A Study of Dharma Protecting Divine Kings in the Frontispieces of Liao Buddhist Sutra Prints

A distinct category of imagery known as "Dharma-Protecting Divine Kings" (护法神王) frequently appears in Buddhist sutra frontispieces across regions including Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang. Through a systematic review and analysis of various typologies of these frontispieces, this paper traces their iconographic prototypes and elucidates the underlying combinatory logic and functional mechanisms of such imagery. The visual representation of the Dharma-Protecting Divine Kings originates from the Buddhist belief in the Four Heavenly Kings, manifesting their Dharma-Protecting functions within sutra frontispieces. Furthermore, the pairing of the Dharma-Protecting Divine Kings with the Lengyan Dashi（楞严大师）establishes a functional complementarity between "propagating the Dharma" and "protecting the Dharma." This iconographic arrangement profoundly reflects the unique ideological pursuit of "preserving sutras and safeguarding the Dharma" in Liao dynasty Buddhism, encapsulating the era's deep anxiety in the face of the perceived crisis of the "Age of Dharma Decline" .