At first sight, one can see both the monk and Monroe leaning forward with hands on bended knees. But the context and facial expression tell the difference, he noted.
During the filming of The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe was captured laughing as her skirt is blown up by a blast from a subway vent. In the cave of Dunhuang, the mural in question was created by a Tang Dynasty (618-907) painter as part of a mural to illustrate one of the 12 vows made by the Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, according to Zhao.
To depict the seriousness of observing precepts, the painter drew a scene where the master was about to physically punish a student who had misbehaved. This student was about to receive blows of a cane and is leaning forward but also looks upset and scared, Zhao explained.
"This is actually the earliest, and possibly the only, mural that shows a scene from the ancient temple schools, so it is very valuable," he said. "In the Tang Dynasty, the entire country believed in Buddhism. Temple schools played a great role in the education system at that time."
Aware of some people's perplexity over why a man urinating is depicted in the sacred mural, Zhao said that in Buddhist art, every word or sign has a profound meaning and shouldn't be taken at face value.
The seemingly vulgar painting is part of the mural of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581) in cave 290 of Mogao Grottoes. It illustrates the auspicious signs that appeared with the birth of Gautama Siddartha, who became Buddha Sakyamuni, he said.
"When Gautama Siddartha was born, oxen and sheep bred, flowers bloomed, and all bad smells turned fragrant," Zhao explained.
"How does one depict foul odors? The painter came up with the idea of drawing a man urinating. This is the artist's way of using an image to illustrate the smell. And it is possibly the earliest image of ancient Chinese toilets."
Editor: Fang Li
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