The construction of the Longmen Vairocana Buddha, this great statue in the 7th century CE, is due to the social success that Buddhism achieved in China in previous stages. Proof of the religious fervor that is unleashed in China around Buddhism is the development of the great rock religious centers. These sanctuaries came to China through the Silk Road, from India.
During the Tang dynasty, which is the period in which the Great Buddha Vairokana was built, Buddhism enjoyed great importance and patronage throughout the dynasty, thanks to which it acquired specifically Chinese forms during this period.
Buddhist fervor
It was during the co-government of gaozong y Wu zetian, when the capital of the empire was moved from Chang'an (modern Xi'an) to Luoyang. In this way, the works in Longmen already started during the Wei period were resumed. This new construction phase of Longmen is characterized by the proliferation of sculptures of Amitâbha and Avalokitesvara, in which forms of realism were preferred, which sometimes evoke portraits and female faces.
Thanks to an inscription found at the base of the sculpture, it is known that it was made in the year 679 CE, and that it represents Buddha Vairocana. At the same time, it indicated that this project was carried out by express order of Emperor Gaozong himself, who had the financial support of his wife, Empress Wu Zetian, who donated the money from her annual budget for cosmetics (twenty thousand strings of coins, a considerable amount for the time). Once built, the temple was staffed by the emperor himself with 27 monks.
The sculpture of Buddha is the central axis of the Fengxian temple, and was represented with a face of great beauty, showing a serene expression, with his eyes slightly half-closed, in contrast to the immobility of his torso. Originally, Buddha's throne was a lotus. Buddha is flanked symmetrically by the devarajas, who are: two of his disciples, two Bodhisattvas, and four colossal guardians, of which only those on the left side of the Buddha remain, since those on the right of him have been destroyed. The entire set is of outstanding artistic quality.
Part of the significance of this great sculpture is due to the fact that, since Wu Zetian participated in its construction, an attempt has been made to link it more closely to it. It has been thought that the empress was the true architect of the project. Even in the 1970s it was theorized that Vairocana's face was actually a portrait of Wu Zetian, in an attempt to give legitimacy to his accession to the throne. But this theory has been definitively discarded, since there is no evidence that before 684 he had any intention of occupying the throne. Today it is believed that it was a project of Gaozong, actively supported by his wife Wu Zetian, as the inscription indicated.
More important is the fact that this great Buddha is the central sculpture of the temple, given that Vairocana is identified with the emperor, which would be a sign of the legitimacy of the government of the imperial couple.
Currently, the artistic and historical significance of this sculptural complex makes it one of the most important tourist centers in all of China.
Luoyang, Henan Province, China
The Vairocana Buddha, in figures
The grotto, heyday of rock sculpture
More Information
Content coordinated together with David Sevillano López, Associate Professor of the East Asia Area, Complutense University of Madrid. Asia Research Group. Complutense Spanish Sinology Research Group.
