Paradise of Maitreya
彌勒下生經變相圖
Late Tang or early Five Dynasties,late 9th –early 10th century A.D.
Ink and colours on silk
H. 138.7 cm, W. 116.0 cm
British Museum, Stein painting11. Ch. lviii. 001
See also Figs. 10-13
Both the Bodhisattva and the aristocratic figure behind him are supported on clouds, lightly silhouetted against pale colour shading. Both advance in three-quarter view, but the torso of the Bodhisattva is turned in a slight contrapposto to face the spectator, rather than being fully turned in a gesture to the lady behind as in Pl.9. The lady herself gives every impression of wealth and social standing (Pl. 10-3). Her stance is upright, in contrast to the downward glance and demure bearing that characterizes the lady of Pl.9-3, in harmony with the protective attitude of the Bodhisattva in that painting.
This impressive paradise painting is identified as that of Maitreya by the several texts from the Maitreya sutra inscribed in cartouches accompanying scenes at the top and bottom of the painting. Other examples of the subject have been listed by Terukaze Akiyama in his excellent article in Seiiki Bunka Kenkyu, Ⅵ.
The whole composition is much more densely packed than some of the comparable wall paintings and other examples of this subject to which Eiichi Matsumoto and Terukazu Akiyama have drawn attention. In the centre, the Buddha and his attendants form a compact group, the spaces between them almost completely filled by their decorated aureoles (Pl. 12-2). Behind them are the guardian kings Vaisravana, holding a trident-banner with black and white streamers, and Virupaksa, holding a sword, each accompanied by a Dharmapala. Smaller groups, each of a Buddha with two seated Bodhisattvas and a third standing behind, appear on either side. Even in these groups set diagonally there is a strong tendency for the painter to set his figures in the picture plane (Pl. 12-3). As a result the nimbi are again prominent and perfectly circular, and the figures are mainly seen from the front, with just the heads turned to attempt to show the relationships between them. Such an arrangement may be contrasted with the more accomplished groupings of similar triads in compositions of the ninth century, for example in the paradises of Bhaisajyaguru and Amitabha (Vol. 1, Pls. 10, 16).
Most distinctive, in this and other representations of Maitreya’s paradise, are the ordination scenes that appear here at the bottom of the painting (Pl. 12-6), together with a sumptuous array of gifts on two facing altar tables: bundles of scrolls or silk, tall water-sprinklers, a lobed silver dish, and baskets each containing six cakes, or mounds of sacred grain (Fig. 13). On the right a king and on the left a queen, each with a retinue of attendants, are seated as their heads are shaved. These two scenes are given added visual interest by the inclusion of a groom with three saddled horses, on the right, and a hexagonal kiosk with multi-coloured panels, on the left, between the two groups is a canopied throne with a number of figures busy about it.
As a counterpart to these scenes at the bottom of the painting, further narrative scenes appear at the top (Pl. 12-5), in a narrow space above a range of mountains and spiky trees stretching right across the painting at the level of the tops of the canopies of the main figures. These scenes too are found in other representations of Maitreya’s paradise, including a preparatory sketch on paper (Fig. 85) and many examples in wall paintings at Dunhuang and Wanfoxia. Among the latter, those on the west wall of Cave 25 of the Yulin caves (Warner, 1938, Pl. XXX), dating from the ninth century, are of particular beauty, and will be referred to again below.
In the present painting on silk, all these narrative scenes are accompanied by texts in cartouches. The texts themselves are taken from the Mile xiasheng jing, which contains anecdotes announcing the future birth of Maitreya as the son of the minister Brahmayu in the city of Ketumati under the reign of King Cakravarti-raja Sankha. For reasons that will become clear below, it is necessary to examine each of the scenes in turn, along with the accompanying text. All of the texts are quotations from Kumarajiva’s translation of the Maitreya sutra (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, no. 454, pp. 423-25), but with constant errors on the part of the copyist; only those substitutions essential to the understanding of the text are given here. The translations are those given by Arthur Waley in his Catalogue.
Beginning from the top right, the first cartouche describes the peaceful conditions that will obtain when the future Buddha, Maitreya, is born:
無有怨賊劫竊之患城邑聚樂(落)無開(閉)門者時
尒時人民命中自然行誦(詣)椓(塚)間如死時生安樂
In those days the people of the land when their span of life is over, will go of their own accord to the tomb and die there. Peace and happiness will prevail. (In that country) there will be no fierce bandits nor thieves to fear. In none of the towns or villages will men shut their gates. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424a.)
