind the four forms of rebirth, and permanently break off
the six directions of reincarnation; may her next incarnation be [a high form] so as to compensate her current female one,
and [in working through her ascending karma], may her spiritual achievement ultimately bring her the holy fruit [i.e.
nirvana]. I also wish that I and my family attain enlightenment instantaneously in the time of the meeting under the
dragon-flower tree.75
These two inscriptions demonstrate that the worship of the siwei icon continued from the Eastern Wei
to the Northern Qi, and suggest that this image occupied a position as high as other sacred deities.
There existed a deep belief that by making siwei images, the donors could hope to receive blessings
and have their prayers answered. In its current condition, the 557 statue shows the main figure seated
on a rectangular plinth which is decorated with an incense burner supported by a genie, two lions, and
two dvarapalas. The figure may have originally been surrounded by two large entwined trees, whose
thick trunks are still visible on either side of the statue; on their remaining open leaves and branches
are flying apsarases and other celestial beings carrying a stupa.76
72 Ibid., plate z23 and I69.
73 Yang I96ob, 43 and 47.
74 Yang I985, plate 44 and I72.
75 Ibid., 43 and I72.
76 A similar example is the stele in the Freer Gallery of Art with a pair of siwei figures as the main icon; see Siren, "Chinese
Marble Sculptures of the Transition Period," plate 245. For other comparable images, see Matsubara I995, vol. 3,
plates 392a, 393a, and 393b.

Fig. I Siwei statue, dated 544, Sh6do
Museum, Tokyo. From Matsubara, Chzugoku
bukkyo chkoku-shi ron, vol. 2, pl. 269.
Fig. 2 Pair of pensive figues, Yungang
Cave 17, dated 489. From Mizuno and
Nagahiro, Unko sekkutsu, vol. 12, pt. 2-I,
pl. 13.
Fig. 3 Altarpiece, dated 524, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1938
(38.i58.I a-n)
Fig. 4 Pensive figure, left side above the
main entrance of Kizil Cave 38, fourth cen-
tury CE. From Kezier shiku, vol. I, pl. 87.
Fig. 5 Kizil Cave 38, showing two pensive
figures and the Maitreya preaching scene in
the lunette above the entrance. From Kezier
shiku, vol. I, pl. 83.

Fig. 6 Stele showing Siddhartha in pensive
pose and attendants, dated 492, Osaka
Municipal Museum of Art. From Matsubara,
Chzigoku bukkyo chokoku-shi ron, vol. 2, pl. 99.
Fig. 7 Pensive figure with a horse, Yungang
Cave 6. From Mizuno and Nagahiro,
Unko sekkutsu, vol. 3, pt. 2, pl. 5.
Fig. 8 Pensive figure on the back of the
mandorla of a bronze statue, dated 471. From
Matsubara, Chuzgoku bukkyo chkokuo-shi ron,
vol. 2, pl. 37.
Fig. 9 Stele showing a pensive figure under
a tree (detail), dated 536, Museum Rietberg
Zurich. From Matsubara, Chzigoku bukkyo
ch6koku-shi ron, vol. 2, pl. 258.
Fig. Io Statue of the Prince, dated 553,
Shanghai Museum. From Matsubara, Ch-goku
bukkyo ch6koku-shi ron, vol. 3, pl. 389.
Fig. II Siwei statue, dated 539, unearthed at
the Xiudesi. From Yang, Uzumoreta Chzigoku
sekibutsu no kenkyo, pl. zI.

Fig. I2 Pensive statue, late Northern Wei
dynasty, Eisei Bunko, Tokyo. From
Matsubara, Chzigoku bukkyo chokoku-shi ron,
vol. 2, pl. 2I4.
Fig. 13 Siwei statue, dated 556, unearthed at
the Xiudesi. From Yang, Uzumoreta Chzigoku
sekibutsu no kenkyo, pl. 44.
Fig. 14 Stele with siwei statues, dated 557,
unearthed at the Xiudesi. From Yang,
Uzumoreta Chzigoku sekibutsu no kenkyo, pl. 43.
Fig. 15 Stele with cross-ankled bodhisattva
and a partial pensive statue, dated 558, unearthed
at the Xiudesi. From Yang, Uzumoreta
Chzigoku sekibutsu no kenkyo, pl. 35.

Fig. I6 Altarpiece (back), dated 562, unearthed in
Gaocheng County, Hebei. From Matsubara,
Chzugoku bukkyo chokoku-shi ron, vol. 3, pl. 423.
Fig. I7 Pair of marble statues in pensive pose, dated
566, unearthed at the Xiudesi. From Yang, Uzumoreta
Chuzgoku sekibutsu no kenkyo, pl. 45.

