Reading Sanskrit in a Rain of Blossoms

• Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk　
• 175.3 x 98.2 cm

This painting of what appears to be an Indian monk bears neither seal nor signature of the artist. Seated cross-legged  on a rock, the monk holds in his hands a sutra scroll  written in Sanskrit. With his mouth slightly open and his eyes in concentration, he seems to focus on reciting the content of the scripture. Just at this moment, blossoms are shown floating  down from the sky as a favorable omen from the heavens. Next to the Indian monk is a white-haired monkey  catching the blossoms. Its solemn expression gives this painting an even greater sense of holiness. The beard of the monk is quite detailed, the rendering of the cassock patterns is thorough, and the drapery lines  are rounded yet taut. The coloring is archaic and solemn, as opposed to the more opulent style of Buddhist paintings from the Ningbo region

TThe monk in this painting has exaggerated facial features, body hair, and dark skin, clearly revealing a non-native Chinese and probably an Indian monk . Paintings of Indian monks have a long history in China, with the title of one being attributed as early as the Eastern Jin period (317-420). By the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, Guan Xiu  (832-912) created the foreign Indian appearance of lohans based on the appearance of Indian monks. The style of this work, however, differs from that of earlier ones. The artist here had treated the area of the eyes and nose with layers of ink washes. The changes in light and dark tones and the contrast in brightness clearly show variation in the outlines of the facial features. Quite realistic, this painting in fact looks almost like a portrait. In the Yuan dynasty, people of various ethnic backgrounds, including Nepalese, Indians, Tibetans, and Arabs, were active in China. The artist of this painting may very well have rendered this image of an Indian based on what he actually saw around him. What is interesting here is that Yuan painters of Buddhist themes took the image of actual foreigners and applied it to their renderings of lohans. The result is a unique portrait-style of lohan paintings in the Yuan dynasty.

Seated cross-legged

This seated pose refers specifically to one leg tucked under the other with the sole of the other foot facing up.

Sutra scroll

Blossoms are shown floating

White-haired monkey

Drapery lines

Indian monks

Guan Xiu

Guan Xiu (832-912) entered the He'an Temple in Lanxi County at the age of six. Although he became a monk, he also devoted much of his time to composing poetry, doing seal, clerical, and cursive script calligraphy, and painting lohans (Buddhist disciples of antiquity). He became famous for his unusual renderings of the 18 lohans based on the images of foreigners. Unfortunately, only copies of his works survive.