Reshaping the Jātaka Stories: from Jātakas to Avadānas and Praṇidhānas in Paintings at Kucha and Turfan

BSRV 29.1 (2012) 57–83 Buddhist Studies Review ISSN (print) 0256-2897 doi: 10.1558/bsrv.v29i1.57 Buddhist Studies Review ISSN (online) 1747-9681 Reshaping the Jātaka Stories: from Jātakas to Avadānas and Praṇidhānas in Paintings at Kucha and Turfan TIANSHU ZHU UNIVERSITY OF MACAO [email protected] ABS T RAC T Kucha was the major Buddhist center on the Northern Route of the Silk Road, and well known for being dominated by the Sarvāstivāda school for most of its history. Replacing the jātaka story, the avadāna story (story of causation) became the major theme depicted on the ceiling of the central- pillar caves in this area (fifth–seventh centuries). Turfan is another impor- tant cultural center in Central Asia where Buddhism once flourished. The praṇidhāna (or ‘vow’) painting, which was based on the Bhaiṣajyavastu, a vinaya text of the Mulasarvāstivāda school, was a unique subject normally appearing on the walls of Buddhist caves in Turfan (ninth–twelfth centuries). Both the avadāna and praṇidhāna stories are derived from jātaka stories, with significant shifts of focus, as well as of the format of the narrative. In this paper, through studying the avadāna and vow paintings at Kucha and Turfan, and comparing them with jātakas in early Buddhist art, I attempt to show how jātaka stories were transformed for different doctri- nal messages of Buddhist teaching in some late ‘Hīnayāna’ schools, namely Sarvāstivāda and Mulasarvāstivāda, and how the visual representations mirror the narrative styles in Buddhist texts. Key words jātaka stories, avadāna, praṇidhāna, Kucha, Turfan, Buddhist art Śākyamuni’s actions, especially as portrayed in stories of his previous incarnations as a bodhisattva, serve as guides and inspirations for Buddhist followers, as they exemplify the path of becoming a Buddha. With various emphases, these birth stories, or jātakas, were selected and compiled into various kinds of texts in Buddhist history, and some of these stories were visually represented in Buddhist © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2012, Unit S3, Kelham House, 3 Lancaster Street, Sheffield S3 8AF 58 Tianshu Zhu temples and caves. Accordingly in Buddhist art, jātaka stories in different con- texts may appear in formats that are quite different from each other. This study examines three types of distinctive iconographies of the Buddha’s birth stories in Chinese Buddhist art: the jātaka and avadāna (cause and effect) paintings on the ceiling vaults in the Kizil central-pillar caves at Kucha (fifth-seventh centuries), and the praṇidhāna (vow) paintings on the side walls from the Bezeklik caves in Turfan (ninth-twelfth centuries). These different types of representations of Śākyamuni’s previous incarnations reveal how jātaka stories were transformed to illustrate different messages of Buddhist teaching in different times and places. More precisely, in this study I discuss: in terms of subject matter, how different types of stories were chosen in these paintings, and in terms of style, how the visual representations may mirror the narrative styles of Buddhist texts. FROM JĀTAKAS TO AVADĀNAS AT KUCHA Kucha was a major Buddhist center on the northern route of the Silk Road, now in Xinjiang Province, China. The well-known Kizil cave site is the most typical Buddhist cave at Kucha. With over three hundred caves, Kizil is the earliest and is also one of the largest Buddhist cave sites in Central Asia. It is especially known for its lavish wall paintings, many of which are still extant and vibrant. The dating of the Kizil caves is still a controversial matter. Nonetheless, based on radio- carbon tests, epigraphic information from the caves, comprehensive typological study by archaeologists, and comparison with cave paintings at Dunhuang, it can at least be said with certainty that the Kizil site was active from the fifth to the seventh centuries.1 The site consists of a variety of different types of caves with different func- tions: central-pillar caves extensively decorated with paintings as worship halls; square caves, most of which are not painted, which may have served as lecture halls; residential caves that are never painted, and the plain small meditation caves that are hidden in isolated areas slightly distant from all the other caves. Paintings in the central-pillar caves at Kizil are highly repetitive, and for centuries before the decline of the site, they demonstrate a fairly consistent icono- graphic program, in which the vaulted ceiling in the main hall (see Figure 1) is covered with stylized mountains whose peaks form diamond-shaped patterns. Usually, one diamond-shaped cell contains one story, and two types of paintings appear in the mountain patterns on the ceiling. One type features narrative depictions; while the other type features a Buddha figure seated in the center. (I will call them ‘narrative scene’ and ‘seated Buddha scene’ respectively hereafter.) For the subjects that have been identified, the former are jātakas, and the latter are mostly avadānas and occasionally parables (Ma 1996, 174–226; Yao 1987–1988, 65–74, 19–25, 18–21). 