English
Hirayama Ikuo Painting Work
The Silk Road

A Sketch of “Nalanda in Moonlight”, from the Daito Saiiki Murals (the Mural Paintings of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty)

  • Hirayama Ikuo
  • 1999
  • Color on Paper (Japanese Style Painting, Nihonga)
  • 21.5×25.5cm

There was a university at Nalanda Temple in India, which was built in the 5th century to teach Buddhism. After Xuanzang left Chang'an, it took him three years to arrive at Nalanda Temple, where he studied Buddhism for five years, and then returned home with Buddhist Sutras in 645. It has been 17 years since he left the Tang Dynasty. This piece of work is a sketch of “Nalanda in Moonlight” of “The Mural of the Great Tang of the Western Regions” which Hirayama presented to Xuanzhuang Tripitaka Hall of Yakushiji Temple on New Year's Eve in 2000. In the formal works, there are also figures with hands folded towards the pagoda on the moonlit night which is not seen in the sketch.