The legend has it that Bodhidharma was originally the prince of an Indian king, later became a monk to study with Prajñātāra, then took a boat from India to China where he taught Zen practice so that Zen Buddhism was passed on from generation to generation in China. Moved by Bodhidharma coming all the way from India to spread Buddhist teachings, Xia Jing Shan has often featured Bodhidharma in his paintings. Adept at applying Meticulous Chinese painting techniques to depict Bodhidharma’s facial expressions with fine details and using freehand painting techniques to outline Bodhidharma’s garments, Xia Jing Shan leaves most of the background blank featuring a protagonist-centered composition so as to highlight Bodhidharma’s straightforward but profound Zen teachings.
Xia Jing Shan’s vast experience in inking and using lines to construct shapes, combined with exaggerated realism techniques, creates Bodhidharma’s facial expression, gestures and mudra, while light reddish purple color is used as a supplementary color to give Bodhidharma a vibrant air and a new, lively look.
简中｜达摩祖师
Paintings
Xia Jing Shan
ink and colour on paper
140x71
2010
Reserved in National Museum of China Collections,2018
bj5429
