144 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ornament resembling a diadem, which has fallen off. The dress is 

 elaborate and ornate. The right hand holds a wand or scepter; the 

 object which was in the left hand is missing. Behind the head is 

 a circular halo and another one behind the body, both with a beaded 

 border and set in a fig leaf-shaped aureole carved with scrolls in open 

 work. The seat represents a rock round which is coiled a dragon, the 

 emblematic mythical animal of China and Japan. Amitabha, or as 

 the Japanese name him, Amida, is one of the five celestial meditation 

 (dhyani) Buddhas, who rules over the Sukhavati heaven of the west. 

 He is the celestial reflex or counterpart of Guatama Buddha. He is 

 the "Buddha of infinite light," and is in the entire northern Buddhism 

 the most popular divinity and his image the most widely spread. 

 The identification of this figure as that of Amitabha is, however, 

 tentative. Height of the figure, 25 inches; of the base, 19 inches; 

 length of the base, 20 inches; width, 16 inches. Japan. (Plate 44, 

 Cat. No. 154964, U.S.N.M.) 



162. Amitabha. — Wood, lacquered and gilt. Seated in meditation 

 on a full-blown lotus throne which is supported by a lion couchant 

 on a rock which rests on a plinth, in a wooden shrine. The head 

 wears an elaborate crown, in a filigree work. On the ears are simi- 

 larly worked ornaments from which a necklace or chain hangs down 

 over the breast. Height of the figure, 12^ inches; of the shrine, 24 

 inches. Shei Sheiva, Japan. (Cat. No. 154293, U.S.N.M.) 



163. Tse-pa-med (Sanslcrit Amitayus). — Bronze, chased and gilt. 

 Amitayus with the Tibetan Buddists is the active spiritual reflex of 

 Amitabha and is worshipped as the Buddha of long life (while Ami- 

 tabha is the Buddha of "boundless light"). The Chinese confuse 

 him with Amitabha. He is represented seated on a double lotus, 

 holding before him in his right hand a bowl (often a skull) filled with 

 water of life, which is one of the eight luck-compelling symbols of 

 ancient India, the left hand rests with upturned palm in his lap under 

 the right. The head is painted in blue.^' Height, 8 inches. Doion 

 Nor, Tibet. (Cat. No. 130400, U.S.N.M.) 



164. Euan-Yin. — Porcelain, seated on a lotus around which is 

 coiled a dragon; the right hand holds a child, the left rests on her knee, 

 and on the sides are a male and female suppliant. Kuan- Yin, in 

 Japan, Kuannon, her full name being Kuan-Shai-Yin, signifying, 

 "a being who hears or perceives the cries of man," is in both countries 

 the goddess of mercy and the female transformation of Avalokitesvara 



31 "Copper is found both native and in the form of pyrites in Tibet, where it is wrought with uncommon 

 perfection. Several localities are well known for their famous foundries, which supply the whole of the 

 Buddhist east with statuettes of divinities. Lhasa has a special reputation for small figures in gilt copper, 

 which are esteemed the more the smaller they are. The statuettes made by the monks and craftsmen of 

 Tashilumppo are equally esteemed. Most of the bronze statuettes come from the workshops of the Tsang 

 and Khams Provinces. The bronzes from the region last named are famous for the perfection of their exe- 

 cution in details and their wonderful patina."— Vincent A. Smith, A History of Fine Arts in India and 

 Ceylon, Oxford, 1911, p. 19S. 



