Bodhisattvas, Jewels & Demons
Katherine Tsiang describes the search for sculptures looted from 6th-century Buddhist cave temples in northern China, part of a project for the temples’ digital ‘restoration’.
Katherine Tsiang, Wednesday, 23rd April 2008
In recent decades more such images have been discovered in mural paintings in tombs of the Northern Qi royalty, such as the Rouruan Princess (dated 550) and an imperial burial believed to be that of Gao Yang (d. 559), both near the Xiang-tangshan caves. Others have been found near Taiyuan, Shanxi province, the summer capital of the Northern Qi, For example, the remarkably well-preserved murals in the tomb of Xu Xianxiu, Prince of Wu’an (d. 571) show the deceased with many attendant figures around the walls of the tomb chamber and two large demons above the entrance. The pair of demons fly freely in the air and appear to be diving downward into the tomb (Fig. 9). Demons can be seen in other Buddhist cave temples. At Dunhuang similar creatures, including spirits of Thunder and Wind, are painted on the ceiling of Caves 249 and 285, and in the Gongxian Caves they are carved along the lower level of the cave walls. In nearly all, the demons are shown rampant – striding or flying in vigorous motion – and capable of travelling in various realms, from the underworldly to the heavenly.
These spirits can be associated broadly with demons described in scriptures of both Daoism and Buddhism in China. Among the earliest known texts containing descriptions and lists of demons and spirits is one in the Daoist Canon known as The Demon Statutes of Nuqing (Nuqing guilu), believed to be of the 4th century or even earlier. It reveals the existence of 36,000 demons and provides information believed to have the power to ward them off – rules of proper conduct and lists of the names of hundreds of demons. An introductory passage states that in the beginning of time, heaven and earth and their primordial breath gave rise to the myriad spirits and beings. Early people were morally correct in their behaviour, and harmony reigned. However, skillful artifice and turning away from the Dao brought about disorder, killing, pestilence and depravity so that evil demons overran the earth.9
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