Bodhisattva Maitreya

This figure has a tall hat, a scarf-like robe and elaborate drapery falling over his knees to the ground, clinging to the body so that it reveals the legs crossed at the ankles. This posture is typical of the Bodhisattva Maitreya. Buddhism describes the passage of several eras; the present era is associated with the Buddha Sakyamuni (Prince Gautama), and the age to come is represented by this figure, the Bodhisattva Maitreya. Bodhisattvas are individuals who have achieved enlightenment, but who have renounced passing into Nirvana, the state of non-being, and have decided to stay in this world to assist people to reach greater understanding and, if possible, to achieve enlightenment.

Chinese forms of Buddhism emphasised and elaborated features different from those that were predominant in India and Central Asia, the areas of the world from which China gained its understanding of the religion. Buddhism was probably introduced into China from at least as early as the second century AD, but it did not start to flourish until the start of the non-Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (386-535). The kings of the late fifth century, in particular, were ardent patrons of Buddhism and arranged for large cave temples, modelled on Central Asian and northern Indian examples, to be carved near the capital, Datong, in northern Shanxi province. In 494 the Northern Wei moved their capital southwards to the Yellow River, where they established themselves at Luoyang, in present-day Henan province. Here they espoused mainstream metropolitan ancient Chinese traditions andpatronised the carving of another series of cave temples at nearby Longmen. It is likely that this sculpture came from these caves.

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