Jātaka means “birth story,” and is translated as bensheng in Chinese. The Jātaka tales are a voluminous body of literature concerning the previous births of Sakyamuni Buddha in both human and animal form. These tales are intended to convey profound Buddhist teachings to the public. In Mahayana Buddhism, almsgiving is one of the main ways to do pious deeds, and self-sacrifice is treated as the highest form of almsgiving. The Jātaka of Prince Sattva is one of the classic stories about self-sacrifice. The Jātaka tales of Prince Sattva are depicted on 34 Dunhuang murals in a number of caves dated from the Northern Wei Dynasty (Cave 254) to the Song Dynasty (Cave 55).