National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

These stone images of the Buddha at Hokeiji Temple are widely known as the best examples of Buddhist sculpture of the second period of the Tang Dynasty due to their realistic and rich physical expressions and diverse decorative designs, which show the influence of the Gupta art of India.
This group of stone Buddha images used to decorate the Shippodai built in 703 by Wu Hou, who established the Chou Dynasty after the Tan Dynasty, at Kotakuji Temple in Kotakubo, Changan Castle. Later, they were moved to Hokeiji (Katoji) Temple in Anninbo, Changan (current Xian) and placed in brick pagodas and the main hall. However, most of them left to foreign countries in the early 20th century. Currently, the presence of 32 stone images have been confirmed, including a Tathagata Trinity with a sokuchiin mudra, a seated Maitreya trinity and an Amitabha trinity with a semuin mudra, a single image of an Eleven-Headed Kannon and other images remaining in China.
This is an example of a Shakyamuni trinity and the image of a seated Shakyamuni in a thin robe with sokuchiin mudra reflects the Indian style, suggesting a popular trend at that time.