Seated bodhisattva Maitreya with attendants

In 535 almost the entire population of the Northern Wei capital Luoyang in Henan province was moved to southern Hebei province. This area immediately became a leading center of Buddhist art and thought. One of the many figures worshiped there was Maitreya, the buddha of the future, in his bodhisattva state. Maitreya was important to the Chinese at this time since, by their calculation, the influence of Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, would come to an end in 552 and the world would enter into a period lacking in Buddhist law or influence (mofa). Since this piece is dated 551, this abrupt loss would have been considered imminent.

Maitreya is shown here as a youthful, attractive prince, with one hand to his cheek in contemplation. He sits beneath a dragon flower tree (identified as such by the dragons entwined on the trunks) that bears a representation of his paradise. The fine-grained white marble of this sculpture comes from the Taihang mountains in Dingzhou, Hebei province. This area was the source of much of the freestanding stone sculpture of the Northern Qi dynasty and later eras. Small-scale images of donors are painted on the side and back of the base. The inscription on the bottom and back is consistent with the meaning of the sculpture: a wish that all sentient beings gain enlightenment.