The first line of this inscription is illustrated in another part of the painting, and we shall return to it later. Here in the top right corner the illustration shows three men seated at a long table, in a carpeted enclosure which is screened off by curtains. There are dishes on the table, though barely visible, and two attendants are bringing other dishes. In addition, a lady and a gentleman are seen in front of a large mirror on a stand. This last detail does not appear in the more detailed ninth century depiction of this scene in Cave 25 of the Yulin caves (Warner, 1938, Pl. XLI A; Lo Archive, no. 3020). The mirror, however, is a clue to other elements of the iconography which the painter was forced to omit because of lack of space. Cave 25 at Yulin, although it does not show a mirror, does show a group of women, and one man making a prostration, in the curtained space opposite the feasting scene. Terukazu Akiyama has noted a similar group of ladies making an offering in the sketches of the manuscript Stein 259 (Fig. 85), and has suggested that they may represent the daughter of King Cakravarti-raja Sankha, praising Maitreya. But the association of the group with a feast, in the manuscript and in the wall painting, suggests a simpler explanation. In Cave 12 at Dunhuang (Dunhuang bihua, Pl. 178), all the elements – feast scene, group of women, prostrated figure, mirror, and a standing man and woman-are seen along with gifts in boxes set out in the carpeted enclosure. The feast is evidently a wedding feast with the ladies grouped around the bride, and may illustrate the passage in the Mile xiasheng jing that reads: 女人年五百歲爾乃行嫁 “women will only marry when they reach the age of 500”,referring to the longevity of people in Maitreya’s land (see Chugoku Sekkutsu, Tonko Makkokutsu, vol. 3, note to Pl. 142). In every case, the painter’s intention was to show a scene of peace and happiness, and not the Way of Hungry Ghosts, as was originally suggested by Eiichi Matsumoto.
神王不見其身如雨華香供養於佛三千大千世界時
亦無衰惱水火刀兵及之居謹榮觀尒時之天龍
Moreover there will be no sorrows or cares, floods, fires, weapons, or men of war; nor shall any man suffer from hunger, poisoning, or other hurt. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p.424a.)
Then all devas and holy dragons, without showing themselves, shall rain down flowers and perfumes, offering them to the Buddha. The three thousand million worlds...(Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424b.)
In the illustration, three men are seated at a table with money-bags on it. Lengths of cloth are draped over a stand at the back, and a vase is shown in front. This illustration does not seem to appear in Cave 25. The theme is clearly one of prosperity, continuing that of the first scene.
The third illustration is one that is familiar not only from all other representations of the Maitreya sutra, but from other secular sources as well, the best-known example being the painted bricks from tombs of the Wei and Jin dynasties at Jiayuguan in Gansu province, illustrating the fruitful activities in the life of the deceased (Han Tang bihua, Pl. 49), while another tomb dated A. D. 630 in Shaanxi province has the same scene almost exactly as seen here (ibid., Pl. 59).
The first line of the text can be read only with the help of the sutra text, and proves to follow on directly from the last quotation:
國應可度者皆得見佛時
尒時[皆大震動佛身出光照無量]
(The three thousand million worlds ) will all shake greatly. The light from Maitreya’s body shall shine upon limitless lands and all those that pass shall see Buddha. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424b.)
The painter has simply taken a theme already familiar in the context of Chinese pictorial art and used it with its connotations of agricultural production to continue the theme begun in the first scene. Although lack of space prevented their inclusion in this silk painting, in other illustrations of the Maitreya sutra, in Cave 25 at Yulin and elsewhere, the man ploughing with two oxen is set next to others threshing and winnowing, a motif also seen among the painted bricks of the third century from Jiayuguan (Han Tang bihua, Pl. 44) and familiar from such Han dynasty monuments as clay bricks from Sichuan. In the caption to this scene in Cave 61 at Dunhuang, the text (one phrase of which, 美味皆充足, is from Yijing’s translation of the sutra, Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, no.455, p.426a) is directly relevant to the picture, and still essentially has an optimistic tone: “When the Compassionate one is met with, foods will all be in plenty; (instead of) toiling and suffering to the point of exhaustion, ploughing and sowing will be no labour” (Dunhuang bihua, Pl. 201). Kumarajiva’s translation is even more to the point: “one sowing will yield seven-fold; with very little effort one will harvest a great deal” 一種七穫用功甚少所取甚多 (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, no. 454, p. 424a).
