Sui dynasty figure
- Culture: Sui dynasty
- Made in: Chonguang Temple; Hancui
- Date: 585 (Dated by inscription)
- Object type: figure
- Materials: marble (micaceous white); wood (the dowels); iron (attached to the wooden hand dowels)
- Museum number: 1938,0715.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you stands a towering figure of Amitābha Buddha, carved from white marble and bearing traces of ancient gilding and coloration. This serene figure rests on a lotus base, with a visible joint at the waist suggesting it was originally carved in two halves. Though two hands are missing, wooden dowels and iron brackets hint at the Buddha’s original gestures—fearlessness in one hand and wish-granting in the other.
Carved in AD 585, this Sui dynasty masterpiece was made for the Chonguguang Temple in Hebei province. At over 5 meters tall, it reflects the naturalistic style of Chinese Buddhist sculpture during this era.
The lotus beneath the Buddha symbolizes purity and enlightenment, central ideas in Buddhist tradition. Traces of pigment reveal that the statue was once richly adorned. It was donated to the British Museum in 1938, given by the Chinese government as a gesture of goodwill.
See it in person
Sui dynasty figure is on display at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
