Visual and Material Cultures in Middle Period China 9004349375, 9789004349377

Citation preview



i

Visual and Material Cultures in Middle Period China

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_001 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

ii

Sinica Leidensia



Edited by Barend J. ter Haar Maghiel van Crevel In co-operation with P.K. Bol, D.R. Knechtges, E.S. Rawski, W.L. Idema, H.T. Zurndorfer

VOLUME 137

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sinl

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)



Visual and Material Cultures in Middle Period China

iii

Edited by

Patricia Buckley Ebrey Shih-shan Susan Huang

LEIDEN | BOSTON

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

iv



Cover illustration: Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao. Detail. Early 13th century. Handscroll. Ink and color on silk. 29.2 × 73.6 cm. Cincinnati Art Museum, 1948.79. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2017022616

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0169-9563 isbn 978-90-04-34898-1 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-34937-7 (e-book) Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Contents Contents

v

Contents Acknowledgments vii List of Illustrations viii List of Contributors xiv Introduction 1 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Shih-shan Susan Huang

Part 1 Making Art in Funeral and Ritual Contexts 1 Modular Design of Tombs in Song and Jin North China 41 Fei Deng 2 Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting 82 Phillip E. Bloom

Part 2 Setting a Scene 3 Dreams, Spirits, and Romantic Encounters in Jin and Yuan Theatrical Pictures 115 Fan Jeremy Zhang 4 The Ten Views of West Lake  151 Xiaolin Duan

Part 3 Appreciating the Written Word 5 A Forgery and the Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi  193 Hui-Wen Lu 6 Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents  226 Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

vi

Contents

Part 4 Cross-Cultural Transfers 7 Paintings of Birds by Basins 255 Jie Liu 8 Chinese Objects Recovered from Sutra Mounds in Japan, 1000-1300 284 Yiwen Li Index 319

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Acknowledgments Acknowledgments

vii

Acknowledgments The essays in this volume have their origin in the Conference on Middle Period China, 800-1400, held at Harvard in June 2014. Organization of the conference began two years earlier when Peter Bol and Patricia Ebrey put out a call for paper proposals for an international, interdisciplinary conference on ninth through thirteenth century China. The response to this call went beyond all expectations. In the end, nearly two hundred people came together to discuss 154 pre-circulated papers. These papers covered the gamut of current academic research, from poetic imagery to the circulation of money, local elites to tomb decoration, interstate interactions to religious practices. This book draws from papers originally presented at the conference, selected for the contribution they make to our understanding of visual culture. The authors and editors wish to express our gratitude to those who funded the conference, including the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation and several units at Harvard (the Fairbank Center for China Studies, the Harvard-Yenching Institute, the Weatherhead Center, and the Asia Center), with smaller contributions by the Journal of SongYuan Studies and the China Studies Program of the University of Washington. We would particularly like to thank those who commented on or moderated discussion of the earlier versions of these papers. They included Maggie Bickford, Ping Foong, Roslyn Hammers, Valerie Hansen, Jeehee Hong, Amy Huang, Heping Liu, Tracy Miller, Alfreda Murck, Julia Murray, Tsubasa Naka­ mura, Hyunhee Park, Michael Puett, Reiko Shinno, Eugene Wang, Shi Xie, and Josh Yiu. They all helped us see the significance of our evidence and arguments. At the University of Washington, Peyton Canary also deserves thanks for his assistance with the preparation of the manuscript. We are also grateful for the generous financial support of the Department of Art History at Rice and the China Studies Program at the University of Washington.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

viii

List of Illustrations

List Of Illustrations

List of Illustrations

Figures

1.1 1.2a-c

Drawing of the walls of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan 43 Brick reliefs on the northwest wall of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan 44 1.3 Rubbing of theatrical actors engraved in the Jiuliugou tomb in Yanshi, Henan 45 1.4a-b Rubbings of brick reliefs found in the Wenxian tomb, Henan 46 1.5a-b Brick reliefs on the northeast wall of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan 49 1.6 Rubbing of theatrical actors engraved in the Wenxian tomb, Henan 51 1.7 Entrance of Song Silang’s tomb in Xin’an, Henan 54 1.8 Square bricks from the tomb of Song Silang in Xin’an, Henan 56 1.9 Brick relief showing peonies from the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan 56 1.10a-b Brick reliefs of two attendants from the Yichuan tomb in Luoyang, Henan 57 1.11 Painting on the southwest wall of the Liangcha tomb in Pingshan, Hebei 59 1.12 Northwest, north and northeast walls of the tomb of Song Silang in Xin’an, Henan 59 1.13 South and west walls of the Songcun tomb in Xin’an, Henan 61 1.14 Brick relief of two theatrical actors from a Jin tomb in Jishan, Shanxi 61 1.15 Theatrical actors from a Jin tomb at Houma, Shanxi 62 1.16a-b Scenes of Shun in the Sicun tomb and the Gubozui tomb at Yingyang, Henan 65 1.17a-b Scenes of Zengzi in the Sicun tomb and the Gubozui tomb at Yingyang, Henan 66 West wall of the Songcun tomb at Xin’an, Henan 70 1.18 2.1 Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 87 2.2 Detail of incense offering. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 88 2.3 Detail of icons and food offerings. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 88 2.4 Studio of Zhou Jichang, Water-Land Retreat, seventeenth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 89

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

List of Illustrations 2.5

2.6 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16

3.17

ix

Detail of ghosts. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Water-Land Retreat, seventeenth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 90 Zhou Jichang, Visit to the Palace, twenty-fourth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats. Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan 91 Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow 118 Liu Yuan, Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, early 13th century handscroll, Cin­ cinnati Art Museum, 1948.79 118 Su Xiaoxiao’s Moon Night Dream at the Qiantang River, Augmented with Illustration, from the Romance of the West Chamber (1498) 121 Ink inscription of a couplet on a Northern-Song Cizhou-ware pillow, Handan Municipal Museum 123 Scene of Dong Yong meeting a fairy lady, decoration on a 11th-century bronze mirror 125 Scene of Emperor Minghuang visiting the Moon Palace, decoration on a 11thcentury bronze mirror 126 Xiao Zhao (active 1230s-1260s), Auspicious Omens for Dynastic Revival, section detail of a handscroll, Tianjin Museum 127 “King Zhou’s Dream Encounter with the Jade Maiden,” from the Investiture of the Gods (1321-1323) 128 “Student Zhang’s Dream of Yingying in an Inn at Caoqiao,” from the Romance of the West Chamber (1498) 129 A Jin dynasty performance stage (dated 1183) at the Erlang Temple, Wangbao village, Gaoping 133 Scene of an exorcist confronting with a female ghost, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow, MFA, Boston 136 Detail of Dream of the Yellow Millet, mural scene from the Chunyang Hall (dated 1358), Yonglegong, Ruicheng 138 The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, panel scene from the Chunyang Hall (dated 1358), Yonglegong, Ruicheng 140 Scene of gentlemen visiting ladies in a cave residence, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow, the Palace Museum, Beijing 143 Zhao Cangyun, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao Entering the Tiantai Mountains, c. 1300, handscroll, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.494.1 143 A dream scene of a ghost story, probably the Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou-ware pillow, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2176.1 144 Scene of Liu Yi meeting the dragon princess, from the Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess, decoration on a 12th-century bronze mirror 145

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

x 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4

5.5 5.6 5.7

List Of Illustrations The map of West Lake. from Xianchun Lin’an zhi 161 Ye Xiaoyan, Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples. National Palace Museum, Taipei 162 Monk Muqi, Sail Returning from Distant Shore. Kyoto National Museum 167 Xia Gui, Twelve Views of Landscape (part). Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City 167 Ye Xiaoyan, Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda. National Palace Museum, Taipei 168 Ye Xiaoyan, Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake. National Palace Museum, Taipei 169 Ye Xiaoyan, Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery. National Palace Museum, Taipei 170 Ye Xiaoyan, Watching Fish at Flower Cove. National Palace Museum, Taipei 171 Li Gonglin, Mountain Villa. National Palace Museum, Taipei 173 Lu Hong, Reflecting Scenery Altar. National Palace Museum, Taipei 174 Li Song, West Lake. Shanghai Museum 174 Ye Xiaoyan, Spring Dawn at Su Dike. National Palace Museum, Taipei 175 Ye Xiaoyan, Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon. National Palace Museum, Taipei 176 Ye Xiaoyan, Evening Bell from Nanping Hill. National Palace Museum, Taipei 177 Ye Xiaoyan, Spring Dawn at Su Dike (detail). National Palace Museum, Taipei 179 Ye Xiaoyan, Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds. National Palace Museum, Taipei  180 Today’s Leifeng Pagoda 184 (Att.) Wang Xianzhi, Epitaph for My Nursemaid, rubbing. Freer Gallery of Art 196 Jiang Kui (1155-1221), Colophon to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, c. 1202. Palace Museum, Beijing 198 Various Writers, Colophons to Epitaph for My Nursemaid. Palace Museum, Beijing 200 (Att.) Wang Xianzhi, Epitaph for My Nursemaid with colophons. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase—Regents’ Collections Acquisition Pro­gram, F. 1980.7 202 Wang Xizhi, Lantingxu, 353, rubbing, the Dingwu version. National Palace Museum, Taipei 203 The Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Playful Goose (Xihong tang fatie 戲鴻堂法帖), 1603, rubbing. Harvard-Yenching Library 205 The Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Three Treasures (Sanxi tang fatie 三希堂法帖), 1747, rubbing. National Palace Museum, Taipei 205