Although most dedicatory inscriptions reveal the common desires of the donors, a few passages
also contain information on their doctrinal preferences and the specific goals they wished to achieve
through the merit of making images. For example, the donor Zhang Yan in the 557 inscription wished
that he and his family "attain enlightenment instantaneously in the time of the meeting under the
dragon-flower tree," a reference to the time when Maitreya descends from Tusita, attains Buddhahood,
and holds three gatherings under the longhuashu,aq the dragon-flower tree (Sanskrit ndgapuspa).7
7 The
connection between the pensive icon and the dragon-flower tree is also seen in a Northern Qi stele
from the Xiudesi (fig. I5), on which is engraved this message:
In the ninth year of the Tianbao reign [558],. .. Gao Gui'anar and his wife Liu Bairenas had a seated statue of the dragon
[-flower] tree (longshu zuoxiangal) made for their deceased son Gao Shixing.au [May our] country [be blessed]; may those
who died on the frontiers rise to heaven, and those still alive receive good fortune.78
This stele consists of a crowned bodhisattva in cross-ankled position attended by a pair of pensive
figures, recognizable from the leg position in the remaining part of the body. Entwined trees with
apsarases very likely surrounded the bodhisattva originally but only two stumps on either side of the
deity remain.
That Maitreya will hold meetings under the dragon-flower tree to preach the Buddhist Law when
he becomes the future Buddha is told in the Foshuzo Mile xiasheng chengfo jingav (Sutra on the Descent of
Maitreya to Become the Buddha as Expounded by the Buddha [Sakyamuni]), one of the most prominent
scriptures on Maitreya.79 The epigraphic evidence from the Xiudesi thus firmly links the siwei images
with Maitreya, whose future Buddhahood is the ultimate realm in which Zhang Yan in the 557 inscription
had wished his family members to have their final rebirths. Maitreya was also the principal icon
in the 558 stele donated by Gao Gui'an, a lay Buddhist devotee (perhaps related to the ruling family
of the Northern Qi, as his surname Gao suggests) for the spiritual peace of his son and those who had
died defending their country on the frontiers. While the wishes they convey are commonplace, these
dedicatory messages nonetheless reflect the prominence of the Maitreya cult. Most significantly, the
familiar iconography with Maitreya as the central deity attended by two siwei figures, seen in fourth-
century Gandhiran reliefs and fifth-century rock-cut sculptures at Yungang, has here reemerged. The
Gao Gui'an stele provides both visual and textual evidence linking the Maitreya cult with the pensive
figures in sixth-century Chinese Buddhist art.
This iconographic association is further confirmed by a long inscription engraved on the lower part
of a squarish white-marble plinth in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, dated 559:
In the tenth year of the Tianbao reign of the Great Qi [559], the patrons monk Huizu,aw monk Zhiyuan,ax and ... respectfully
had one siwei statue of a dragon-flower tree (longshu siwei xiangaY) made.... May sentient beings from the emperor on
high, conscientious and understanding devotees, down to the suffering common people all attain Buddhahood at once.
77 For the dragon-flower tree, see Soothill and Hodous I987, 455a.
78 Yang I985, plate 35 and 35. Longshu'a is an abbreviation of longhuashu, frequently seen in Buddhist texts and dedicatory
inscriptions. For a different explanation of the dragon-flower tree, see Lee I993, 343-344.
79 For a version translated by Kumarajiva, see Taisho I4.454, 424b-425b.
2I

