帝后礼佛图:大唐石刻线画与敦煌纸墨画稿

Scenes of the Emperor and Queen Worshipping the Buddha:Great Tang Line Drawings of Stone Inscriptions and the Ink Paintings of Dunhuang

利用近年新见《大唐皇帝皇后供养图》线刻画与敦煌莫高窟《帝后供养礼佛图》粉本草图,进行对比研究,结合在敦煌壁画中多次出现的帝王形象,揭示了皇权统治者的形象对宗教艺术表现的深刻影响,指出经幢石刻线图与墨线纸本草图,虽然均没有真正转换生成大型石窟壁画新图像,但是不仅可见中古时期佛教艺术创作中的帝王政治庇护因素,也可见唐代皇帝、皇后形象作为“夫妻家庭与政治艺术”的图像流传,在宗教文化诸领域中不仅成为教化民间信徒的理想粉本,也成为国泰民安与积攒功德的祈求心愿。

This paper presents a comparative study of two items newly discovered at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang:a line drawing taken from a stone inscription entitled “The Emperor and Queen of the Great Tang Presenting Offerings to the Buddha,” and draft paintings of a scene depicting “The Emperor and Queen Worshiping the Buddha.” By comparing these items with the images of emperors in Dunhuang murals, this paper reveals the profound influence that images of imperial rulers had on Buddhist artistic expression. Although neither the line drawing nor the draft paintings were ever used as the basis for a large-scale cave temple painting, they do indicate that artists incorporated political themes in their creation of Buddhist artwork, particularly the idea of imperial political figures finding asylum in religious observance. This further indicates that the iconographical spread of “husband-wife, family and political art” in Tang dynasty China was not only ideal for the enlightenment of lay practitioners,but also expressed the wish of the people for a prosperous mother country, peaceful life, and deities that would answer their prayers.