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

List of Illustrations 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11

5.12

5.13 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13

xi

Epitaph for Wang Xingzhi, 341, rubbing. After Nanjingshi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, Wenwu, 1965:6, 31 207 Epitaph for Wang Danhu, 359, rubbing 208 Epitaph for the Wife of Wang Jianzhi, 371, rubbing 208 (Att.) Wang Xizhi, Lantingxu, 353, rubbing made in the 12th-13th c., detail, “Number Two” in You Si’s (?-1252) collection of One Hundred Lanting. Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong 216 (Att.) Wang Xizhi, Essay on Yue Yi, from the Calligraphy Compendium of the Shi Family in Yuezhou 越州石氏帖, rubbing made in the late 12th c. Tokyo National Museum 220 Anonymous, Eulogy for Burying the Crane, fragments, 6th c 221 Zhu Xi’s colophon on a scroll of Ouyang Xiu’s colophons on antiquities. National Palace Museum, Taipei 229 Han Qi letter. Guizhou Provincial Museum 246 Wang Anshi letter. National Palace Museum, Taipei 246 Painting of birds and flowers setting on the walls of M217 tomb in Astana, Turpan, High Tang 256 Painting of birds and flowers setting on the walls of the tomb of Wang Gongshu (died in 838) in Beijing, 838 AD 256 Painting of birds and basin in a garden setting on the walls of the tomb of Princess Tang’an (died in 784) in Xi’an, 748 AD 258 Line drawing of birds and basin painting in Figure 7.3. Drawn by Jie Liu 258 Drawing of birds and basin in a garden setting on the walls of the tomb of Zhao Yigong (died in 829) in Anyang, 829 AD. Drawn by Jie Liu 259 Line drawings on the sarcophagus of Princess Yongtai’s tomb (buried in 706) in Qianxian, Shaanxi, 706 AD 260 Gold and silver wares of the Tang dynasty, before the middle eighth century 262 Silver cup from central or west Asia, unearthed from Hejiacun cache of the Tang dynasty, Xi’an, Shaanxi, about eighth century 263 Line drawing of the sarcophagus of Prince Zhanghuai’s tomb (buried in 711) in Qianxian, Shaanxi, 711 AD. Drawn by Jie Liu 263 “Golden Basin and Pigeon” signed by Huang Quan of Five dynasties, actually after Song dynasty 268 “Golden Basin and Pigeon,” by Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435), the Xuande Emperor of the Ming dynasty, before 1435 AD 269 “Pottery Basin and Pigeon” by Fu Zhongzheng. Qing dynasty 270 Pottery inkwell, unearthed from Zhongbaocun tomb of the Tang dynasty in Xi’an, Shaanxi, the High Tang 274

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

xii 7.14 7.15 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18

List Of Illustrations Zhexi silver bowl, unearthed from Famensi temple site of the Tang dynasty in Fufeng, Shaanxi, the High Tang 276 Porcelain bowl with gilding medallion patterns, unearthed from Famensi temple site of the Tang dynasty in Fufeng, Shaanxi, the High Tang 277 Sutra containers inside an outer container 287 Sutras removed from a sutra container 287 Fujiwara no Michinaga’s gilded bronze sutra container, with inscription on the surface. Collection of the Kinpu shrine 288 A sutra container with its outer container and donated objects. Collection of the Kyushu historical museum 291 Outer container whose exterior has been changed 293 Outer container whose exterior has been changed. Collection of the Umi Hachimangū shrine 293 Cosmetic box repurposed to hold Buddhist relics in the form of glass beads 294 A bronze mirror with the image of Kannon Bodhisattva on it. Seiryōji mon­astery 296 Huzhou mirror excavated from China 296 Ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers excavated from Shiōjiyama, Japan. Umi Hachi­man shrine 303 Porcelain sutra container excavated from Shiōjiyama, Japan. Collection of the Kyushu National Museum 303 Gilded-silver tablet container 304 Wooden sutra containers from the deposit in the White Pagoda 307 Liao porcelain container possibly a sutra container 308 Liao porcelain container possibly a sutra container 309 Wooden sutra container from the White Pagoda. Collection of the Museum of Balin Right Banner 309 Metal sutra container from the North Pagoda 311 Wooden sutra container from the White Pagoda. Museum of Balin Right Banner 311



Tables

4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2

The Ten Views of West Lake 155 Poetic Structure of “The Ten Views of West Lake” 159 Layout of the inscription of Epitaph for My Nursemaid 196 Comparison of characters from Epitaph for My Nursemaid and Lantingxu, the Dingwu version 209

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

xiii

List of Illustrations



Maps

8.1 8.2

The distribution of sutra mounds in Japan (11-13th century) 291 Important places in Sino-Japanese relations, 10-12th century 302

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

xiv

Contributors

Contributors

List of Contributors Phillip E. Bloom  卜向榮  is an assistant professor in the Department of Art History at Indiana University, Bloomington. He specializes in Chinese Buddhist art and ritual of the Middle Period, as well as religious and artistic exchanges within East Asia. His work has recently appeared in The Art Bulletin, Bukkyō geijutsu (Ars Buddhica), and Dazu xuekan (Dazu Studies). He is currently completing a book manuscript, tentatively entitled Nebulous Intersections: Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhist Art, ca. 1178. Fei Deng 鄧菲 is an associate researcher in Chinese art history at the National Institute of Advanced Humanistic Studies, Fudan University. She completed her PhD at Oxford University in 2010 with a dissertation on “Understanding Efficacy: A Study of Decorated Tombs in Northern Song China, 960-1127.” Her research interests include visual culture of the mid-imperial China, funerary and sacred art, and how people produced, used, and understood images within different contexts. Xiaolin Duan 段曉琳 is an assistant professor of Chinese history at Elon University. In 2014 she defended her dissertation on “Scenic Beauty outside the City: Tourism around Hangzhou’s West Lake in the Southern Song (1127-1276)” at the University of Washington. Her current research interests include Chinese urban history, popular religion, and visual/material culture.  Patricia Buckley Ebrey 伊沛霞 is a Williams Family Endowed Professor of History at the University of Washing­ ton. Widely published in Chinese social and cultural history, her most recent books are Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong (2008), Emperor Huizong (2014), and State Power in China, 900-1350, the last co-edited with Paul Smith (2016). Shih-shan Susan Huang 黃士珊 is an associate professor of art history at Rice University. She received her PhD from Yale in 2002, and in 2012 published Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China. Her articles appeared in Artibus Asiae, Ars

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

List of Contributors

xv

Orien­talis, Journal of Daoist Studies, Palace Museum Research Quarterly, and the Zhejiang University Journal of Art and Archaeology. She is currently working on a book on Buddhist woodcuts and cultural transformation. Yiwen Li 李怡文  is an assistant professor in the department of Chinese and History at the City University of Hong Kong. She received her PhD from Yale in 2017 with a dissertation on “Networks of Profit and Faith: Spanning the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, 838-1404.” Her research interests include East Asian maritime history, long-distance trade in pre-modern period, and the social life of objects. Jie Liu 劉婕 is an associate professor of history at Beijing Union University and earlier was the editor of the Journal Wenwu. She received her PhD in Chinese Art History from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. Her book on Chinese bird and flower painting during the Tang dynasty (Tangdai huaniaohua yanjiu 唐代花鸟 画研究) was published in 2012. Hui-Wen Lu 盧慧紋 is an associate professor of the history of art at National Taiwan University. She received her PhD at Princeton in 2003 with a dissertation on “A New Imperial Style of Calligraphy: Stone Engravings in Northern Wei Luoyang, 494-534.” She has published widely in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Fan Jeremy Zhang 張帆  is the senior associate curator of Chinese art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and earlier was the Helga Wall-Apelt associate curator of Asian art at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. He received his PhD in Art History at Brown University in 2010, and recently published an exhibition catalogue, Royal Taste: The Art of Princely Courts in Fifteenth-Century China. 

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

xvi

Contributors

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction Ebrey and Huang Introduction

1

Introduction Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Shih-shan Susan Huang The essays of this volume had their origin in the Conference on Middle Period China, 800-1400, co-organized by Peter Bol and Patricia Ebrey and held at Harvard in June 2014. One of the main goals of that conference was to draw attention to new sources, emerging themes, and interdisciplinary methodologies for the study of the Middle Period. A striking feature of the conference was the extensive use of visual materials not only by art historians, but also by scholars across the disciplines of literature, religion, intellectual, social, cultural, and institutional history. There were panels devoted entirely to visual materials, such as “Material and Visual Culture,” “Tombs and Mortuary Art,” and “Material Culture of Worship.” In addition, selected papers employing visual evidence were included in panels on “Interstate Contact,” “Buddhism and Daoism and their Cultural Influence,” “Forms of Knowledge,” “Local Society,” “History of Information,” “The Political Center,” and “Intellectual Thought.” This new “visual turn” in scholarship on China makes visual materials an indispensable part of the databank of scholars, to be drawn on by scholars in any field, and makes this volume on China’s visual and material cultures especially timely.

