敦煌莫高窟第220窟南壁西方净土变相图

About the Western Pure Land Illustration on the South Wall in the Mogao Cave 220 at Dunhuang

敦煌莫高窟第220窟是初唐时期的代表窟,有贞观十六年题记,而且窟中出现了占满整壁的大画面经变画,因此,引起了很多研究者的注目。可是,迄今为止的研究大多是关于南壁西方净土变相与《观无量寿经》之间的关系。本文则着重讨论唐代以后的安定期,人们对净土往生的认识产生大的变化,完全摆脱了隋代佛教美术的影响而进入了新的阶段,是第220窟特别是南壁的西方净土变相出现的依据。

As one of the representative caves of the Early Tang period at the Mogao Grottoes, Cave 220 has an inscription dating to the 16th year of the Zhenguan era as well as large-sized sutra illustrations that cover the entire walls, hence this cave has attracted wide attention. However, most research thus far is about the relationship between the Western Pure Land illustration on the south wall and the Amitayus Sutra. This paper mainly addresses how in the peaceful Later Tang period people＇s opinions about Pure Land changed greatly, thus a new style of Buddhist art was created, completely free from the Sui Dynasty Buddhist art influence, as verified by cave 220 and especially the Western Pure Land illustration on the south wall of this cave.