Research On Buddhist Statues From The Southern Dynasties Unearthed In Sichua

Since the late Qing Dynasty,a large number of Buddhist statues of the Southern Dynasty have been unearthed in Sichuan.These statues are exquisitely carved and varied in style.They are important archaeological materials for the study of Buddhist statues in the Southern Dynasty.With the release of the data of statues,scholars continue to deepen the study of Buddhist statues in the Southern Dynasty of Sichuan on this basis.On the basis of predecessors,this paper collects all the published Buddhist statues of the Southern Dynasty unearthed in Sichuan,uses archeological typology for staging,imagology,religious studies,literature analysis and comparative research,and makes specific discussion in the aspects of inscription,subject belief,image content and style origin.The Buddhist statues of the Southern Dynasty unearthed in Sichuan can be divided into four periods.The first period is from the first year of the Qi Yongming Dynasty(483)to the first year of the Liang Tianguan Dynasty(502).In the second phase,from the first year of Liangtianguan(502)to the sixth year of Liangzhong Datong(534),the backscreen statues changed into a shop of multi-body statues,and individual Buddha statues began to appear.In the third period,from the first year of Datong(535)to the third year of Tianzheng(553),the main statue appeared in two or three bodies,and the sculptures were more exquisite.The fourth period was occupied by the Western Wei and the Northern Zhou dynasties,with the largest number of single round Bodhisattva statues,which combined the style of Chang’an and the Buddhism of the Southern Dynasty.The subjects of the statues are diverse,including Buddha of infinite longevity,Sakyamuni,Maitreya,Guanyin,Sakyamuni Dorubo,Ashoka and so on.The content of sculpture relief includes seven Buddha themes,saying diagram,Buddha ritual diagram,Nirvana diagram,Vimaljie Sutra transformation,etc.In the relief of Xiao Liang period,auxiliary elements such as mountains,rivers and trees appear as the dividing line of the picture.The origin of Buddhist statues in the Southern Sichuan Dynasty is not single,but multiple,primary and secondary relationship.Each issue is affected by different styles of statues to different degrees,and the specific performance in statues also changes.The first phase was mainly influenced by the style of the statues in the Jiankang area,while the influence of the statues in the north was weak.The second and third phases were still dominated by the Kangkang region,and the influence of Gupta statues gradually deepened.There was a process of confrontation and fusion between the old and the new.The influence of local factors such as the Western regions,the North and Sichuan on Buddhist statues can be seen from the joint bead pattern,Nirvana picture,Dharma protection image and landscape picture in the local area of the statues,but this influence is secondary.In the fourth period,due to the change of the regime,the artistic characteristics of the statue style rapidly moved closer to Chang ’an area,but still continued part of the Southern Dynasty statue tradition,forming a fusion.The diversified styles of Sichuan area are derived from its location on the main traffic road,with Henan Road leading to the Western regions and the North,and the Yangtze River passing through Jingzhou to Jiankang Area.The comings and goings of officials,monks,merchants and envoys promoted the development of Buddhism in Sichuan.Under the control of the regime,the centripetal force of Buddhist culture in Sichuan always pointed to the core area of central rule.