May the blessing of the Buddha also extend to masters and disciples, parents, their seven previous incarnations, and those
still alive, so that they can all receive the holy fruit [i.e. nirvana].80
Although the sculptural images originally placed on top of the plinth are missing, they likely represented
either Maitreya attended by two siwei figures, as with the Gao Gui'an stele, or a single siwei
image as with the 557 stele donated by Zhang Yan. The pensive icon had by this time been disassociated
from its representational role as Prince Siddhartha contemplating the fundamental condition of
suffering, to become a symbolic icon associated with Maitreya and his future Buddhahood. Donors of
the Xiudesi stelae had their deepest wishes engraved on the stone images they commissioned, and
enough of their voiced desires are conveyed for us to draw a tentative conclusion about the meaning
of the siwei figures: their visualization guaranteed rebirth in Tusita and final descent with Maitreya to
the earthly world where salvation would be ensured.
Archaeological excavations at other sites in Hebei and Shandong provinces have also yielded many
valuable examples of Northern Qi sculpture in general and of siwei iconography in particular. In 1978,
eight near-complete marble sculptures were discovered at a site north of Gaochengaz County, near
Quyang, Hebei Province, and among them is an altarpiece representative of some of the most excellent
artistic work of Northern Qi sculptors.81 Two Buddhas in half-lotus posture are backed by a peachshaped
mandorla, their pendant legs supported by two genies. Standing on either side are two monks
and two bodhisattvas in adoration, and above all are two trees whose branches and leaves are beauti-
fully interwoven with one another. On the back of the altarpiece are a pair ofsiwei figures seated against
the peach-shaped mandorla and under the entwined trees (fig. I6). Engraved on the rectangular base
is the dedicatory inscription:
In the first year of the Heqingba reign [562], nun... and other disciples from theJianzhongsibb respectfully had a... seated
statue of Maitreya made for the benefit of the emperor, all those on the frontiers,... seven previous incarnations, teachers
and parents, deceased and living, ordained or mundane,... Jia Qiande,bc donor who provided the land for the construction
of the Jianzhongsi.82
The description of the specific posture of Maitreya is unclear because of the partial obliteration of the
character preceding "seated statue."83 Nevertheless, Maitreya is indeed the primary deity represented
in his luxuriant Tusita heaven and worshipped by the donors of this altarpiece. Again the siwei figures
on its back suggest that the pensive image was an important, if not integral, part of the Maitreya cult.
Also from Gaocheng is another altarpiece, donated in 569 by the wife of the wealthy patron Jia
Qiande, who gave the land for the building of the Buddhist temple Jianzhongsi, as stated in the 562
80 Matsubara I995, vol. I, 296, and vol. 3, plates 394a, 394b, 395a, and 395b.
81 See Cheng I980, plate 6,4, and Matsubara I995, vol. 3, plate 423.
82 Matsubara I995, vol. I, 30I. The rubbing of the inscription is in Cheng I980, 243, figs. I-5.
83 This character has been deciphered aspo,cb meaning "broken," and interpreted as having to do with the carving tech-
nique that created the interlaced form of the leaves. See Cheng 1980, 242. I believe this is an erroneous form of the
character yi, c which, combined with zuod (seated), refers to the asana of Maitreya as banjia yizo. C See Saunders I960,
I29-I30.
22

inscription. Seated under a canopy formed by the branches and leaves of two entwined trees similar to
the 562 altarpiece, the two siwei figures donated by Jia's wife appear not on the back but on the front
as the primary icons.84 The inscription, however, only mentions "one marble statue."85 As many inscrip-
tions on paired statues mention only "one" statue as the object of the creation,86 their frequent appearance
after the s6os can be explained, in my opinion, as an artistic trend favoring symmetry and bal-
ance, rather than signifying a major religious development.87
A number of Northern Qi sculptures featuring two siwei figures as the chief paired icon have been
discovered at the Xiudesi and other sites, including a pair of handsome marble statues donated by the
lay devotees from the Gao family, datable to 566 (fig. I7).88 The dedicatory inscription reads:
In the second year of the Tiantongd reign, devotee of the Buddha Gao Shiqing,be together with his younger brother and
sister, had one white marble statue made for our deceased father, older sister and brother, and all living relatives. May the
souls of our late father, older sister, and brother reside in pure lands, forever separated from the three unhappy roads to hell
[i.e. to the hell of fire, the hell of blood, and the hell of swords]. May all living relatives enjoy longevity and be without
suffering, and all members of the family share this blessing together.89
Note that even though two statues were donated by this member of the Gao family, the inscription
only mentions "one white marble statue," and no specific names of the deities are given. A number of
Buddhist statues belonging to the Hebei school of stone carving, including those in pensive pose, have
this kind of general inscription, such as the 544 statue in the Shodo Museum, Tokyo, introduced at
the beginning of this essay (see fig. I):
In the second year of the Wuding reign [544],... the faithful lay devotee of the Buddha Rong Ailuo,bhis wife Zhao Adu,bg
and their daughter Cirenbh respectfully had one white marble statue made. May his highness the emperor, our deceased
parents... as well as all sentient beings in the Dharma world attain enlightenment all at once.90
In addition to the lack of specific designation, inconsistency in inscriptional information concerning
the names of pensive statues made at the end of the Northern Qi period further obscures the exact mean-
ing of the siwei icon. A marble stele, excavated at a site in Ye'nan,bi south of the Northern Qi capital
in present-day Linzhangbj County, Hebei Province, shows one pensive statue attended by two disci-
ples. Engraved on its base is the dedicatory inscription:
In the fourth year of the Tiantong reign [568],... the Buddha devotee Wang Jingqingbk and lay disciple Du Guifeib'
respectfully had one statue ofsiwei Buddha made.91
84 See Cheng I980, plate 7,4. This altarpiece is discussed in Leidy I990, 27.
85 Cheng I980, 244, figs. 2-6.
86 See the inscriptions for the paired bodhisattva and Buddha figures from the Xiudesi in Yang I985, 165-174.
87 The paired imagery could also have been inspired by the doubling ofSakyamuni and Prabhutaratna, an iconography
based on the Lotus Sutra depicted in many ancient cave temples and in wall paintings.
88 Matsubara I995, vol. 3, plate 428.
89 Yang I985, I72.
90 Matsubara I995, vol. I, 280.
91 Hebei Linzhangxian wenwu baoguan suo, "Hebei Yenancheng fujin chutu Beichao shizaoxiang," Wenwu 9 (I980),
67, figs. 6 and I2.
23

