Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 12. (Budapest, 1992)
FAJCSÁK Györgyi: Kínai sztúpa díszítése az i. sz. 7. századból
The demon figure's feet are clad in long leather boots diat are pitted. An interesdng fact is that there are four fingers on each hand clutching his feet. The decorative pitting and fringing of the boots and the detailed depicdons of his hands (fingers, nails, etc.) are typical of Tang art. The whole figure is rigidly frontal and almost symmetrical. He is shown widi large protruding eyes, bulging eyebrows which have a roughly pitted surface. The facial features are exaggerated with a large pouring mouth, round eyes, a prominent pug nose and a wavelike hair. The curling line of the wide lipped mouth is echoed by die six-six curls of the hair. These characteristics of the mature Tang style can be seen on the other dies from the pagoda of the Xiuding Monastery. One of the dies belonging to the Avery Brundage Collecdon shows same design: seated cross-ankled demon figure in relief. P1.4. 5 However, an other typical die depicting a demon mask belongs to the Chinese Collecdon of die British Museum. P1.5. 6 Several other dies from the pagoda of die Xiuding Monastery can be found in western private 7 and public collections such as in the Metropolitan Museum of Art 8 and in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. 9 Undoubtedly, the large number of the dies on the walls of the Xiuding Pagoda supposes that a strong ceramic industry must have produced dicse tiles. The famous centres of the Tang Chinese ceramic industry (Gongxian, Mixian, Dengfengxian, etc.) are located in this area. Earthenwares, glazed and unglazed rooftiles with moulded monster mask decoradon, 10 door knockers in the form of a homed monster bidng on a ring remain from this time. 11 The popularity and wide-spreading of the moulded ceramic wares influenced die decorative scheme of the Xiuding Monastery. However, the high artistic value (rare motifs) and the good technical standard of these tiles cast no light on the origin of the unique idea of using diese tiles for the decoration of die surface of the pagoda. Not one single early Buddhist temple survives in its entirety from the first centuries of Chinese Buddhism. Hence the pagodas diat still remains as relics of Buddhist monasteries give us a unique opportunity to investigate the original architecture of die monasteries as well as the decorative motifs and the various techniques used for building decoration. The pagoda of the Xiuding Monastery located west of Anyang in Henan province not far from die border widi Hcbei province, at the foot of Mount Qingliang. From the beginning of Chinese Buddhism onwards, diis area played a dominant role as a pilgrimage centre of North China and famous cave-temples, monasteries and temples were built tiiere. The South and North Xiangtangshan cave-temples are located about 30 km north of the Xiuding Monastery, while the Yünmen Monastery, die Wanfogou Monastery, die Lingquan Monastery and some others are in its neighbourhood to die soutii. PI. 6. The Xiuding Monastery was established in die late fifth century 12 by the monk Zhang Meng. Its name then was the Tiancheng Monastery. During die Northern Qi dynasty (A.D. 550-577), die name of die monastery was changed to Xiuding Monastery, and, as recorded later, it reached a height of prosperity during the Sui and Tang dynasties. The Biographies of Famous Monks mentions die monastery 13 as a flourishing centre of Buddhism. Under the reign of the Tang Emperor Taizong (reigned A.D. 624-649) the monastic-complex underwent extensive restoration and new buildings were added, among them the one-storey square pagoda. The wealth and the prosper-
