\"Acquisitions 1972\", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 32, no. 1 (1973): p. 20-30.
","citation":"\"Acquisitions 1972\", Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 32, no. 1 (1973): p. 20-30.
, p. 27 (illus.), p. 30","date":1973,"id":3442,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/3774431"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[{"id":12561,"period":"Yuan dynasty","alphasort":"Yuan dynasty","begindate":1271,"enddate":1368,"displayperiod":"Yuan dynasty, 1271–1368","displaydate":"1271–1368"}],"department":"Asian Art","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199319,"term":"Asian Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1000-1500","dateend":1368,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"Lohan as an ascetic","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":"","objectnumber":"y1972-16","inscribed":null,"texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Handbook Entry","textentryhtml":"An old man is represented as a gaunt ascetic seated in meditation. His lowered head, furrowed brow, and partially closed eyes enhance the impression that he is lost in thought. The elongated ear lobes, high nose, mustache, beard, and bald pate with hair on the sides and back suggest a foreign ethnicity, and may derive stylistically from a tradition of ascetic sculptures in India. Bearded ascetic figures in this posture have been identified either as the Shakyamuni Buddha, shown with a protruding crown (usnisa) on the top of his head and a circle of hair (urna) between his brows, or as a lohan, guardian of the Buddhist Law, without the urna and usnisa. The portrayal of lohans as beings with profound enlightenment, akin to that of bodhisattvas, is typical of Mahayana Buddhism in East Asia. They served as intermediaries for universal salvation between humanity and Buddhist paradise. At the same time, the original ideal of the lohan, as a model of individual salvation in Theravada Buddhism, persists in some images. The figure’s emaciation recalls the historical Buddha’s meditation beneath the Bodhi tree, which served as a model for others who sought enlightenment through intense ascetic practice. The iconography seems to have emerged in China during the Yuan dynasty, but it is uncertain how such sculptures were presented and worshiped. One possibility is that they were donated as objects for meditation in remote Buddhist mountain shrines. ","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"In various Buddhist sects, a luohan (Skt. arhat) is one who has attained personal salvation through arduous ascetic practices and meditation. The luohan are not compassionate figures. Unlike bodhisattvas, they seek only to end their own worldly attachment and not humanity’s, yet they are nonetheless looked upon as paragons of great spiritual power. The extremely emaciated form of this image recalls a period during the historical Buddha’s meditation in which he refrained from contact with worldly goods, including food. This act of fasting served as a model for others who sought enlightenment through intense ascetic practices.\n","remarks":"ASIA1_15_CLA Day 1 Cataloguing"},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Provenance","textentryhtml":"Gift of David Steadman, Graduate School Class of 1974 (1937–2017), and Mrs. David Steadman, in honor of Robert P. Griffing Jr., Graduate School Class of 1940 (1929–2016), 1972.","remarks":null}],"datebegin":1260,"sortnumber":"1972 16y","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:25:42.382642","objectid":31671,"dimensions":"h. 28 cm., w. 31 cm., d. 32 cm. (11 x 12 3/16 x 12 5/8 in.)","on_view":true}