Another altarpiece from Gaocheng was donated by the brothers of the wealthy Jia family, which
no doubt held an important social position, as another of its members was the donor of the land for
theJianzhongsi in 562 (see the inscription for the altarpiece shown in fig. 15). It bears this inscription:
In the first year of the Wupingbm reign [570],... Jia Lanyebn and his brother had one marble statue made for their honorable
parents. May they be reborn in the west and receive true dharma.92
While Wang Jingqing and Du Guifei in the 568 inscription believed that the statue they commis-
sioned was a Buddha named "siwei," the Jia brothers in the 570 inscription wished that by having a
pair of pensive icons made (although it only states "one marble statue"), their deceased parents could
hope to achieve happy rebirths "in the west," likely the western paradise Sukhavati where the Buddha
Amitabha resides.
The inscriptional evidence introduced above overall argues for a close relationship between the siwei
image and the belief in Maitreya and his paradise. The popularity of the Maitreya cult in the sixth cen-
tury reflected the psychology of the Chinese people in a tumultuous time when struggles among different
political groups brought constant dynastic changes and social upheaval. Living under these
unstable and uncertain conditions, pious devotees of Buddhism made siwei images to be enshrined in
temples in the hope that they themselves, their family members, and other beings, living or dead, could
be completely liberated from the sufferings brought about by rebirth and desires. This final libera-
tion, they believed, could be attained if they were reborn in Maitreya's Tusita heaven. During the third
quarter of the sixth century, however, the doctrinal association of the siwei with Maitreya was no longer
as clear as it had been two or three decades earlier, and there were signs oficonographic confusion result-
ing from the growing popularity of the Pure Land sect, a Buddhist cult based on the salvific power of
the Buddha Amitabha. Very few siwei statues were created during the Sui,93 and the zeal committed
to the making of this celebrated icon during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi periods disappeared
almost entirely after the Tang, only to be revived again by Korean and Japanese Buddhists in the sev-
enth century with equal, if not greater, devotional fervor.
What, then, was the connection between the siwei image and Maitreya A number of statues from
the Xiudesi are clearly inscribed as representing Maitreya, but Maitreya is never the deity represented
by the siwei figures. They were depicted as a pair of attendants to Maitreya in Tusita in a fourth-cen-
tury mural painting at Kizil, already introduced above, although they might belong to a lower level
of spiritual hierarchy than the bodhisattvas surrounding Maitreya judging from their physical position
below the celestial gathering. Pairs of pensive figures continued to be made as Maitreya's atten-
dants at Yungang, and those likely represented bodhisattvas as the successfully reborn awaiting the
final descent with the future Buddha. Extant pensive statues of the fifth and early sixth centuries are
either identified as Prince Siddhartha from their inscriptions or have no specific identification. On the
whole, the majority of Buddhist statues in pensive pose created before the first quarter of the sixth cen-
tury were anonymous sacred beings. Beginning in the second quarter of the sixth century, however,
these contemplative figures were given the appellation "siwei," as amply demonstrated by the Xiudesi
92 Cheng I980, 244, figs. 2-7 and plate 7-I. This altarpiece is also discussed in Leidy 1990, 27.
93 Of the eighty-one inscribed statues excavated from the Xiudesi, thirteen are pensive figures. Yang Boda did not discuss
these images, and no illustrations of them were published. See Yang I96ob, 49-o0.
24

