Study Of The Origins And Related Issues Of The Buddha, Tao Statues

Steles with religious images of Buddhism and Taoism were erected widely in the north of China in the 5th and 6th century as a special form of religion worship. These steles have just been considered religious stone carvings for centuries. This article deeply discusses the origin and characters of steles with the images of Buddhism and Taoism for the first time, and reaches the conclusion that these steles were mainly derived from the stupa-shaped column in central grotto while were also influenced by Chinese traditional steles and temples. The steles with images of Buddhism and Taoism, which appeared in the shape of traditional Chinese stele and cube early or late since the 4th century, were considered a form of religious worship as the temple and grotto for common class. Through the analysis and the discussion, this article establishes the basic theory of steles with religious images of Buddhism and Taoism, including the name, the classification and so on. Additionally, the author tries to explore the problems such as the mutuality of Buddhism and Taoism, the development of TianShi Section of Taoism, the style of the steles according to the new theory.