page_title: Kṣitigarbha
section_title: Kṣitigarbha as Lord of the Six Ways
hierarchical_section_title: Kṣitigarbha / Iconography / Kṣitigarbha as Lord of the Six Ways
caption_attribution_description: English: Kṣitigarbha as Lord of the Six Ways Northern Song dynasty, dated the 4th year of Jianlong (963) Dunhuang Ink and colours on silk. Painted area: H. 56.1cm; W. 51.5cm; Stein painting 19. Ch.Iviii.003
context_page_description: Kṣitigarbha is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk. His name may be translated as "Earth Treasury", "Earth Store", "Earth Matrix", or "Earth Womb". Kṣitigarbha is known for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds between the death of Gautama Buddha and the rise of Maitreya, as well as his vow not to achieve Buddhahood until all hells are emptied. He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings, as well as the guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture, where he is known as Jizō or Ojizō-sama.
  Usually depicted as a monk with a halo around his shaved head, he carries a staff to force open the gates of hell and a wish-fulfilling jewel to light up the darkness.
context_section_description: Another category of iconographic depiction is Kṣitigarbha as the Lord of the Six Ways, an allegorical representation of the Six Paths of Rebirth of the Desire realm (rebirth into hell, or as pretas, animals, asuras, men, and devas). The Six Paths are often depicted as six rays or beams radiating from the bodhisattva and accompanied by figurative representations of the Six Paths. Many of these depictions in China can be found in Shaanxi province, perhaps a result of Sanjie Jiao worship in the area.
  A Japanese variation of this depiction is the Six Jizō, six full sculptural manifestations of the bodhisattva. An example of this can be found in Konjikidō, the ‘Hall of Gold,’ in the Chūson-ji temple.
caption: Painting of Kṣitigarbha as the Lord of the Six Ways from Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang
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