A 'HUANGHUASHI' CARVED SHAKYAMUNI STELE NORTHERN ZHOU DYNASTY, DATED FIRST YEAR OF THE BAODING PERIOD, CORRESPONDING TO 561 |

the large central seated figure carved as the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, seated in dhyanasana with one bare foot exposed above the heavy pleated robes, the hands in varada mudra and abhaya mudra, the head ringed with a foliate halo, a divine retinue carved in relief slightly behind the Buddha, the loyal followers Ananda and Kasyapa standing on either side, smiling and dressed in monk's robes, and beside a bodhisattva standing at either edge, crowned and richly adorned, one with a necklace harness and holding a bottle vase, the other with a ring pendant, the mandorla with flames rising towards the apex, the whole raised on four block legs, with neatly carved and margined inscriptions to three sides, containing the date, first date of the Baoding period, corresponding to 561, and pious dedications, Japanese wood box (3)

Japanese Private Collection, Kansai, acquired 1910s.

The stele has several losses, including to the chest and head of one lion, the ear of the other lion, and along the edges in general, as well as scattered smaller nicks and surface wear. The stone has a slightly dry surface, and a tan natural vein running diagonally (particularly evident at the back).
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Richly decorated stele became an important Buddhist sculptural medium from the 5th century A.D., when Buddhism spread throughout China and gave rise to the formation of Buddhist devotional societies. This sculptural medium is discussed by Dorothy C. Wong in Chinese Steles. Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form, Honolulu, 2004, who traces their origins to ceremonial steles or stone slabs used in the Shang and Zhou dynasties (p. 15). From the 3rd century, stele were often erected in public spaces or within temple courtyards, where they had the symbolic function of encouraging social unity and marking a community’s identity. By the 5th century, the commissioning of Buddhist images in the form of sculptures and stele was also considered an act of personal devotion and a means to accumulate merits linked to a person’s future life. The rise of Buddhist devotional societies held an important role in the development of regional religious art. During the Northern Wei dynasty, state-sponsorship of Buddhism enabled the rapid spread of the religion throughout Northern China. Lay Buddhists organized themselves into voluntary groups and associated with local temples. These groups were among the first to adopt stone tablets to record their faith, erecting ‘Buddhist steles that served as monuments commemorating the collective groups’ religious, social, and territorial identity’ (ibid., p. 43). By the 6th century, these groups became the chief patrons of steles, with a smaller number sponsored by individual donors and families. The popularity of steles is attributable to the easy accessibility of stone and its relatively small size. These two factors gave rise to a multitude of regional workshops, many of which developed their own style.

This stele bears an inscription with a cyclical date corresponding to 561, and is therefore an early example of Northern Zhou lapidary art. The fall of the Northern Wei dynasty and subsequent political and military unrest had a profound effect on Buddhism and its art forms. The provinces of Gansu, parts of Shanxi, Sichuan and Hunan, which in 533 had been annexed by the Western Wei, fell to the Northern Zhou, while the Northern Qi dynasty took control of the provinces in eastern China. Sculptures of this period exhibit a tendency towards rounder bodies, thinner clothing and softer facial features as carvers took inspiration from works of the Gupta school. The figures on this stele, however, still exhibit many characteristics of the Northern Wei dynasty, as exemplified by examples at the Longmen Caves, Henan province, which were heavily inspired by the Indian schools of Gandhara and Mathura. The overall linearity of the composition evident in the rendering of the robes, and the figures’ slightly elongated faces and faint smiles display the continuation of the Northern Wei style.

Buddhist sculptures from this period are rare, although this piece shares similarities with a stele inscribed with a cyclical date corresponding to 564, but carved with a Buddha and two bodhisattvas, in the Masaki Art Museum, Osaka, included in the exhibition Chinese Buddhist Stone Sculpture. Veneration of the Sublime, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Osaka, 1995, cat. no. 125, together with a stele attributed to the Western Wei period, that features a similar treatment of the facial features, in the Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, ibid., cat. no. 101. See also a stele in the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, acc. no. 10.275; and one recovered in Zhengzhou, Henan province, included in the exhibition Cina alla Corte degli Imperatori, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2008, cat. no. 22. The Buddha’s robe in the latter two examples falls over the left arm in a similar manner.