The fourth cartouche adjoins the central courtyard scene:
得免三惡世間無常命難救保時
尒時人民各作是念壤佛千億
Then the people of the land shall make each of them this reflection: “Even if for a thousand million years I escape the Three Evil Ways, the world is impermanent and life cannot be preserved forever”. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424c.)
The illustration simply shows four men in a devout attitude. They are matched on the opposite side of the courtyard by a similar group of women; next to them is the fifth cartouche:
純以金山(沙)覇地處皆有金銀之樶供養時
尒時城邑舎宅及請利巷及至無有細微
(In the city of Ketumati, where Maitreya will be born) neither in (the gardens of ) any of the houses of the city nor in any of the outlying quarters or lanes will there be the least particle (of common earth), but all the ground will everywhere be covered with golden sand; and here and there will be heaps of silver and of gold. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14,p. 424a.)
The image of precious things lying about is not seen here in the painting, perhaps because of lack of space. A detail in the left foreground, however, suggests that the phrase jinshan 金山 (golden rock, for 金沙, golden sand) was taken literally by the painter, for a large rock is seen lying on the ground, with a man passing by and pointing to it. His demeanour is somewhat similar to a figure in the Maitreya paradise in Cave 25 at Yulin, shown walking past symbols of wealth and treasure lying on the ground. Moreover the Yulin scene occurs in the same context, for immediately above in the wall painting is a much more beautifully rendered version of the scene that follows next in the silk painting: a man and a woman standing in front of an older couple seated in a beehive-shaped hut. In the wall painting there is only one occupant of the hut, a venerable old man with a snow-white beard and rustic twisted staff, seated in front of an elaborate three- fold landscape screen, apparently relaxed and cheerful as he gives his hand in farewell to his sorrowing wife and reverent family.
It is immediately apparent that the scene, both in the wall painting and in the Stein painting on silk, illustrates the first line of the first cartouche in the top right corner of the painting: “In those days the people of the land when their span of life is over, will go of their own accord to the tomb and die there”. Another possible interpretation of this scene is suggested both by the sutra and by the shape of the hut. This is just like the meditation cells often depicted at Dunhuang (see Vol. 1, Pl. 19-3, top left). The sutra says that in Maitreya’s time many people will take up the religious life and meditate. A third explanation, that these are the parents of Maitreya, does not account for the cell-like structure of the hut, or the evident grief seen in the Yulin painting.
The last cartouche at the top of the painting is on the far left and reads:
□□□無量變現釋提恒國(因)供養時
□□□衆供敬從佛入翅頭末城當人
□□既転法輸度天巳將諸弟子入城
When (Maitreya) has finished turning the Wheel of the Law and has saved both devas and men he will go with all his disciples into the town. Innumerable devas reverencing and worshipping the Buddha will follow him into the city of ketumati. When they are inside (they will perform) innumerable miracles and Sakra, Lord of Devas, will make offering ... (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 425b.)
The accompanying illustration appears in a rather condensed form, due to lack of space. In Cave 25 the same motifs, the town of Ketumati, the Buddha with his attendants receiving an offering from a kneeling dignitary, a demon sweeping outside the walls of the city, and a dragon appearing in the sky, appear in more spacious fashion also in an upper corner, but reversed and on the right. All of them have been identified by Langdon Warner with passages in the sutra.
The scenes at the bottom of the painting are more immediately recognizable in relation to the cartouches and to the Maitreya sutra, since they deal with specific events that were more easily portrayed than the generalized descriptions of prosperity from the top. Moreover, they are elements with a measure of symmetry, always prized by Chinese painters, and particularly in the context of a paradise painting.
家學道亦復有八萬四千至婆羅門供養時
尒時蠰佉王亦供八萬四千大乘供敬遶□出
Then shall the king Sankha also leave his home and study the way in company with his 84,000 great ministers who respectfully surround him; and again 84,000 excellent Brahmins ... (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p.424c.)
