Final Project: Chinese Buddhist Art” The Spirit of Exchange: Mogo Ku Dunhuang and the Silk Route

  

Named a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, the Magao Ku cave-temples, as religious sanctuaries, contain a treasure trove of ancient Buddhist scrolls and one of the most extensive and exquisite collections of Buddhist painted wall murals, paintings and sculpture in the World.  This paper will focus specifically on a selection of artifacts discovered in Cave 17, known as the world famous Dunhuang Library Cave, just one of the 493 remaining caves at Magao Ku.  Although, the items chosen are distinctly Chinese in style and design, each have elements which Chinese Buddhist artists cannot claim as their own.  These findings provide evidence, that many of the artifacts were directly influenced by the cave-temple’s close proximity to Dunhuang, located directly on the crossroads of the Silk Route.  There is no doubt that the various civilizations that visited Dunhuang and the Magao temple-caves provided artistic inspiration that was incorporated into Chinese Buddhist art. 

Figure One: Modern Exterior Façade of the Silk Mogao temple-caves

The Mogao Ku (Fig.1) is one of five Buddhist cave temples sites located twenty-five kilometers from the oasis town of Dunhuang, in north-western China.  Dunhuang meaning “blazing beac on” (Whitfie ld, Whitfield, and Agnew, 11) which refers to the town’s original function , as a frontier military output of the Chinese empire, by the fourth century, blossomed into a bustling desert crossroads on the Silk Route.  (Fig. 2) Located just before or just after the most arduous stages of the journey, on the caravan routes linking China and the West, traders and travelers, including pilgrims, who undertook the perilous trek stopped at this oasis, which was surrounded not only by desert dunes but also by a large and fertile agricultural district. 

Figure Two: Map showing the northern and southern paths of the Silk Route linking China with the West

Every imaginable luxury passed through Dunhuang along the great trading network of the Silk Route.  Merchant caravans heading west from China carried “silk, furs, ceramics jade and spices; those heading east brought linens, ivory, gems and gold.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 15)  However, material goods were not the only commodity to travel the trade routes: “ideas artistic, styles and religious beliefs were also exchanged between one civilization and another.  Residents of Dunhuang bore witnesses to an ongoing procession of polyglot merchants and pilgrims from the countries of the West.  Thus, “Dunhuang became the comprehensive focus of cultures, particularly during the Tang period, when natives of India, Iran, Tibet and the kingdoms of Central Asia met and mingled there, and chants rose up to the Buddha, Mani, Lord Lao the most High, and Christ.” (Michael Strickmann, )  It is therefore not surprising that the presence of a myriad of cultures visiting Dunhuang had a profound influence on Chinese Buddhist art.  Many traders and travelers would often visit the cave-temples to either pray for safe passage or render thanks for their survival from the perils associated with travel along the treacherous route.  Other visitors “would come to worship or to mediate; to accrue karmic merit by sponsoring a cave, a devolutional painting or the copying of a sacred text or to make offerings such as gems or silk.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 20)

While Taoism was a native creation, Buddhism, in particular the Mahayana doctrine, was dispersed throughout China via the Silk Route and eventually dominated East Asia.  The artifacts discovered in Cave 17 reflect the Mahayana doctrine of Buddhism.  According to the Mahayana or Great Vehicle of salvation, its founder “Gautama Siddharta was only one of many Buddha’s (or Enlightened Ones) existing in both the past and the future; in addition, the other powerful beings were active in helping humanity to achieve salvation.  These are the Bodhisattvas, who had attained enlightenment but held themselves back from ‘nirvana’ and Buddahood out of the pity for the sufferings of all sentient beings.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 12)  The “ordinary believer’shope was not so much to attain ‘nirvana’ through self-cultivation as to achieve rebirth in one of the paradises centered around a particular Buddha or Bohisattva.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 12)  Therefore, although the religion was originally India’s, the painters “seem to have been Chinese members of a corporation (or guild) and though naturally indebted to Indian narrative and iconographic sources, the characteristically Chinese style of the paintings in beyond doubt.” (Michael Strickmann, 62)  Furthermore, the outlandish elements, curiously garbed foreign potentates and highly stylized landscapes, reflect the perennial Chinese taste for erotica.”  However, while the paintings truly embody the technical and stylistic development of Buddhist art in China, the examples chosen from Cave 17 will illustrate that certain elements, within the works, are most definitely foreign providing evidence of exchange of ideas, styles and objects from various civilizations who visited Dunhuang and made the twenty-five kilometer trek to the Mogao temple cave site. 