Middle Period China

As the term is used here, the Middle Period ranges over approximately six hundred years, from the mid eighth through the mid fourteenth century, covering the second half of the Tang (618-907), the Song (960-1276), Liao (907-1123), Jin (1115-1234), Xi Xia (1038-1227), and Yuan (1215-1368) periods. The advantage of labeling our period in this way is that it is broader than a dynasty or century, is less Eurocentric than “medieval,” and does not carry associations of decline from a classical era. The term “middle” also reminds us that this period bridges the ancient and the modern; it is a grey zone in transformation, where old and new ideas overlapped and converged. We do not insist that everyone adopt this term or set of dates—indeed, when our authors deal with a single dynasty, they usually use its name to specify the period they cover. But we do wish to remind readers that there is no need to periodize visual and material cultures on the basis of political shifts.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_002 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

2

Ebrey And Huang

What draws our authors to these centuries? Perhaps the biggest draws are the richness of new sources, the vitality and prosperity of the age, and its multistate and multi-cultural contexts. Newly available sources range from recently digitized texts to newly published archaeological finds. The recent trends of digitization of historical texts, rare books, and objects in the collections of libraries and museums have given scholars new resources and new ways to access them. In addition, more and more archaeologically excavated materials have become available. Thousands of dated epitaphs have been found in Tang tombs.1 More than four hundred tombs dating to the Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan periods have been reported to bear artifacts or paintings.2 Large numbers of documents on perishable paper have been excavated in Khara Khoto and elsewhere in north and northwestern China. The Khara Khoto documents are in a variety of languages and include Buddhist printed sutras with intricate illustrations, shedding new light on the otherwise little known Xi Xia kingdom.3 Discoveries of shipwrecks in Asian waters provide “snapshots” of China’s maritime trade, revealing the cargoes of ships that left China filled with ceramics and metal wares in great demand in foreign lands.4 1 For a monumental undertaking of on-going publications of excavated tomb epitaphs grouped by such regions as Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Hebei, Chongqing, Beijing, and so on, see Zhongguo wenwu yanjiu suo et al., Xin Zhongguo chutu muzhi. For an exemplary historical inquiry drawing newly-discovered epitaphs and using the digital GIS technology, see Tackett, The Destruction of the Medieval Chinese Aristocracy. Applying the quantitative approach, Claire Yang (PhD candidate at the Department of History, UC Berkeley) has collected textual data from 5000 Tang tomb epitaphs from both north and south to shed light on the commonly chosen burial date in the Tang; see C. Yang, “Burial Date Divination and Death Ritual Integration in Tang China (618- 907).” 2 For selected series of tomb paintings published in recent years, see Xu, ed., Zhongguo chutu bihua quanji; Zhongguo mushi bihua quanji bianji weiyuan hui, ed., Zhongguo mushi bihua quanji. For an overview of the history of tomb paintings, see He and Li, Zhongguo mushi bihua shi. 3 Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan et al., eds., Ecang Heishuicheng wenxian; Ningxia daxue Xi Xia xue yanjiu zhongxin et al., eds., Zhongguo cang Xi Xia wenxian; Du, Zhongguo cang Xi Xia wenxian yanjiu; Sun et al., Ecang Heishuicheng hanwen fei fojiao wenxian zhengli yanjiu; Piotrovsky, ed., Lost Empire of the Silk Road; J. Shi et al., Xi Xia wenwu; Linrothe, “Peripheral Visions”; Drège, “De l’icône à l’anecdote”; J. Xie, Xi Xia zangchuan huihua; Huang, “Reassessing Printed Buddhist Frontispieces from Xi Xia.” 4 For selected scholarship on shipwrecks of the Middle Period, see Krahl and Effeny, eds., Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds; D. Heng, Sino-Malay Trade and Diplomacy, esp. 12-16, 233 (endnote 30); Flecker, The Archaeological Excavation of the 10th Century; Ridho and McKinnon, The Pulau Buaya Wreck; Zeng, Songdai chenchuan ‘Nanhai yi hao”; Brown and Sjostrand, Turiang; W. Zhang, Suizhong Sandaogang Yuan dai chenchuan; Q. Shen, Dayuan faying.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

3

The cultural and economic dynamism of China during the Middle Period is well known. During these centuries the population doubled to 100 million. Confucianism was revitalized, and government officials came to be chosen more and more often through competitive civil service examinations.5 The spread of printing technology, along with the expansion of education, led to a burst of energy in publishing and the survival of a much larger number of books from Song times than from any earlier dynasty.6 Knowledge of medicine and healing practices advanced significantly in the Song and Yuan periods, thanks mostly to imperial patronage and cross-cultural exchanges.7 In literature these centuries witnessed the maturation of short stories and essays, the development of song lyrics as a literary genre, and the emergence of dramatic literature.8 In art, this is the era when landscape painting reaches preeminence, when court bird-and-flower painting achieved unsurpassed levels, when the idea of amateur literati painting gained sway, when collecting antiquities became popular, when many centers of ceramic production flourished, and when regional styles of temples and tomb art became more distinct.9 5

6

7

8

9

For selected overviews of the period, see Lewis, China’s Cosmopolitan Empire; Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule; Brook, The Troubled Empire. For more detailed overviews, see the relevant volumes in the Cambridge History of China (vol. 3, 5.1, 5.2, 6, 7, and 8), esp. Twitchett and Smith, eds., The Cambridge History of China 5.1; Chaffee and Twitchett, eds., The Cambridge History of China 5.2; Bol, “This Culture of Ours”; Chaffee, The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China; Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen; Ebrey and Bickford, eds., Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China; Rossabi, China among Equals; Dunnell, The Great State of White and High; Tillman and West, eds., China under Jurchen Rule. On printing, see Tsien, Paper and Printing; Twitchett, Printing and Publishing in Medieval China; Chia and De Weerdt, eds., Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print; J. Shi and Yasen, Zhongguo huozi yinshuashu de faming he zaoqi chuanbo; Huang, “Reassessing Printed Buddhist Frontispieces from Xi Xia.” Goldschmidt, “Huizong’s Impact on Medicine and on Public Health”; Hinrichs, ed., Chinese Medicine and Healing; Schottenhammer, “Huihui Medicine and Medicinal Drugs in Yuan China.” For recent overviews of literature in this era, see the chapters in Chang and Owen, eds., The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Vol. 1, To 1375. For a study of theatre, see Idema and West, Chinese Theater 1100-1450. For selected publications on Chinese art history of this period, see Fong, Images of the Mind; Beyond Representations; Barnhart, Wintry Forests, Old Trees; Along the Border of Heaven; Cahill, Hills beyond a River; The Lyric Journey; Barnhart, ed., Li Kung-Lin’s Classic of Filial Piety; Smith and Fong, eds., Issues of Authenticity in Chinese Painting; Murray, Ma Hezhi and the Illustration of the Book Odes; A. Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China; Bickford, Ink Plum; Harrist, Painting and Private Life in Eleventh-Century China; The Landscape of Words; S. Shi, Feng’ge yu shibian; Cong feng’ge dao huayi; C. Murck, ed., Artists and Traditions; C. Liu and Ching, eds., Arts of the Sung and Yüan; C. Liu et al., eds.,

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

4

Ebrey And Huang

Contact with other countries and cultures was an important element in the dynamism of the Middle Period. The Tang period was the great age of the Silk Road, when Persians, Sogdians, Turks, and other traders made their way to Chang’an and elsewhere in China, joined there by Koreans and Japanese in pursuit of learning.10 After 800 the numbers of foreigners in Chinese cities gradually declined, but intercultural contact did not come to an end. As Tang military might shrank, other polities had more opportunity to expand and flourish—these included the Tibetans, Tanguts, Uighurs, Shatuo Turks, and Kitans, leading to the multi-state geopolitics of the eleventh century with Song China surrounded by the states of Liao (Kitan), Xi Xia (Tangut), Dali (largely Bai), and Annam (Vietnamese). This system was not frozen in time—in the twelfth century the Jin (Jurchen) destroyed Liao and in the thirteenth century the Mongols destroyed both Jin and Song. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in particular, maritime trade took off and connected China not only to the countries of East Asia but also Central, West, and Southeast Asia.11 Diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and religions was particularly evident in China’s major cosmopolitan cities and seaports, such as the Tang capitals Chang’an and Luoyang, the Song capitals Bianjing and Lin’an, the Yuan capital Dadu, and the Song and Yuan seaports Quanzhou, Yangzhou, and Ningbo.12

10 11

12

Character & Context in Chinese Calligraphy; Harrist et al., eds., The Embodied Image; Sturman, Mi Fu; H. Lee, Exquisite Moments; Dongya huihuashi yantaohui, ed., The History of Painting in East Asia; Y. Wang, ed., Kaichuang dianfan; Edwards, The Heart of Ma Yuan; McCausland, Zhao Mengfu; J. Feng, Chinese Architecture and Metaphor; Steinhardt, ed., Chinese Architecture; Howard et al., Chinese Sculpture; M. Xie, Zhongguo taocishi lunji; Ide, Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga; Shimada and Nakazawa., eds., Sekai bijutsu daizenshū; Yan and Shi, eds., Yishushi zhong de Han Jin yu Tang Song zhi bian. Whitfield and Sims-Williams, eds., The Silk Road; Hansen, The Silk Road; Monnet, Chine, l’empire du trait; Hansen and H. Wang, “Introduction.” For studies of maritime trade connecting China with Southeast, South, and West Asia, see Schottenhammer, ed., The East Asian Mediterranean; The Emporium of the World; D. Heng, Sino-Malay Trade and Diplomacy; Clark, Community, Trade, and Networks; Scott and Guy, eds., South East Asia & China. Hansen, The Silk Road, 141-66; Xiong, Sui-Tang Chang’an; L. Feng, City of Marvel and Transformation; C. Heng, Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats; Langlois, ed., China under Mongol Rule; Rossabi, Khubilai Khan; G. Chen, The Capital of the Yuan Dynasty; West, “The Interpretation of a Dream”; Yokkaischi, “Chinese and Muslim Diasporas”; D. Chen, Quanzhou Yisilan jiao shike; Wu, Quanzhou zongjiao shike; Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, ed., Seichi Ninpō; Higashi Ajia Bijutsu Bunka Kōryū Kenkyūkai et al., ed., Ninpō no bijutsu to kaiiki kōryū; Ningbo ‘Haishang sichou zhi lu” et al., Ningbo yu haishang sichou zhi lu; Zhongguo hanghai xuehui, Quanzhou gang yu haishang sichou zhi lu; Quanzhou International Seminar et al., ed., Zhongguo yu haishang sichou zhi lu; Schottenhammer, The

