Inscription and Illustrated Panels for the Base of a Buddhist Image Constructed by Cao Wangxi

Northern Wei dynasty (386�534), Zhengguang reign period (519�24), dated 525

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 127.9 x 65.3 cm; rubbing at uppermost register: approx. 27.0 x 62.5 cm; rubbing at upper middle register: approx. 26.0 x 62.5 cm; rubbing at lower middle register: approx. 26.0 x 63.3 cm; rubbing at lowermost register: approx. 25.5 x 61.5 cm

Date of rubbing not given, probably Qing dynasty (1644�1911)

Inventory number: Biaozhou 179

These four rubbings were taken from the sides of a stone pedestal supporting a Buddhist image commissioned by Cao Wangxi.� The principal panel depicts Maitreya (Sanskrit for "the Merciful One"), the Buddha of the Future, whose anticipated coming four thousand years after Sakyamuni Buddha's attained nirvana, would presage the arrival of paradise on earth.

The three pictorial sides were carved in relief with flowing, rhythmic lines, hence the images on the rubbing appear as positive rather than the usual negative forms.� The inscription was engraved in intaglio in 22 columns of regular script, with a maximum of nine characters per column.� As with most Northern Wei inscriptions, there are a number of variant characters that do not have modern equivalents.� The inscription also supplies the precise date upon which the image of Maitreya was dedicated, lists Cao Wangxi's official positions, and states his purpose for commissioning the work.