By John C.H. Tsai
Seated Buddha, probably Shakyamuni, Mid-Tang Dynasty, China
In this trip to Los Angeles County Museum, my mission is to pick three out of five Buddha sculptures and describe them. The first Buddha sculpture I picked is the Tang dynasty, Seated Buddha, probably Shakyamuni, currently in the Ahmanson Hammer Building, fourth floor four at the Los Angeles County Museum.
This is a “human” Buddha at first impression, but the face and the body have strong influences from the Virochana Buddha at the Great Image at Longmen in early Tang Dynasty, which is the “cosmic” Buddha and the Buddha as a “ruler”. However, this sculpture depicts the Buddha differently. The Buddha sits on the top of a lotus pedestal and give his Buddhist teaching to his believers, especially the Chinese believers during Mid-Tang period. Compared to the earlier Chinese Buddha statues, this Buddha statue does not have odd proportions of body and showing his qi intentionally. The body of this statue is not merely realistic but depicted as a life-like Buddha. The right hand of the Buddha statue is missing so, we do not know what mudra the right hand has. The left hand is the mudra of touching the ground to call the earth goddess Sthavara to bear witness to his awakening. This Buddha is depicted as a life-like teacher.
Based on the style and material, this buddha likely belonged to Chinese aristocrats or an extremely wealthy family since a marble sculpture was rare and expensive in China at that time. In this sculpture, the face and the body of this Buddha is round, the body is also thick, which reflects the Tang dynasty aristocrats who have a carefree and luxurious life. In these believer’s’ minds, the Buddha should look plump and voluptuous, just like a successful aristocrat who is capable of leading his believers to a more luxurious life. During this period, the Buddha was not depicted as an Indian. He does not wear Indian monk clothes, but this Buddha, Shakyamuni is wearing Tang dynasty Chinese sage clothes. Interesting enough, the Ushnisha of this Buddha looks like the Chinese Pan-Fa (盤髮), the Chinese flaxen hair, and also, the Urna does not appear on the forehead. The sculptor who made this Buddha intentionally removed Urna from the Buddha statue’s forehead, since Buddha’s Urna was easily to be misunderstood as Hua-Huang(花黃), which was the decorations on women’s foreheads in that period. Due to these visual appearances, the image of this buddha statue was totally “Chinese-lized” and it reflected that Buddhism at that time, was not a foreign religion anymore. Therefore, This Buddha is also depicted as a Chinese. After more research, I found that this Buddha sculpture were made after Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution (會昌滅佛) after A.D. 845. It is logical that they made more Chinese-like Buddha sculptures.
Because of these characteristics, craftsmanship and the use of marble material, the Buddha became a confident Chinese teacher who can make the Tang dynasty a stronger nation, and lead people of the Tang Dynasty to a more luxurious and happier life.
Amida Buddha, Kamakura period from Japan
The second Buddha sculpture I picked is Amida Buddha, from Japan, Kamakura period. Currently located at the Pavilion for Japanese Art, third floor at the Los Angeles County Museum. This is a statue of a standing Buddha made in gilded Bronze. The height is about ten inches tall. The skin of the statue is very detailed and polished. The Urna is an embedded gem, which means this statue could have belonged to a mid-upper class samurai or a Gōzoku(豪族), powerful and wealthy families, or Gōzoku sponsored monastery. At the back of this Buddha sculpture, you can see a bump with a hole that seems like it is for rope-hanging or fixing the statue on a wall. The wavy curly hair of this Buddha is obviously influenced by Gupta period Buddha sculptures. This Buddha statue is simple, energetic, calm, and peaceful. This Buddha is depicted as an holy Buddha, he has a smile and it full of compassion on his face which makes the believers believe that their life will be saved, and their wishes will also be granted. This Buddha is depicted as a holy, savior Buddha.
The facial expression of this Amida Buddha is introverted. The Buddha’s eyes are looking downward; the eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth are very distinct, and these are all in geometric shapes. The sculptor wants the audience to focus on Buddha’s face, so the sculptor made the head and the body bigger than other body proportions. Also, the sculptor also made an exaggerated big Ushnisha and the long elongated ears which almost touch his shoulders to make the audiences focus on Buddha’s face. The odd proportion of head and body could be influenced by early Chinese Buddha statues, but interesting enough, the clothes of this Amida sculpture are obviously influenced by the Tang Dynasty Buddha from China. The face is also expressing nobility since Samurais are in power and Buddhism belonged to the state and aristocrats before Kamakura period. Besides many foreign Buddhism influences of India and China, this Buddha statue is simple and elegant which was influenced by Shintoism and the Japanese culture it owns. The Buddha sculpture as a being of Miyabi (雅び) – the Buddha is a being of supremely refined elegant beauty. Also, the art taste of the Japanese nobility class. Therefore, this Buddha is also depicted as a Japanese nobleman.
During the Kamakura period, Japan had a lot of civil wars and the country became less stable. Pure Land Buddhism became popular due to the instability of the country and happiness cannot be expected for the masses in this life. Most Japanese believed it was time of Mappo (末法), the period of the final degeneration of the dharma (Law) and no one is able to obtain salvation from the teach of Shakyamuni. Therefore, Amida Buddha came to help. Overall, the noble and holy image of this Amida Buddha will confront the masses during the wartime and make Japanese people believe that Amida Buddha is the one, who will take their souls to the western paradise.
Buddha Shakyamuni, Sukhothai Period, from Thailand
The third Buddha sculpture I picked is Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha) from Thailand Sukhothai Period, 14th-15th century, which is made of copper alloy. The sculpture is currently located at the Ahmanson Building, fourth floor at the Los Angeles County Museum. This Buddha statue has no resembling to neither Mathuran or Chinese Buddha. The torso is inherited from Gandhara buddha sculpture, which has the traits of Yaksha, the fertility nature spiri. However, the hair has also resembling to Gupta period Buddha statues. The buddha is in meditation posture and seating on the top of a platform. Like other Buddha statues, this statue has elongated ears. The Buddha looks calm and inwardly directed. Because the elastic body and the flame on the top of the Ushnisha, this is not a “human” Buddha. This is a super human Buddha. The Buddha is depicted as a teacher with a mysterious supernatural power.
There are reasons that this sculpture giving audiences a feeling that Buddha has mysterious supernatural powers. First of all, the most commonly practiced Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism in Thailand, the Buddhists follows original Buddha’s way to achieve Nirvana – the direct experience in a why that conducts an awakening. Unlike other sculptures from other cultures which practice Mahayana Buddhism and some other sculptures from some Theravada Buddhism, the flame is showing that Shakyamuni is processing a great supernatural power after awakening.
The second supernatural trait is that the body of Buddha looks soft, elastic and without any muscles and joints. It is because the sculptor may have tried to follow Buddha’s traits from historical scripts to make this Buddha sculpture. Besides that, the arms are very long like the trunk of an elephant, his hands are webbed hands like a frog with long slender fingers. The face is oval, and the head is like an egg. With high curving eyebrows, a hooked nose like a beak of bird, a downward gaze, and overall displays a gentle smiling expression. Compared to other Buddha statues, this Buddha statue from Sukhothai period has unique broader shoulders and a narrow waist. Buddha looks nude, but he is actually wearing a clinging monk’s robe. This Buddha sculpture depicted the historical Buddha carefully.
This Thailand Buddha sculpture is not only depicted as the historical Buddha, but also the supernatural power that Buddha has after his awakening. This is the super natural Buddha that Thailand believers follow as a spiritual teacher.