Although short in the river of Chinese history, Northern Qi left its indelible marks through its Buddhists arts and relics, thanks to sponsors like Zhao Qingzu.
Stele with Sculpture of Zhao Qingzu 趙慶祖造像碑
Stone | Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577), Fifth year of Tianbao Period (554) | Dimensions – H: 1.26m, W: 0.68m, Thickness: 0.18m | Luoyang Museum Collection, Excavated from the bricks and tiles plant in Beiyao, Luoyang in 1977. 石雕｜北齐（公元550-577年）天宝五年（公元554年）｜高1.26米，宽0.68米，厚0.18米｜洛阳博物馆藏，1977年洛阳北窑砖瓦厂出土
From the beginning of the stone carving of the First Emperor of Qin Shihuang to the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the erecting of monuments and steles gradually formed a trend. The ancients called the rectangular carved stone stele 碑. The stele consists of three parts: head 首, body 身 and seat 座 (which is usually Bixi 赑屃, one of the sone of the dragon that carries heavy loads). The inscription between the round head or square head and on the square stone surface is called Jié 碣.
First it was only the privilege of the royalties, and then commoners were allowed to show their faith and respect by erecting steles of their religious beliefs and ancestry. This is a fine example of religious stone carving from Northern Qi dynasty.
Carved on the left side of the Buddha are the characters “彌勒主趙慶祖” meaning “Sponsored by Zhao Qingzu”. This is still a common practice in monasteries where devotees will pay for lighting a 光明灯 or “Guiding Lamp” which is usually an image of Buddha.
Buddhist art in China rose in prominence during the Northern Qi dynasty (550–577)1. The array of limestone Buddhist sculptures on view in Luoyang Museum hints at their popularity. Northern Qi sculptures, often identified by their simplistic yet elegant form, were influenced by the Gandhara style from India2.
About Religious Stone Carvings
Religious stone carvings refer to stone carvings and decorative pattern symbols in grotto temples, temples and folk offerings, most of which are Buddhist statues. Luoyang Buddhist stone carvings have a large number of stone carvings, a large time span and a variety of forms, with the style of integrating Indian Gandhara art and traditional Chinese art. The scriptures and pagodas are the products of the combination of architecture and carving.
Stone statue of Maitreya crossing legs
北朝（公元386-581年）
Northern Dynasties (386-581 A.D.)
Sculpture of Guan Yin
唐代（公元618-907年）
Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.)
In terms of style, the statue of the Northern Wei Dynasty is a statue with a broad belt and beautiful bones; the Buddha statue of the Northern Qi Dynasty has a pillar-like body, and the clothes are loose and no folds; In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Buddha statues were plump and round, and their charm was lively. And the best place to see the entire display of Buddhist art from Northern Wei to Yuan dynasties is actually Longmen Grottoes.
About Chinese National Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese National Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes:
- Qi, known as the Northern Qi 北齊, Later Qi 後齊 or Gao Qi 高齊 in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China from 550 to 577. The dynasty was founded by Gao Yang 高洋 (Emperor Wenxuan 文宣帝), and was eventually conquered by the Xianbei-led Northern Zhou dynasty in 577. ↩︎
- There are two main styles of Buddhist art, Mathura or Gupta style and Gandhara style. Gandhara school of art was influenced by Buddhism while Mathura school of art was Influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Material used: Gandhara school of art used bluish Grey and grey sandstone whereas Mathura school of art used spotted red sandstone.
The Mathura images resemble Indian male fertility gods and have shorter, curlier hair and lighter, more translucent robes. They also are not shown to be as sensual as their Gandhara counterparts. The Gandhara school is different from the Mathura school because of the heavy influence of Hellenistic features.
Mathura style is mainly found in South and Southeast Asian Buddhist images, while the Gandhara style came by the Silk Road and influence centuries of Chinese Buddhist images. ↩︎
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