The illustration of the contest between Sariputra and Raudraksa is one of the most eye-catching sutra illustrations in the Dunhuang caves. It first appeared in the tenth Northern Zhou cave at the Western Thousand-Buddha Grottoes, and again in early Tang cave number 335 at the Mogao grottoes. The painting completely disappeared in the High and Middle Tang periods, however, before again appearing in Later Tang cave 85 at Mogao. Many different opinions on this phenomenon have been posed by scholars. By consulting historical documents, historical facts, and the available visual materials of the Mogao Grottoes, this paper restudies this problem and comes to the conclusion that the disappearance of this theme was not, in fact, caused by many previously proposed causes, including: rebellion against Tibetan occupation, the abolishment of Buddhism as a national religion, the text of "Defeating Mara," and the size of the caves. This illustration reappeared in the Later Tang, Five Dynasties, and the Song dynasty due to the popularity of folk literature such as story-telling texts, which advanced the popularity of stories in the Dama-murkha-sutra (Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish) that included the contest between Sāriputra and Raudraksa. In the High Tang and Middle Tang periods, Mahayana Buddhism ascended to prominence and the Dama-murkha-sutra, which originates in Hinayana Buddhism, fell out of favor, resulting in the disappearance of many themes originating from Hinayana sutras, including the illustration in question.