Figure Three: Pile of ancient scrolls obtained by Sir Mark Aurel Stein from the Library Cave (Cave # 17) in 1907

The Dunhuang Library Cave (Cave # 17) contained as many as “fifty thousand documents in all, the majority of them Buddhist.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 41)  Among these were scrolls of religious writings including original Indian sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, written in Sandskirt (Figure 3).  Such a find confirms that many sutras had been transported to Magao by Indian Buddhist mon or retrieved from India by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, providing evidence of the religious exchange of the Mahayana Buddhist doctrine.  Included in the cache of scrolls and documents dating from “the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-316) to the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127) many deal with branches of the social sciences, natural science such as politics, economy, military affairs, religion, literature, philology and art.” (Shichang, 305)  However, there were also documents in such languages as Tibetan, Uighur and Khotanese, again suggesting exchange between the Chinese monks and foreigners.  It is important to note that Chinese innovations and ingenuity were implemented whenmaking additional copies.  All of the documents were “handwritten with brushes dipped in lustrous black ink on paper – a material unknown in the Western world until the eighth century, when Chinese taken prisoner in a battle with the Arabs passed on their knowledge to artisans in Samarkand, but used in China for almost a thousand years before that.” (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 41)  While storage in a dry dark enclosed cave helped to preserve the documents and sutras, their escape from injury can be credited to Chinese innovation.  Buddhist sutras were almost invariably written on fine yellow paper.  Chinese artisans used “the yellow dye from the Amur oak tree known as “huangbo ’ in China.”  Whitfield, Whitfield and Agnew, 41) Buddhist “considered yellow to be auspicious (it is the color of monk’s robes)  The dye,which was insecticidal and water repellent, protected the precious texts from damage by bookworms and moisture (Whitfield, Whitfield, and Agnew, 111) Catalogued as “Fragment of Christian Figure” (Fig. 4) this silk fragment provides an example of traditional Chinese artistic technique – the initial use of ink to sketch out a particular subject followed by the use of color.  What is evident here is that the Buddhist monks of the temple-caves of Mogao were aware of a Christian presence in Dunhuang.  Nestorian Christianity “had penetrated into China in the seventh century and for a brief period enjoyed the patronage of the T’ang court.” (Lieu, 79)  The silk fragment provides evidence that the figure depicted in this painting is not Chinese.  This nose “is somewhat aquiline and the red moustache and sparse beard are unsual among Dunhuang figures, suggesting that the image portrayed is a foreigner.” (Whitfield and Farrer, 31)

Figure Four: Fragment of Christian Figure Tang Dynasty, 9th century AD; Ink and colors on silk

In actuality, he is of Christian origin as it made clear “by the pectoral cross, the cross worn in the headdress and the cross-patterned collar.” (Whitfield and Farrer, 31)  Whitfield and Farrer argue that “the style of the halo and the drawing of the mouth indicate the presence of Nestorian Christian missionaries in Dunhuang.”  Although we will never know why this painting found its way into the Library Cave, it could be suggested that the presence of a foreign religion in China demanded recording in art form as an important part of Dunhuang’s history.  A further explanation could be that the priest may have possibly visited the temple-caves and his presence was captured in a silk painting. 

The next artifact chosen is titled simply “Bodhisattva” (Fig. 5) and is distinctly Chinese in style. 

