The Vimalakirti and Demon of the Mountain

Remember the points we discussed last week? It wasn't nonsense, and scholars tried to prove it with surviving artefacts.

The Vimalakirti portrait in Cave 103 in Dunhuang seems to reflect Wu Daozi's artistic style. From a stone carving found in Beiyue Temple, the versatility of his brushwork can be observed. It is said that this stone carving was based on an original work by Wu Daozi. It depicts a powerful figure resembling a demon, carrying a long spear and leaping through the air. The image corresponds to the characters often portrayed by Wu Daozi, as described in historical records.

Tang Dynasty (618-907) Mural painting in Cave 103 of Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu Province.

Tang Dynasty (618-907) Wu Daozi (so said). Height 97.5cm. Stone tablet carving in Beiyue Temple, Quyang, Hebei Province.

This piece is compiled from the Chinese edition of Three Thousand Years of Chinese Painting by Foreign Languages Press and Yale University Press, translated by Chen Ying.