This thesis examines the visual images of Vimalakirti, an ancient Indian lay Buddhist, painted on the walls of the Buddhist cave complex at Dunhuang, Gansu province, between 581 and 1036. The sixty-nine Vimalakirti, paintings preserved at Dunhuang are a valuable source for the exploration of historical, religious, and artistic dimensions of wall paintings and sutras. These visual images, together with other textual sources such as sutras, commentaries, and inscriptions, suggest a variety of interesting questions: Why was this theme repeatedly represented? Do the images all have the same prototype? Is there a spiritual function contained in the layout of the caves and composition of the wall paintings? Did the meaning of these images change according to historical context? Did the patrons have a political scheme in mind when commissioning these devotional artworks? While it is difficult to provide definitive answers to all these questions, this thesis will attempt to clarify them and offer preliminary answers on the basis of available visual and textual sources. / The introduction of this thesis includes an overview of basic concepts related to wall paintings, a short history of the transmission of the Vimalakirti,-nirdesa Sutra, and a review of past scholarship on Vimalakirti, paintings and related subjects. The body of the thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter describes the important visual representations of Vimalakirti, before the Sui dynasty. The second chapter of the thesis will provide an introduction to representations of Vimalakirti, at Dunhuang from the late sixth to the early eleventh centuries. The third chapter examines the social functions and symbolic meanings of the Vimalakirti, paintings at Dunhuang.

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University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of History

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of History

宋黎昀. / "2011年9月". / "2011 nian 9 yue". / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-135). / Abstract in Chinese and English. / Song Liyun. / Chapter 第一章： --- 導論 --- p.1 / Chapter 一. --- 論文之背景和目的 --- p.1 / Chapter (一). --- 背景 --- p.1 / Chapter (二). --- 研究目的 --- p.5 / Chapter 二. --- 文獻回顧 --- p.7 / Chapter (一). --- 民族性與商業 --- p.7 / Chapter (二). --- 商品化與「本真性」 --- p.13 / Chapter (三). --- 宗教與商業行為 --- p.18 / Chapter 三. --- 田野地之選擇與研究方法 --- p.23 / Chapter (一). --- 田野點的意義所在 --- p.23 / Chapter (二). --- 研究方法 --- p.25 / Chapter 四. --- 本論文之結構安排 --- p.29 / Chapter 第二章： --- 「藏族街」在成都 --- p.31 / Chapter 一. --- 成都的少數民族 --- p.31 / Chapter 二. --- 成都的藏族 --- p.32 / Chapter 三. --- 成都與藏區的地緣關係及往來淵源 --- p.33 / Chapter 四. --- 「藏族街」生意的發展歷程 --- p.40 / Chapter 五. --- 「藏族街」在成都 --- p.47 / Chapter (一). --- 成都大眾眼中的「藏族街」 --- p.49 / Chapter (二). --- 政府眼中的「敏感地帶」 --- p.50 / Chapter (三). --- 當地社區漢人對「藏族街」藏人的看法 --- p.53 / Chapter 六. --- 藏族商人之間的關係 --- p.59 / Chapter 七. --- 城市的邊緣人 --- p.60 / Chapter 八. --- 小結 --- p.63 / Chapter 第三章： --- 佛教道德觀與藏族商人的商業行為 --- p.65 / Chapter 一. --- 藏地經濟之變遷 --- p.66 / Chapter (一). --- 80年代以前的藏族社會經濟 --- p.66 / Chapter (二). --- 80年代以來市場經濟體系下的藏地經濟 --- p.69 / Chapter 二. --- 藏傳佛教藝術品買賣當中的禁忌 --- p.76 / Chapter (一). --- 對佛像生意的爭議 --- p.76 / Chapter (二). --- 其他禁忌物品 --- p.81 / Chapter 三. --- 佛教道德對商業觀念的影響 --- p.83 / Chapter 四. --- 「積德」的行為 --- p.86 / Chapter 五. --- 分析和小結 --- p.88 / Chapter 第四章： --- 何為「正宗的」藏傳佛教藝術品 --- p.91 / Chapter 一. --- 與尼泊爾的貿易網絡 --- p.91 / Chapter 二. --- 藏族商人對其產品「正宗性」的建構 --- p.99 / Chapter (一). --- 尼泊爾產品與藏地、 漢地產品的區分 --- p.100 / Chapter (二). --- 藏式風格與漢式風格的區分 --- p.102 / Chapter (三). --- 宗教用品與旅遊紀念品的區分 --- p.104 / Chapter 三. --- 有區分的本真性概念 --- p.114 / Chapter 四. --- 小結 --- p.120 / Chapter 第五章： --- 結論 --- p.121 / Chapter 一、 --- 族群性與商業之間的關係 --- p.121 / Chapter 二、 --- 商品化和「本真性」的建構 --- p.125 / Chapter 三、 --- 宗教對商業行為的影響 --- p.127 / 參考文獻 --- p.130