Standing Statue of Vaisravana
2 min readStanding Statue of Vaisravana is always preserved in the hall of Nanchan Temple. With realistic artistic style and clear layers, it is a treasure among colored clay sculptures of the Tang Dynasty. Standing Statue of Vaisravana has robust body and compact left part and loose right part, which looks solid. On square face, glaring eyes radiate rigorous light. Refined armor looks awe-inspiring. With clothes in dark color, this statue shows brilliant. Ribbon flfl ies with dynamics.
Head
Vaisravana wears beautiful crown which sees ablooming peony and a feather on upper part. With big head, thick neck, eyebrows knit in a frown and glaring eyes, thiss tatue is aggressive. Wavelike hair makes the facial expression more intense.
Nanchan Temple
Nanchan Temple is located 21km away from the southeast part of Wutai County, Shanxi. It is the eldest temple of the Tang Dynasty. Inner hall of Nanchan Temple was built in 782, which is the earliest wood building in China.
Nanchan Temple
17 colored clay sculptures are enshrined in the hall of Nanchan Temple, which refer to Buddha Shakyamuni, Manjusri, Samantabhadra and other assistants. Standing Statue of Vaisravana is among them. These statues are refifi ned, elegant, brilliant and realistic, which are the earliest Buddha statues of the Tang Dynasty in China.
Four Vaisravanas
Four Vaisravanas are also known as Four Heavenly Kings, which are four Buddhist protection deities. They are Dhrtarastra, Vidradhaka, Irupaksa and Dhanada. They initially held sword, halberd and stupa. In Chinization process of Buddhism, such instruments gradual evolved into sword, pipa, umbrella and dragon to imply “Feng Tiao Yu Shun”.
