Nanzhao Dali Guanyin Statues Research

Nan Zhao and Da Li,the local governments in Yunnan during Tang Dyansty and Song Dynasty in Midland,have a history of more than 500 years(738 AD—1253 AD).For the deep-seated Buddhistic background,these two countries have been known as 'Buddhist Qilu','Old Kingdom of Ganhalaraj' and 'Buddhist Country'.The belief in Kwan Yin has played a very important role as one of the remarkable characteristics of Buddhism in Yunnan.In this dissertation the statues of Kwan Yin in Nan Zhao and Da Li are taken as important samples to explore the spread and development of Kwan Yin statues as well as the related iconographic arts and to probe the causes of their developments and cultural implication.Nan Zhao and Da Li were located on the south-west frontiers of China, however,they were at the crossroads of Asian culture.Thus they had unique geographic advantage leading everywhere,and their Buddhist arts were deeply associated and blended with those of the central plains of China, India,Tibet,Sichuan,South-east Asia and etc.The dissertation begins with the statue of 'State-building Monk' in Yunnan which was miraculously transformed from Kwan Yin and copes with its different situations in royal family and farming communities.Then the Kwan Yin statues in Yunnan are put into the different cultural background of South-east Asia and the central plains of China,especially Sichuan,to reveal the iconographic feature and pattern origin of 'Acuoye Kwan Yin' known as the Buddhistic symbol in Yunnan,their association with South-east Asia,the causes of popularity,and the relationship with royal family.Meanwhile the statue of 'Acuoye Kwan Yin' is inspected again in the point of view of the belief of Kwan Yin Buddha king;the statue of 'Yizhang Kwan Yin' in the Chongsheng Temple—the Taoist rites for the use of emperor,the abhisheka according to the written scriptures in Da Li,and the statues of kings in the grotto of Shizhong Mountain are proposed as the evidence and constitutive elements of the belief in Kwan Yin Buddha king in Nan Zhao and Da Li;with the clue of the impact of Dashengci Temple in Chengdu,the characteristic of Han system reflected in Kwan Yin statues in Yunnan is followed closely under the environment in which Nan Zhao and Da Li repeatedly desired to set up peaceful relationships;and the significant role played by the Gaos,the premier in power then,is also the core concern of this dissertation.In the light of the scattered and incomplete researching data and documents of Buddhist arts in Nan Zhao and Da Li,Graphic Biography of Nan Zhao,Roll of India Monks by Zhang Shengwen,and the statues in Shizhong Mountain in Jianchuan are corroborated mutually throughout this dissertation.