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

5

Even the less-studied Xi Xia regime ruled by the Tanguts in northwestern China was known for its multi-ethnic community composed of Tanguts, Uighurs, Chinese, and Tibetans and infused with religious and cultural elements from neighbors.13 Just as the Silk Road facilitated an influx of foreigners from Central and West Asia to Tang China, under Mongol rule, Koreans, Uighurs, Persians, Tibetans, and others made their ways to China and became active agents in cultural exchange.14

Visual and Material Cultures

The essays in this volume share both a chronological focus on the late Tang through Yuan period and a topical emphasis on visual and material cultures. The concept of visual culture was first developed by scholars outside the field of Chinese art history, many of whom were concerned with cinema, advertising, city-planning, and other features of modern culture that could not be adequately analyzed using traditional art historical methodology. Visual culture, as they developed it, extends from the surfaces of objects or material remains to the practices that led to the creation of objects, the uses to which

13

14

Emporium of the World; Chaffee, “Diasporic Identities in the Historical Development”; Guy, “Quanzhou.” Dunnell, “Hsi Hsia”; Dunnell, The Great State of White and High; Galambos, “The Northern Neighbors of the Tangut”; Galambos, Translating Chinese Tradition and Teaching Tangut Culture; Kyehanov, “Tibetans and Tibetan Culture in the Tangut State His Hsia (982-1227)”; Sperling, “Lama to the King of Hsia”; F. Yang and Chen, Xi Xia yu zhoubian guanxi yanjiu; Solonin, “Buddhist Connections between the Liao and Xi Xia.” For the role of the Mongols in the world history, see Rossabi, ed., Eurasian Influences on Yuan China; Rossabi, The Mongols and Global History; Atwood, Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. For an overview of the diverse arts of this period, see Komaroff and Carboni, The Legacy of Genghis Khan; Watt et al., The World of Khubilai Khan; McCausland, The Mongol Century. For the contribution of the Uighurs in Yuan China and beyond, see Brose, Subjects and Masters; “Uyghur Technologists of Writing and Literacy in Mongol China”; “Neo-Confucian Uyghur Semuren in Koryŏ and Chosŏn Korean Society and Politics.” For studies of the Sino-Islamic exchanges in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, see Allsen, Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire; Rossabi, “The Muslims in the Early Yuan Dynasty”; Park, “China’s Long-Distance Maritime Connections”; “Cross-Cultural Exchange and Geographic Knowledge”; “Port-City Networking”; Mapping the Chinese and Islamic World; Kauz, “Some Notes on the Geographical and Cartographical Impacts”; Chaffee, “Muslim Merchants and Quanzhou.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

6

Ebrey And Huang

they were put, and the perceptions of viewers.15 It raises “questions of what is made visible, who sees what, how seeing, knowing and power are interrelated.”16 It extends beyond what you see to how you picture or visualize existence. Visual culture is tied closely to material culture, which involves “material, raw or processed, transformed by human action as expressions of culture.”17 In our volume we do not place much importance on distinguishing visual and material culture as the two are often closely entangled. Compared to traditional art history, the study of visual and material culture is broader, more interdisciplinary, and more interactive, raising questions that link visuality and materiality to other facets of social and cultural experiences. It goes beyond fine arts or masterpieces to encompass ordinary objects, such as clothing, toys, maps, mirrors, monuments, photography, and films. Information conveyed visually can be contrasted to that conveyed by words—indeed, the two can work at crosspurposes. But there are visual and material dimensions of words once they are written down and become facets of things. Moreover, for earlier periods especially, there is much we can learn from texts which discuss or describe visual and material phenomena. Since the 1990s scholars of China have been actively pursuing issues of visual culture. In his 1997 Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China, Craig Clunas famously applies his theory of visuality to the study of sixteenth-century Chinese visual culture, placing numerous kinds of pictures (on walls, books, lacquer boxes, and so on) in the same social fabric that fostered a growing consumer class and expanding trade routes.18 A landmark group effort made by scholars with diverse expertise was the symposium on the visual dimensions of Chinese culture organized by Patricia Ebrey and held at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in 1999. In the resulting publication, Ebrey remarks that “It is coming to be recognized that nearly every aspect of Chinese culture, from religious beliefs, to ethnicity, gender, and social and political rank, was expressed, played with, and contested visually as well as through words, and that examining these visual manifestations enriches our 15

16 17

18

For an early discussion of visual culture, see the questionnaire proposed by nineteen art and architecture historians, film theorists, literary critics, and artists (Alpers et al., “Visual Culture Questionnaire”). For more studies of visual culture in the West, see Bryson, ed., Visual Culture; Mirzoef, An Introduction to Visual Culture. Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture, 14. Prown, “Mind in Matter,” 6. For more on material culture, see Appadurai, ed., The Social Life of Things; Kingery, ed., Learning from Things; Gerritsen and Riello, eds., Writing Material Culture History; The Global Lives of Things. Clunas, Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China. For more studies by Clunas along this line, see Clunas, Superfluous Things; Empire of Great Brightness.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

7

understandings of China’s cultural history.”19 Many scholars outside of art history are now making significant contributions to exploring China’s historical visual and material cultures. Important monographs include Robert Hegel’s analysis of book illustrations and the reading process, Stephen Teiser’s various studies of the Dunhuang illustrative manuscripts of the Ten Kings and the Buddhist imagery of the Wheel, Chün-fang Yü’s scrutiny of the multi-facets of Guanyin, John Kieschnick’s investigation of the impact of Buddhism on Chinese material culture, Paul Katz’s use of Daoist murals in decoding hagiographies, Paul Copp’s study of the archaeologically excavated dharani prints, and Patricia Ebrey’s examination of the painting, calligraphy, and antiquities collections of Emperor Huizong, to name just a few.20 Interdisciplinary scholarship on book culture, medicine, science, technology, and religions draw extensively on archaeological artifacts, objects, and illustrated texts.21 Scholarship on the visual and material cultures of the Middle Period is already quite substantial.22 Some time-honored topics, such as connoisseurship, landscape paintings, court art and politics, and connections to the art of Korea and Japan continue to attract scholarly endeavor and yield new results.23 19 20

21

22 23

Ebrey, “Introduction to a Symposium.” Hegel, Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China; Teiser, The Scripture on the Ten Kings; Reinventing the Wheel; Yü, Kuan-yin; Kieschnick, The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture; Katz, Images of the Immortal; Copp, The Body Incantatory; Ebrey, Accumulating Culture; Emperor Huizong. For selected examples, see Bray et al., eds., Graphics and Text in the Production of Technical Knowledge in China; Chia and De Weerdt, eds., Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print; Hinrichs, ed., Chinese Medicine and Healing; Kohn, ed., Daoism Handbook; Lagerwey and Marsone, eds., Modern Chinese Religion I. See, for example, Wu, ed., Tenth-Century China and Beyond. H. Lee, Empress, Art & Agency in Song Dynasty China; Hammers, Pictures of Tilling and Weaving; H. Liu, “The Water Mill and Northern Song Imperial Patronage”; “Empress Liu’s Icon of Maitreya”; C. Wang, “Chuantong Zhongguo huihua yu zhengzhi quanli”; “‘Ting qin tu’ de zhengzhi yihan”; Kohara, Chūgoku gakan no kenkyū; Bei Futsu “Gashi” chūkai; Ogawa, Gayū; Itakura, “Tō Sō kaiga ni okeru yū yakei hyōgen”; “Kyō Chūjō Gosekihekifu zukan no shi no ichi”; “Ba Rin ‘Sekiyō sansui zu’(Nezu bijutsukan) no seiritsu to hen’yō”; “Kiyō gorō zuzō no seiritsu to tenkai”; Takenami, “(Den) Tō Gen ‘Kan rin jū tei zu’ no kansatsu to kisoteki kōsatsu”; Toso sansuiga kenkyu; S. Shi, Yidong de taohuayuan; S. Shi and Liao, eds., Dongya wenhua yixiang zhi xingsu; Foong, The Efficacious Landscape; Tsukamoto, Hokusō kaigashi no seiritsu; Masuki, Inseiki butsuga to Tō Sō kaiga; Y. Chen, “Jin wu zhi qingtai.” For the scholarly debate focusing on the oft-cited handscroll Qingming shanghe tu in the Palace Museum in Beijing, see the many articles published in the Journal of the Sung-Yuan Studies 26 (1996) and 27 (1997), as well as Ihara, ed., “Seimei jōkazu” to Kisō no jidai. See also Y. Chen, “Zhang Zeduan ‘Qingming shanghe tu’ de huayi xinjie.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

