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Theatrical Figures in the Mural Paintings of Kucha 1 THEATRICAL FIGURES IN THE MURAL PAINTINGS OF KUCHA ROBERT ARLT AND SATOMI HIYAMA 1. Repetitive Presence of a Pair of Male Figures in Kuchean Paintings Careful observation of the wall paintings of the Kucha region led us to notice that a pair of male figures with specific appearances is repeatedly illustrated in various narrative scenes. One of them is a young man characterized by his unique hairstyle: a shaven head with several (mostly three) hair tufts atop. He wears a long and broad shawl, which is hanging directly from the back of his head, and a loincloth, leaving his upper body naked. He is decorated with large round earrings, as well as a necklace, armbands, and a bejewelled garland. His skin tone is often rendered darker than that of other figures. The other half of this pair, in contrast, is an old man, whose face bears a lot of wrinkles. This figure wears a bandana-like headdress or tied cloth, which may be best described as a turban. His clothing consists of a round-necked shirt (which sometimes looks like a caftan) and trousers, covering all of his body. He often wears an additional robe covering a part of his shirt and pants as well. Table 1 gives an overview of the mural paintings in which these figures can be observed with certainty. It draws on Grünwedel’s records, historical photographs taken by the German expeditions, modern photographs taken at the site and in art-collections outside China featuring mural paintings from Kucha. As the table shows, these figures most frequently appear in sermon scenes with the Buddha preaching. The Buddha delivering a sermon is the most popular pictorial subject in Kucha; at least 71 of the more than 600 Buddhist caves of the Kucha region are decorated with paintings of the Buddha giving a sermon. Among them, at least 10 caves display this pair of figures. JournaloftheInternationalAssociationofBuddhistStudies Volume 38 ӝ 2015 ӝ 313–348 ӝ doi: 10.2143/JIABS.38.0.3134546 314 ROBERT ARLT & SATOMI HIYAMA In Kizil, Cave 114 (Gebetsmühlenhöhle), Cave 175 (Versuchungs- höhle/Japanerhöhle), Cave 178 (Hochliegende Höhle), and Cave 224 (Māyā höhle 3. Anlage), these figures can be found in more than one scene. In Kizil Cave 80 (Höhle mit dem Höllentopf), Cave 188 (Zwölf Buddha-Höhle), Cave 189, Cave 206 (Fußwaschungshöhle), Cave 219 (Ajāta śatru höhle), and Simsim Cave 42 (Höhle mit dem Tierfries), they can be found at least once. The mural paintings of the Buddhist caves in Kucha are generally in a damaged condition and it is likely that there would originally have been more representations of these figures. As for the appearance of these figures, small differences can be observed. Writing in 1912, Grünwedel described a figure from a sermon scene on the right hand wall of Kizil Cave 80 in the following words: “… in der zweiten Reihe ein Schwertträger mit glatt anliegender, mit Nagelköpfen verzierter Helmkappe,”1 and also made a drawing of this figure (fig. 1). He noticed that a figure with the same appearance repeatedly appears in Kizil Cave 114 (fig. 2).2 Grünwedel regarded this figure as wearing a flat cap covering the whole head, which is decorated with pointed humps or tufts. Waldschmidt cited this observation of Grünwedel and assumed that this head dress may be depicting a net cap (Netzkappe), worn on a shaven head with several hair tufts.3 In fact, in these two caves and also in one of the sermon scenes of Kizil Cave 175 (fig. 3), the head of this figure is shown with a grid pattern or a zigzag pattern, as if his head is covered with a patterned fine textile. However, these are fairly rare cases. In representations in other caves, a grid- or zigzag-pattern on the head of this figure cannot be seen; rather the figure seems to wear the hair tufts directly on his shaven head (figs. 4–11). Often the hair tufts are not clearly visible because of the already men- tioned damaged condition of murals, so that this figure can be confused with a monk at first glance; nevertheless, he can definitely be distinguished from a monk by his accessories and the shawl hanging from the back of his head. 1 Grünwedel 1912: 98, fig. 219. 2 Grünwedel 1912: 113 “dunkelfarbiger Mann mit blauer Kappe, glatten Ohrringen wie in H. d. ‘Höllentopfs’ (fig. 219), hält einen Schirm.” 