Study Of The Image Of The Yaksha In Chinese And Indian Buddhist Art

Yaksha and yakshi were originally semi-human gods in Hindu mythology.Its origins can be traced back to the reproductive worship system of indigenous people in the pre era of Aryan in Indian.As the Indian folk beliefs regard the yaksha as the god of reproductive elves and guardian treasures,and believe that it has the function of blessings,auspiciousness,and evil spirits.So there was a tradition in the Indian folk to enshrine the yaksha statue.However,folk beliefs are often closely related to religion,so its image has been absorbed and utilized by Indian Buddhism as one of the "The semi-gods and the semi-devils ".Indian Buddhism followed the wind of idolatry in the early days.There was no tradition of statue of prayer.In the later period,it developed and absorbed the image of a large number of priests in the original Indian Brahmanism(Hinduism)and gradually towards the way of idol worship and cave statues.At the end of the eastern Han dynasty,Buddhism spread eastward,and the image of the Yaksha was also introduced into China.Throughout the Chinese and Indian Buddhist art image lineages,the image of the Yaksha was always performed in an“anthropomorphic”way.However it is important to note that its image in the process of sinicization has changed from "beautiful" to "ugly" and "elegant" to"secular" spreading due to different regional and national intervention of visual symbols in the process of spreading the image.The transformation has brought about great changes in its artistic connotation,aesthetic connotation,and implication spiritual core under the influence of different periods,regional styles,styles,and aesthetic concepts in China.The changes in these image symbols and representations are reflected the mirror of artistic differences in the reflection of Sino-Indian Buddhism.It has complex and profound historical origins in different religious beliefs,social cultures,and people's psychology of the two countries.This paper consists of four parts,the first part:It begins from the four different perspectives of Buddhist classics,folk beliefs;Indian religious culture system and pantheistic thoughts,as well as analyzes the source of yaksha image.The second part:It traces and interprets the classification,evolution and implication of the image of traditional Chinese yaksha in Indian Buddhist art,and exploring the cultural connotation and artistic value behind its image.The third part:It focuses on the two cultures,social backgrounds,and patterns of imagery,the authors studied the changes in the etymology,image,meaning and decorative characteristics of the yaksha art image in the process of localization.The fourth part:Through the analysis of the differences in the artistic and cultural values of the yaksha art image between the two countries,trying to reveal the mutation to lead yaksha image and the cultural communication and collision behind it.