8

Ebrey And Huang

Architecture and textiles, which had been somewhat neglected, are now being reconsidered as visually powerful material.24 Objects held in major museums—once the centerpiece of most art history research—have not been totally left behind, but now fill fewer pages in academic journals.25 In this volume, rather than think in terms of a singular visual culture of Middle Period China, we highlight the multiple interacting visual cultures, differing by place, social status, even occupation, and all changing over time. Only the well-educated fully participated in the literati culture of the capital, just as monks and nuns participated in a richer Buddhist visual culture than laymen did. These religious visual cultures have recently been the subject of much research.26 Stanley Abe, Dorothy Wong, Eugene Wang, Amy McNair, Angela Howard, Sonya Lee, and others are looking anew at phenomena ranging from portable statues and steles, to the murals and sculptures of numerous Buddhist cave temples at Dunhuang and Longmen, and the popular rock carvings at

24

25

26

For selected studies of architecture and urban space, see Steinhardt, Liao Architecture; China’s Early Mosque; Miller, The Divine Nature of Power; “The Eleventh-Century Daxiong­ baodian of Kaihuasi”; “The Architecture of the Three Teachings”; C. Liu, “The Yuan Dynasty Capital”; W. Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture in Brick”; J. Zhang, Zhongguo gudai jinshu jianzhu yanjiu. For selected studies of textiles, see Sheng, “Indexing Textiles as Currency”; Watt and Wardwell, eds., When Silk was Gold; Tong, Kezhi feng hua; Zhao, Dunhuang sichou yu sichou zhi lu; Tunstall, “Beyond Categorization.” For selected book-length publications drawing objects primarily from exhibitions or museum collections, see Fong and Watt, eds., Possessing the Past; Guoli gugong bowuyuan, ed., Daguan; Guoli gugong bowuyuan, ed., Wenyi Shaoxing; Maxwell et al., eds., Along the Riverbank; Watt et al., The World of Khubilai Khan; Yamato Bunkakan, Tsuifuku; Yamato Bunkakan, Gen jidai no kaiga; Yamato Bunkakan, Tokubetsuten sūkōnaru sansui; Shanghai bowuguan, ed., Qiannian danqing; Shanghai bowuguan, ed., Hanmo huicui; Little, Chinese Paintings from Japanese Collections; Liaoningsheng wenhua ting, ed., Qinggong yizhen; H. Zhang et al., Masterpieces of Chinese Painting, 700-1900; Chou and Chung Silent Poetry. For a recent study of the history of Chinese art collecting in the West, see Netting, A Perpetual Fire. For the state of the field of Chinese Buddhist art studies, based on English and Japanese publications from 1999 to 2008, see S. Lin, “Jin shinian zhongguo fojiao meishu.” For studies of a fourteenth-century Manichean painting in a Japanese temple collection that was previously labelled as a Buddhist icon, see Izumi, “Keikyō seizō no kanōsei”; Gulácsi, “A Manichaean ‘Portrait of the Buddha Jesus’.” One can argue for still another branch of religious visual culture, that tied to Confucianism, which Julia Murray has explored in a series of studies. See, for example, Murray, “The Hangzhou Portraits of Confucius and Seventy-two Disciples (Sheng xian tu)”; “The Temple of Confucius and Pictorial Biographies of the Sage”; Mirror of Morality; “‘Idols’ in the Temple.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

9

Dazu, Sichuan.27 Seen as a whole, these studies not only unpack the complex iconographic programs underlining the devotional images in spatial context but also illuminate the public and private dimensions of social and religious practices performed by ordinary men and women, local lay com­mu­nities, and elite classes—some involving non-Chinese peoples and dem­on­strating Buddhist appropriation of other cultural and religious elements. Going “behind the scene,” Sarah Fraser reconstructs how local professional artists might have applied such diverse tools as sketches, drawings, and pounces originally discovered in the Dunhuang library cave to make large-scale murals in Dunhuang caves.28 Most recently, responding to the cross-disciplinary interest in sacred mountains,29 Wei-cheng Lin expands readers’ attention from Dunhuang to Mount Wutai, a mountain in northern China that became a Buddhist pilgrimage site thanks mainly to the built space of the monastic architecture that in turn facilitated the Buddhists’ encounter of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, a deityin-residence at the Mt. Wutai locale.30 Compared to Buddhist visual culture, Daoist visual culture is not as well studied, but it is a rapidly developing field. Stephen Little’s ground-breaking exhibition catalogue, Taoism and the Art of China, has laid a solid foundation, providing a stimulating repertoire of visual materials to be further explored.31 If Dunhuang is the major site that has inspired numerous studies of Buddhist art, the Daoist temple Yonglegong (or Eternal Joy Temple) in southern Shanxi serves as its Daoist counterpart, as demonstrated in fruitful studies by Anning Jing, Paul Katz, Meng Sihui, Lennert Gesterkamp, and others.32 Workshop practice is evident in the use of shared motifs and different hands by the traveling workshop artisans working on various murals and temples in the

27

28 29 30 31 32

Abe, Ordinary Images; Wong, Chinese Steles; E. Wang, Shaping the Lotus Sutra; McNair, Donors of Longmen; Howard, Summit of Treasures; S. Lee, Surviving Nirvana; Kucera, Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhism. For a state-of-the-art website providing digital access to selected cave temples in Mogao and Yulin Grottoes, Dunhuang, see “e-Dunhuang” constructed and launched by the Dunhuang Institute in May 2016: Fraser, Performing the Visual. For selected studies of sacred mountains, see Hargett, Stairway to Heaven; Robson, Power of Place; Bingenheimer, Island of Guanyin. W. Lin, Building a Sacred Mountain. Little and Eichman, eds., Taoism and the Art of China. Jing, Yuandai bihua; “The Eight Immortals”; “Buddhist-Daoist Struggle and a Pair of ‘Daoist’ Murals”; Katz, Images of the Immortal; Meng, Yuandai Jinnan; Gesterkamp, The Heavenly Court; H. Zhang et al., Yun shui zhi si.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

10

Ebrey And Huang

neigh­borhood.33 Equally impressive are the diverse forms of charts, diagrams, illustrations, maps, and other nonlinear texts preserved in the fifteenth-century Ming Daoist Canon and studied by Catherine Despeux, Franciscus Verellen, Shih-shan Susan Huang, Maggie Wan, and others.34 What truly distinguishes Daoist imagery from the Buddhist counterpart, Huang argues, is the aniconic “image-text,” a unique category of Daoist visual culture that shapes the mainstream of talismans, registers, magical writs, and “true form” charts used by Daoist adepts in private and public rituals.35 Viewed as a whole, this rich body of scholarship on religious visual cultures not only updates understandings of the iconographies and styles of devotional objects but also raises new questions concerning the interrelationship of imagery, viewers, ritual, sacred space and place, and the blurry boundaries around religious traditions.36 From archaeological evidence, especially of tombs, one can also identify visual cultures tied to place.37 Wu Hung, in his The Art of the Yellow Springs: Under­standing Chinese Tombs, calls attention to the colors, materials, shapes, 33

34

35

36 37

Steinhardt, “Zhu Haogu Reconsidered”; Meng, Yuandai Jinnan; Gesterkamp et al., Beyond Clouds and Waves. In addition to the scholarship of the Yonglegong and the workshop practice of wall paintings in southern Shanxi, Anning Jing calls attention to the visual culture of the Quanzhen patriarchs preserved partially in the caves and sculptures of the Longshan Grotto in north Shanxi; see Jing, Daojiao Quanzhen pai gongguan, zaoxiang yu zushi; “The Three Purities Grotto at Nanshsan, Dazu”; “The Longshan Daoist Caves.” Furthermore, Anning Jin and Sheng-chih Lin offer different interpretations of a Southern Song Daoist painting depicting a hell-scene; see Jing, “Descent of the Holy Ancestor: A Re-Reading of Illustration of the Classic of the Yellow Court”; S. Lin, “The Iconography of Daoist Salvation from Hell.” For the study of the Southern Song triptych Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, see Huang, “Summoning the Gods”; Picturing the True Form, 281-339. Despeux, “Talismans and Sacred Diagrams”; “Visual Representations of the Body”; Verellen, “The Dynamic Design”; Huang, “Daoist Imagery of Body and Cosmos, Part 1”; “Daoist Imagery of Body and Cosmos, Part 2”; Picturing the True Form; “Daoist Seals, Part I”; Wan, “Daojiao banhua yanjiu”; “Zhengtong daozang ben Sancai dingweitu yanjiu.” For dating and organization of the Daoist Canon, see Schipper and Verellen, eds., The Taoist Canon. Huang, Picturing the True Form, 11, 14, 21, 136, 149, 154, 158, 165, 185, 242, 344. For more on Daoist art and visual culture beyond the Middle Period, see X. Zhang and Bai, Zhongguo daojiao kaogu; S. Li, ed., Daojiao meishu xinlun; S. Li, Zhongguo daojiao meishu shi; Huang, “Daoist Visual Culture”; “Xie zhenshan zhixing”; Luk, The Empress and the Heavenly Masters; F. Zhang, ed., Royal Taste. For an example of Buddho-Daoist comparative study, see Mollier, Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face. For introductions to this subject, see Kuhn, A Place for the Dead; Q. Li, Xuanhua Liao mu.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

