莫高窟第三二一窟是武則天時期的一座代表窟。其中，南壁的寶雨經變和東壁的十一面觀音都是敦煌新出的壁畫題材，皆與武則天關係密切；特別是寶雨經變，不但繪有武則天聖諱「曌」字的圖解，更將武則天乃「授記神皇」的政治意圖表露無遺。北壁西方淨土變的圖像雜揉《阿彌陀經》和《觀經》兩經的圖像特徵，很可能又受到中原善導大師所作淨土變相的影響。此外，莫高窟第三二一窟的壁畫無論在暈染或是線描上，也都和文獻所述譽滿兩京的尉遲乙僧畫風特徵相近。由於此窟的壁畫題材、人物造型、經變構圖等，可能皆與兩京的佛寺壁畫不分軒輊，足見在武則天移民實邊的政策下，來自內地的屯田士兵所帶來豐富多彩的中原文化，為敦煌壁畫注入了新的活力。

Since the mural painting in the main room of Cave 321 at Mogao, Dunhuang--dating from the era of Wu Zetian (684-705)--are largely intact, it serves as a representative example of Dunhuang cave art from this period. Among the various subject matter in the mural paintings found in this cave, the Baoyu Sūtra illustration on the south wall and Eleven-headed Guanyin on the east wall are unprecedented at Dunhuang. Both subjects, in fact, are closely connected with Wu Zetian. In addition, the arrangement of the three elements--sun, moon and kong--in the Baoyu Sūtra illustration can be found in the character for Wu Zetian’s given name (Zhao 曌). Thus, this illustration was intended to glorify Empress Wu’s receiving of the Mandate of Heaven. The northern wall bears a grand illustration of the paradise of the Amitābha Buddha, of which various iconographic characteristics draw upon both the Sukhāvatī-vyūha and the Amitāyus-dhyāna sūtras. Although the Amitāyus-dhyāna Sūtra was used as a source for Western Paradise illustrations before the monk Shandao (613-681), it was his influence that cemented the popularity of these illustrations.

During the early Tang dynasty, the famous painter Yuchi Yiseng (act. ca. 650-710) was active in Chang’an and Luoyang. The brushwork, shading and the use of color in the mural paintings at Cave 321 resemble the description of Yuchi Yiseng’s Buddhist mural painting recorded in various accounts.

In sum, Dunhuang mural paintings of the late Wu Zetian era were, in figural form, composition, technique, and subject, closely related to Buddhist painting found in the monasteries of the Chang’an and Luoyang metropolitan region. It is quite evident that the artistic mode of the Wu Zetian era expressed in the murals of Cave 321 was nourished by the arrival of new intellectual trends and painting techniques from the Chinese heartland.

唐代; 敦煌; 壁畫; 武則天; 寶雨經變; 西方淨土變; 十一面觀音; 尉遲乙僧

Tang Dynasty; Dunhuang; mural painting; Empress Wu; Wu Zetian; Baoyu Sūtra Illustration; Paradise of the Amitābha Buddha; Eleven-headed Guanyin; Yuchi Yiseng