The accompanying illustration is more prominent in this painting on silk than in the wall paintings, where the shaving scenes appear nearer the centre of the composition. The horses that appear in the corner are of interest. They add considerably to the impression of importance in the retinue attending the king, but they do not appear in the wall paintings. The one horse that does appear in Cave 25 is immediately next to this group, but is in fact one of the Seven Treasures of the Cakravartin (see Vol. 1, Pl. 40). The artist of the Stein painting has simply secularized the motif and repeated it to enlarge the initiation group, with considerable success.
The next cartouche, a green one, between the table laden with offerings and vessels and the central canopied throne, reads:
中亦共出家造塔供養時
尒時婆羅門聚明大知於佛法
Then Brahmins intelligent and enlightened, very learned in Buddha’s law, shall leave their homes and build a stupa, dedicating it ... (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424c.)
The words 造塔 (build a stupa) are not in the sutra text, and Waley has already pointed out that the scene itself must refer not to the building of a stupa but to the dismantling of the king’s jeweled throne, given as a present to Maitreya, and that the Brahmins, in the Khotanese version of the story, were skilled not “in Buddha’s Law”, but “in the study of the Vedas”. The dismantling operation is much clearer in the wall paintings of Cave 25, where a two-storeyed pavilion is shown with the roof off.
The next cartouche, in front of the same scene, is not illustrated:
根智惠金鬱名羅是與六萬人時
尒時族婆羅門子名須摩提利
Then a Brahmin’s son named Sumati, a relation of Maitreya, of acute penetration and intelligence who is the same that in this incarnation is called Uttara with 60,000 others ... (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424c.)
Above it is another:
惱皆於彌勒佉(佛)法中出家□□供養時
尒時□□法出家如是等無量千億衆見世苦
At that time there shall leave their homes in (the name of) Buddha’s Law altogether innumerable thousands of ten thousands of millions of beings, who seeing the miseries of the world shall all in maitreya’s Law leave their home ... offering. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424c.)
Again, there is no room for specific illustration. The last cartouche brings us to the scene of the shaving of the queen:
提婆郍(那？)是亦與八萬四千人俱供出家彌勒佛謁時
八萬四千綵女俱供出家蠰佉王太子名曰天色今
尒時蠰佉王寶女名舎彌婆帝金之毗舎供佉是亦與
The king Sankha shall have a precious mistress by name Syamavati who is the Visakha of today. She and her 84,000 waiting women shall all leave their homes. The king sankha shall have an heir Apparent called Devarupa who is the Devasana of today. He too with 84,000 companions shall leave his home (praising) Maitreya. (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424c.)
The scene itself is self-explanatory, with an attendant kneeling to receive the locks of the queen’s hair as her head is shaved. As a counter-balance to the horses on the right side, there is a hexagonal kiosk (apparently portable or actually being carried, judging from the way in which the base is draped, which is comparable to those seen in the procession of Zhang Yichao and his wife in Cave 156 [Dunhuang bihua, Pl. 189]). Its sides are decorated with square panels each containing a flower, alternately blue and orange, green and red, in the same fashion as is seen on the back of Stein painting 71 (Pl. 74-2). In front of this kiosk, a large rock is lying on the ground, not just a perfunctory attempt (as seen behind the horses on the right) at continuing the representation of the landscape setting of the whole painting, but a literal representation of the 金山(golden rock, for 金山, golden sand) referred to in the fifth cartouche, disregarded by the people and left lying about “like tiles, stones, grass or lumps of earth” (Taisho Daizokyo, vol. 14, p. 424b).
Terukazu Akiyama has noted how the Mile xiasheng jing was the third most popular subject, after the paradises of Amitabha and Bhaisajyaguru, with sixty-eight examples in the Dunhuang Institute list. With such a numerous filiation of illustrations to the sutra, the painter could easily resort to abbreviation, condensation, or conflation of the scenes without fear of being misunderstood. I believe that it is important to realize that the present painting on silk, like the sutra itself, is principally concerned with describing the joys of the time when Maitreya shall be born. Some of the scenes, particularly those of the wedding feast, and those of ploughing and reaping, were taken directly from pre-Buddhist Chinese depictions, keeping their original associations of peace and plenty: there is no need to interpret them as allusions to the Way of Hungry Ghosts or the Way of Animals, as some scholars have suggested, nor to see them as “some Maitreya legend not contained in the sutra”, as Waley wrote.
