Chinese jade carving of Bodhidarma in a cave

An image of Ornament/Boulder. Front of object. Carved with a Da Mo (Bodhidarma) seated inside a cave among craggy mountains. Green jade with large brown areas, height 7.8 cm, length 16.8 cm, 1700-1800. Chinese. Notes: Da Mo was the founder and first patriarch of Chan/Zen Buddhism. In 527, 32 years after the founding of Shaolin Temple, Bodhidharma arrived in Canton province in China. In China he was referred to as Da Mo. Behind the Shaolin Temple there are five breast-shaped mountains. When the Shaolin monks invited Da Mo to come stay at the temple, Da Mo did not reply. Instead, he immediately went to a cave which was located on one of the breast-shaped mountains. Inside the cave Da Mo sat down facing a wall and immediately began meditating. He meditated for nine years. During the years of meditation, Shin Huang stayed outside Da Mo’s cave and protected Da Mo from any wild animals or other threats. A poem was incised on the rock outside the cave. The inscription for this carving may have been a woodblock print on the theme in the 18th century.

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Ornament/Boulder. Front of object. Carved with a Da Mo (Bodhidarma) seated inside a cave among craggy mountains. Green jade with large brown areas, height 7.8 cm, length 16.8 cm, 1700-1800. Chinese. Notes: Da Mo was the founder and first patriarch of Chan/Zen Buddhism. In 527, 32 years after the founding of Shaolin Temple, Bodhidharma arrived in Canton province in China. In China he was referred to as Da Mo. Behind the Shaolin Temple there are five breast-shaped mountains. When the Shaolin monks invited Da Mo to come stay at the temple, Da Mo did not reply. Instead, he immediately went to a cave which was located on one of the breast-shaped mountains. Inside the cave Da Mo sat down facing a wall and immediately began meditating. He meditated for nine years. During the years of meditation, Shin Huang stayed outside Da Mo’s cave and protected Da Mo from any wild animals or other threats. A poem was incised on the rock outside the cave. The inscription for this carving may have been a woodblock print on the theme in the 18th century.

Image data

Accession Number: O.91-1946
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/25.0
Focal length: 100
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 683 pixels
Image width: 1024 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Windows)
Filesize: 424.40kB
Exposure time: 1/100
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 25/1
Captured: 2008:01:31 12:44:03

Key words

18th Century AD Bodhidarma Bodhidharma boulders Buddhism Buddhist carved caves Chinese Da Mo Daruma elderly Fitz_AA hermetical hermit jade male man monastic monks nephrite old ornament religion religious rocks Zen Buddhism

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Chinese jade carving of Bodhidarma in a cave"
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            |title=Chinese jade carving of Bodhidarma in a cave
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Chinese jade carving of Bodhidarma in a cave</figcaption>
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