1. For early dating by German scholars, see Grünwedel 1912, 5–6, 42–43; Le Coq et al. 1923–1933, vol 3: 21–23, vol 7: 27–29. For different chronologies by Chinese archaeologists, see Su 1989, 10–23; Li 2003, 148–176; Vignato 2004, 74–80. For detailed discussion of Kizil dating problems in English, see Nagai 1977, 39–49; Howard 1991, 68–83; Lesbre 2001, 346–348. © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2012 Reshaping the Jātaka Stories 59 Figure 1. Diagram of the Kizil central-pillar cave. Author’s drawing. Jātakas According to the most recent survey, there are sixty central-pillar caves at Kizil, seventeen of which either have no vaulted ceiling in the main hall or are severely damaged.2 Among a total of the forty-three central-pillar caves with vaulted ceilings, narrative scenes are found in seven,3 and seated Buddha scenes are in twenty-seven (Vignato 2004, 16).4 Two caves, Kizil Caves 38 and 91, have rows of narrative and seated Buddha scenes alternating one next to each other (Figure 2). Chinese archaeologists have found that, on the whole, the dates of paintings of the narrative scenes are earlier than the seated Buddha scenes and parables (Su 1989, 10–23; Vignato 2004, 16–21). Overall, in the central-pillar caves at Kizil, avadānas seem to be the main themes depicted on the ceilings, though jātakas often appear in the early phase and are occasionally mixed with parables. The narrative scenes are relatively easy to identify, and their subjects have been recognized as jātakas by German scholars at the beginning of the last century. So far, out of about 440 paintings of over 130 narratives, at least 72 subjects (of 340 paintings) have been identified (Qiuci Shiku Yanjiusuo 1993, 36). The representation of a story is usually simplified to only one or two key episodes. For example, as shown in Figure 3, in the story of the monkey king (Mahākapi Jātaka) in Kizil Cave 38, a very large monkey is depicted in the center, stretching his body and holding a tree on the other side of a river. Two other smaller monkeys are stepping on his body to cross the river. In the foreground, a kneeling archer is shooting at them. In Kizil Cave 17 (Figure 4) this story is represented 2. The seventeen caves are 20a, 23, 27, 43, 125, 126, 136, 160, 174, 178, 181, 186, 193, 197, 201, 206, and 208. 3. They are Kizil Caves 7, 13, 17, 69(2), 114, 178 and 198 (2). 4. They are caves 8, 32, 24(2), 58, 63, 80(2), 87, 101, 104, 155, 159, 163, 171, 172(2), 176, 179, 184, 186, 192, 193, 195, 196, 199, 205, 206, 219, and 224. © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2012 60 Tianshu Zhu Figure 2. Jātakas and avadānas on the ceiling vault of Kizil Cave 38, Kucha, China. Fifth to seventh centuries. Wall painting. After Xinjiang Weiwu’er Zizhiqu wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 新疆维吾尔自治区文物管理委員会, Baicheng xian Kezi’er Qianfodong wenwu baoguansuo 拜城県克孜尔千佛洞文物保管所, and Beijing daxue Kaoguxi 北京大学考古系 eds. 1989. Zhongguo shiku – Kizil shiku中国石窟–克孜尔石窟 ( Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe) vol. I, fig. 115. even more simply, with the archer omitted. However the stretching monkey, the river, and the trees are enough for anyone who knows the story to recognize it: Once, the Buddha was a king of eighty thousand monkeys living in a famous mango tree bearing extremely delicious fruits. In order to escape attack from a human king and his army who had come to find the mango tree, the monkey king stretched his body between two trees just like a bridge for other monkeys to use to cross the river. The last monkey to cross was the Buddha’s evil cousin, Devadatta. He stomped on and broke the back of the monkey king, who then fell down. Witnessing his altruistic behavior, the humans saved the monkey king, who then taught the human king the virtue of self-sacrifice. This jātaka also appeared in early Indian Buddhist art, on the vedikā (railing) of Bhārhut, dated to 100–80 BCE and on the toraṇa (gate) at Sāñcī Stūpa I (Figure 5) of the first century CE. In these early representations, a number of episodes of the story are represented within a roundel or square space in continuous narrative, including the mango fruit floating in the river, the human king and his entourage, catching the falling monkey, and the conversation between the two © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2012 Reshaping the Jātaka Stories 61 Figure 3. Mahākapi Jātaka. Kizil Cave 38, Kucha, China. Author’s drawing of wall painting. Figure 4.

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