11

and sizes of a tomb, and asks more conceptual questions about the purposes of these physical and visual elements and how they were integrated.38 More recently, a book he co-authored with Li Qingquan takes two lushly-painted tombs in Inner Mongolia as primary examples to shed light on burial practice and visual culture associated with the Kitan nobility.39 In a series of studies, Jeehee Hong calls special attention to the symbolic roles and visual forms that showcase the theatrical spectacles in tombs of “affluent farmers, merchants, clerics” from 1000 through 1400.40 In addition, work published by Dieter Kuhn, Hsueh-man Shen, François Louis, Nancy Steinhardt, and ­others offer compelling case studies that unlock the complex meanings and visuality of seemingly mysterious tomb artifacts, including masks, golden crowns, figurines, and even ash-filled manikins.41 The discovery of a set of tombs of the prominent Lü family in Shaanxi province has attracted much interest, especially the tomb of the antiquarian scholar-official Lü Dalin, who had some of his treasured antiquities buried with him in his tomb.42 This brief overview may give the impression that everything art historians write can be considered a contribution to the study of visual cultures, and byand-large that is true. The practices employed by artists are elements of visual culture, as are the uses made of their works by later people. The concept of visual culture provides a more encompassing framework but does not deny the importance of work on major figures and movements. Conceptualizing in terms of multiple visual and material cultures encourages us to think both about what was broadly shared and what served to attract attention and signal difference. 38 39 40 41

42

Wu, The Art of the Yellow Springs. Wu and Li, Baoshan Liao mu. Hong, Theater of the Dead, “Virtual Theater of the Dead,” “Mechanism of Life for the Netherworld.” Kuhn, A Place for the Dead; H. Shen, “Body Matters”; Louis, “Shaping Symbols of Privilege”; Steinhardt, “Yuan Period Tombs and Their Inscriptions”; Laing, “Auspicious Motifs in Ninth-to Thirteenth-Century Chinese Tombs”; Hong, “Exorcism from the Streets to the Tomb”; “Mechanism of Life for the Nether World.” For a recent discovery of a Northern Song tomb whose wall paintings shed light on medical subjects, see Kang and Sun, “Shaanxi Hancheng Song­mu bihua kaoshi.”  Shaanxisheng kaogu yanjiusuo, “Shaanxi Lantianxian wulitou Beisong Lüshi jiazu mudi.” For more scholarship on antiquarianism in Song China and beyond, see F. Chen, “Zhui sandai yu dingyi zhijian”; Qingtongqi yu Songdai wenhua shi; Ebrey, Accumulating Culture, 84-101, 150-203; Hsu, “Antiquities, Ritual Reform, and the Shaping”; “Antiquaries and Politics”; Moser, “The Ethnics of Immutable Things”; Sena, “Ouyang Xiu’s Conceptual Collection of Antiquity”; “Archaistic Objects in Southern Song Tombs and Caches”; Wu, ed., Reinventing the Past; Schnapp, ed., World Antiquarianism.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

12

Ebrey And Huang

The Essays in this Volume

The chapters in this volume build on and engage this rapidly expanding body of scholarship on Middle Period China’s multiple visual and material cultures. They show numerous connections between these visual cultures and politics, literature, trade, religion, class, and region. To highlight the ways the chapters in this volume complement each other, they have been arranged in pairs. Part 1, “Making Art in Funeral and Ritual Contexts,” has two essays that directly tackle the question of how artists and artisans crafted their works, one looking at north China, the other south. Fei Deng, in “Modular Design of Tombs in Song and Jin North China” begins with the question of who made the twelfth-century decorated tombs found in large numbers in Henan and Shanxi. She gets us to think about these tombs from the perspective of the brick makers, clay carvers, and painters who were commissioned to make them, which leads her into such subjects as the use of molds, sketch books, standardized pictorial programs, and “a repertoire of interchangeable modules.” Deng’s study shifts away from mainstream studies of funeral art preoccupied with the meanings of tomb designs to “how they were actually made and who made them.” The workshop practices and standardization of formulaic units in image-making that she finds resonate with other facets of Middle Period visual and material culture, such as temple murals, liturgical paintings, and woodblock prints. Deng identifies change over time, particularly in the depth of relief carving which progressed from low relief to high relief, as the “images began to acquire greater three-dimensionality.” In terms of geography, Deng argues for relatively small localities being the appropriate unit of analysis since the visual and material culture of tomb-making was tied to the area where groups of craftsmen offered their services. Deng situates the growing popularity of decorated tombs in social context, linking it to the prosperity of the region and the emergence of a well-to-do stratum that did not follow the cultural lead of the literati. Since so much of the extant ­historical record consists of books written by and for those with classical educations, these tombs are valuable for the glimpses they give us of other social groups. In the second essay of this pair, “Visualizing Ritual in Song-Dynasty Buddhist Painting,” Phillip Bloom analyzes how painters developed new visual strategies in the use of pigments, the manipulation of compositional conventions, and the placement of figures to solve the challenge of making the supramundane world visible, or in plainer language, enabling viewers to see spirits. He does this through close examination of three late twelfth century Buddhist paintings depicting the Buddhist saints known as arhats and the non-human beings

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

13

they summon. In these paintings by Ningbo workshop painters, spirits take on a “sensorially accessible” presence in the painting. Bloom associates the paintings with such Buddhist rituals as the Water-Land Retreat and the Arhat Offering Ritual to propose the context in which the paintings would have been used and the narrative they convey. While the Ningbo paintings of arhats studied by Bloom are not a new subject to students of Chinese art, Bloom’s holistic approach integrating stylistic analysis, visual theories, and history of religious and ritual practices nevertheless encourages us to look at these paintings anew.43 Bloom shows how effective it is to tackle problems of invisibility with a visual and material cultural angle, as styles and pigments entail artists’ intentional choices to help to bring to the fore the invisible aspect of ritual visible to the viewer of the painting. His study thus contributes to the study of performance and practice, which stresses participation and not abstract thought. Here Buddhist paintings provide an all-in-one “preview” or “review” of the ephe­meral Buddhist performance; paintings are the very material objects that mediate and enact Buddhist belief. These first two essays illustrate a type of analysis in which art historians excel—drawing as much as they can from the material evidence itself. Both of these chapters are very generous in their citation of sources and studies on their topic, making them convenient introductions to the scholarly literature. Bloom has a much greater body of texts to work with than Deng, as sources on Buddhist ritual are abundant. Perhaps for this reason, where Deng mostly talks about a relationship between the creator and the thing created, Bloom also brings in a third party: the viewer. Deng makes up for the lack of textual confirmation of her findings by drawing on a large body of cases: what might seem like conjecture if posited based on a single tomb, or even a half dozen, is on much firmer ground when dozens of cases can be cited. The two chapters in Part 2, “Setting a Scene,” share an interest in ephemeral scenes that draws people’s gaze—such as theatrical performances in Fan Jeremy Zhang’s “Dreams, Spirits, and Romantic Encounters in Jin and Yuan Theatrical Pictures,” or a setting sun at West Lake in Xiaolin Duan’s “The Ten Views of West Lake and the Perception of Nature.” Both analyze the ways artists and writers tried to capture the fleeting moments in literary and material form, and how artistic and literary interpretations of the same scenery intersect and converge to shape broader visual and material cultures. Again we have one chapter focusing mostly on the north, the other on the south.

43

For an early study of these paintings, see Wen Fong’s 1956 dissertation, “Five Hundred Lohans at the Daitokuji.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

14

Ebrey And Huang

Fan Jeremy Zhang takes us into the world of those entranced by stories of love and romance that they knew from watching plays. He begins with an exquisite Jin-dynasty handscroll painting, Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, by the little-known court painter Liu Yuan, then digs deeper into comparable representations found in everyday objects made for common folk, including bronze mirrors, painted or inscribed ceramic pillows, and illustrated books— objects that bear not only images but also writing. To show the complex, multiple interconnections between the performing arts and the visual arts, Zhang cites a wide range of relevant literary materials from short stories to dramas, songs, plays, and poems. Daoist plays were a popular part of the theatrical repertoire in the period, and often involved dreams or the descent of gods or spirits. Dramas about the beloved Eight Immortals, we learn, “best represent the success of Daoist theater in Shanxi.” Zhang’s chapter takes us deeper into popular culture than any of the other chapters since people could love theater even if they could not read. Viewers of village and market performances would have included people from all walks of life, but quite a few of the writers Zhang cited were members of the educated elite. The participation of literati in the narrative and performing arts contributed to the richness of the visual cultures of the Song and Yuan periods. Although Zhang’s chapter deals mainly with visual materials connected to a romantic story produced and circulated in the north, the story itself evokes Hangzhou as a place of romantic connection: the courtesan Su Xiaoxiao, who appears in the scholar Sima You’s dream, in fact promised a “future reunion in Hangzhou, where her body was buried at the bank of West Lake.” Some printed illustrations of the story were made in the south, a sign of the circulation of images across long distances. Xiaolin Duan in the second chapter in Part 2, draws our attention to the ways people looked at natural scenery, certainly an important element in visual culture even if an intangible one. Her essay demonstrates that once the Ten Views of West Lake became common knowledge through the popularity of a set of ten poetic titles well documented in literature, travelers and local residents alike looked at the lake in new ways. Duan’s study demonstrates how written words complement pictorial depictions to constitute the complex making of visual cultures. No individual painter or poet is credited with coming up with “Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake” and the other poetic titles, but giving poetic titles to sets of sights was not new—the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers gained fame in the Northern Song period. It was not the poetic titles alone that shaped people’s interactions with the lake—early on poets, painters, and map makers added to the tradition. Just as in Zhang’s chapter people unable to read participated in the visual culture of theater

