Texts and Images in Medieval Buddhist Caves

This lecture presents a case-study approach to examining the dynamic interplay between text and image in Buddhist cave art, with a particular focus on how Buddhist sutras are visually articulated across distinct historical and regional contexts. The first case investigates Cave 6 at Yungang, where episodes from the Buddha’s life—as structured in the Puyao jing (Sūtra of Universal Radiance)—are transformed into a sequential stone-carved narrative. This visual program functions as a “sutra in stone,” combining iconographic richness with symbolic meaning to communicate doctrine while also supporting the religious legitimacy of the Northern Wei state. The second case explores mural paintings at the Dunhuang caves, especially those derived from the Sūtra of Avalokiteśvara and the Lotus Sūtra (Pǔménpǐn chapter). These images illustrate the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s transformative responses to sentient beings’ needs—what the texts describe as “universal manifestations”—and reflect the lived religious practices and devotional needs of multiethnic communities along the Silk…