Section of a Buddhist Pagoda

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

These two stone slabs originally formed the first story of a miniature Buddhist pagoda, which was elevated on a tiered base. Many such pagodas, usually standing seven or nine stories tall, are preserved from the eighth century in northern China. Now separated for display, these slabs were once tightly aligned to form one chamber whose interior was visible only though a canopied doorway cut into the front slab. Dynamic guardians, flying apsaras (heavenly beings), writhing dragons, and an ogre mask protect this doorway, which opens into a sacred space. The Buddha, seated in the center, is flanked by two bodhisattvas (compassionate saintly beings) holding lotus flowers. The bodhisattvas' fluid postures, which echo those of sensual images from contemporary Indian art, distinguish many Buddhist sculptures of early-eighth-century China. A long inscription, carved into the left side of both slabs, states that the family of Jia Heida commissioned this pagoda in honorable devotion to his deceased parents. Replete with Buddhist metaphors and allusions to the Buddha s life, this text opens with a bleak perspective on the physical world and then praises both Buddhist teachings of spiritual red

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