Plain-Body Sitting Statue of Buddha

This sitting statue of Buddha is designed in dignified, unadorned modeling, and concise, fluent lines. The yellow body is unglazed and hollowed. The Buddha smiles with his eyes slightly closed. He has a Roman nose and drooping ears, wears a V-neck cassock with smocking fluttering in the wind. His arms are placed in front of the chest. He sits in a lotus position on the lotus seat. This statue is extremely similar to the late-Tang stone carvings of Xishan and Fubo Mountain. It is free from the strong Indian style born in Buddha statues in Guilin during the early Tang Dynasty. The thriving Buddhist culture of Guilin in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was reflected not only in the development of ceramic industry, but also in the flourishing reliefs on precipices. There are currently 160 existing shrines containing over 600 Buddha statues in Guilin that were mainly established in the Tang Dynasty. They are designed in generally the same style with plump face, gentle posture, simple clothing and exquisite engraving techniques, which demonstrated the style coming down in a continuous line.