新疆柏孜克里克石窟第41窟西方净土经变图像考释

Interpretation of images of the Western Pure Land Sutra variation in Cave 41 of the Beziklik Grottoes,Xinjiang

柏孜克里克石窟第41窟是高昌回鹘晚期(公元13世纪)营建的一个重要洞窟,壁画题材比较复杂。本文主要对该窟的正壁、左侧壁两铺西方净土经变图像进行考察。比照佛教典籍“净土三经”相关内容辨析后认为,该窟的正壁、左侧壁两铺西方净土经变图像均为观无量寿经变题材。并且,本文比较柏孜克里克石窟第41窟左侧壁观无量寿经变与敦煌石窟观无量寿经变发现,前者的“中堂”配左右条幅构图形式、画面解读设计、图像内佛寺院落建筑类型和式样,以及题材组合,均源于后者。这也为敦煌石窟佛教艺术向西传播提供了一个鲜明例证。

Cave 41 of the Baizikli Grottoes is an important cave built in the late Huichang period in Gao⁃chang,with a complex subject matter of murals.In this paper,we focus on the images of the Western Pure Land Sutra variation on the main wall and the two left walls.After comparing the contents of the Buddhist texts“Three Sutras of the Pure Land”and the archaeological report of Glenwiddel,we believe that the main wall shows the subject matter of the variation of the Sutra of Immeasurable Life or the variation of the Amitabha Sutra,while the left wall shows the subject matter of the variation of the Sutra of Immeasur⁃able Life.Moreover,by comparing the left wall of Cave 41 in the Beziklik Grottoes with the same subject matter in the Dunhuang Grottoes,this paper finds that the former clearly inherited the artistic expressions and subject matter of the latter,which provides a clear example of the spread of Buddhist art from Dun⁃huang to the west during the late Qocho Uyghur period.