A Study Of Images Of The Twenty Heavens Of Chinese Buddhism

As the iconography of the Twenty Heavenly Deities in Chinese Buddhist art is somewhat complicated,this paper studied the images of their integral combinations and the images of each individual.According to Buddhist literature,a relatively complete combination of heavenly deities emerged towards the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties,and later in the Southern Song Dynasty,the “Twenty Heavenly Deities” gradually took its form.The Twenty Heavenly Deities are Brahma,Sakra,Vaisravana,Dhritarastra,Vidradhaka,Virapaksa,Guhyapada,Mahe?vara,Pā?cika,Sarasvatī,Lak?mī,Skanda,Prithvi,Pippala,Hariti,Marīci,Sūrya,Candra,Sagara-nagaraja,and Yamaraja.These deities are not originated within Buddhism,but almost all adopted from outside(other religions and folk beliefs,especially Hinduism).The existing iconography of these deities is mainly found in Beijing,Shanxi,Sichuan,Gansu and Xinjiang etc.with different patterns of manifestation and different combinations,owing to the difference in time and region.The fact is,even before the final formation of the Twenty Heavenly Deities,the rudiments of the combination had emerged,which could be found on the reliefs in Bharhut,India and in the Chinese Buddhist relics of the Sixteen Kingdoms-the Northern and Southern Dynasties.The author combed through the literatures for each individual of the twenty deities to make a fundamental study,as tracing back to see the origin of each deity is the key to understanding each one’s attributes and explaining the iconography.The studies on the Hindu origin of these twenty deities referred mainly to Hindu mythology and the existing Hindu images.A main part of this dissertation is the iconography evolution of the Twenty Deities in China.The author tried to create a primary pedigree for each deity according to all kinds of images from Chinese Buddhist relics from different periods.Meanwhile,the author investigated into some particular cases when analyzing each deity,these cases including: the Combinations of Brahma and Sakra in the Sixteen Kingdoms-Northern Dynasties,the Cause of the Diverse Mahe?vara,Scanda and General Weitian,the Chinese Localization of Naga,the Objects in Vaisravana’s Hands,Pā?cika and Its Khotan Iconography,Marīci and Swine,the Origin of Sūrya and Candra in Dunhuang Grottoes etc.The author discussed several unsettled problems by analyzing the images and materials.The author gave his own opinion on the identities of the deities on the reveal of the rear chamber window in Cave 9,Yungang Grottoes,which showed the strong influence of the iconography of Hindu deities to that of China.The several deities in the mural on the dome ceiling of Cave 34,Kumtura Grottoes have not been identified for long,while the author’s analysis suggests that they should be the heavenly deities discussed above.