日本东大寺法华堂不空羂索观音像的中国图像来源探析——兼论中国早期不空羂索观音形象

A Study on the Chinese Image Source of the Amoghapasa Statue in the Hokkado of Todaiji Temple,Japan:Also on the Early Images of Amoghapasa in China

日本东大寺法华堂的不空羂索观音像(746年左右)是东亚现存最早的不空羂索观音图像,但其图像来源问题一直不甚明晰。本文通过相关文献和图像的比照探讨了其中国图像来源。由考察结果可知,龙门石窟东山中武周时期及稍后的诸多八臂菩萨立像应该是中国最初期的不空羂索观音形象,其时间早于法华堂像。由此推测,或许天平七年(735)玄昉返日时所带回的造像中便有这种形式的不空羂索观音像,而法华堂像可能便是以此作为造像时的参考。

The Amoghapasa statue(around 746)in the Hokkado of Todaiji Temple in Japan is the earliest Amoghapasa image in east Asia,but the source of its image has been unclear.This article discusses the source of its Chinese images through the comparison of related documents and images.According to the investigation results,the many eight-armed Bodhisattva statues in the Longmen Grottoes during the Wu Zhou period and later should be the earliest Chinese Amoghapasa image,and which was earlier than the Hokkado statue.It can be speculated that in the seventh year of Tianping(735),the statues brought back by Xuan Fang when he returned to Japan contained this form of Amoghapasa statue,and the statue in the Hokkado was used as a reference when making statues.