inscriptions. Taken from the Chinese lexicon, siwei became the verbal analogue to the visual representation
of a person in deep contemplation, a mental exercise related to the practice of Buddhist visu-
alization meditation, described in many scriptures as one of the most crucial elements of spiritual
training leading to enlightenment.
VISUALIZATION MEDITATION AND THE SIWEI IMAGE
It has been well documented that between the end of the fourth and the middle of the fifth centuries,
a number of sutras whose translated Chinese titles begin with bo
"guan," meaning to view or see, were
already available and widely circulated.94 Each of the guan sutras focuses on a particular Buddhist deity
toward whose divine body or paradise the practitioners of visualization meditation were to direct their
intense mental viewing. There are many textual similarities among these sutras, most noticeable being
their lavish descriptions of paradise and their emphasis on the distinctions between correct and
improper ways of meditating.95 Moreover, most translators of the extant guan sutras were either from
Kashmir or had some connection with Kashmiri Buddhism, a fact that has led scholars to believe that
visualization meditation is likely to have originated in Kashmir and from there was transmitted to
other parts of Central Asia and China.96
The central text on visualizing Maitreya was the Foshuo guan Mile Pusa shangsheng Doushuaitian
jingbP (Sutra on Visualizing Maitreya Ascending to Tusita as Expounded by the Buddha, hereafter cited as
the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra), translated by JuquJingshengbq in the middle of the fifth century.97 A
member of the Northern Liang ruling family, JuquJingsheng was also a pious Buddhist and sincerely
devoted to meditation practice. He traveled to Khotan in his youth to study under the Indian medi-
tation master Buddhasena (Chinese: Fotuo Sinabr), and obtained a copy of the Visualizing Maitreya
Sutra in Turfan on his return to Liangzhou. He completed the translation while in exile in southern
China after the Northern Liang was conquered by the Northern Wei in 439.98
As there is no Sanskrit original for any of the guan sutras, the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra was prob-
ably composed in Central Asia, where Maitreya worship was widespread, as reflected in mural paintings
at Kizil depicting Maitreya preaching in his Tusita Heaven.99 Biographies of Chinese monks contain
numerous references to Kashmir as a region where practitioners of meditation, in states of trance,
would experience visual encounters with Maitreya and receive his instructions in Tusita.10 Both pictorial
and textual evidence therefore support the view that the Maitreya cult, of which visualization
meditation was an essential part, was practiced in Buddhist centers throughout Central Asia, and from
there was introduced to major cities in northern China as early as the fourth century.
94 Abe I990, 6; Pas I977, 200-206.
95 Pas I977, 20I.
96 Ibid., I94-I97. See also Abe I990, 3-4.
97 Taisho I4.452.
98 For Juqu's biography, see Gaoseng zhuan, in Taisho 50.2059, 337a.
99 Julian Pas believes that it might have been written in Turfan, whereJuquJingsheng obtained the text. See Pas I977,
I96-I97.
Ioo See Alexander Soper, Literary Evidencefor Buddhist Art in China (Ascona: Artibus Asiae Publishers, I959), 2I8.
25

The literary format of the visualization sutras is almost entirely uniform. The Visualizing Maitreya
Sutra, for example, opens with a large gathering in which the Buddha Sakyamuni addresses his followers
and introduces the subject of his current preaching: Maitreya and his destined career as the
future Buddha. After a long and dazzling account ofTusita as a land filled with precious gems, magical
rays, and wonderful music, the Buddha gives instructions on the correct methods of visualization
meditation for those who aspire to be reborn in this splendid heaven. The instructions are specific and
direct:
The bhiksus and all other people who are tired of the endless cycle of life and death and would delight in ascending to [be
reborn in Tusita] heaven, who respect the ultimate mind of bodhi [i.e. enlightened mind], and who wish to become dis-
ciples of Maitreya ought to engage in this [meditative] viewing. First you should observe the five observances and eight
fasting commandments,0"' work hard towards physical and mental advancement without seeking to cut off attachment,
and cultivate the ten perfecting rules. Then you must contemplate (siwei) each and every one of the wonderful joys in Tusita
Heaven. Those who practice in this way have the correct viewing, and others [who don't] have the improper viewing.Iz0
These general instructions on performing the proper visualization of the images in Tusita are followed
by emphatic remarks directed at specific members of the audience. Although addressed to his disciple
Upali (Chinese: Youpolibs), Sakyamuni's teaching is essentially intended for all his followers. In
one passage, the Buddha repeats the need to practice the proper viewing of Maitreya's heaven:
After my nirvana, all my disciples from the four directions, devas and ghosts and spirits, as well as those who wish to be
reborn in Tusita, ought to practice this viewing, fix their minds, and contemplate (siwei) [the glory of Tusita] . Concen-
trate on Tusita Heaven and observe Buddhist precepts and commandments. From day one to day seven, [let them] fix their
thoughts on the ten good virtues and the excellent karma resulting from practice of the ten commandments.103 The merit
accumulated from these practices can be transmitted to those who wish to be reborn in front of Maitreya. When seeing a
celestial being, or a lotus flower, or when concentrating their minds on reciting Maitreya's name, they will be rid of the
karmic cycles of twelve hundred kalpas. I04When hearing the name of Maitreya, they will be rid of the karmic cycles of fifty
kalpas. When paying respectful homage to Maitreya, they will be rid of the karmic cycles of one hundred million kalpas;
even not being able to be reborn in Tusita, they can still meet Maitreya in a future world under the dragon-flower tree and
attain enlightenment.105
Following the general description in visualization sutras which prescribes making images (zaoli xingxiangbt)
and reciting the names of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas as ways to attain enlightenment, this
passage again emphasizes correct viewing as imperative for salvation. Siwei, the mental exercise of
focusing the thoughts on specific objects, and guan, viewing the objects with the inner eye, are combined
to form a highly specialized technique in visualization meditation. The desired goal of this
rather demanding training was as much rebirth in Tusita as the final salvation available when Maitreya
descends to the earthly world to succeed Sakyamuni as the next Buddha.
ioI For the five observances and eight fasting commandments, see Soothill and Hodous 1987, ii8b and 36a.
102 Taisho 14.452, 4I9c, lines 5-IO.
103 For the ten commandments, see Soothill and Hodous 1987, 5oa.
I04 A kalpa is defined as "a period of four hundred and thirty-two million years of mortals." See ibid., 232a.
Io05 Taisho I4.452, 420b-c. The first part of this passage is translated in Soper, Literary Evidence for Buddhist Art in
China, 2X6.
26

