北周國的造像風格主要表現豐滿造型，不同於北魏與西魏的清秀型。北周造像樣式與風格在長安形成，是內部的社會變革與外來因素影響造成的。首先，宇文氏在西魏晚期的復古改革，為北周社會帶來了向往古風的審美需求，也就促使佛教信徒與藝術家們在創作自己的造像時取材於孝文帝改革以前的北魏舊樣式與重新傳自印度與中亞的樣式。其次，以豐滿為美的造像，梁朝發展得比北周要早。隨著西魏末年宇文氏軍隊對梁朝四川與湖北等地的占領，梁朝造像樣式開始湧入長安，在西魏末年就造出了典型的北周風格造像，只是在那時不流行而已。但這些新型造像正是日後北周佛教藝術界的樣本。再者，隨著宇文氏政權趨於強大，北周與西域各國的關係日漸密切。於是，印度與中亞的造像樣式大有直接進入北周國的可能。同時，印度與中亞的樣式也有經梁朝傳入長安的可能性。另外，北周長安造像也不可避免地保留了相當的北魏晚期的造像傳統，著褒衣博帶裝的佛像就是其中的典型代表。北周長安造像樣式也可稱為北周長安模式，因為它是北周國境內眾多佛教藝術製作的範本，西向影響到了北周境內絲路沿線石窟寺的開鑿。

Northern Zhou (557-581) Buddha images are mainly represented in a plump and columnar style, as distinctive from the thin and elegant style from the late Northern Wei (386-534) and Western Wei (535-556) dynasties. Originating in the capital Chang’an, the Northern Zhou style was influenced by the political reform and imported artistic elements of the time. Firstly, the Yuwen family, the regent of Western Wei and later the imperial family of Northern Zhou, conducted a political and social reform in late Western Wei that advocated a return to antiquity and the appreciation of ancient societies and retro-aesthetic tastes. As a result, Buddhist believers and artists turned to adopt the old style images from the middle Northern Wei period before the political reform of Emperor Xiaowen (r. 471-499) and the newly imported images from India and Central Asia as their models. Secondly, the Southern Liang dynasty (502-557) had seen the development of plumpstyled Buddha images prior to Northern Zhou. By the end of the Western Wei dynasty, when the army of the Yuwen family invaded Southern Liang and occupied present-day Sichuan and Hubei Provinces, Western Wei’s capital Chang’an began to see influx of Liang-styled Buddha images. These images developed into a new style in late Western Wei, which later flourished and became the typical Northern Zhou plump style. Although not popular at the time, these new style images were adopted as samples for producing images of similar style in Northern Zhou. Thirdly, Northern Zhou built closer ties with the countries in Central Asia as the Yuwen family gained stronger political and military power. Therefore, Buddha images from India and Central Asia could be directly imported into Northern Zhou. However, it is also possible that the Indian and Central Asian styles were introduced indirectly to the kingdom of Northern Zhou through the Liang dynasty. In addition, the Buddha images from Northern Zhou Chang’an unavoidably preserved some traditional styles from the late Northern Wei dynasty, such as the Buddha’s robe in the mode of Baoyi Bodai, literally meaning broad robe with a long belt, referring to the typical type of elite costume adopted on Buddha figures during that period. The style of Northern Zhou Chang’an Buddha images could be called the Model of Northern Zhou Chang’an, because it served as the model for the artists from the other regions of the kingdom to produce their own images, and it influenced the style of images in the cave temples along the Silk Road within the territory of the Northern Zhou dynasty.

北周; 長安; 佛教藝術; 石窟寺; 造像

Northern Zhou; Chang’an; Buddhist art; cave temple; image