Dunhuang Mogao Cave's Supporter Khotanese King, and His Various Visualizations

At a specific time in the first half of the 10th century, Dunhuang Mogao Cave has two different Khotanese king images. It is the Khotanese King as a supporter of the Dunhuang Mogao Cave and the Khotanese King of the “New-Mode” Manjus'ru (Xinyang Wenshu; 新樣文殊) leading the Manjus´rı. This study seeks to find out why the two images of Khotanese King, with completely different roles, appear at Dunhuang Mogao Cave almost at the same time. For this purpose, this study focused on two questions. One is where a new Manjus´rı Iconography was formed called 'Xinyang Wenshu' and the other is why the Khotanese King started to draw Manjus´rı's lion, which used to be led by Kunlunnu (崑崙奴). This person under the same name with a different role, is Khotanese King, Lishengtien (李聖天). One of the most influential Khotanese kings, he was known as the Lion King (獅子王) to the Dunhuang, who overtook the lion. And the Khotan people believed that the incarnation of Manjus´rı played a major role in making Khotan characters and growing the country. For this reason, the Khotanese King was standing next to Manjus´rı, the lion, and he helped Manjus´rı. The Khotanese King of 'Xinyang Wenshu' is not a simple lion trainer but a constitution of a triad form focusing on Manjus´rı with Sudhna. The author says that 'Xinyang Wenshu' Iconography, which newly appeared in the early 10th century, was established in Dunhuang, reflecting the creative intentions of Dunhuang forces surrounding him along with Khotanese King, Lishengtien. The printing status of 'Xinyang Wenshu' prints is all different, confirming that Dunhuang is the production site of this print. 'Xinyang Wenshu' Iconography would have contributed greatly to informing Dunhuang about the influence of the Khotanese King, Lishengtien and Wǔtáishān faith in Manjus´rı for people who carried it with them and made offerings. In Buddhist art, ‘icon’ is understood as ‘the expression of contents or teachings in sutras using visual images.’ Because the meaning of an icon expressed in image can be grasped properly only based on the knowledge of the contents and belief of Buddhist scripture, the correct understanding of sutras has been regarded as essential for Buddhist art research. However, we should not overlook fact that ‘icons’ depicted in sutras have to be created by someone, and the icon ‘Xinyang Wenshu’ is a representative example showing the process clearly.