The date of the painting is not easy to fix exactly, but the examination of the individual scenes has already shown that it cannot be early in the sequence of Maitreya paradises at Dunhuang and Wanfoxia. The landscape setting does not differ greatly in technique from that of the early Northern Song in Cave 61 (Grottes, Pl. CCⅦ), but the greater compactness and coherence of the ordination scenes in the foreground, closer to a late ninth century model, suggest a date early in the tenth century.
唐代末期～五代初期,9世紀末～10世紀初
絹本設色
高138.7釐米 寬116.0釐米
英国博物館,斯坦因繪畫11.Ch.lviii.001
參照Figs.10-13
此圖是描繪壯麗的淨土，根据畫面上段和下段若干場景中插入的記錄《彌勒下生經》經文的長方形題箋判斷，這是《彌勒下生經變相圖》。同一主題的其他例子，有如秋山光和教授在《域文化研究 第6卷》的論文中所示。
有關構圖，正如松本榮一與秋山光和先生指出的，與同一主題的壁畫和紙繪等其他的例子比較，更爲稠密和複雜。中央一塊是佛和圍著他的一群侍者，間隙中精美的文樣被背光遮埋（參照圖12－2）。後方是手持一付帶有幡尾是黑白矢羽紋樣的三叉戟的毘沙門天、持劍的廣目天，全都有隨立的護法神。主要三尊像的下方左右兩側，除了有二脅侍菩薩外，背後還各有一身有菩薩跟隨的佛（參照圖12－3）。這些像在構圖上均斜置，然而在此處似乎畫家也試圖表現諸尊的正面，所以背光大都呈完整圓形，身體也基本向正前方，爲了表示相互間的關係，只有頭部被繪成側面的。這種描繪，與所見的《藥師淨土變相圖》或《觀經變相圖》（參照第1卷圖18、19）等，9世紀前半葉三尊像中洗煉的群像成爲對照。
此畫不局限於《彌勒下生經變相圖》的最大特色是，有描繪剃髮的場面。此畫的場景出現在畫面最下段的兩側（參照圖12－6）。中央部位兩個面對的高臺（參照Fig.13）上，擺放著卷狀物或是成捆的絹匹、高大的水瓶、銀質輪花器皿、盛滿菓子及穀物的六個竹籠等豐美的供物。表現剃發的場景，右側是國王，左側是王妃，被衆多隨從圍繞在中間接受剃發。右側圖中，有配鞍的三匹馬和手牽繮繩的馬夫一人，左側圖中有貼著各種顔色嵌板的六角形亭子，兩圖都賞心悅目。這兩組圖的中間，配置著帶傘蓋的台座，其周圍可見忙於幹活的數個人物（參照圖12－6）。
與畫面下端的這些情景相呼應的，是畫面上端展開的富有故事性的場景（參照圖12－5）。是繪在與主尊華蓋頂同一高度的山脈和尖樹梢上方，細細的帶狀部分裏。此種情景，在絹繪以外的白描畫稿（參照Fig.85）、敦煌以及萬佛峽壁畫等處的《彌勒下生經變相圖》中也能見到。其中被認作是9世紀的萬佛峽榆林窟第25窟西壁的《彌勒下生經變相圖》（參照Buddhist all-Paintings,圖版30）是非常美的作品，下面還會涉及到。
