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Ksitigarbha as Lord of the Six Ways
地藏菩薩圖
Northern Song dynasty, dated 4th year of Jianlong 建隆四年(A.D.963)
Ink and colours on silk
Painted area: H. 56.1 cm, W. 51.5 cm
British Museum, Stein painting 19. Ch.lviii.003
See also Figs. 25-27
Among the paintings of the Stein collection, the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha has already been seen represented alone, both on silk banners (Vol. 1, Pls. 44, 45; also Fig. 93), and in a small uninscribed votive painting of the early tenth century (Pl.8). His increased popularity later in the same century is attested by the three paintings shown here (Pls. 22-24), as well as by numerous paintings in the Pelliot collection also. In a recent paper, Lothar Ledderose (1981) has shown how simple depictions of Ksitigarbha alone may have developed towards a more complex organisation, in which the Bodhisattva is show first with the Ten Kings of Hell, who eventually gain independence, as in the handscrolls seen in Pls. 63 and 64 where they have become the main subject. The present paintings (Pls. 22-24) are accordingly shown as possible stages in this development. (For a thorough study of the cult of Ksitigarbha, with especial reference to Korea, see the doctoral thesis by Youngsook Pak, University of Heidelberg. 1981.)
In the upper part of the painting, Ksitigarbha, attended by two Bodhisattvas, is shown as Lord of the Six Gati. Each of the Six Ways is represented by a small figure placed next to a striped band. The Way of Devas is shown as a small Bodhisattva, top left; the remaining five are those of Animals (a horse and an ox), of Hell (a demon with a pitchfork; Fig.25), and on the right, the Way of Men, the Way of Asura (a four-armed deity holding the sun and moon), and the Way of Hungry Ghosts (a figure among flames; Fig. 26). These last five are those which the donor, Kang Qingnu of Dunhuang, wished to avoid (Fig. 27):
建隆四年癸亥歲五月廿二日題記
親姻眷屬並休康寧昆季枝羅同霑福分
錫振動地獄生蓮珠耀迷途還同淨土更願
速退於身軀煩惱永離於原體功德乃金
之刃今者更染患疾未得痊#願微痾
宅恐墮於五趣之中禍福無常心願於解脫
其斯繪者厥有清信弟子康清奴身居火
The maker of this painting was the disciple of pure faith Kang Qingnu. His body lodges in the House of Fire and he fears to fall in the Five Evil Ways. Fortune and disaster are inconstant; his heart longs to be among the ranks of the emancipated. Now he is again attacked by sickness and pain and cannot obtain relief. He desires that his small afflictions should rapidly retreat from his body and all misery from his constitution. May his merit cause (Ksitigarbha’s) staff to shake so that in Hell lotus buds grow; and may his radiant gem shine forth in the Dark Ways, till they be turned into the semblance of the Pure Land. Also he desires that his parents and relations by marriage and all his connexions may rest in health and security and that his brothers, cousins, and all the collateral branches of his family may be moistened with the dew of a prosperous portion. (Translation adapted from Waley.)
Here, as in the painting itself, it is only Ksitigarbha who is invoked, through the mention of his chief attributes, the khakkhara (staff) and the cintamani (radiant gem). Ksitigarbha’s special vow to rescue souls, even from the regions of hell, offers hope to the donor not only for himself but on behalf of his whole house-hold. In the paintings that follow, the role of the Ten Kings in deciding the future of the soul appears alongside that of Ksitigarbha and assumes a growing importance.
北宋時代，建隆四年（963年）題記
絹本設色
圖案部分：高56.1釐米 寬51.5釐米
英国博物館,斯坦因繪畫19.Ch.lviii.003
參照Figs.25-27
被斯坦因收集的地藏菩薩繪畫，曾介紹過以獨立像出現的絹繪幡畫（參照第1卷圖44、45，Fig.93），以及認爲是10世紀初的沒有紀年的被帽地藏菩薩像（參照圖8）等。到了10世紀後半葉，地藏菩薩的信仰更加高漲，這一情況，除了本圖和接着它的兩個圖外，还可在伯希和收集品中，多見同一時期的地藏繪畫等得到證實。
最近，Lothar Ledderose教授發表論文指出，地藏繪畫經曆了從獨立的像到由冥府十王伴隨的複雜構成發展過程。根據他的論文，冥府十王最初是作爲陪同地藏菩薩而出現，以後如在圖63及64的畫卷中所見的那樣，逐漸變成每個都獨立描繪的形式。從本圖至圖24的三圖中，可窺見這一發展階段之一端。地藏信仰的全部經過，尤其是要與韓國的進行比較，則需要參考在海德堡大學提交的朴英淑女士的博士論文。
畫面上段，是作爲六道救濟者的地藏伴随的兩個菩薩。六道是用各自細小的道上配上象徵性的小像來表示，左方最上段的小菩薩像代表天道，其下的二道是畜生道（用牛馬來表示）和地獄道（用拿著耙子的鬼來表示）（參照Fig.25）。右邊從上方開始分別描繪的是人道、阿修羅道（以捧日月的四臂天部來表現）、餓鬼道（用被火焰包圍的像來表示）（參照Fig.26）。
此畫的供養人是敦煌的康清奴，此時祈願除天道外的五道的解救，題記中這樣寫道（行是從左往右。參照Fig.27）：
建隆四年癸亥歲五月廿二日題記
親姻眷屬並休康寧昆季枝羅同霑福分
錫振動地獄生蓮珠耀迷途還同淨土更願
速退於身軀煩惱永離於原體功德乃金
之刃今者更染患疾未得痊#願微痾
宅恐墮於五趣之中禍福無常心願於解脫
其斯繪者厥有清信弟子康清奴身居火
題記大意是：此繪畫的施主是清信弟子康清奴，唯恐墮入火宅五惡道。此世間禍福皆無常，渴望心靈的解脫。現今，再度受病魔之襲擾，得不到痊愈。祈願這小小的不幸速離身軀，所有的煩惱永遠消失。地藏具有錫杖一振，使地獄生蓮花，用寶珠使黑暗道變成明亮的功德，還歸淨土，並啓願雙親和姻戚及其他有關係的人都得到健康安寧，一族都在沐浴於順調的恩惠之中（採用Waley的譯文）。
這裏，祈願地藏通過錫杖和寶珠授予功德，畫面中也只有攜帶那些物品的地藏菩薩被描繪得非常大。而解救靈魂的地藏的功德延續到冥界，不單是供養著本人，連同相關人的期望都會得到實現。因此，到了下一階段，裁定死者在何界轉生的冥府十王與地藏一同出現，從此，十王的重要性逐漸增強。