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

15

performances, so too the illiterate here participated in the sightseeing visual culture of West Lake. Even if they could not have written out the four-character titles, ordinary people would have anticipated seeing scenes based on the Ten Views when they visited the lake. One of the primary visual sources examined by Duan is a little-studied but exquisite album painted by an otherwise unknown Southern Song court artist, Ye Xiaoyan. Duan argues that the album format was ideal for framing the Ten Views, as the painter could depict each scene on a separate leaf. She shows the artist trying to make each scene identifiable without adding an inscription. Going beyond the traditional approach to Song landscape painting, which emphasizes stylistic analysis, Duan reexamines these paintings from the perspective of visits to the lake to argue that paintings function as an effective medium to enhance visitors’ engagement with the place and in turn direct their gaze. The two chapters in Part 3, “Appreciating the Written Word,” by Hui-wen Lu and Patricia Buckley Ebrey, both focus on the highly educated elite in the south during the Southern Song period, and both draw extensively on colophons— notes originally written to comment on a work at hand. In contrast to the two earlier pairs of essays, these essays pose no north-south contrasts, no Han versus non-Han ruling houses, no large status differences among patrons or viewers. But they do show that not all highly educated literati looked at pieces of writing the same way and that both intellectual values and market forces could shape the viewing process. Their work adds new social and cultural perspectives to the history of calligraphy, a field traditionally dominated by connoisseurship issues. Their attention to the archaeology, materiality, and reproduction of calligraphy puts their research into the conversations about art, media, and technology that unfold in the other chapters. Hui-Wen Lu, in “A Forgery and the Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi,” has a dramatic story to tell. She begins with the report of a discovery of a brick epitaph that was thought to be from the hand of the eminent fourth century calligrapher Wang Xianzhi. This discovery caused quite a sensation in Hang­ zhou as rubbings circulated and collectors of the time were divided concerning whether it was a highly rare surviving masterpiece from the fourth century or a contemporary forgery. What to some was evidence of authenticity—a strong similarity to the calligraphy of Wang Xianzhi’s father Wang Xizhi—was to others strong evidence that it must have been forged by someone using a rubbing of Wang Xizhi’s Orchid Pavilion Preface as a model. This leads Lu to an analysis of the circulation of rubbings of that famous work and the minute attention given to the slight differences among them, depending not only on its recension from a copy made in Tang times but also on guides that were published to help collectors sort out the numerous versions, based on such features as “the

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

16

Ebrey And Huang

width of particular columns, dents and fractures in the stone at particular spots, the ways in which some of the characters were written, and whether certain characters were damaged.” As she put it, “Knowledge about the Lan­ tingxu and its innumerable copies became a distinct field of expertise, but much of its substance was about the material aspects of the engravings and rubbings, not the calligraphy.” Lu’s work is a significant addition to the body of scholarship analyzing the creation of the tradition that elevated Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi to the position of gods of calligraphy, complementing earlier work by Lothar Ledderose and Amy McNair.44 In “Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents,” Patricia Ebrey shows that colophons preserved in scholars’ collected works help us “understand a social world in which educated men found meaning and pleasure in showing others pieces of writing that they had carefully preserved.” In Zhu Xi’s circle, there was no sharp line drawn between a piece of paper with writing on it that should be treated as an art object and one valued because of who wrote it, the sentiment it expressed, or its literary qualities. The body of the material she examines—two hundred-odd colophons that Zhu Xi wrote in response to requests from owners of pieces of writing —is particularly rich as a source for what went on in circles not obsessed with art, men more interested in politics, philosophy, philology, or history. There was a performative dimension of viewing and commenting on works one was shown, since the man writing the colophon was often performing before an audience that included the owner of the piece. From his colophons, it is evident that Zhu Xi above all valued tangible connection to worthy men of the past and thought that such contact had the power to inspire viewers. To enable more people to benefit from the moral power of such traces of the brush, Zhu Xi had some of them engraved on wood or stone and placed at sites where literati gathered, notably government schools and private academies. If he had valued these works primarily for who wrote them and what they said, publishing them in books would have been the best way to give more readers access to them. Yet Zhu Xi and his contemporaries thought much was gained by reproducing an inspiring text in the hand of its author. The visual impact gave the work added power—even if Zhu Xi had difficulty putting that impact into words. Part 4, “Cross-Cultural Transfers,” has a pair of essays that bring cultural contact and material exchange more to the fore. Liu Jie, the only one of our authors to give much attention to the first phase of the Middle Period (that is, the 44

Ledderose, Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Chinese Calligraphy; McNair, The Upright Brush.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

17

second half of the Tang dynasty), brings us back to tombs and directs our gaze at a little-studied pictorial theme newly developed in that era. In “Paintings of Birds by Basins,” she begins with two tombs from core Tang territories (Shaanxi and Henan) dating to the late eighth and early ninth centuries in which mural paintings depict metal basins in garden settings complete with flowers and birds. Her pursuit of the meaning of these basins leads her to unearth references to “golden basins” in a wide range of textual sources, to extant paintings of later date, and to the Tang practice of setting small pools in gardens, frequently mentioned in Tang poetry. Pushing her argument one step further, Liu links this obscure sub-genre of bird-and-flower painting to a multi-mediated and multi-cultural context as she traces the influence of Persian products in cosmopolitan Tang. With Liu’s chapter we witness once again how visual and material cultural concerns converge, as the author goes beyond the bird-andflower painting and ventures into more material cultural aspects of the Tang urban setting, assessing the reception and appropriation of Iranian metalware in garden designs. Whereas in Deng’s and Zhang’s chapters we witness how pictorial art travels from paintings to relief bricks and ceramic pillows, Liu’s chapter offers a reverse case of cross-media transfers, from objects to paintings. In her case the transfer was also multi-cultural: the origin of the metalware and garden design that enter the visual language of Chinese pictorial art lay in Persia. The type of cultural contact discussed in Liu’s chapter has to be inferred from the survival of foreign objects in China as well as the survival of objects made in China that show similarities of one kind or another to these imported objects. Often there is little that can be said of the process of borrowing—how large a role might have been played by foreign craftsmen, for instance. In the second chapter in Part 4, “Cross-Cultural Transfers,” Li Yiwen unpacks for us the paths of objects leaving China. Her “Chinese Objects Recovered from Sutra Mounds in Japan, 1000-1300,” takes more of a material approach rather than a visual one. She offers abundant evidence of the “Japanese reception of Chinese objects,” letting her tell a complex story about objects that acquire new uses and new meanings as they move from one place to another. In contrast to Liu’s chapter, Li’s takes readers away from the age of the overland Silk Road to the age of the maritime Silk Road. Seaborne trade brought to Japan karamono or “things Chinese”—among them ceramic jars, bronze mirrors, and sutra containers made either in the Song or in the Liao. Once in Japan some of these jars were used to hold sutras and buried in Buddhist sutra mounds (mostly in northern Kyushu). Thus they served a newly-charged religious purpose: preparing for the coming of the Final Dharma. Whereas in Liu’s chapter Chinese paintings of “Birds by Basins” appropriated Persian artistic traditions, in Li’s

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

18

Ebrey And Huang

case it was the Japanese users who added inscribed Buddha images to Song bronze mirrors. Here again we hear about the seaport of Ningbo—the same place where the arhat paintings discussed in Bloom’s chapter were originally produced and shipped out. Li’s essay brings us back to the ritual use of objects that we began to consider in Bloom’s chapter, but she does so in a cross-cultural context. There are many other links among the chapters in this volume besides those highlighted here. For instance, cross-cultural contact is also an element in Phillip Bloom’s essay as the paintings he analyzes were early on taken to Japan and have also been studied in terms of how they were used and interpreted there. The theater, a major topic of Zhang’s essay, also enters into both Deng’s and Bloom’s chapters. Writing is at the heart of Lu’s and Ebrey’s chapters, but several other chapters concern the connections between texts and visual materials—whether it is the ritual manuals in Bloom’s chapter, or the poetry in Zhang’s, Duan’s, and Liu’s chapters. Visualization too resonates with more than one chapter. Bloom drew attention to the smoke coming out of an incense burner as a visualization of crossing the boundary into the unseen world. In Zhang’s chapter, dreams were a “means of encountering divine powers.” Dreams are among the most ephemeral of visual phenomena and perhaps for this reason were a popular subject for painting—the painting makes the dream tangible and enduring.

