print;
印刷品(Chinese)
- Museum number
- 1919,0101,0.242
- Title
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Object: Great Compassionate, Great Merciful Avalokitesvara Saviour from Perils
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Object: 大慈大悲救苦觀世音菩薩
- Description
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Woodblock print, ink on paper
- Production date
- 947 (4 August. Guiyijun period)
- Dimensions
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Height: 31.70 centimetres
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Width: 20.20 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
-
Zwalf 1985
The left-hand lotus cartouche calls Avalokiteśvara the Great Compassionate, Great Merciful Saviour from Hardship, Bodhisattva who hears the Cries of the World; the right-hand column says that the print was made for Cao Yuanzhong, the Commissioner of the Guiyi army at Dunhuang, who inherited the title in AD 946 and ruled until 975. The text below, engraved on a separate block, carries the date. Avalokiteśvara, in ‘tribhaṅga’ pose, holds a medicine bottle and lotus flower, his 'parent' Buddha just visible in his headdress. Other surviving impressions from the same block confirm its popularity.
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Avalokitesvara as Saviour from Perils remained a popular print subject as long as cave-building continued at Dunhuang. The Chinese characters on the left name the bodhisattva, and those on the right state that Cao Yuanzhong, Imperial Commissioner at Dunhuang from AD 946 to 975, commissioned the print. Image and text were cut on two separate woodblocks and were not well lined up when impressed on the paper. Half of the text is devoted to Cao Yuanzhong’s titles and responsibilities. The rest is a prayer that this yinban (printed block) may secure peace and prosperity for the region. The name of the carver, Lei Yanmei, appears at the end.
Published: Stein 1921, vol. II, 974; Kikutake 1975, fig. 3; Whitfield 1982-5, vol. II, fig. 155(b)
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2010 May-Sep, London, BM, Dept of Asia, The Printed Image in China
2022-2023 Dec-June, London, BM, G33, rotation
- Acquisition date
- 1919
- Acquisition notes
- For full acquisition history, see 1919,0101,0.1.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 1919,0101,0.242
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Ch.00185.d (Stein no.)