A BRONZE RITUAL BOTTLE VASE AND COVER

Liao Dynasty

Footnotes

遼 銅淨水瓶

This vase features a long neck and a bulbous body, resting on a short foot and topped with an intact cover. It is simple and elegant, with flowing, natural lines. The neck is slender and upright, and all proportions are harmonious and balanced. This vessel not only serves a practical function but also carries symbolic significance in ritual and religious contexts.

Known as a jing shui ping (ritual bottle vase), it is also referred to as a shui ping (water bottle) or kundika. It was one of the important ritual implements in Buddhism. In Buddhist rituals, offerings, and daily monastic practices, it was primarily used to hold purified water for ritual hand-washing or sprinkling ceremonies, symbolizing purity and devotion. While its form inherits traditions from Central Plains or Indian Buddhist artifacts, it more distinctly embodies the fusion of steppe culture with Han Chinese Buddhist traditions. During its development in the Liao region, it incorporated the Northern ethnic groups' aesthetic preferences for simplicity, practicality, and austerity. Compared to the exquisitely ritual bottle vase of the Tang and Song periods, Liao Dynasty ritual water vase appear more plain and dignified, bearing distinct frontier ethnic characteristics and a practical religious aura.

In Liao society, water purification vessels served not only religious purposes but also functioned as practical tools for daily water collection and handwashing, or as decorative items. Particularly in the tombs of nobles or monks steeped in Buddhist devotion, they frequently appeared as burial objects, embodying the religious ideals of rebirth in the Pure Land and purity free from defilement.

此器呈長頸、鼓腹之態，下接圈足，配有完整器蓋。整體造型簡練而優雅，線條流暢自然，頸部修長挺拔，各部分比例協調勻稱。該器物不僅具備實用功能，更承載著禮儀與宗教層面的象徵意義，其名稱為「淨水瓶」，亦稱「水瓶」或「軍持」（系梵語kundika的音譯），原為佛教重要法器之一。

在佛教儀式、供養活動以及僧侶日常修行中，主要用於盛裝淨水、淨手或進行灑淨等宗教儀軌，象徵著清淨與虔誠的宗教意涵。其器形雖承襲自中原或印度佛教器用傳統，但更集中體現了草原文化與漢傳佛教文化相互交融的顯著特色。在遼地的發展進程中，融入了北方民族簡潔、實用、樸素的審美取向。相較於唐宋時期精巧華美的淨水瓶，遼代淨水瓶更顯質樸穩重，具有鮮明的邊疆民族特色與宗教實用氣息。

在遼代社會生活中，淨水瓶除用於宗教用途外，亦可能作為日常取水、淨手的實用工具或裝飾用品。尤其在佛教信仰氛圍濃厚的貴族或僧侶墓葬中，常作為陪葬明器出現，蘊含著往生淨土、清淨無染的宗教理念。