Amitabha

The neckline of the kasaya is wrapped low, and the lower hem is folded. The carved curves of the draperies are natural. The buddha, whose head is now lost, sits on a sumeru throne in the “lotus posture” (jiafu zuo). The figure is flanked by attendants, donors, and dragon-coiled colomns which are all damaged. The façade of the pedestal is carved in relief with a lotus-born child supporting the Mount Bo incense burner, a pair of Dharma lions, and a pair of guardians. The back side is carved with the votive text (fayuan wen) that reads, “On the twenty-third day of the sixth year of the Tianbao reign (555), Li Shenjing and his brothers, with full respect, commissioned a white marble Amitbha attended by two Bodhisattvas for the venerable Emperor and deceased parents. With wishes for our deceased parents to be rid of their bodies and reborn in the Western Land of Supreme Bliss, and further wishes that all sentient beings under the Dharma Realm, with their families, part from the sea of hardship, and quickly acquire Enlightement.”