Buddhist sculptures and the Tang Dynasty
The dry lacquer method for sculptures was built on existing art forms of Buddhist sculpture and the lacquer technique. It was widely used during the Tang dynasty for Buddhist sculptures and influenced Buddhist art far beyond the boundaries of the Tang empire.
Chinese artisans developed the hollow dry lacquer sculpting technique in the 4th century, but it was most popular during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The dry lacquer technique was labor and time intensive and expensive, but resulted in beautiful sculptures that allowed the artists to create soft contours and flowing, draped layers1. Most of the sculptures were of Buddha figures and the technique resulted in hollow lightweight sculptures, making them easy to carry in religious processions2.
The prosperity and growth of the Tang empire created space for artisans and culture to thrive, which in turn allowed for sculpture and the dry lacquer technique to flourish. The Tang Dynasty was the high point of imperial China both politically and culturally with China under strong but benevolent rule for the first time in many centuries. Chinese trade routes and diplomatic relations were finally peaceful and secure, education provided a path to success for economic and political power, and art and culture was booming3. Tang China became one of the greatest empires in the medieval world and Buddhism was a fundamental part of its politics, economy, and domestic life4.
Buddhists envisioned the early Chinese Buddhist sculptures as empowered with a spiritual presence that allowed them to move and speak. Just before completing the Buddhist sculptures, the artisans along with monks, dancers, and musicians performed rituals called kaiguang. These were literally eye opening ceremonies and included painting the Buddha’s pupils, pricking the eyes with a pin or dripping oil on their eyes, all of which gave the potential for the Buddha to have sight and come to life5. These supernatural phenomena were recorded in “miracle tales” about animated Buddha sculptures with lives of their own that extended beyond the artisans who created them6. The sculptures depict various Buddhas, but all echo some of the common physical characteristics known as lakshanas, the Buddha’s signs of perfection7.
- Strahan, Donna, “Construction from the Inside Out: Early Chinese Lacquer Buddha Fabrication – Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.”
- Lee, “A Dry Lacquer Buddhist Image from T’ang China,” 94.
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, “Tang Dynasty (618–907) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.”
- Lewis, China’s Cosmopolitan Empire : The Tang Dynasty, 1,223-224.
- Wang, “Early Chinese Buddhist Sculptures As Animate Bodies and Living Presences,” 14.
- Wang, 16.
- Leidy, “Introducing the Three Buddhas (and a Bodhisattva) – Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.”
