|
In February,
Xi¡¯an artist Yue Luping became the first experimental artist
to create a work in the Long March cave dwellings.
72
transformations ¨C
Drawing from ¡°Separate Paths¡±
Sun
Wukong (the Monkey King) is the primary character of ¡°Journey
to the West.¡± He can transform into 72 different forms,
he often takes the forms of monsters. This year is the year
of the monkey, the starting point of the proposal is to
utilize the year of the monkey to hold a competition that
involves folk art and the visual image of Sun Wukong.
Proposal:
to provide folk artists with materials of Shi Pantuo and
the sage Sun Wukong and have them create different images
of Sun Wukong.
The
Background for 72 Transformation
In 2001,
scholars made a tremendous discovery, someone found the
original image of Sun Wukong in the a Late Tang historic
record (The Great Benevolence of Tripitaka) ¨C Shi Pantuo.
The pointed mouth of the Hu people and their simian like
soft and furry cheeks really do look very similar, the Hu
Seng (Sage Hu) and Hu Sun (macaque) are also very close
in sound. Under the guidance of religion, the pilgrimage
for Buddhist texts made by Sage Tang being assisted by Hu
Seng, could easily be turned into Sage Tang being assisted
by Hu Sun (macaque). From this came the mythological base
for the story of Xuan Zang¡¯s pilgrimage for Buddhist scripture.
In a Late Xia dynasty Buddhist cave drawing just 90 li away
from Yumen pass, there is a traveler wearing a halo and
prostrating towards the boddhisatva Guanyin, behind is a
person with a face full of long hair, two round eyes, a
forward jutting nose, teeth jutting out in simian fashion
that is outfitted for a journey and leading a horse following
behind, that can be a visual indication that ¡°Shi Pantuo¡±
is Sun Wukong.
Today, the people of Jingyang, Sha¡¯anxi in CE 751, he went
as an envoy to India along the northern path of the silk
road. In CE 753, he fell ill in India and was unable to
return east with the group. In CE 757, Sun Wukong converted
to Buddhism and began traveling the world. In CE 789, he
returned to Chang¡¯an, from beginning to end his travels
lasted 39 years, he passed through 58 countries, and in
present day Xinjiang Jimusaier township worked together
on monastic discipline with Yu Tian and finished translating
the ¡°Ten Power Sutra,¡± ¡°Ten Places Sutra,¡± and the ¡°Returning
Wheel Sutra¡± that he had brought back from India. After
returning to Chang¡¯an, Wu Kong was proclaimed a premier
general, and began a record of his travels in ¡°Record of
Travels.¡± This book no longer exists today, the contents
are generally outlined in Hui Jiao¡¯s ¡°The Sutra of High
Saints.¡± Wukong is the last historically recorded individual
of the Tang dynasty that traveled west to bring back Buddhist
scriptures.
back
|
