A LARGE PAINTING OF THE BUDDHA QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD, DATED 1695

ink and colour on silk, lined on canvas, finely painted with the Buddha seated in vajraparyankasana on a stepped throne detailed with coiled dragons and two guardians to the lower register, a burning candle set in a glass sphere in front, his face with fine features set in a serene expression, all surrounded by a nimbus of light against multicolored clouds, with a floating canopy and flying apsaras scattering flowers above, inscribed with two dedications along the lower edge, the first providing a list of the donors for the reconstruction of the Zhou family temple in the Quwo country, the other referring to Miaoyun, disciple of abbot Xuanqing and dating the painting to the 3rd month of the 34th year of the Kangxi reign (1695), framed

As visible in the catalogue photo, the top section of the painting is missing a small section where it was remounted. There may be a small area on the other sides cut in the mounting process. There are characteristic creases to the silk, mostly horizontal where it was rolled. Some of the creases have been slightly retouched. General fading in areas. Other minor tears and general surface wear and losses.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

From the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) onwards, large votive paintings such as the present were used within private shrines and the side halls of temples in the Water Land Deliverance Ritual (shuilu fahui). A highly complex ritual, it was performed for the absolution of beings from lower realms of existence. For a detailed discussion on the history of the shuilu fahui see Daniele B. Stevenson, ‘Text, Image and Transformation in the History of the Shuilu Fahui, The Buddhist Rite for Deliverance of Creatures of Water and Land’, in Marsha Weidner, Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, Hawaii, 2001, pp. 30-72.

The present painting was commissioned for the reconstruction of the Zhou family temple in the Quwo country, and is dated to the 34th year of the Kangxi reign (1695). Quwo County is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Linfen city. The town of Quwo is in the Fen River valley about 30 miles south of Linfen, about 10 miles east of the point where the Fen River turns west.