The Research Of Painted Arhat Statues Of Lingyan Temple In Shandong Province

Lingyan Temple is located in Changqing County,Jinan,Shandong Province.The temple is surrounded by green trees and is peaceful.Lingyan Temple is historic and known as the top of "four famous temples".The arhat sculpture in the temple is the essence of the cultural relics of Lingyan Temple.The level of the sculptural skill is extremely high and the position of which in the history of ancient Chinese sculpture,especially in the field of the clay sculpture,can be called Paragon.Also,it is quite helpful for the study of Chinese traditional Buddhist art,which was called "the top sculpture throughout the nation" by Liang Qichao.Especially,there are twenty-seven lively arhat sculptures that were created in the Song dynasty.Actually,they are vivid and distinct,although the styles are different,which is reflecting the inner world of the characters obviously.The clothing is exquisite and colorful with varied patterns,which gives people a sense of verisimilitude.In addition,the thirteen Ming sculptures were repaired with the imitation of Song sculptures,but the repaired ones are far from the Song sculptures in terms of craftsmanship,as the countenance and the pleats are dull and the pattern is simple.The expressions and poses of the forty arhat statues are interacting with each other,which is like a lively scene of expounding the principles of Buddhism after thousands of years,as the style of sculpture is still existing,which is showing the advanced sculptural technology and art level.The key study of this essay is to research the painted arhat sculptures in Thousand Buddha Hall of Lingyan Temple by using the historical research method,the literature research method,the comparative analysis method,the art analysis research method,etc.Gradually,the essay is trying to figure out the cultural belief of arhat sculpture art from the study of sculpture appearances.The essay contains five parts:The initial one is the introduction which introduces the background and significance of the topic,also the previous relevant researches and the research methods,focusing on the inadequacies of the previous studies on arhat art and working out the key point of the essay.Secondly,the introduction of the overall overview of the Thousand Buddha Hall and the arhat sculpture,including the description of the arhat statues and costumes,and the preparation for the in-depth study of the arhat identities and the clothing characteristics.The third part is to carry out the detailed discussion and research on the identity of arhat with the analysis of the name,the quantity and the image of the arhat statues,which reflects the issue of the arhat belief.The penultimate part is to discuss the costume characteristics of arhat statues and conduct a comparison with the painted arhat statues of Chongqing Temple in Shanxi province,then explores the secularization of the arhat costume.Finally,to summarize the analysis of the first two parts,including the results of the arhat identity,the issue of the arhat belief and the secularization of the arhat costume.