此絹繪《彌勒下生經變相圖》中，故事圖部分皆有長方形框，里面寫有關的經文。那裏所記述的，是取自《彌勒下生經》中轉輪聖王儴佉治理國家時，彌勒作爲翅頭末城婆羅門的兒子誕生的預言。場景的順序，是沿著長方形題箋中所記經文的顺序，进行必要的改變。所有經文都引自鳩摩羅什所譯的（參照《大正大藏經》第14卷No.454～455頁）《彌勒下生經》，但可見到寫經生的誤寫，爲了有助於理解經文，在這裏把誤寫部分做了改正的標識。
從右上端開始探討，最初的長方形題箋中，記述的是未來彌勒成佛時，將得到的安樂的狀態。
爾時人民命中自然行誦（詣）椓（塚）間如死時生安樂
無有怨賊劫竊之患城邑聚樂（落）無開（閉）門者時
（屆時，人人生命臨盡結束時自然向墳墓行進，在那裏死去。人人度過充滿和平幸福的生活，（那國度）勿用擔心盜賊小偷，城邑中無人關閉門戶。）
關於此題記的第一行內容，繪在此畫別的部分中，稍後加以贅述。右上角的畫面表現三個男人圍坐在一個長桌子周圍，在掛著窗簾的鋪地毯的房間。桌子上有杯盤，雖然只是勉強看得見，兩個侍從還在上菜。另外，一男一女在一個大鏡子前面站著，最後一個細節在榆林第25窟9世紀繪畫(Warner, 1938, Pl. XLI A; Lo Archive, no. 3020)中對這個場景的描述中沒有出現，鏡子的省略提示了聖像的其它一些成分也會因爲缺乏空間而被迫省略了。榆林第25窟的繪畫雖然沒有表現鏡子，但表現了掛著窗簾的屋子里一群婦女和一個俯臥的男子，與宴會的場面相對。秋山教授列舉出《彌勒下生經變》白描畫稿（參照Fig.85）中同樣的一群婦人攜帶供物的場景，並指出她們可能是讚頌彌勒的轉輪聖王儴佉的王女们。但是，有關這種宴會場景的人物，無論在畫稿還是壁畫中，都只附了簡單的說明文，無法瞭解確切的情況。在敦煌第12窟的壁畫（參照《敦煌壁畫》圖版178）中，可見到宴會的場面、衆多婦人、俯首的人物、鏡子、並排而立的男女等所有的東西，它們之間鋪著地毯的室內，描繪著箱裝的禮品。那宴會的場面中，有婦人們圍繞著新娘，顯然體現的是婚宴。《彌勒下生經》中有在彌勒淨土人人都能長壽這一節，可能描繪的是“女人年五百歲爾乃行嫁”的場景（參照《中國石窟 敦煌莫高窟》第3卷圖版142的解說）。無論哪一場景，畫家的意圖是盡可能描繪出安樂的情景，正如松本榮一博士曾推斷過的，不是體現餓鬼道的場景。
第二個長方形題箋所記錄的文字如下：
亦無衰惱水火刀兵及之居謹榮親爾時之天龍
神王不見其身如雨華香供養於佛三千大千世界時
（將無悲哀、憂傷、洪水、火災、戰爭、兵亂，也無饑餓、毒害等任何的損失。從而天人和聖衆，即使不露身影也降下花和香供養於佛前。三千大千世界……。）
畫面中描繪著桌子前面有三個男人，桌子上放著錢褡。背後有挂著長衣服的衣服架，桌子前方放著水瓶。榆林窟第25窟的壁畫中見不到此畫面。這個主題很明顯是繁榮場景中的一個，是第一場景的繼續。
第三景不僅在《彌勒下生經》中，在其他世俗畫中也常見到的非常熟悉的情景，是有名的描繪死者生前生活的，例如甘肅省嘉峪關魏晉墓的畫像磚（參照《漢唐壁畫》圖版49），和有貞觀四年（630年）題記的陝西省李壽墓的壁畫（參照同上，圖版59），可見到與此畫幾乎完全相同的場景。
該圖中所附的長方形題箋，如果没有經文的幫助則無法讀懂最初一行，但能明白它是緊接前一長方形題箋引用部分的後面。
爾時[皆大震動佛身出光照無量]
國應可度者皆得見佛時
（三千大世界）巨大震動，彌勒身體發出的光照亮無限的國土。那光經過的所有國土將見到佛。）
