Textual Research on the"Illustration of Jetavanavihār"in Sui Dynasty Cave 292 in the Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang
The untitled sutra illustration painting on the west wall in the antechamber of Mogao cave 292 from the Sui dynasty can be concluded to be a depiction of Jetavanavihār that was created according to the scenes of The Sutra of the Wise and Fool-ish:Chapter Concerning Sudatta Having aVihara Built.The painting presents a relatively complete depiction of the three main scenes of the sutra,namely"Sudatta having a vihara built,""Defeating Mara"and"The Buddha's sermon."This painting is sig-nificant because it is the earliest and most complete image of this theme found to date,and because the compositional form of the mural is among the most complex among paintings of its kind at Mogao.Identifying this painting provides an important supple-ment to primary research material useful for further research on the theme of Jetavanavihār,and corrects the previous view that there was no such sutra illustration in the caves of the Sui dynasty at Dunhuang.In addition,the content of the painting is also highly relevant to studies on the content development of two later documents,Xiangmo Bianwen 降魔变文(Transformation Text on Subduing Demons)and Laoducha Dousheng Bian劳度差斗圣变(Transformation Text about Raudraksa's Battle with Sariputra).
Mogao cave 292Jetavanavihār illustrationRaudraksa's Battle with Sariputra
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