The Relationship among Contemplations and Representations of Amitabha Buddha in the Chinese Buddhist Art

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The purpose of this research is to study the relationship among the religious practice and the work of art in Chinese Buddhism. Focusing on the paintings of the Representation of the Sixteen Contemplations remained in the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, especially after the Tubo Period (786-848 CE), this research aim to 1) compare texts of sutra and actual paintings, 2) classify and analyze the paintings, 3) trace their changes over time, and 4) find out the causes and the historical background of the changes. The former researches have claimed that iconographical deviations from the scriptures in the Representation of the Sixteen Contemplations first appeared after the Tubo period. However, upon examination of the iconographical expression in the works, it is clear that the deviant depictions had already begun in High Tang and that the Tubo period only inherited it. Moreover, the disorder of scenes and the miscopied elements in the Representation of the Sixteen Contemplations show that at the time of the production literal texts like sutras were not referred and that it was transcribed from picture to picture rather lightheartedly. Besides the literal and iconographical research, we arrange the data of Buddhist Caves in China and publish a database (http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/china-caves/index.html.en).