Figure Five: Bodhisattva With Glass Bowl Tang Dynasty, late 9th century; Ink and colors on silk

Yet, her clothhing and jewelry are comparable to those worn by Indian Bodhisattvas.  What is particularly unique according to Whitfield and Farrer, is that the large dimpled glass bowl held in the Bodhisattva’s upturned right hand “resembles examples excavated in Iran, which were eventually traded eastwards along the Silk Route and incorporated into the iconography of Buddhist art at Dunahug. (Whitfield and Farrer, 65)

What makes this particular figure of “Avalokitevara (Fig. 6) particularly unique find among the artifacts located in Cave # 17 is that this ink and color on paper has a “Tibetan donor inscription, that seems to come form the period between 781 and 847, when Dunhuang was under Tibetan control.” (Whitfield and Farrer, 31)  Almost invisible, only a single stroke of the donor’s inscription can be seen at the bottom right corner.  While it was common for Buddhist artists to sketch their subject in ink first and then f ill in with color, this work has a number of features that are distinctly Tibetan.  The ‘inclination of the head, the positioning of the feet and the flowing feminine curves of the figure are uniquely Tibetan.”  This work further provides conformation of Tibetan presence in Dunhuang, which was significant to China’s history.

Figure Six: Avalokitesvara: mid to early 9th century AD Ink and colors on paper

It is also important to note that China had invented its own type of paper.  Possibly the paper used in this piece was “made from the inner bark of the mulberry tree and when broken into filters and pounded and matted it was then pressed into a sheet.”

Catalogued as “Bodhisattva Vajrapani” (Fig. 7) this painting on silk is one of 3 works from a closely related series of ten items located in the Library Cave.

Figure Seven: Budhisattva Vajrapani: early 9th century AD. Ink and colors on silk

What is notable about this work is that “it has marked non-Chinese characters which may relate to the art of Khotan,” (Whitfield and Farrer, 31), one of many oasis towns located on the Silk Route.  In this painting the Bodhisattva stands with her feet close together and legs almost straight giving it a stiffness somewhat uncommon to Buddhist art.  Furthermore, the torso is naked.  He wears only a tightly wrapped “dhotis” which is a long piece of cloth tied around the waist and worn by some Indian men.  The “three-pronged tiara is found in figures from the period of Tibetan occupation of Dunhaung” (Whitfield and Farrer, 62) mentioned earlier.  Furthermore, the construction of the banner differs markedly from that of other banners found in Mogao Ku.  The weave of the silk “is close and balanced, whereas the majority are silk of a relatively open weave with paired warped threads.”  According to Whitfield and Farrer, “the strip of silk is also narrower and are hemmed on both edges with a selvedge on the lower end.  Unlike Buddhist made banners, “the figure is at right angles to the original warp rather than in line with it.”  These differences in manufacture suggest that the banner was executed elsewhere and later brought to the Library Cave rather than paintined at Magao.  Confirmation of this can also be evidenced in the Tibetan inscription located under the right tassel of the canopy.  It could also be suggested that unlike Chinese Buddhist artists, who typically used flesh color on their figures body’s, this rendition is painted green, which may confirm its connection to Khotan and its renowned reputation for the production of jade. 

A further innovative technique used by Chinese Buddhist artists, in order to make multiple copies, was the woodblock print which was dipped in or painted with ink and then pressed on paper.  The “Ritual Print with Mahapratisara surrounded by a Dharani in Sanskrit” (Fig. 8) was also located in Cave # 17 and provides evidence of exchange with regard to the Buddhist Mahayana doctrine embraced by many in China but originated in India.  Dated July 24 980 Ad, the disc within the frame of this print is filled by a Sanskrit inscription around the contour of the circle

Figure Eight: Ritual Print with Mahpratisara surrounded by a dharani in Sanskrit. Dated July 24 AD 980; Woodblock print, ink on paper with Sanskrit letter overprinted on the lotus medallions

