库木吐喇第14窟主室正壁弥勒经变识读

Interpreting the Maitreya Sutra Illustration on the Frontal Wall in Cave 14 at the Kumtura Grottoes

对库木吐喇窟群区第14窟主室正壁壁画内容进行了图像志层面上的研究。通过壁画的识读可知,安西都护府设立于龟兹时期,弥勒信仰曾是流行于龟兹地区唐风洞窟的主要信仰之一;弥勒佛交脚坐姿形象应受到龟兹本地或西来影响,弥勒经变壁画的图本来源在汉地东来基础上加入了胡化风尚。

This paper presents an iconographical study on the Maitreya sutra illustration on the frontal wall in cave 14 at the Kumtura Grottoes. The resulting interpretation suggests that Maitreya belief was one of the most popular branches of Buddhist faith displayed in caves of the Tang dynastic style in the Qiuci region during the period when the Anxi Frontier Command was located in Kucha. For these historical and geographic reasons, it is concluded that the image of Maitreya sitting with crossed ankles was likely the result of either local artistic style or painting styles coming from the west, and that the archetype on which this Maitreya sutra illustration was based originated from the Central Plains where it mixed with non-Chinese artistic elements.