In analyzing a commentary by the Korean monk Wonhyobu (6I7-686) on the Visulizing Maitreya
Sutra, Alan Sponberg observes that the early Maitreya cult in China belonged to a broader tradition
of Buddhist practice developed outside China. Wonhyo was a scholarly monk versed in Chinese Bud-
dhism; his commentary provides a detailed explanation of the specific practices of the Maitreya cult
in early China. Most striking is Wonhyo's emphasis on visualization as the most efficacious of all forms
of Buddhist meditation and the one that ensures the most desirable results. A crucial aspect of this
technique in relation to the belief in Maitreya was that the deity himself was not the object of visualization.
According to Sponberg's analysis of Wonhyo's text:
The procedure, in Wonhyo's understanding at least, is twofold; it is a visualization of both "one's conditioned and one's
direct recompense" - of the setting of one's next rebirth and of the body one will then have. This means that one is to visu-
alize oneself, personally present, amidst all of the splendors ofTusita Heaven, splendors that certainly include, but are not
limited to, Maitreya. The figure of Maitreya would, of course, dominate any vision of Tusita, but the objective of the twofold
technique is not simply to produce an image of Maitreya himself. It is rather to place oneself in the presence of Maitreya
and his heaven. This detail may be of particular significance in considering East Asian iconographic depictions of Maitreya
and Tusita, especially those in settings thought to have been meditation chapels.I6
Wonhyo's observation adequately elucidates the passage containing the Buddha's instructions on the
proper way of viewing. A visualization of the practitioner's own physical presence amidst the glory of
Tusita Heaven, and not the image of Maitreya itself, was the ultimate goal of Maitreya meditation.
The challenging question, then, to patrons of Buddhist art and sculptors was how to artistically
represent one's virtual presence in Tusita. Sculptures began to be made as visual aids in meditation
soon after Buddhism was introduced from India to Central Asia and then to China, especially for practices
involving the type of disciplined visualization described above. The large-scale construction of
cave chapels and the production of iconic statues between the fourth and sixth centuries in northern
and northwestern China were the direct result of this popular practice.107 Visualization meditation
entails intense visual and mental concentration on images and objects and is not necessarily associated
with abstruse Buddhist philosophy. Creative Chinese patrons adapted the pensive image found in tra-
ditional Buddhist iconography, affixed the word siwei to it, and in the end gave the icon a new pur-
pose. No longer associated with the pensive Prince Siddhartha, the image now represented the pious
Maitreya devotee in seated meditational posture visualizing (siwei and guan) himself in the company
of Maitreya in Tusita.
The pensive pair in Cave 38 at Kizil, seen below the celestial scene of Maitreya preaching to his
disciples (see fig. 5), is perhaps one of the first examples of these siwei devotees - terrestrial beings who
aspired to receive the blessing of Maitreya and who sincerely believed that the visual representation,
in a meditation chapel, of themselves in Tusita and listening to Maitreya's teaching ensured their final
rebirth in that heaven. They indeed had good reason to believe so because that guarantee was given by
the Buddha himself in the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra. The same motivation must lie behind the cre-
IO6 Alan Sponberg, "Wonhyo on Maitreya Visualization," in Alan Sponberg and Helen Hardacre eds., Maitreya, the Future
Buddha (New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, I988), IOI.
107 For a thorough study ofthe relationship between meditation and rock-cut cave sculptures in the Northern Wei period,
see Liu Huida, "Beiwei shiku yu chan," Kaogu xuebao 3 (1978), 337-352.
27

