Medieval Buddhist of the Day

[Twitter, 7/17/19] Medieval Buddhist of the Day: Yang Baosheng 楊寶勝, who dedicated a series of three Maitreya figures on the north wall of the Guyang cave at Longmen. Her dedication is undated, but most Guyang dedications are pre-Tang, so I’m assuming hers is too. One of her Maitreyas is dedicated to Fagai 法蓋, from context probably a monk or nun (the name means “Dharma Canopy”); but the other two are dedicated to “the late prince of Kuduohan” 亡庫多汗王. Kuduohan was a town in what is now eastern Gansu, nearly due west of Yan’an. Kuduohan’s name was changed to the much more Sinitic “Huachi County” 華池縣 by the Sui, suggesting a sixth-century date. Longmen is quite a long way from Kuduohan, even by modern standards. I’d love to know why Yang Baosheng commemorated its lost prince in this way.