The Evolution Of Mahe(?)vara Image In China

Mahesvara is derived from Lord Shiva and was absorbed into Buddhism as a protective deity. During the process of being introduced to China, the image of Mahesvara was influenced by the culture of Western Regions. The image of Mahesvara who possesses a bull as his vehicle and has three heads and four,six or eight hands were found in cave 8, Yungang(云冈) grottoes of Northern Wei dynasty and cave 285 Dunhuang Mogao(莫高) grottoes, Dunhuang of Western Wei dynasty. There are images of Mahesvara and his wife, Uma in the Kizil Grottoes, Xinjiang province which are dated as 7th century.The images of Mahesvara which were found in Balawaste(巴拉瓦斯特) and Dandanoilik(丹丹乌里克) in Khotan are similar to the images in Mogao Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes. However, the image of Mahesvara which were depicted according to the Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra and were found in Dunhuang are generally not consistent with the typical characteristic of Mahesvara.From Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty, Mahesvara, as the protective deity, often accompany with Thousand-handed Thousand-eyed Avalokitesvara. The image of Mahesvara also appears in the Mandala.The image of Mahesvara gradually adapted to the Chinese aesthetic standards from Tang Dynasty. At least in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were two types of images of Mahesvara, one was similar to Bodhisattva and the other resembled with Yakkha. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Buddha-type became the mainstream and the image of Mahesvara evolved into the Chinese style completely.Dating back to the resource of the image, the images of Shiva and the relative Indian mythologies, this paper collects the Mahesvara images from the Northern Wei to the Qing Dynasty and across the location from Xinjiang Province to the eastern China. Contrasting the differences between the images and sutras, we find out the evolution way and give an explanation.