'New' Types of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara Images in the Song Dynasty

• In Event: Panel 1: Border-Crossing Bodhisattvas in East Asia

Abstract

The majority of Thousand-Armed Avalokitêśvara images of the Tang dynasty are found in Dunhuang and Sichuan. They typically feature the bodhisattva in the center, holding objects or forming mudrās with its “large-hands,” and is surrounded by myriad of attendants. Although some of these images measure up to two to three meters tall, their size is nothing exceptional compared to other images on site. However, from late the Tang to the Song, two types of “monumental” images emerge.
The first type consists of images of monumental size, primarily found in Sichuan. Many of them were created during the late Tang and then enshrined in the Song. Images of the second type, created during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, are slightly smaller but nonetheless still very large in scale. In these examples, Avalokiteśvara is shown with mudrās and attributes throughout the “thousand hands” that cover its background. Images of the second type are seen not only in Dunhuang and Sichuan, but also in parts of Gansu and Turfan.
Written records from the Song dynasty suggest that the creation and enshrining of such monumental images were popular during that time, and was practiced even by the imperial family. This paper examines the existing images and the written accounts to consider the extent and the details of this trend, and then considers the possibility that the creation of colossal statues of Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara was influenced by the surge of newly minted Song Buddhist rituals, and the Song imperial family’s emphasis on the worship of Avalokiteśvara.

Author

• Suijun Ra, Tokyo Zokei University