Le thème chinois des « Quatre Dormants » et sa résurgence dans le monde musulman

Résumé En

Having already made its appearance in the tenth century work of Shike, the theme of the "Four Sleepers" continued, in the fourteenth century, to provide subject matter for Chan (Zen) painters both in China, during the Yuan period, and also in Japan. Just as China had been influenced by spiritual contributions coming to her from the west, so she, in return, began to export her own culture westwards along the Silk Route until it reached distant countries far beyond even the great intellectual clearinghouse of Iran. Buddhist ideas, in particular, travelled steadily from oasis to oasis and from cliff to cliff, passing on their way the India of their origins, until they succeeded in reaching points very much further to the west. In the Topkapi Saray Museum at Istambul, a city connecting two continents, there is a small painting which shows the Sino Japanese "Four Sleepers". The work is on a modest scale; but, nevertheless, its historical significance is very great and renders it worthy of special attention and study, since it forges a subtle and undeniable link between the world of the Far East and that of Islamic Turkey.