The Study On The Illustration Of Raudraksa's Battle With Sariputra In Dunhuang Grottoes

Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra(Lao Du Cha Dou Sheng Bian),which was drawn based on The Sutra of the Wise and the Fool and The Transformation on Vanquishing Mara,is one of the main themes of sutra paintings in Dunhuang Grottoes.There are 19 existing Illustrations of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra which located in Mogao Grottoes' cave 6?9?25?53?55?72?85?98?108?146?196?335?342?454,Yulin Grottoes'cave16?19?32,Western Thousand Buddha Caves' cave 12 and Five Temples Grottoes' cave 3.The 19 existing murals respectively belong to different periods:one in the Northern Zhou Dynasty,one in the Early Tang Dynasty,three in the Late Tang Dynasty,ten in the Five Dynasty,three in the Song Dynasty,one in the Western Xia.The first Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra was painted in Northern Zhou Dynasty.The only one belongs to the Early Tang Dynasty which was painted in the niche of west wall of cave 335 in Mogao Grottoes.The Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra disappeared in the period from the Prosperous Tang to Middle Tang Dynasty.In the Late Tang Dynasty,along with the development of The Transformation on Vanquishing Mara,Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra developed into the giant sutra paintings which occupied the entire wall of the caves.More than one hundred years after this,the development of Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra showed a stylized trend.The last Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra was painted in the Western Xia.From then on,this theme of mural disappeared in Dunhuang Grottoes.In this thesis,the analysis and discussions about the sutras involved the magic competitions have been conducted in the first chapter.The second chapter briefly introduces the Illustrations of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra painted in different periods.In the third chapter,the first three sections are a thorough discussion about the picture-structure and contents of this theme of murals which are classified into early stage,Late Tang Dynasty and the stylized period.An in-depth discussion about the relationship between the theme of murals and P.tib.1293(a collection of line drawing drafts)has been conducted in the forth section of the third Chapter.Last but not least,the management location of Illustration of Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra in the fifth section of the third chapter has been discussed comprehensively.