畫家在這一場景中，加入中國繪畫中非常熟悉的牛耕圖，有接續最初的情景，描繪農業生産繁榮景象的意思。在榆林窟第25窟以及其他《彌勒下生經變相圖》中的，除了用兩頭牛耕地的男人外，還绘有脫粒、过篩的作業，此絹畫由於沒有空間未能充分描繪出來。這種脫粒、过篩的圖，是在3世紀的嘉峪關畫像磚（參照《漢唐壁畫》圖版44）和四川省出土的漢代畫像石中也可見到的古老題材。在敦煌第61窟的與此相应場景的記述中，可知和經文有直接關連的一節（那一節“美味皆充足”，通过義淨譯的经文可以瞭解：參照《大正大藏經》第14卷No.455、426頁上段）。那是“當遇慈悲尊 美味皆充足 勤奮極勞力 耕種不以工”（參照《敦煌壁畫》圖版201），描述的是彌勒淨土中樂观的樣子，而在鳩摩羅什的譯本中有更爲樂观化的記述，即“一種七獲用功甚少所收甚多”（參照《大正大藏經》第14卷No.454、424頁）。
第四景的長方形題箋，接在中央部位有中庭的建築物右側，記述如下：
爾時人民各作是念壤佛千億
得免三惡世間無常命難救保時
（人們各自依次想到，即使免去一千億年的三惡道，這世間也不會永遠，命仍不會永續。）
畫面中，建築物中庭右角上畫有態度虔誠的四個男人，中庭對面只配置一群婦人。
第五長方形題箋連接在建築的左端：
爾時城邑舍宅及請利巷及至無有細微
純以金山（沙）霸地處皆有金銀之樶供養時
（（彌勒誕生的翅頭末城下）看不到城下所有的家（庭院）、以至所有的道路（通常是地面），地面上到處覆蓋著金沙，金銀成山。）
看繪畫，有可能是沒有空間，完全沒有描繪昂貴的金品。而畫面左下角的六角形亭子前畫的山岩，可能是畫家爲解釋經文語句中的“金山”畫出來的，旁邊可見指向那裏的男人身形。此人物在榆林窟第25窟的《彌勒淨土變相圖》中，是在這場景的正下方，起著從放在地上寶物旁通過的人物相同的作用。場景結構與榆林窟壁畫的基本相同，但描寫還是壁畫方面美的多，很出色。即本圖絹繪中，蜂巢形的小屋前坐著老夫婦，其前面的人物只是立著的男女各一人，而在榆林窟的壁畫中，小屋裏有一位拄著彎曲木杖，莊嚴的白髯老人，背對畫有山水的三折屏風而坐，向悲傷的妻子和家族揮手道別，他的身姿可明顯看出安祥和喜悅的表情。
關於這情景有若干個解釋，首先第一想到的，是最初長方形的第一行中所記錄的事情，即對 “人人生命臨盡結束時自願向墳墓行進，將在那裏死去。”這一部分的解釋。但是，據小屋的形狀和經文其他部分的記述，又有另一種解釋。即小屋的形狀很像在敦煌描繪非常盛行的圓錐形庵（參照第1卷圖19－3），表現的是經典的“到了彌勒時代，人人將把時間花費在信仰生活和坐禪上”這部分的觀點。第三種解釋是把老夫婦當作彌勒的父母,不過這種說法無法解釋圓錐形小屋以及榆林窟壁畫中所見(的周圍人物)悲傷表情。
畫面上部最後的長方形題箋接左端的镶边，記錄如下：
□□既轉法輪度天巳將諸弟子入城
□□□衆供敬從佛入翅頭末城當入
□□□無量變現釋提恒國（因）供養時
（（彌勒）轉法輪，救度完聖衆和人們雙方時，將和諸弟子一同入城。無數聖衆尊重佛，後來入翅頭末城，當他們入城後，見到種種神力、奇象。）
伴隨它的畫面，由於空間不夠，描繪得極其緊縮。榆林窟第25窟中，與絹繪相反面的右上角上，有包括翅頭末城、從跪著的貴人手中接受布施的佛陀和侍者們、打掃城牆外側的鬼神、空中的龍等在内的大規模的雄偉畫面，Langdon Warner教授將所有畫面與經典各節進行了比較。
畫面最下段的各場景，使人馬上聯想到與長方形題箋中的記述和《彌勒下生經》的關係，它們不同於上端的擴大的幸福和繁榮概念的場景，都是具體的事件，所以比較容易描繪，而且採取的是中國畫家在淨土圖中特別重視的左右相稱的構圖形式。
有關下段的各場景，從右開始看，最初的長方形題箋出現在國王剃髮場面的右側，記錄如下：
爾時儴佉王亦供八萬四千大乘供遶□出
家學道亦復有八萬四千至婆羅門供養時
（那時，儴佉王也和敬繞他的八萬四千大臣一同出家學道。還有八萬四千婆羅門也……。）