3 Waldschmidt 1933: 41. Waldschmidt regarded this characteristic hair style as the sign of a servant in his description of the mural paintings of Kizil Cave 114. THEATRICAL FIGURES IN THE MURAL PAINTINGS OF KUCHA 315 Concerning the appearance of the old male figure wearing a turban,4 the painters seem to have been flexible regarding the colour of his clothes and his skin tone. Sometimes he has a white skin, sometimes it is brown or blue. His turban is mostly white in colour (figs. 2, 4, 7, 9, 13), but in Kizil Cave 178 and Cave 189 the turban is given a light green colour (figs. 5, 6). Remarkably, with very few exceptions, these two figures hold specific objects, which can be exchanged between the two. As Table 1 shows, each of them holds one of the following objects: a sword, a parasol, a striped fan,5 a flower tray, or a water flask. They never hold the same object in a single scene. In the case of Kizil Cave 178, there are sometimes male and female figures in addition to this pair, who also hold one of the above mentioned objects (fig. 5). Among these objects, the sword, parasol, and fan belong to the royal insignia, which makes sense if one considers the narrative scenes in which these figures typically occur. Most frequently they are found in paintings featuring the Buddha giving a sermon. As far as the scenes have be identified, the two figures appear four times in illustrations of the story concerning the worship of 4 Grünwedel also remarked the presence of a “beturbanter, alter Mann” or “dunkel- blauer, bärtiger Mann mit Turban, mager,” which repeatedly appears in Kizil Cave 114 (Grünwedel 1912: 113). Sometimes he described the same type of figure in other caves as an aged female figure (for examples see Grünwedel 1920: II 63, 65). In fact, the gar- ment of this figure with a round neckline looks similar to general garments of female figures in Kuchean paintings. Although female figures wearing a turban are known from Indian Art (see Lüders et al. 1963: 101), a representation in Kizil Cave 188 clearly shows that we are dealing with a male figure, since in this case the old man is bearded (fig. 4). In the Kuchean paintings, the old male figure seems to be the only figure type represented with this specific kind of turban. 5 In his work in 1920, Grünwedel explained this object depicted in a sermon scene of Kizil Cave 178 as follows: “hinter die L. Schulter der knienden Figur ist eine gestreifte, dütenförmige Manschette gesteckt.” He related it to the decoration frequently found on skull masks in Tibet and demonic figures in the art of Sri Lanka. Based on this analogy, he regarded this object as the sign of a criminal, who is condemned to the death penalty (Grünwedel 1920: II 63, Tafel 24–5, fig. 2). In fact, however, this object is not attached to the shoulder of this kneeling figure. Careful observation enables us to notice that this figure holds the handle of this object. Waldschmidt, on the other hand, explained this object represented in Kizil Cave 114 as a fan consisting of overlapping peacock feathers (Le Coq/Waldschmidt 1933: 41). 316 ROBERT ARLT & SATOMI HIYAMA the Buddha by King Prasenajit (fig. 7),6 three times in illustrations of the story about the miraculous performance by Urubilvā-Kāśyapa in Rājagṛha (fig. 3),7 and one time in an illustration of the Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra8 (fig. 2). All of these are popular narrative subjects among the sermon scenes in Kucha and are repeatedly illustrated in numerous caves. The two figures are sometimes shown standing behind the royal couple9 side by side, while sometimes the young man with the hair tufts is sitting in front of the king’s throne and the old man with the turban standing behind the royal couple. It should, however, be noted that the two figures are not always present in these representations. The scenes in which they occur have a common characteristic: they all feature kings. King Prasenajit showed his adoration to the Buddha by kissing his feet; King Bimbisāra became the first royal supporter of the Buddha and his saṅgha after having seen Urubilvā-Kāśyapa’s miraculous performance; King Ajātaśatru visited the Buddha in Jīvaka’s grove on a full moon night and worshiped him. Even in unidentified sermon scenes showing these two figures, a king or queen is always present. This observation can also be extended to representations of other nar- rative genres. In Kizil Cave 83 (Schatzhöhle C), these two figures appear 6 For the identification of this narrative subject and the list of representations see Arlt/ Hiyama 2013: 16–21. 7 For the identification of this narrative subject see Waldschmidt 1930; Le Coq and Waldschmidt 1933: 40–41; Mori 2001 (including the list of representations). In the rep- resentation of Kizil Cave 178 (Grünwedel 1920: pls. XXIV–XXV, fig. 1), the old figure with the turban is absent. 8 For the identification of this narrative subject and the list of representations see Hamada 2003. In fact, in all the representations of this story, a small Brahmin figure is illustrated in front of the king’s throne (for example see KizilGrottoes, vol.
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