敦煌莫高窟东壁门上供养像的图像意义
2017-04-17陈明
陈明



内容摘要:敦煌石窟有一种特殊的供养像,即在佛窟主室东壁门上绘制窟主的父母、祖父母形象或本家族其他长者形象。这种现象自蕃占时期出现,在晚唐归义军时期许多家族窟中多有仿效。结合中晚唐敦煌当地流行“邈真像”的社会现状,并将其佛窟、佛寺或家庙(家祠)甚至墓葬等相关的礼仪建筑联系起来考察,就会发现这类供养像与当时普遍流行的“邈真像”有极大的相似性,同时又是将佛教的“往生极乐”概念与中国传统的羽化成仙观念相结合的产物,表明佛窟功能进一步向具有家庙(家祠)功能的家窟转化。绘制生者的供养像是表达了对家族有功者的旌表,而绘制父母(祖父母)像既有“邈真”的功能,同时又寄寓了祈愿先祖升天、成仙的美好愿望。
关键词:莫高窟;父母像;邈真像;升天思想;佛窟家庙化
中图分类号:K879.21 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1000-4106(2016)06-0050-08
Abstract: A special kind of murals found on the wall above the east entrance of the main chamber in the Mogao caves depicting portraits of the supporting donors' parents and grandparents or other seniors first appeared during the Tibetan Occupation and was continued into the family caves of the late Tang and Gui-yi-jun Regime periods. By associating this work with the local popularity of“portraits”and relevant ceremonial architecture such as Buddhist caves, temples, family temples and tombs, the author finds an uncanny similarity between these donor figures and other portraiture, and concludes that the portrayal of the donor figures in these murals resulted from a combination of the Buddhist idea of “being reborn into the Pure Land (Sukhāvatī)” and the traditional Chinese idea present since the Han dynasty of “ascending to heaven and becoming immortal.”Both reflect that the donors wished for their seniors to be reborn in heaven as immortals and provide further evidence that Buddhist caves began at this time to function as family temples.
Keywords: Mogao Grottoes; portraits of donors family elders; portraits; immortalization; family temple.
莫高窟有一種特殊的供养图像,即功德主在佛窟主室东壁门上绘制父母、祖父母或家族长者等形象。关于这类供养图像,已有研究者从图像释读的角度进行过研究[1-3],但对图像意义的探讨还比较薄弱。作为佛窟艺术的重要组成部分,世俗供养人像早期一直绘制于洞窟四壁佛教经变画的下部。将俗人像高置于与佛龛相对的东壁上部,且位置明显高于佛龛,是一种非常奇特的现象。佛窟毕竟是一种佛教活动道场,其主要目的无疑是礼佛。但佛窟都是由功德主出资修建,其建筑结构,包括窟内的图像布局都会反映窟主的一些意图。……
