A JADE CARVED BODHISATTVA STELE NORTHERN QI DYNASTY

"The Universal Collection of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" in the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma: "If there are countless hundreds of thousands of millions of sentient beings who suffer from all kinds of afflictions and hear that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and single-mindedly name him, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva immediately observes its sound, and all will be liberated." According to Xuan Ying of the Tang Dynasty, this may be caused by dialects from different regions. "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" literally means the Bodhisattva who "observes the sounds of the world", hence the name. The earliest Guanyin statue in China appeared at the end of the fifth century, mainly the lotus-hand Guanyin holding the lotus stem as the holding object, and it was one of the peaks of jade carving art for Chinese Guanyin statues until the middle of the sixth century (550~577: Northern and Southern Dynasties and Northern Qi period). , artisans began to pay attention to human body structure and beauty, this product reflects the achievements of artistic development at this time, and is very precious. This stele depicts the bodhisattva's round, plump body, undulating lines, and elegant robes, which reflects the pursuit of natural beauty by the people of the time, and symbolizes the sculptural style from the abstract style of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Since the Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou dynasties have faced each other in the east and west of the Central Plains. The changes in the current situation have had a profound impact on Chinese Buddhist teaching and art. In the art of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the style of the Gandhara and the Dou Luo School of the Kushuang Dynasty can be seen, and the craftsmen of the Northern Qi Dynasty are even more fond of the Gupta Dynasty's display of graceful forms. This collection is an example. The body of these statues tends to be round, and the robes are plain and elegant, which is different from the style of the previous statues, which is more natural in appearance. The stone was made of Hetian jade, and this collection was very precious when it was hard to find at that time. The jade is delicate and moist, the pulp is natural, and the surface calcification shows the beauty of the vicissitudes of history, making this Guanyin statue more dignified and majestic. JBP learn from the past to the present. Through the sharing of jade articles, we will awaken everyone's enthusiasm for collecting ancient jade articles.