Investigation And Research On The Early Maijishan Cave Temples

The Maijishan Cave-temples are one of the most famous cave temples in China.With the Mogao in Dunhuang,the Yungang in Datong,and the Longmen in Luoyang,they are considered to be the four most important cave temples in China.They playedan important role in the development of Chinese cave temples and the history ofBuddhist art.Today there are 221 numbered caves at Maijishan,preserving 7800 statuesand 1000 square meters of murals,dating from the Northern Dynasties to the Qing.Maijishan is especially famous for its statues from the Northern Dynasties,and hasbeen praised as"a gallery of oriental sculptures".According to literary evidence and modern scholarship,the MaijishanCave-temples were first cut in the Later Qin of the Sixteen Dynasties.In the GaosengZhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks) by Huijiao in the eighteenth year of theTianjian reign of the Liang Dynasty (519 AD),a record in the Xuangao Zhuan (TheBiography of Xuangao) mentions the practice of Buddhist meditation at Maijishan inthe fifth century.The inscriptions on the cliff beside the stair between Caves 3 and 4dated to the second year of Shaoxing reign of the Southern Song (1132),the stele ofSichuan zhizhi shisi jitian gongju of the Southern Song,the Fangyu lansheng by Zhumuin the Southern Song,and the stele of Maijishan kaichu changzhu diliang of the Mingdynasty all state that the Maijishan Cave-temples were first constructed in the Later Qin.Except for the literary record in the Gaoseng zhuan regarding the Later Qin monkXuangao,all other records are dated from the Song or later,but these records areunlikely to have been mere fabrications,and were certainly based on evidence that maysubsequently have been lost.It is thus possible that there had been Buddhist activitiesand cave-temple construction in Maijishan during Yaoxing's time in the Later Qin.However,whether the caves of the Later Qin still exist or not is still a focus of scholarlydebate.One of the two theories on dating the earliest caves (Cave 74,78,90,51,and165) suggests that they date to the Later Qin or Northern Wei.Dating the earliest cavesextant is one of the main points of this dissertation.At Maijishan,there are approximately thirty caves in which the statues and muralscan be dated to the early and mid periods of the Northern Wei Dynasty.I follow theJapanese scholars Higashiyama Kengo and Kuno Miki and categorize these caves as"Maijishan caves of the early stage".In these caves the artistic expression employed toconstruct these caves were incompletely Sinicized or were from an immature stage ofthe process of Sinicization,and thus preserve a great number of foreign artistic forms.These caves can be generally grouped into three sets,dating from the revival ofBuddhism in Emperor Wencheng's time to the Jingming reign of the Emperor Xuanwuof the Northern Wei,i.e.the mid-fifth to the beginning of the sixth century.These cavesplayed a significant role in the development of the Maijishan Cave-temples.There is amajor difficulty in dating the first set of caves (including Caves 74 and 78),and thereare two theories:the Later Qin and the Northern Wei.The main task of this dissertationis to propose a dating based on my own investigations.The second set of caves was constructed during the Taihe reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei,andshows a close relationship with the Yungang Cave-temples.They also inherited theformal design,mural arrangement,and iconographic subjects from the first set of thecaves at Maijishan.The third set of the caves was constructed during the period fromthe transfer of the Northern Wei capital to Luoyang until the Jingming reign.Thesecaves were influenced by artistic styles from the Southern dynasties and from theLongmen Cave-temples.They are at the latest stage of the development,not onlyinheriting the early style but also showing new factors.My investigation into thesecaves is part of the research on dating the caves at Maijishan and also forms animportant part of this thesis.These three sets of caves represent three stages of Maijishan's development,whichshow a dear process of inheritance and transformation.The scale of the caves graduallybecame smaller,the mural arrangement became more complex,from no niche in thewalls to two or three niches in three walls,or several niches in a wall.The iconographiccombination of the statues also became increasingly sophisticated,evolving from threemain Buddha images or a Buddha with two attendants to three Buddhas accompaniedby Thousand Buddhas or to double seated Buddhas.The rendering of the Buddhas'bodies evolved from a well-built to a more elegant and slender style,showing a gradualtransition towards a more Sinicized style,Finally,by the sixth century,the older styleswere replaced by the newer.In the caves of the early stage at Maijishan,the iconography (such as TripleBuddhas,Maitreya,Sakyamuni and Prabhutaratna seated together,and ThousandBuddhas) reflects their importance as subject-matters for meditation practice.Moreover,the meditation mudra in the Buddha statues is also a feature of the meditation practice.This thesis puts special emphasis on studying these iconographies.The early caves at Maijishan were dearly influenced by the so-called"Yungangmodel"from the Northern Wei capital.Meanwhile,they also incorporated certainelements of the Gandharan art in style and decorative detail.The second stage of theearly caves began to receive influence from the Southern Dynasties.This dissertationalso includes a detailed analysis of the relationship between the early caves atMaijishan and those in other areas.