初唐至盛唐时期敦煌莫高窟西方净土变的发展

On the Composition of the Western Pure Land Illustrations in the Mogao Caves Dating from the Early Tang to High Tang Periods

自贞观十六年(642)题记的第220窟开始,敦煌莫高窟中的唐代西方净土表现一改此前的画面中央绘树下说法图并在四周环绕千佛的形式,而利用大画面(整幅壁面)来表现西方净土景象的形式逐渐成为主流。唐前期第三期时,西方净土变的外围还增加了十六观和未生怨,来对《观无量寿经》进行详尽说明。其他变相图中也能看到这种对经典进行说明性表现的倾向,因此,可以说从唐前期第三期开始,变相图的性质发生了改变。本文旨在探明自唐前期第二期出现的大画面西方净土变,其构图在第三、四期时分别发生了何种变化,并考察成因,以此深化对敦煌莫高窟唐前期诸窟的理解。

Beginning with Cave 220 which dates from the 16th year of the Zhenguan era（642 CE ）, Tang dynasty illustrations of the Western Pure Land school at Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes were large productions usually occupying a whole wall surface, compared with previous compositions that generally consist of a central scene of the Buddha preaching under the trees surrounded by the thousand-Buddha motifs. In the third phase of Early Tang caves, Western Pure Land illustrations added two scenes of the Sixteen Meditations and the story of King Bimbisfira and Ajfita^atru as a detailed.explanation of the Amitayus Sutra. This trend can also be observed in other sutra illustrations, from which it can be seen that the nature of sutra illustrations had changed since the third phase of the Early Tang period. This paper aims to explore what changes had taken place in large-sized su- tra illustrations in the third and fourth phases of the Early Tang, and to identify which changes appeared in the second phase and for what reason.