Visual Images ofVimalakïrti in the Mogao Caves (581-1036) Fan Lin Department of East Asian Studies McGill University Montreal, Canada February, 2006 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts Universal Copyright © 2006 Fan Lin Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24891-1 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24891-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iii Abstrait ......................................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. vii Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Sources and Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 4 The Vimalakïrti-nirdesa Sütra ................................................................................................................... 5 Background Information on Bian ~, Bianxiang ~f§, and Bianwen ~3t ............................................... 8 Past Scholarship ....................................................................................................................................... Il Main Chapters .......................................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1 Pre-Sui Representations of Vimalakirti ................................................................................. 23 The Representation ofVimalakrrti in South China .................................................................................. 24 The Representation ofVimalakïrti in North China .................................................................................. 35 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 2 Dunhuang Representations ofVimalakirti (581-1036) .......................................................... 44 Sui-Tang Representations ofVimalakIrti ................................................................................................ 44 Dunhuang Representations ofVimalakIrti (581-1036) ............................................................................ 50 Sui Dynasty (581-618) ........................................................................................................................ 51 Early Tang (618-704) and High Tang (705-80) .................................................................................. 54 Tibetan Occupation (777-848) ............................................................................................................ 59 Under the Govemance of the Guiyijun (848-1036) ............................................................................. 61 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3 The Vimalakirti Murais from a Sociohistorical Perspective ................................................ 66 The Ritual Function of the Vimalakrrti-nirdeSa Sütra ............................................................................. 66 The Production of the Wall Paintings ...................................................................................................... 68 Vimalakïrti Wall Paintings in the Pray ers ............................................................................................... 69 Ritual and Caves ...................................................................................................................................... 77 The Buddhist Cave as a Showcase for Political Purposes ....................................................................... 80 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 81 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 83 - 1 - Appendices .................................................................................................................................................. 85 Appendix 1: Chapters of the Vimalakïrti-nirdda Sütra .......................................................................... 85 Appendix 2: Translations of the Vimalakïrti-nirdesa Sütra ..................................................................... 86 Appendix 3: Northem Representations of the Vimalakïrti-nirdda Sütra in Sculpture ........................... 87 Appendix 4: Dunhuang Caves Containing the Vimalakïrti bianxiang .................................................... 89 Appendix 5: Table of Caves with Their Corresponding Inscriptions ...................................................... 90 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 91 Figures ......................................................................................................................................................... 99 - 11 - Abstract This thesis examines the visual images of Vimalaklrti, an ancient 1ndian lay Buddhist, painted on the walls of the Buddhist cave complex at Dunhuang, Gansu province, between 581 and 1036. The sixty-nine Vimalaklrti paintings preserved at Dunhuang are a valuable source for the exploration of historical, religious, and artistic dimensions of wall paintings and sütras. These visual images, together with other textual sources such as sütras, commentaries, and inscriptions, suggest a variety of interesting questions: Why was this theme repeatedly represented? Do the images aIl have the same prototype? ls there a spiritual function contained in the layout of the caves and composition of the wall paintings? Did the meaning of these images change according to historical context? Did the patrons have a political scheme in mind when commissioning these devotional artworks? While it is difficult to provide definitive answers to aIl these questions, this thesis will attempt to c1arifY them and offer preliminary answers on the basis of available visual and textual sources. The introduction of this thesis inc1udes an overview of basic concepts related to wall paintings, a short history of the transmission of the Vimalakïrti-nirdda Sütra, and a review of past scholarship on Vimalaklrti paintings and related subjects. The body of the thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter de scribes the important visual representations of Vimalaklrti before the Sui dynasty. The second chapter of the thesis will