At its centre “is the eight-armed Bodhisattva Mahapratisara ‘the great accorder of what is sought’, who is an incarnation of Avalokitesvara.” (Whitfield and Farrer, 106)  According to Whitfield and Farrer, “On the two inner sides of the frame, Chinese inscriptions followed transliterations of Sanskirt which name the right attributes held by the Bodhisattva’s hands.” (Whitefield and Farrer, 106) These have been interpreted by Waley “as the pestle, axe, lasso, knife, jewel, wheel, lance and book” (Whitfield and Farrer, 106)  Above the disc, “to the left is the name of the cutter of the wood block, Wang Wenzhao.” (Whitfield and Farrer, 106)  His hope would be that of recognition for this intricate and magnificent work and further commissions to do the like in the future.  To the right, “the name of the donor is named as Li Zhishun” (Whitefield and Farrer, 106)  The “dharani or mystic formula in the centre talks of the great benefits from making a copy of it (a form of merit), which shows clearly the motivation for multiple printing.”  The large cartouche at the bottom of the block print “contains the Chinese text of the ‘dharani’ entitled ‘Da sui qui tuoluoni” (Whitfield and Farrer, 62) which reveals the intermingling of Indian Mahayana Buddhist doctrine with that of Chinese Buddhism interpretation.  Perhaps the inclusion of the original sanskirt text would offer Chinese Buddhists greater merit as both the original and copies made would offer a closer relationship with the origins of Buddhism, that of India. 

The various artifacts selected for analysis from the world famous Dunhuang Library (Cave # 7) illustrate the spirit of exchange that was made possible by travel along the Silk Route.  Its twenty-five kilometer proximity to the oasis town of Dunhuang provided Chinese Buddhist artists with inspiration from foreign ideas, techniques and objects from various civilizations that were then incorporated within their own characteristically Chinese style. 

Bibliography

Lieu, Samuel.  “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast”.  Vigiliae Christianae.  34.1 (1980):  71-88.

Shichang, Ma.  “Buddhist Cave-Temples and the Cao Family at Mogao Ku”.  World Archaeology, 27.2 [Buddhist Archaeology’] (1995): 303-317.

 Strickmann, Michel.  “India in the Chinese Looking Glass.”  In The Silk Route and the Diamond Path:  Esoteric Buddhist Art on the Trans-Hmalayan Trade Routes, 53-63.  Ed by Deborah Klimburg-Salter.  Los Angeles:  UCLA Art Council, 1982.

Whitfield, Roderick and Anne Farrer.  Caves of the Thousand Buddhas:  China Art from the Silk Route.  New York:  George Braziller Inc., 1990.

Whitfield, Roderick, Susan Whitfield and Neville Agnew.  Cave Temples of Mogao:  Art and History on the Silk Road.  Singapore:  CS Graphics, 2002. 

Illustrations

Whitfield, Roderick and Anne Farrer.  Caves of the Thousand Buddhas:  China Art from the Silk Route.  New York:  George Braziller Inc., 1990.

Fig. 2, 11.

Fig. 4, 33.

Fig. 5, 65.

Fig. 6, 73.

Fig. 7, 63.

Fig. 8, 107.

Whitfield, Roderick, Susan Whitfield and Neville Agnew.  Cave Temples of Mogao:  Art and History on the Silk Road.  Singapore:  CS Graphics, 2002. 

Fig. 1, 4.

Fig. 3, 41.

The Afghan Nation, the Mullah and the Parliamentarian: A Free Pass vs. Government

After analyzing the contents of the three articles requited for Blog # 9, I am somewhat confused or perhaps disillusioned.  In the case of the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage of great importance namely the rock sculptures of the Buddha’s of Bamiyan why has neither the Afghan nation nor the perpetrator of this “cultural vandalism” constituting a crime against culture and deemed a war crime has neither the Afghan nation nor the perpetrators been penalized lay both the UN and UNESCO.  The statues belonged to Afghanistan and was located in its territory and belonged to its ancient pre-Islamic past.  The purpose was inspired by the sheer will to eradicate any cultural manifestation of religious or spiritual creativity that did not correspond to the Tablan view of religion and culture.  The demolition of the Buddha was carefully planned, painstakingly announced to the media all over the world and cynically documented in all its phases of preparation bombing and ultimate destruction by the Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.  Despite pressure from the UN, UNESCO and a special envoy to Kabul, the Mullah in an act of narcissistic self-assertion defiantly proceeded with the destruction of the statues.  Just as disturbed is the fact that the “one on the ground in charge of the destruction of the Buddhas” has actually been elected to Parliament.

