This picture shows the fresco “Deer King Bensheng” in Cave 257 of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. The upper part is the left part of the mural, and the lower part is the right part. (Image credit: public domain)
DunhuangOn the small oasis in the desert beyond the Great Wall, it continues its legendary history and brilliant civilization with its unique identity as an important city on the Silk Road and a Buddhist holy place. In particular, the grottoes located on the cliffs of the valley have used bright colors and spectacular shapes for thousands of years to tell the dusty past to every passerby.This article will introduce you toMogao Grottoesvery typical,BuddhaRelevant story painting – Cave 257 “Deer King Benson“Perhaps, halfway through your reading, you’ll find out: This is what you’ve heard before.Nine-colored deerStory!
The Dunhuang grotto art represented by the Mogao Grottoes has reached an astonishing peak since its inception. From the perspective of content and subject matter, the narrative murals of this period are mostly themes such as the biography of the Buddha, the birth of the Buddha, and the stories of karma, showing the miracle of the Buddha who sacrificed himself to save all beings and mercifully saved the world. Through vivid stories, the world can more deeply realize the power of righteous faith and the mighty virtue of Buddhism.
The “Deer King Bensheng” in Cave 257 reveals that good and evil are rewarded and don’t forget the original intention
In the Dunhuang Grottoes, the story paintings of one picture, one scene and one picture with multiple scenes draw on the expressions of Buddhist art in the Western Regions. In addition, there is also a large-scale banner story painting with richer scenes, more complex plots, and a grander form, which is what we often call “comic comics” today. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there have also been paintings in the form of banners and scrolls in the Han Dynasty, such as “The History of Women” and “The Fu of Luoshen”, which are all amazing masterpieces.
Because the horizontal scrolling comic strip breaks through the limitations of a single picture, it can show the ups and downs of Buddhist mythology and show its advantages, and it has gradually become a method of expression that painters are keen on. The banner scroll has gradually developed from one-segment to two-segment and three-segment, forming a larger-scale story set with stronger visual expression.
What’s more, the horizontal scrolling story sequence is not single from left to right, but shows the aggregation from both ends to the center, revealing the climax or ending scene of the story in the middle of the frame. The most typical painting is the story of “Deer King Bensheng” in Cave 257 of Mogao Grottoes. Everyone knows that before becoming a Buddha, Sakyamuni was reborn as a sage, a sage, a benevolent animal, and a beast. The nine-colored deer, because of its beautiful image and benevolent mind, has become a widely circulated life story of Sakyamuni.
The nine-color deer is also called the nine-color god deer or the deer king. Its antlers are as white as snow, and its fur is composed of many wonderful colors. The so-called nine colors does not really mean that there are nine colors on the body, but refers to the richness and variety, showing the sacredness and beauty of the deer king.
According to legend, the deer king often drinks water by the Ganges River, accompanied by birds and beasts. One day, the deer king was walking by the river, and suddenly heard someone calling for help. It turned out that someone was drowning. The deer king immediately jumped into the river and rescued the person. The drowning man knelt on the ground and thanked the deer king, and said that in order to thank the deer king for his life-saving grace, he himself was willing to be a slave and a servant and serve the deer king for life. The deer king refused him immediately, and only hoped that he would keep his secrets and not reveal his whereabouts.
The queen of this country dreamed of a beautiful nine-colored deer one night. When she woke up, she begged the king to capture the nine-colored deer, saying that she wanted to use the deer skin as a coat and the antlers as a whisk handle. For the sake of the queen, the king had no choice but to offer half of his land and property as a reward to capture the deer king. The drowning man forgot his righteousness and forgot the life-saving grace of the Deer King. He then led the king and his army to the Ganges River. After the deer king found out, he told the king about the rescue of the informer (drowning person). As for the whistleblower, who was badly punished, his body was covered with sores, and his mouth stinks; the queen died of grief and anger because of her greed and loss of the king’s favor.
The comic strip in the grotto reproduces the legend of the Deer King
This is the mural of “Deer King Bensheng” in Cave 257 of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. (Image credit: public domain)
The lower fresco in the middle of the west wall of Cave 257 reproduces the legend of the Deer King in the form of a comic strip. The scroll is divided into five scenes and eight plots:
From the left is the scene by the Ganges River, showing that when the deer king was walking by the river, someone fell into the water and called for help; the deer king entered the river and carried the drowned man ashore; the drowning man knelt down and thanked him, and the deer king asked him to keep it secret.
From the right is the scene of the palace. The queen sits side by side with the king and asks to capture the nine-colored deer; after seeing the notice of reward, the drowned man comes to tell the truth. To the right is to the outskirts, Drowning leads the king and the army to find the trace of the nine-colored deer.
The upper part of the middle section of the picture shows the scene of the deer king sleeping peacefully. The crow rushed over to wake the deer king and remind him to flee quickly; the lower part is the climax and ending of the story, which also occupies the most central and eye-catching position of the painting, the deer king and the drowning. When people meet, they tell the king about the treachery of the drowned, and the drowned will suffer evil retribution.
The theme of the murals corresponds to the plot layout of “Two ends of the story”, showing the artist’s extraordinary ingenuity and his understanding of Buddhism. On the left is saving people and compassion, on the right is possession and greed. The two forces of good and evil converge from both ends and confront each other in the center. In the end, good and evil are rewarded, and evil is invincible. The painter conveys a very profound meaning in a clever way.
The painting is equally delicate and expressive in its representation of the characters. To portray the queen, let her put one arm on the king’s shoulder and lift one foot, showing her charming style; showing the scene of the meeting between the deer king and the king, the plump and healthy deer stands tall, and confesses her experience, showing dignity and majesty. On the one hand, the king lowered his eyebrows and nodded and listened quietly, showing shame and concern. The painter just relied on a few details to describe the character and psychology of the characters above the danqing.
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