Amitābha Buddha, AD 585
Sui dynasty (AD 581-618)
Hebei province, north China
Marble
This figure represents Amitābha Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. According to the inscription on the base, it was dedicated to the Chongguang Temple 崇光寺 in Hancui village 韓崔村 in AD585. Both the temple and the village can no longer be identified, but it is thought that the location was south-west of Baoding 保定 in Hebei province, a region known for its white marble sculptures.
Buddhism was slowly introduced into China from first century AD and was widespread during the period of division from second to sixth century AD. After achieving the reunification of much of China by AD 581, the two emperors of the Sui dynasty (AD 581-618), both devout Buddhists, made Buddhism a state religion. Amitābha, literally meaning boundless light in Sanskrit, is the principal Buddha of the Pure Land sect 淨土宗 popular in China in the sixth to seventh centuries.
Almost 8m high, this statue is comparable in size with figures carved in the rock at the Buddhist cave temples of central China from the 5th-7th centuries. During this period, Chinese Buddhist sculpture underwent a transition in style. The earliest stylised images gave way to a greater naturalism, characterised with anatomically credible bodies, probably influenced by the art of Gupta India.
The hands of the statue are missing but the right hand would have been raised, palm outwards in the gesture of fearlessness (abhaya mudrā), and the left hand lowered in the gesture of wish-granting (varada mudrā).
A joint and a polished work surface at the waist show that the statue was carved in two separate parts.
Traces of pigments on more than one location on the surface suggest that the statue was once covered with gilding and colours.
Buddhist figures often sit or stand on a lotus. Lotuses, as symbols of purity, enlightenment and divine birth, are an important image in Buddhist art.
This statue was originally flanked by two smaller figures of bodhisattvas (enlightening beings).*
Taken in British Museum