ation of the small pensive figures on either side of the central Maitreya icon in a number of Northern
Wei monuments, such as the 489 niche in Yungang Cave 12 and the 524 bronze altarpiece in the Met-
ropolitan Museum of Art (see fig. 3). In all these artistic representations, the Maitreya devotees visualized
themselves as members of the heavenly entourage rejoicing over the long-awaited final descent.
Although the great popularity of the Maitreya cult is clearly indicated by the inscriptions engraved
on the rocky walls of the Buddhist cave temples at Longmen, the term siwei is conspicuously absent
from the donors' dedications there; the known pensive figures found are those of Prince Siddhartha,
as discussed earlier. This interesting phenomenon may have been partially due to the fact that visual-
ization meditation was not actively practiced in the Henan region until the establishment of the new
capital at Ye by the Eastern Wei regime in 534. At this time the political and cultural relations between
China and the Central Asian countries were being renewed after several decades of relative inactivity
under the Northern Wei rulers. Trade and clerical communications increased and Buddhist visuali-
zation meditation, taught and propagated by Central Asian monks, was accepted with enthusiasm by
Chinese Buddhist adepts and lay believers alike. Under the imperial patronage and the leadership of
prominent priests such as Fashang and Sengchou during the Northern Qi period, visualization meditation
was performed as a daily ritual in mountain temples throughout northeast China, including
the Xiudesi in Quyang, where the largest number of siwei statues have been found.
28

CONCLUSION
As amply demonstrated by the dedicatory inscriptions from the Xiudesi quoted above, there existed
a common practice of making siwei statues, statues, and a sincere belief that by having such statues made, the
donors could have their wishes granted. None of the inscriptions of the pensive figures mention
Maitreya, which suggests that by the sixth century it had become a convention to simply make a siwei
icon as the object of donation. The identification of the icon as the pious devotee and zealous practitioner
of visualization meditation can be deduced from this conventional phenomenon together with
the technical procedures of the meditation taught by the Buddha in the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra.
Following such instructions as "contemplate(siwei) each and every one of the wonderful joys in Tusita
Heaven," and "those who wish to be reborn in Tusita ought to practice this viewing, fix their minds
and contemplate (siwei) [the glory of Tusita],"08 the Maitreya cult devotees made sculptural images
of themselves as the physical embodiments of the mental exercise called siwei, hence the "siwei statue."
That the siwei figures represented the Buddhist devotees themselves can also be supported by the
explanation of
the procedure meditation of the
practice given by the seventh-cent ury Korean monk
Wonhyo. As discussed above, the goal of this practice was for the practitioners to visualize themselves
"personally present amidst all of the splendors of Tusita Heaven."109 More importantly, producing a
vision of oneselfin Tusita by "contemplating(siwei) each and every one of the wonderful joys in Tusita
Heaven""I' was, according to Buddha's teaching, the correct viewing, a prerequisite for receiving bless-
ings or attaining Buddhahood. To the religious minds of faithful donors, what then could be more
correct than making a concrete image of themselves performing the conventional "siwei" gesture
Thus, the Buddha's teaching contained in the Visualizing Maitreya Sutra, Wonhyo's exegesis, and the
inscriptions from the Xiudesi and other sixth-century siwei statues provide ample evidence to support
the theory that the numerous sculptural figures in pensive pose produced in China, except those
inscribed as Prince Siddhartha, are representations of Maitreya devotees.
The application of the term siwei to designate a specific Buddhist icon is likely to have taken place
in the second half of the fifth century, not too long after the major guan sutras were translated. By the
sixth century, as the practice of visualization meditation intensified, the so-called siwei images were
believed to possess sufficient spiritual power to warrant being represented as religious icons. Toward
the end of the sixth century, the cult centered on Amitabha's Western paradise Sukhavati became
increasingly popular, and eventually replaced the Maitreya cult as the dominant Buddhist school and
thought. As a consequence, the siwei image lost its ritual significance and its production declined dras-
tically. Artistic energy shifted to the pictorial representation of the Western paradise which centered
on the grand spectacle of the Buddha Amitabha surrounded by his multitude of heavenly attendants."'
In his study of the fifth-century Cave 254 at Dunhuang, Stanley K. Abe emphasizes the importance
of understanding Buddhist art not only "as an illustration of written text but as an integral element
of ritual practice,"112 and it is exactly in the context of the religious practice of Buddhist meditation
I08 See notes I02 and IoS105.
Io09 See note Io6.
IIO See note Io2.
29

