Jakabffy Imre szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 13. (Budapest, 1971)

HOPP FERENC MÚZEUM - MUSÉE FERENC HOPP - Horváth, Tibor: Notes to the Iconography of the White-robed Kannon

a cloud. Of ihe three nearest analogies the position of the hands is one (held together in the lap and concealed by the sleeves of the robe), which enables a closer comparison between no. 8 and the pictures of Kencho-ji. In this picture on the left hand side above Kannons halo there is a celestial being in a wide, flat hat, with a moustache and beard holding a flaming sword in front of his chest. This same celestial figure can be found on another picture, and similar figures are visible on other paintings. Ihe portrayal of "pagelike" children and figures offering presents also occur in the lower' half of some pictures. The iconographical handbook does not give any examples ot this lype of figure, so that it is possible that this phenomenon was one of the characteristic features of tin

1 Chinese Kuan-yin iconographies in the :l 2— 1

51 h century, which were perhaps varied according to the specifications of the main temples of special devotion; or in other words, the iconography of the 33 Kuan-yins appeared in several variations and included some of the figures from the Kuan-yin legends

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. 2. Byakue (While-robed) Kannon. According to the stipulations of the recent Japanese iconographies. Kannon should be "silling" on the top of a rock on a grass (leaf) cushion with the hands in the join (dyana mudra) position, surrounded with a double halo (one small one round the head and another larger encircling the whole figure)

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''. In the Kecho-ji series we find the following variations: the double halo (with ihe large halo nol entirely filling into the picture), instead of the join position ol the hands, the two hands are resting in the lap and the fingers are interlocked, a cushion of leaves which instead of being placed on a rock is floating in the air. In connection with I his. there an

1 thin ribbons which seem lo be blowing In ihe wind, next lo the shoulders on both sides. There is a willow branch in a vase with handles, which is standing placed in a dish on the right hand side of Kannon. The robe is strikingly painted with many ribbons and folds, which is a proof in itself that ibis style was nol introduced originally into ink painting but colour painting

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. I can refer here to ihree paintings from the end of the Tang period, that have often been discussed in literature, Weeping Willow Kuan-yin, While-robed Kuan-yin and Waterand-Moon Kuan-yin

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. 7. Renga Kannon (Konnon sitting on a Lotus), dins is probably one of the most interesting sit ling postvires of Kannon, for he is silling with his back turned halfway towards us and his face is in profile. According to the specifications, he is sitting among loins flowers with his hands together on his chest. In the Kencho-ji series Kannon is silling on a rock in labia sana with his right hand on his knee. 12. Suigetsu (Water-and-Moon) Kannon. According to the iconographical specifications, he is standing on the petal of a lotus flower with his hands held together on his chest and the moon and ils reflection visible. In the Kencho-ji series he is sitting 13 Among others, Ting Yün-p'eng, handscroll. Five bonus of Kuan-yin in the Nelson Gallery of Art (Kansas), ca. 1584—1638. In 0. Siren, Chinese Painting, London — New York, 1956, vol. VII, 243, one section of it, ihe Dragon King Paying Homage to Kuanyin, reproduced ibid. vol. VI., pi. 309. Also the Kuan-yin scroll of Ch'en Hsien, painted in 1636 with a poem to each picture written by Yinyüan (Ingen), ihe founder of the lluangpo (Obaku) Zen sect in the collection of Soin-do, Kyoto. A section of it reproduced by Takeuchi llisatsugi. Kinsei Zenrin Bijutsu, fig. 21, Ninon no Bijutsu, no. 47, Tokyo, 1070. In Siren's Chinese Painting, vol. \ II. p. 162. .Sec also the Zenzai doji (Sudhana) emaki. Vl Kannon no shirube, 60. '•' Colour paintings of Kuanyin on silk were still being produced in large numbers in the Yuan Period. Cf. e. g., the two excellent depictions of Willow Kuanyin, one is in the Dailoku-ji and the other is in the Bujo-ji (Tottori) : Chinese Art of the Sung and Yuan Periods, Tokyo, National Museum, 1961, nr. 85 and 86. 16 From the Tunhiiang. cf., Arthur Waley, A catalogus of Paintings recovered from Tun-huang by Sir Aurel Stein, London, 1931. pp. XXXV-XXXYl. 29-30.