有關這場面，榆林窟第25窟的壁畫下部中央描繪的，遠不如此絹画的圖出色。右端有馬這一點也非常有意義。角落里出现的马，他们对国王的侍从的重要性起到了相当的强调作用，但在壁畫中卻沒有這種描繪。实际上，在壁畫中，緊靠這一群人旁也有一匹馬，而那只是作爲轉輪聖王的七寶（參照第1卷圖40的解說）之一。該繪畫的作者，可能不是從宗教上的意義出發，而僅是爲了加大剃髮儀式的群體，多加了三匹馬，這卻取得很大成功。
下一長方形題簽是綠色的，在擺著供物、水瓶的右側供物台和中央部位有華蓋的台座之間，記錄如下：
爾時婆羅門聚明大知於佛法
中亦共出家造塔供養時
（那時，聰明大智，修學佛法的婆羅門，一同出家，造塔供養。）
“造塔”這一記述不見於經典中，如威力所指出的，場景本身也不是建造佛塔，而是爲贈送彌勒，而拆開嵌寶石的玉座的場面。此經典的和闐語譯，“婆羅門”不是對“佛法”，而是對婆羅門經典比較熟悉的人。在榆林窟第25窟的壁畫中，兩層樓閣的屋顶完全被拆下，可清楚地看出是解體工作。
在此場景的前景中，又插入一条記文如下的長方形題箋，但未繪有關的畫。
爾時族婆羅門子名須摩提利
根智惠金鬱名羅是與六萬人時
（那時，彌勒一親族的婆羅門之子，慧眼智惠的須摩提，即現在的鬱多羅，與六萬人一同……。）
再次，没有空间用来作为特殊说明了。此題箋的上方是第四個長方形題箋，未繪有關的畫。其記錄如下：
爾時□□法出家如是等 無量千億衆見世苦
惱皆於彌勒佉（佛）法中出家□□供養時
（那時，行這些佛法名義的出家，見世間苦惱的幾千幾億人民皆將出家於彌勒佛法中。）
最後的長方形題箋，配在王妃剃發場景的右側，記錄如下：
爾時儴佉王寶女名舍彌婆帝金之毗舍供佉是亦與
八萬四千綵女俱供出家儴佉王太子名曰天色今
提婆郍（那？）是亦與八萬四千人俱供出家彌勒佛謁時
（儴佉王的王妃一人舍彌婆帝，是現在的毘舍佉，她與八萬四千個綵女一同出家。儴佉王的太子一人天色，是今天的提婆沙那，他也和八萬四千個侍從一同出家。）
圖是一眼便知的描繪王妃剃發的場景，還可見跪著接王妃剃落頭髮的侍女的身姿。爲了對應國王剃髮圖中的馬，在這裏添加了六角亭子。此亭子明顯是可以搬動的，從底部挂布的垂落狀態看，確實是正在被搬運的樣子。在敦煌第156窟的《張議潮夫婦出行圖》（參照《敦煌壁畫》圖版第189）中，也可見到搬運同樣形狀的轎子。亭子外側飾有圓形花紋的方形圖板，是青色和橙、綠、紅色交錯組合配飾的，與圖74的絹繪裏層（參照圖74－2）裝飾很相似。亭前的地面上橫著巨大的岩石，這有異於畫面空白處敷衍的描繪（例如馬背後所見的岩石）。是在上段第五條長方形題箋中所述，接受了經典的字句“金山”而表現的場景。那“金沙”是“棄之於地猶如瓦石草木土塊”，被人們忽視，被廢棄的。
據秋山教授講，除《阿彌陀淨土圖》、《藥師淨土圖》之外, 《彌勒下生經變相圖》是第三種最常见的作品，敦煌文物研究所的目錄一覽表中有68件。産生出如此多的《彌勒下生經變相圖》，是因有不少的素材，對畫家來說，省略多少或壓縮、合成等都不必擔心會誤解，是最大的原因。我想，理解描繪此畫的情景，與經典自身一樣，應把表現彌勒誕生時的喜悅當作第一要素。因此，把佛教傳入之前，中國原本流行的描繪結婚的喜宴、耕作、收穫的喜悅等若干場景，採納進來，營造出了祥和、富庶的氛圍。正如一部分研究者指出的，沒必要特意考慮那些與餓鬼道和畜生道是否有聯繫，同時像Waley所講的，也沒必要考慮“經典中沒有的彌勒故事”。
此畫的年代難以判斷，把迄今觀察到的各種場面，與敦煌石窟和榆林窟的《彌勒下生經變相圖》做比較，則沒有證據說明比那些繪畫早一點。技術上，山水描繪與北宋初期的敦煌第61窟（參照《石窟圖錄》圖版207）無多大差別。而剃髮場景中所見到的被概括濃縮的描繪，説明其時代近於9世紀末、10世紀初的時候。
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