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The Iconographic Features and Significance of the Hand-colored Woodblock Print Tejaprabhā Buddha Subduing the Nine Luminaries and Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions from the Yingxian Timber Pagoda, Liao Dynasty

SUNG, Suh-Young

Seoul National University, Asia Center

Published: June 2026 · Vol. 330 · pp. 199-238

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31065/kjah.330.202606.007

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Abstract

This article examines the iconographic features and significance of the image of Tejaprabhā Buddha Subduing the Nine Luminaries and Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions excavated from the Yingxian Timber Pagoda. Although this work is the only extant Liao-dynasty example related to the worship of Tejaprabhā Buddha, it has not previously been studied as an independent object of analysis. To address this gap, the present study offers a comprehensive analysis by integrating contemporaneous visual materials, Liao-period textual records, and related stone carvings. The analysis indicates that the Liao court interpreted astronomical anomalies as political omens and responded through ritual interventions. Within this context, the image can be understood as a visual articulation of apotropaic rituals intended to avert calamities in the frontier regions. While the relationship between the Twelve Zodiac signs and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions is not yet clearly articulated in this work, it becomes visually systematized in the astronomical ceiling paintings of late Liao tombs at Xuanhua. Furthermore, the iconography of Rahu and Ketu reveals a process of transmission and transformation from India through Dunhuang to the Liao territory. Although these figures underwent selective adaptation, they retained elements of Indian origin and later influenced Western Xia representations. These findings highlight the significance of the image as a key example demonstrating both the political and ritual realities of the Liao dynasty and the visual interaction between Eastern and Western astronomical and astrological traditions.
Keywords: 응현목탑(應縣木塔)요대 치성광불항구요이십팔수상(遼代 熾盛光佛降九耀二十八宿相)요대 천문이변바이라바마하가라