A further issue I view as disconcert is that the Afghan government has clearly stated that the Bamiyan Buddha’s should not be reconstructed and that only the fragments of the statues be conserved.  I sense that cultural and religious discrimination still prevails.

Finally, UNESCO, ICOMOS and generous donations from the international community are financing the rehabilitation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage.  What financial contributions has the Afghan nation provided towards this vast project for which they are virtually responsible?

NOTE: Internet was down at my house and I could not post this blog on Sunday or Monday and I had to retype this blog and now I’m finally able to post it.

Central Asia: A Disaster in the Making

After digesting the contents of T. Jeremy Gunn’s article, “Shaping an Islamic Rashid’s Identity:  Religion, Islamism and the State in Central Asia”, I have to agree with Ahmad Rashid’s assertion that the five former Soviet Republics of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are almost certain to become the new global battleground.  These essentially tolerant populations, an engaging weave of ethnicities, languages and cultures who, with the exception of its Orthodox Russian population, cling to their self-perception as having an Islamic identity, have been duped.  They embraced their independence, after severity oppressive years of official Soviet atheism, with the promise of democracy.  Instead, they are receiving more of the same.  In their attempt to suppress Islamist threats, governments of these states follow a modified Soviet model of state regulation and control of religion and promoting a new official Islam that is politically supportive of the interests of oppressive and corrupt states.  Islamist fundamentalists are waiting in the wings.  The harsher the clamp downs on Islamist movements, the longer the governments violate human rights and fail to address the mounting economic and social needs of the population, the greater the risk that tolerance will morph into conflicts.  I believe that the analysts are correct in their belief that the most powerful recruiting tool of the Islamists is the actions of the government themselves.  Like the Iranians, these populations will again be duped.  Somewhere in this region, waits a patient a Khomeini-type fanatic and out of desperation these populations will opt for the devil they don’t know – from the fire into the frying pan.

China’s Treasuretrove: The Buddhist Cave-Temples at Mogao Ku, Dunhunag

The world owes a debt of gratitude to a Taoist priest Wang Yuanlu who, in 1900, discovered the world famous Dunhuang Library Cave located within Mogao Ku one of five Buddhist Cave-temple sites in the Dunhuang region of north-western China.  Although the Dunhuang Caves, as they are collectively known, are architecturally historical, the cave-temple site of Mogao Ku is particularly significant because the back caves and their fore-temples, directly connected, took from the fifth to the fourteenth centuries to build Archaeological excavation revealed that the southern district or main port of this cave-temple site famous contained not only the Dunhuang Manuscripts, which initiated in ‘Dunhuangology’, a new branch of knowledge but the largest treasure house of Buddhist art and ancient cultural relics in China.  As a result, Mogao Ku was promulgated as one of the historical monuments and cultural relics under state protection in 1961 and was eventually named a Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.  Further excavation provided evidence that the rationale for these monumental works rested in the sincere devotion in Buddhism and the economic resources of 5 generations of the ruling Cao family.  Finally, it must be noted that this family, over a 122 year period, supported the building of these huge caves with varying uses and the temples at Mogao Ku with their 45 000 m² of murals and more than 2000 painted statues.

