On the early lokapāla statues in the Buddhist sculptures unearthed in Chengdu

Abstract In recent years, some lokapāla statues which might be carved in the Liang dynasty of the Southern Dynasties are unearthed in Chengdu area, the features of which have some differences from that of the lokapāla statues of the northern system found in Khotan, Dunhuang and other areas; they have some similarities with the early lokapāla statues of the Northern Wei dynasty, but also have some differences. The early lokapālas in the Buddhist scriptures have only names and titles with little concrete descriptions; the archaeologically discovered lokapāla statues enriched our understandings of this motif.