A Hell Built for the Living: A Study of the Hell Tableaux at Baodingshan, Dazu

Baodingshan, in Sichuan is the only major Buddhist cave site constructed later than the Tang Dynasty (618–907), in a period when the society’s passion on building large cave-shrines started to decline in China. Even though it is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, it is severely understudied. The monumental Hell Tableaux at Baodingshan roughly consist of three registers: Buddhas of Ten Directions on the top, a large Bodhisattva Dizang flanked by Ten Kings of Hell in the middle, and eighteen hell scenes on the bottom. The iconography of King Biancheng in this tableau is unique, differing from all existing textual descriptions and visual examples of the Ten Kings of Hell. He wears a “pearl-fringe crown” which is usually only worn by his neighbor King Yama, the orthodox ruler of the underworld in Indian Buddhism. This iconographical variation remains unexplained. Through carefully examining the iconography of King Biancheng and King Yama and relevant historical documents, I argue that this iconography embodies an effort to express the unprecedented, contemporaneous politics of “dual powers.” From 1162 to 1200, three consecutive emperors decided to abdicate, yet as retired emperors, they retained power during their sons’ reigns. In addition, I found that the inscriptions in the tableaux were carefully selected from the Sutra of Ten Kings in a highly unusual way. I analyze them to demonstrate the planners’ intention to create a site for proselytizing living people for their own salvation, instead of threatening them into performing merit-generating activities for their deceased family members.