| The Ch'i-pao-t'ai ssu (Monastery of the Tower of Seven Jewels) of the T'ang dynasty was founded by Empress Wu (r. 690-705 A.D.) in front of the Ta-ming palace in the capital of Ch'ang-an. Though the tower, dated 703, is no longer in existence, 32 stone sculptures from the tower, carved in high relief in individual niches, have survived and are now kept in various collections. This dissertation explores the artistic achievement, the significance of the original layout and the cultural context of the Buddhist stone sculptures from this imperial monastery.;Translations of the inscriptions on the niches and a catalogue of the sculptures are included in Appendices A and B.;Based on careful research, I suggest that these relief niches comprised a four sided pillar, and formed the focus of worship in the center of the multi-leveled tower. The iconography of these sculpture niches is that of the Avatamsaka school, the jewel of state Buddhism, which offered protection and defensive power for Empress Wu and the state. The style of these sculptures represents the emergence of a new period when the artist modelled figures with substantial volume and anatomical clarity. |