The Sogdians: Masters of their Universe. A Commentary on “The Merchant Empire of the Sogdians by Judith A. Lerner

The Sogdians, an Iranian people, whose small city-states occupied the region of Transoxiana (present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikstan) in Central Asia wanted more for its civilization than a meagre subsistence agricultural economy.  Due to their ideal location and a intuitive “savoir faire” they convinced there over loads, whether Hephtalites or Turks, to support their mercantile activities, which promised prosperity for them, its people and Sogdian as well, by making their vast trade network safe.  Its citizens, serving as prime middlemen in the exchange of goods such as textiles and metal ware were also major transmitters of ideas and traditions from one civilization to another – an area that encompassed Late Roman – Early Byzantine and Sasanian Empires to the west, the Russian stepps and Perm region to the north, Bactria and India to its south and China to its east. 

What is particularly gripping is the Sogdians relationship with China.  The Chinese were particularly fascinated by the Sogdians Zoroastrian temples, ritual dancers, acrobats and musicians.  Sogdian products became a source of new artistic ideas and religious imagery for the Chinese metalwork and ceramics.  However what is more amazing is that as traders, the Sogdians were conversant in many languages, enabling them to function as translators.  This ability enabled Sogdian scribes to translate Buddhist texts, thus providing another source of income.  Not only was Zoroastrianism officially recognized by the Chinese but Sogdian scribes worked as high-ranking translators in China’s Imperial Secretariat, proving that these highly intelligent people, utilized their intelligence and skill to not only win foreign allegiance but contribute to the prosperity of their people.

Four Men With A Mission

 In Tansen Sen’s article, “In Search of Longevity and Good Karma:  Chinese Diplomatic Missions to Middle India in the Seventh Century” he gives new meaning to the “power of the faithful.  The fervour for Buddhism, as a powerful motivator, coupled by the personal agendas of four individuals had the power to “move mountains” – China and India.  A Tang Emperor (Taizong) a Buddhist monk (Xuanzang) a diplomatic envoy (Wang Xuance) and an Indian King (Harsha) united by their Buddhist faith, acquired diplomatic relations.

Together in a consolidated effort, yet each with a distinct role opened “channels of movement” via the Silk Routes.  This foursome not only sustained the popularity of Buddhism but ensured a strategic military alliance between two countries, China and India that would ensure peace.  Their efforts enabled cultural and commercial exchange that allowed the accumulation of wealth that promised the endowment of the Ci’en Monastery.  Furthermore, this movement also allowed Buddhist monks to obtain the technology of boiling (“sharkara”) from India but enable Indian Brahaman and their longevity drugs to reach an ailing emperor

While all of the above is amazing, I am more than awed by Wang Xuance’s payment of 4000 bolts of silk to purchase a small parietal bone of the Buddha.

Silk Road: Eurasia’s Gold

Liu Xinru’s article, “Silks and Religious in Eurasia CAD 600-1200” was a fascinating read (without question – a “ten”).  The revelation that the three circles of the silk trade – Sin-Indian, Byzantine and Western European and the Islamic World coincide with the three spheres of religious movements- Buddhism, Christianity and Islam was intriguing.  Also, a new meaning is given to the term “supply and demand” as silk is revealed as a commodity, luxury, religious items and currency from a world history perspective.  To have travelled the silk routes as a trader, teacher, pilgrim or diplomatic envoy must have been a physical feat in itself – a true endurance test.  Yet, the rewards of doing so far outweighed the hardships.  I envision a myriad of men, each with distinct nationalities and religious beliefs crossing paths and thus enabling the exchange of not only silk but cultural and religious customs and beliefs.  The use of high quality silk as a common denominator among the three religious spheres – to adorn protect (cover or pouch) and or store sacred relics and worn as ritual robes by religious clerics – monks, priests and caliphates is not surprising.  However, I am puzzled as to why the Islam World never issued a dress or clothing code as was done in China the Bazantium and Western Europe.  Fancy silk, especially silk dyed purple with murex and gold embroidered silk was solely relegated to elite members of the bureaucratic and ecclesiastical hierarchy.  In contrast, all Muslims were allowed to wear silk as it was never associated with statues.  Could it be that Islam viewed all men to be created equal?