Map of Mount Wutai

Wutai Mountain, part of the Taihang Mountain range, is located in present-day Shanxi Province. Since the Tang Dynasty, it has been recognized as the sacred site of Manjushri Bodhisattva, leading to the creation of specific depictions known as Mount Wutai maps. During the mid-Tang period, these maps arrived in Dunhuang, the most famous example being a large Map of Mount Wutai found on the western wall of Cave 61 in the Mogao Caves.

The map is 13 meters long and 3.6 meters high, covering an area of 46.8 square meters. The entire painting can be divided into three sections. The upper section primarily depicts Bodhisattvas attending a gathering and various "supernatural" and "transformation" scenes. The middle section focuses on the sacred sites of the mountain including temples and pagodas. The lower section highlights two main routes leading into and out of the mountain. The map contains a total of 195 labels. The painting also depicts Jibin monk Buddha-bhadra making a pilgrimage to Wutai Mountain, along with a procession from Silla (Korea) offering tribute, illustrating the influence of the mountain as a center of Buddhist faith at that time. The grand work is not only a depiction of Buddhist historical sites but also a landscape featuring figures, as well as a detailed, accurate historical geographic map. It serves as an important visual resource for the study of Buddhist history, social history, transportation history, geography, and ancient architecture.

《五臺(tái)山圖》

五臺(tái)山，屬太行山脈的一支，位于今山西省境內(nèi)。從唐代開(kāi)始，被認(rèn)定成文殊菩薩的道場(chǎng)，并產(chǎn)生了專(zhuān)門(mén)描繪五臺(tái)山面貌的《五臺(tái)山圖》。中唐時(shí)期，該圖傳入敦煌，其中最為著名的即莫高窟五代第61窟西壁的巨幅《五臺(tái)山圖》。

這幅《五臺(tái)山圖》長(zhǎng)13米、高3.6米，面積達(dá)46.8平方米。全圖可分為三部分，上部主要繪菩薩赴會(huì)和各種“靈異”“化現(xiàn)”內(nèi)容，中部主要表現(xiàn)五臺(tái)及山中寺院、佛塔等圣跡，下部重點(diǎn)描繪出入五臺(tái)山的兩條交通要道。圖中共有榜題195條。其中，還可以看到北印度罽賓國(guó)僧人佛陀波利巡禮五臺(tái)山，以及山中的新羅送供使隊(duì)伍，反映出當(dāng)時(shí)五臺(tái)山信仰在整個(gè)東亞地區(qū)的影響力。這幅巨作不僅是一幅佛教史跡畫(huà)，也是一幅山水人物畫(huà)，更是一幅翔實(shí)細(xì)致的歷史地理地圖，為佛教史、社會(huì)史、交通史、地理史和古代建筑史的研究都提供了圖像資料。