Research On The Dharma Protectors In The Roof Of The Yungang Grottoes

Although the statues of Yungang Grottoes are influenced by Hexi and Liangzhou area,the image of the grottoes’ top shows an original image mode.In the middle of the construction of Yungang Grottoes,the cave roof adopts the flat ceiling of Han style,as well as the cross dragon and the theme of people riding animals in the traditional image system.The builders of Yungang Grottoes also use the images of multi-armed gods from India to correspond Buddhist scriptures consciously.And they combine the images from the two cultural systems to show the Dharma protector such as the heavens and the Dragon King.This particular image mode did not widely appear in the grottoes of other regions in the same period,which is likely to be related to the specific religious ideas prevailing in the region of Ping Cheng.Among them,the cross dragons in the courtyard of the grotto may represent the eight dragons who guard the Sumeru Mountain,according to the Complex Esoteric Buddhist Sutra.This image comes from the local image system,and its appearance at the top of the grottoes is related to the spread of ideas such as the thought that Dragon King can rain and Xianbei people’s worship of water.Gods with many hands show the heavens living on the Sumeru Mountain.Its formation was related to the popular concept that the heavens can protect the nation.The gods with two hands often appear together with the gods with two hands,representing the image of the household of the heavens.There are two types of the gods with two hands that ride animals and those not.The former belongs to the local image system.What’s more special is that the roof of the38 th Grottoes in Yungang Grottoes uses this kind of image pattern to show the plot of Indra and Asura as protectors of Buddha.Based on the analysis of the artistic expressions of the image of the Dharma protectors at the top of Yungang Grottoes,this paper analyzes their specific identities.And then explains the popular concepts that the heavens can protect the state and the belief of Dragon King in Pingcheng area of this period.So as to further understand the more complex phenomenon of cultural integration in the Northern Wei Dynasty.