that I have sought to explain the elusive meaning and function of the siwei image. The wishes and
prayers contained in the Xiudesi inscriptions, and the Buddhological study of the essential role of visualization
meditation in Maitreya worship, help us understand that the siwei statues were intended to
represent the followers of the Maitreya cult enjoying their successful rebirths as bodhisattvas in Tusita.
To get there, they visualized themselves as already there, and this is significant because most medita-
tion chapels were artistically decorated and physically furnished as Buddhist paradises. By creating a
virtual paradise on earth, the devotee transcended the demarcation between the future and the present,
and therefore had his most critical spiritual need realized in the here and now.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the contribution made by Elizabeth Feltham, a student in my "Art and
Buddhism in East Asia" seminar held in Spring of 20oo00 at Eugene Lang College, The New School
University. Her question regarding the function of the pensive bodhisattva prompted me to look carefully
into the scriptural sources of this fascinating icon. FranWois Louis and Anne McGannon have made
valuable editorial suggestions for which I am very grateful. And as always, I want to thank my hus-
band, David Kamen, for his unfailing support and encouragement in each of my writing endeavors,
and for his technical assistance in editing and formatting this article.
III For a detailed iconographic study of a particular Japanese version of Amitabha's paradise, see Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis,
The Revival of the Taima Mandala in MedievalJapan (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985).
II2 Abe I990, I.
30

FREQUENTLY
CITED WORKS
ABE, STANLEY K., I990
"Art and Practice in a Fifth-century Chinese Buddhist
Cave Temple." Ars Orientalis 20: I-3I.
MATSUBARA SABURO, I995
Chggoku bukkyo chkokok-shi ron.
Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan.
BERTHIER, FRAN(COIS, I982
"The Meditative Bodhisattva Image in China,
Korea, and Japan." In International Symposium on the
Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties:
Interregional Influences in East Asian Art History. Tokyo:
Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural
Properties.
CHENG JIZHONG, I980
"Hebei Gaochengxian faxian yipi Beiqi shizaoxiang."
Kaogu 3: 242-245.
HSU, EILEEN HSIANG-LING, I999
" The Xiaonanhai Cave-chapel: Images of Deeds
and Aspirations."
Ph.D. diss., Columbia University.
MIZUNO SEIICHI, I968
Chigoku no bukkyo bijutsu. Tokyo: Heibonsha.
PAS, JULIAN F., 1977
"The Kuan-wu-liang-shou fo-ching: Its Origin and
Literary Criticism." In Leslie S. Kawamura and Keith
Scott eds., Buddhist Thought and Asian Civilization.
Emeryville, California: Dharma Publishing.
SAUNDERS, E. DALE, I96o
Mudrd: A Study of Symbolic Gestures in Japanese Buddhist
Sculpture. New York: Pantheon Books.
SIREN, OSVALD, I925
Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century.
London: E. Benn, Ltd.
KIM, INCHANG, 1997
The Future Buddha Maitreya: An Iconological Study.
New Delhi: D.K. Printworld.
LEE, JUNGHEE, I993
"The Origins and Development of the Pensive
Bodhisattva Images of Asia."
Artibus Asia 53, 3/4: 3II-353.
SOOTHILL, WILLIAM EDWARD and
LEWIS HODOUS comps., I987
A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms.
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
TAMURA ENCHO
and HWANG SU-YONG eds., I985
Hanka shiizo no kenkyzi. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan.
LEE YUMIN, I985
"'Banjia siweixiang' zaitan." Gugong xueshu jikan
(National Palace Museum Quarterly) 3: 41-57.
YANG BODA, I96oa
"Dongwei shizaoxiang shang de yifu siwei huaxiang."
Wenwu 7: I8-21, 34.
LEIDY, DENISE PATRY, I990
"The Ssu-wei Figure in Sixth-century A.D.
Chinese Buddhist Sculpture."
Archives of Asian Art 43: 21-37.
YANG BODA, I96ob
"Quyang Xiudesi chutu jinian zaoxiang de yishu
fengge yu tezheng."
Gugong bowuyuan yuankan 2: 43-60.
LI XIJING, I955
"Hebeisheng Quyangxian Xiudesi yizhi fajueji."
Kaogu tongxun 3: 38-44.
LUO FUYI, I955
"Hebei Quyangxian chutu shixiang qingli gongzuo
jianbao." Kaogu tongxun 2: 34-38.
YANG BODA, I985
Uzumoreta Chogoku sekibutsu no kenky7.
Translated by Matsubara Sabur6. Tokyo: Tokyo
Bijutsu.
3I

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32