Research On The Origin And Evolution Of The Statues Of (?)yāmaka Jatāka And Milinda Jatāka

Jatāka is a kind of Buddhist story,which mainly tells about the practice of Buddha in his previous life.There are two existing Jatāka statues with the theme of filial piety in Gandhara—(?)yāmaka Jatāka and Milinda Jatāka.The results of these two Jatāka statues were quite different after they were introduced to China.Jatāka statues were created in the Gandhara region of the Kushan Empire,and entered China with the spread of Buddhism.There are three ways for it to spread eastward to China.The political influence of the Kushan Empire is the fundamental way,commercial trade is an important way,and the Kushan monks come to China is the direct way.The Indian style of the statues of (?)yāmaka Jatāka in Gandhara is obvious,and the statues of Milinda Jatāka have the characteristics of Greek art,but they all have a tendency to be realistic,adopt a horizontal and long composition,and form a fixed expression mode for some plots.These three points are relevant to Chinese grottoes.The creation of statues had an impact.Buddhism and its art were first introduced to the Western Regions of China.There are statues of (?)yāmaka Jatāka and Milinda Jatāka in the Kucha Grottoes in this area,forming a Westernization model based on the characteristics of Gandhara art.The statues of Milinda Jatāka were not introduced to the Central Plains,and the statues of (?)yāmaka Jatāka first appeared in the Yungang Grottoes.On the basis of inheriting the artistic style of Gandhara and the Western Regions,the statues of(?)yāmaka Jatāka in the Yungang Grottoes began to show the characteristics of the Central Plains.During this period,the characteristics of the Central Plains of the (?)yāmaka Jatāka statues in the Maijishan Grottoes were further strengthened,and the Dunhuang Grotto statues from the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the early Sui Dynasty completely realized the transformation of the Central Plains style.(?)yāmaka Jatāka statues are widely spread in the Central Plains.Because the filial piety thought bridged the contradiction between Buddhism and Confucianism,the filial piety thought embodied in it was gradually strengthened in the development process,and finally transformed from Buddhist Jatāka to the Confucian "Twenty-Four Filial Piety" story.Milinda Jatāka also embodies the thought of filial piety,but because of its commercial color,it cannot adapt to the Chinese feudal society that promotes the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business.Therefore,the statue of Milinda Jatāka only appeared in the grottoes of the Western Regions during the process of spreading eastward,and was not spread.to the Central Plains.