Sujet
Chinese Bonze
Légende
Bonze refers to a Buddhist monk, usually in China, but also in Japan. Bonze is a term that is most often used to refer to monks in East Asia and French Indochina. Here we see a Chinese bonze with a Chinese Buddhist temple in the background and three people looking on as the monk hits the ""wooden fish"" he holds in his hand‚ according to legend, a monk trying to cross a flooded area was approached bya fish who would help him if the monk asked the Buddha how he, the fish, might gain enlightenment. The monk agreed, the fish helped the monk. But the monk forgot to ask, and so on the return trip, the fish splashed the monk, causing him almost to drown. In the process, the monk lost all the sutras (scriptures) he had from the Buddha. Angered, he made a wooden effigy of the fish and when he struck it, a Chinese character came out of the mouth. He kept striking it, put the characters together and had the sutras once again. This illustration dates to 1843.
Crédit
Photo12/Universal Images Group
Notre référence
UMG25A05_011
Licence
Droits gérés
Format disponible
50,6Mo (4,7Mo) / 31,0cm x 40,9cm / 3665 x 4830 (300dpi)