A Study On The Content And Dates Of Shuilu Paintings In The Baoning Temple In Youyu County Of Shanxi Province,China

Painting for water-and-land service is the picture of a Buddha used in holding water-and-land service in Buddhism.It is one of the most important forms of religious art in the period of Yuan,Ming and Qing Dynasties.The paintings for water-and-land service this thesis researches,collected in Baoning Temple of Youyu County,Shanxi Province for a long time,are characterized by fine brush work and well preserved.Meanwhile they are the representative works of numerous remains of Shuilu scroll paintings.The thesis focuses on the content and dates of Shuilu paintings of the Baoning Temple.Academia thinks that they were rewarded to Baoning Temple in name of protecting frontier.But when,by whom?There are some controversies.Introduction reviews the current academic achievements on the field of Shuilu painting,and then puts forward the problems to be solved.In detail,firstly the thesis combs and analyzes artistic characteristics,and then confirms Tiandi Mingyang Shuilu ritual text as the right ritual text for paintings in Baoning Temple.Secondly,combing with ritual text and classics,the thesis interprets different deities.At last,the thesis tries to make clear when they were painted.Through the research on the character costumes,gods pedigree and the style of Shuilu painting of Baoning Temple,comparing these Shuilu paintings with other paintings,including scroll painting of Yuan and Ming Dynasties,Shuilu scroll paintings and Shuilu murals,the thesis helds the viewpoint that these paintings of Baoning Temple uesd the painting sketch of Yuan Dynasty.Besides,they were painted during late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties(after the appearance of the Red Scarf Army of Yuan Dynasty),and are the representative of the Shuilu scroll paintings in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties.The thesis investigates deities and explore their origin and meanings.In addition,another innovation is that the thesis solves the problem of dates by the way of iconography,stylistics and other methods,such as historical research and contrast.