The Qingzhou buddhas on display at the Royal Academy possess an undiminished sense of dignity and serenity despite several missing digits, chipped noses, and absent feet. Commonly known as a chubby little man with a wide grin and pot belly, or as a blank-faced colossus, Buddha’s 35 sculptures in this exhibition display an unusual diversity of faces. These statues, created between AD529 and AD577, are petite and slender with gentle androgynous torsos, rosebud mouths, and long, fine noses. Illuminated by individual spotlights in the three darkened exhibition rooms, they exude a calm and sublimity that transcends the clamor of the Royal Academy. The exact reason for their existence remains a mystery, much like the disappearance of the statues for over 800 years.
In 1996, during the construction of a primary school in Qingzhou, a burial pit, mostly containing around 400 Buddha images, was discovered beneath the playing field. Believed to have been carefully interred sometime between 1100 and 1150, the torsos had been interred in layers held apart by reed matting while coins were ceremonially scattered across the funeral pile. The images, all broken and some undoubtedly restored and mended, had evidence suggestive of fire or earthquake damage. It is speculated that these relics are either the tired and outdated statuary that the monastery wished to replace with new art but couldn’t bear to erase entirely or buried for safe-keeping during one of China’s periodic anti-Buddhist purges. The Buddha had instructed his followers not to honour him in image; thus, Buddhism also had a few events questioning the importance of icons. Nevertheless, some of the Qingzhou discoveries bore inscriptions indicating that the idea of purchasing one’s exit from the cycle of rebirth and death through iconography had taken root in that location.
Regardless of why they were buried, the statues have since made their way to Piccadilly following exhibitions in Berlin and Zurich. The spirit of Buddha is also witnessing a revival in China, with the falun gong sect seeing a rise in numbers. However, it remains under scrutiny, with hundreds of believers detained by the state authorities, who are keen to promote their 6th-century treasures to the West. Amnesty International reports that many believers "re-educated through labour" in the town of Luongyang, over the Shandong-Henan provincial border, while 17 falun gong members have passed away in state custody in Shandong.
Buddhism arrived in China over five centuries after the demise of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563BC to circa 483BC). The elongated ears of Buddha statues are made of gilded limestone and represent the Buddha’s original influence and wealth. Some of the Qingzhou ears display the holes where Gautama’s opulent earrings hung before his enlightenment as a wealthy prince turned ascetic and later regarded as the Buddha. The new religion is thought to have reached the country through the Silk Route from India and Nepal in the first century AD. It spread rapidly in the eastern provinces, remaining a profoundly democratic religion that preached salvation to all, regardless of social status or caste.
Itinerant preachers disseminated the teachings of Buddhism to the masses, including the illiterate. The images of Buddha emerged later, together with increasingly complicated and captivating "back story" and iconography. Like Christianity, Buddha’s message accumulated narratives and heroes, contributing to the development of a pantheon. Gautama had lived through various previous lives, over 500, according to some, before being reborn as a bodhisattva, an almost-Buddha who could intercede for others to hasten their entry into nirvana. His previous lives and their stories gave rise to a treasure trove of prequels that were eagerly sculpted, painted, and carved by artful craftsmen from northeastern India. In reality, many of the statues on display in the Royal Academy are bodhisattvas, preferred by sculptors because they could depict their clothing, jewellery and headwear richly, in contrast to the Buddha, who famously wore a plain monk’s robe.
The Qingzhou bodhisattva garments display their original red, green, and black hues, maintaining the glow of the Buddha’s skin through gilding and preserving the wisdom symbolized in his top-knot in a luscious blue hue. These garments also display a surprising detail in the faint traces of black moustaches present on some of the figures’ faces. However, one figure features a swastika on his golden chest, signifying his 1,000 perfections – a symbol of good fortune before being appropriated by later ages for alternative messaging.
The exhibition reflects the shift from the linear and stylized art of the two Wei dynasties (AD386 to AD550) to the more naturalistic, three-dimensional recreations of the succeeding Northern Qi dynasty (550AD to 577AD), inspired potentially by the sculptural innovations of Ancient Greece coming from craftsmen in north-eastern India.
Unknown artists of the Northern Wei dynasty – Mongol/Turkmen nomads who assimilated into Chinese culture – created the earliest sculptures presented in the exhibition. Scholars such as Su Bai believe the Wei imported the dominant aspects of their new country into the art of their Buddha images: the figures featured static, two-dimensional qualities and stylized, generalized faces. The Northern Qi, on the other hand, rejected Chinese culture in favor of Indian customs, leading to more detailed and profound sculptures that notably feature individualized faces, broader bodies, and downcast eyes full of thoughtfulness. These sculptures were intent on replicating the point of transfiguration, the boundary between an entity achieving nothingness, and the mundane rules centring around specific measurements and facts that sculptors had to adhere to.
The Return of the Buddha exhibition fuses the feeling of latent life with the visible energy compressed within the objects. The sculptures’ presence is unforgettable, touching upon a sense that they could move at any moment, making them frustratingly impossible to ignore. The Royal Academy is housing the exhibition until July 14, with details available by calling 020-7300 8000.