October 2008

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Cultivation of stages of the bodhisattva’s progress toward enlightenment was one of the dominant teachings of the 6th century. As the buddha nature was believed to be in every being, every practitioner could cultivate it and potentially become a buddha, as Prince Sakyamuni had done. The depiction of bodhisattvas as the buddhas’ only attendants is a significant choice and statement of doctrine on the part of the designers of the North Cave. Mahayana Buddhist scriptures define the great bodhisattvas as superior beings in terms of their devotion to the salvation of all beings through bodhicitta, the awakened or enlightened mind. This is an important visual and conceptual theme of the North Cave, symbolised by the jewel. Radiant jewels are represented repeatedly – along the top and the base of the central pillar and in the upper level of the cave walls (Figs 3 and 12). The row of niches is flanked by columns topped by large jewels surrounded by flaming aureoles. The niches around the walls of the cave are in the form of stupas with hemispherical domed roofs. Each is crowned by a precious vase from which spring three lotus blossoms supporting large jewels. The natural light that shines through the west-facing windows high on the front wall of the cave dramatically highlights these jewels of the Buddha’s wisdom. The Avatamsaka Sutra (Huayan jing) describes the precious jewels of the enlightened mind as treasures possessed by bodhisattvas. Long passages in this scripture list the magical and beneficial powers of these jewels. For example, the Buddha addresses an audience of lay practitioners, saying: ‘Kulaputra (children of good families), it is as though a precious pearl is placed in turbid water and makes the water clear. The jewel of the enlightened mind also is like this. It dispels all mental trouble and pollution…The great bodhisattva is also like this. Acquiring the wish-granting jewel of the enlightened mind, all evil fate, poverty and suffering are eliminated… Possessing the precious jewel of the bodhi mind, one can completely illuminate the palace of the five senses and dispel the darkness of ignorance’.6

The jewels, representing illumination and liberation from ignorance, darkness and suffering, form a counterpoint to another prominent visual theme of the North Cave, the monsters or demons. Among the caves at Xiangtangshan, the North Cave is unique in featuring numerous monstrous figures around the walls and on the central pillar. These prompted a rare description of the cave by a 7th-century visitor, the cleric Daoxuan in his Appended Biography of Eminent Monks.7

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