he Prevalence of the Sitting Image of Maitreya and Empress Wu: Focusing on Representations of the Descent of Maitreya in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Makiko ONISHI

2017 Dunhuang Forum: Inheritance and Innovation――An International Conference on Dunhuang and the Silk Road in Memory of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Mr. Duan Wenjie

Dunhuang Academy
 chinese dunhuang turpan society
　China Dunhuang Grottoes Conservation Research Fundation

Dunhuang Academy in Dunhuang
 Gansu Province
 China

Paintings of the Maitreya in the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes started as picturing Maitreya Boddhisattva in Tusita Heaven in the Sui Dynasty. Then they changed to the images of the Maitreya Buddha’s Paradise in the Tang Dynasty. This change has been considered to be caused by the transition of Maitreya faith from the devotees’ wishes for ascent to Tusita Heaven to the expectancy of the Descent of Maitreya to sah? world. It is certain that the representations of the paradise of Maitreya Buddha in the Tang Dynasty was based on the S?tra that expounds the Descent of Maitreya Buddha and His enlightenment. However it remains uncertain that the change of Maitreya faith was the prime mover of the change of representations of the Maitreya in the Mogao Grottoes. In this report
 we discuss about the background of the change of ir change and the influence of Empress Wu.