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Niche 17 in the central section of the North Cliff at Dafowan, Baodingshan, Dazu, is traditionally identified as the “Transformation Tableau of the Sūtra on the Buddha’s Great Skillful Means of Repaying Filial Kindness.” Among several filial-piety scenes, an inscription labels one panel “Śākyamuni, in a former birth as Śyāma, serving his parents,” allowing a firm identification of the subject. Yet the typical motif of Śyāma drawing water—familiar from the mural traditions of Xinjiang and Dunhuang—is absent, suggesting that the Buddhist images in Sichuan do not necessarily follow the standard iconography. Careful visual examination nevertheless shows that Dafowan does preserve a lineage of Śyāma imagery, though in a variant form that has so far gone unnoticed. This talk offers a preliminary reading of the relevant images, highlights their distinctive features, and proposes possible channels of transmission, in the hope of stimulating further discussion of the site’s unique treatment of Śyāma Jātaka materials.
