Arhats or Luohans
十八羅漢
The 18 Arhats (Luohans in China) are depicted in Mahayana Buddhism as the first followers of the Buddha:
Kek Lok Tong Temple, Ipoh, Malaysia
They followed the Noble 8-fold Path and attained the 4 stages of enlightenment. They have reached the state of Nirvana and are free of worldly cravings.
They are charged to protect the Buddhist faith and to wait on earth for the coming of the Maitreya Buddha prophesied to arrive here many millennia after Gautama Buddha’s death.
Bodhisattvas are noted for their compassion, arhats are noted for their intense powers of spiritual concentration.
It was common for Chinese artists to greatly exaggerate certain features in them, to emphasize their spiritual nature. They are often given certain qualities associated with Taoist immortals.
In China, the arhats are popular in Buddhist art, like glazed pottery Luohans from Yixian (≈1000 CE.)
Qianlong was a great admirer of the Luohans and when he saw the paintings in 1757, he not only examined them closely, but also wrote an eulogy on each Luohan image. Copies of these eulogies were preserved in the monasteries.
In 1764, Qianlong ordered that the paintings held at the Shengyin Monastery to be reproduced and engraved on stone tablets for preservation. Then, these tablets were mounted like facets on a marble stupa for the public to admire and appreciate.
Luohan cut out of jade and
attached to black lacquer.
