lobezm Chinese bronze 4-face Ksitigarbha buddha statue Figure 8.5"H

Description

Ksitigarbha is one of the four principal bodhisattvas in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. The others are Samantabhadra, Manjusri, and Avalokitesvara. At the pre-Tang Dynasty grottos in Dunhuang and Longmen, he is depicted in classical bodhisattva shape. After the Tang Dynasty, he became increasingly depicted as a monk, carrying rosaries and a staff. His full name in Chinese script is (traditional Chinese: 大願地藏菩薩; simplified Chinese: 大願地藏菩萨; pinyin: Dàyuàn Dìzàng Púsà), or the Bodhisattva King Dizang of the Great Vow, pronounced as Dayuan Dizang Pusa in Mandarin Chinese, Daigan Jizō Bosatsu in Japanese.This is a reference to his pledge, as recorded in the sutras, to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in six worlds, in the era between the death of Gautama Buddha and the rise of Maitreya Buddha. Because of this important role, shrines to Kṣitigarbha often occupy a central role in any Oriental Mahayana temples.