Material and Visual Cultures Revisited

The studies presented in this volume taken together respond critically to the state of the field outlined earlier in this introduction and show the complex ways visual images and practices reflected, adapted to, and reproduced the culture and society around them. In the periods and places that our authors investigate, they find a multiplicity of visual and material cultures, complexly interconnected to each other and to politics, literature, trade, religion, class, and region. Thinking in terms of multiple visual cultures seldom leads to a simple story. As our authors found, much of culture—and thus much of visual culture—is shaped by a wide array of interacting elements. Zhang’s chapter is a good example. The theater took stories from more elite literary forms and reimagined them in contexts shaped by both professional actors and avid fans. Its most popular plays had significant influence on what could be called folk art— the pictures drawn on ceramic pillows and the woodblock illustrations in books—as well as on paintings done by highly skilled professional artists. With

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

19

Duan we have a similarly complex set of interactions, not just maker and object, or maker, object, and viewer, but both poets and painters as primary makers, with contributions from visitors, guides, and souvenir sellers, all of whom were both shapers of the cultural construct and deeply influenced by it. The entity they created—a way of looking at and thinking about the natural scenery—was not inert but intrinsic to the process of cultural reproduction. Close visual and stylistic analysis remains a powerful tool for investigations of visual culture. It is through close visual analysis that Bloom is able to identify a new facet of religious visual culture emerging in the Southern Song and link it to specific ritual performances. Lu’s argument that the Epitaph for My Nursemaid was “a thirteenth-century forgery” exhibiting “factual and invented features of a fourth-century epitaph” is based on her sensitive decoding of the practice of the celebrated Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi calligraphic styles, as well as the materiality and format of brick epitaphs in the Southern Song milieu. What have we learned on the issue of “what is visible and who sees what”? Deng focuses on elaborate creations that were sealed underground soon after completion and therefore no longer visible. Objects that were buried are also central to the concerns of Li and Zhang. Visibility is central to Bloom’s study, as he takes us into the painting practices that the artists used to make spirits visible, an effort to capture something of the practices of visualization of the person performing the ritual. Ebrey, in her chapter, stresses that Zhu Xi and others in his circle accepted that most hand-written documents would be seen only by those invited to view them, but they were also aware that it was possible to expand the audience able to see them by inscribing them on stone or wood and placing them in a quasi-public place. The geographical scope of the visual and material cultures examined in this volume range from the very broad to the very constricted. The visual practices connected to calligraphy that Lu and Ebrey analyze may have been limited to those able to read and write, but they were not confined to any one region of the country. Literati traveled widely and sent letters to each other over long distances. By contrast, the style of tomb decoration that Deng analyzes were confined to a relatively circumscribed area in southern Shanxi and Henan, which she plausibly relates to the area that a particular group of artisans may have served. With Deng’s and Zhang’s chapters, we have north China under non-Han ruling houses, first Kitan, then Jurchen, then Mongol. Their findings call into question the significance of the ethnicity of the ruling house to material culture. Deng, looking at north China from the Northern Song through the Jin, finds that tomb style in this part of north China was distinct from the styles

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

20

Ebrey And Huang

followed further south or west. The change in ruling house—from the Han Chinese Song house to the non-Han Jurchen Jin house—did not disrupt this pattern, as well-off Chinese families continued to bury their dead in ways that had been established while they were under Song control. Zhang, too, sees little impact in the change in the ethnicity of the ruling houses on either side of the fall of the Northern Song. Locality comes through as more important than political legitimacy to the development of visual and material cultures in their studies. Archaeological evidence is particularly valuable for what it can reveal about groups in society outside court or literati circles (at least when archaeologists are minded to dig away from elite burial sites). Deng’s chapter has cases of middle-stratum families that were resistant to the cultural influence of the literati elite, continuing their own tradition of decorated tombs. The development of drama shows examples of stories that began in literati elite circles reaching much larger audiences through performances. Zhang does not interpret this as a simple high-low split as he points out the common ground between court and folk art in picturing dreams and romances, and suggests that Daoism may have been an important channel for the spread of such images across the larger society. Even in the absence of archaeological evidence, our authors provide glimpses of visual culture among ordinary people; these include the map-buying visitors to West Lake in Duan’s chapter and the villagers who raised funds for the paintings Bloom analyzes. We have more archaeological sources for the north than the south, but there is an even greater imbalance in textual sources that favors the south. To cite just one measure, collected works by Southern Song literati are many times more numerous than ones from the north in the same years.45 The chapters by Bloom, Duan, Lu, Ebrey, and Li all deal in some detail with the south during the Southern Song (1127-1279) and make extensive use of textual sources. The connections between this culture and the culture of the north during the Northern Song is made a central issue in Lu’s chapter. In Duan’s chapter the connections between the Southern Song and subsequent periods is part of the story of Hangzhou and West Lake. A new element in the visual and material cultures of this period was printing, highlighted in half of the essays. Because the writings of Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, and Huang Tingjian had been printed, men in Zhu Xi’s day had a set of expectations about what one should write in a colophon when presented with 45

To give one rough measure, in the modern printing of the Siku quanshu, collected works of Southern Song authors take up 64 volumes, while those for the Jin and early Yuan (till 1260), take up only 3.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

21

an object to inspect. The story Lu tells about the critique of rubbings of reproductions of the Lantingxu also reflects the reproduction of copy-books and even of guides to discrimination between rubbings. As she points out, the wide availability of copy books led to a radical change in how past works were received and studied. Duan’s account of the impact of a set of poetic titles on how people experienced West Lake also rests on the wide circulation of pictures and poems via woodblock printing. In her case, printed maps were also an important element. The implication of printing’s power in disseminating knowledge in vaster scale across regions is hinted at in Zhang’s chapter, as illustrations of printed fiction produced in the south resemble those images found on painted pillows in the north. Although we purposely eschewed the term “medieval” for this volume, we do see the Middle Period as a time of transition when many elements that we can identify as more “modern” appear. These include not only printing but also the growth of the educated class, the development of a market for art, the reuse of the antique in both art and literature, maritime long-distance trade, and new forms of urban entertainment. Certainly China’s Middle Period is not one when change was too slow to be perceptible. In sum, readers of this volume should come away with a stronger appreciation of the richness of the visual and material cultures of Middle Period China. These essays connect visual materials to facets of funeral and religious practices, theater, literati life, travel, and trade, and illustrate the range of visual cultures current at different times. The authors draw on archaeological evidence and art works when they are available but have shown that there is also much to be learned from texts. They acknowledge the complexity of objects that may have carried messages about the creator or the patron commissioning the work, that may have borrowed themes from allied arts such as poetry or drama, and may have been used for different purposes than the ones for which they were made. We hope that Chinese historians of all types will conclude that there is much to gain by expanding the questions they ask and the sources they draw on to include more of the visual.

References

Abe, Stanley. Ordinary Images. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Allsen, Thomas T. Commodity and Exchange in the Mongol Empire. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Alpers, Svetlana et al. “Visual Culture Questionnaire.” October 77 (1996), 25-70.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

22

Ebrey And Huang

Appadurai, Arjun, ed. The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Atwood, Christopher P. Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2004. Barnhart, Richard. Along the Border of Heaven: Sung and Yüan Paintings from the C. C. Wang Family Collection. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. Barnhart, Richard. Wintry Forest, Old Trees: Some Landscape Themes in Chinese Painting. New York: China House Society, 1972. Barnhart, Richard M., ed. Li Kung-lin’s Classic of Filial Piety. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993. Bickford, Maggie. Ink Plum: The Making of a Chinese Scholar-Painting Genre. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Bingenheimer, Marcus. Island of Guanyin: Mount Putuo and Its Gazetteers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Bol, Peter. “This Culture of Ours”: Intellectual Transitions in Tang and Sung China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992. Bray, Francesca, Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann, and Georges Métailié, eds. Graphics and Text in the Production of Technical Knowledge in China: The Warp and the Weft. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Brook, Timothy. The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010. Brose, Michael C. “Neo-Confucian Uyghur Semuren in Koryŏ and Chosŏn Korean Society and Politics.” In Eurasian Influences on Yuan China, edited by Morris Rossabi, 178-99. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2013. Brose, Michael C. Subjects and Masters: Uyghurs in the Mongol Empire. Bellingham: Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University, 2007. Brose, Michael C. “Uyghur Technologists of Writing and Literacy in Mongol China.” T’oung Pao 91 (2005), 396-435. Brown, Roxanna M. and Sten Sjostrand. Turiang: a Fourteenth-century Shipwreck in Southeast Asian Waters. Pasadena: Pacific Asia Museum, 2000. Bryson, Norman et al. Visual Culture: Images and Interpretations. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1994. Cahill, James. Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368. New York: Weatherhill, 1976. Cahill, James. The Lyric Journey: Poetic Painting in China and Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996. Chaffee, John W. “Diasporic Identities in the Historical Development of the Maritime Muslim Communities of Song-Yuan China.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49.4 (2006), 395-420.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

23

Chaffee, John W. “Muslim Merchants and Quanzhou in the Late Yuan-Early Ming: Conjectures on the Ending of the Medieval Muslim Trade Disapora.” In The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration, edited by Angela Schottenhammer, 115-32. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008. Chaffee, John W. The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China: a Social History of Examinations. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Chaffee, John W. and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 5, Part 2: Sung China, 960-1279. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Chang, Kang-I and Stephen Owen, eds. The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, Vol. 1: To 1375. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Chen Dasheng 陳達生. Quanzhou Yisilan jiao shike 泉州伊斯蘭教石刻. Fuzhou: Fujian renmin chubanshe, 1984. Chen Fangmei 陳芳妹. Qingtongqi yu Songdai wenhua shi 青銅器與宋代文化史. Taipei: Taiwan daxue chubanshe, 2016. Chen Fangmei “Zhui sandai yu dingyi zhijian—Songdai cong ‘kaogu’ dao ‘wangu’ de zhuanbian” 追三代於鼎彝之間—宋代從「考古」到「玩古」的轉變. Gugong xueshu jikan 23.1 (2005), 267-332. Chen, Gaohua. The Capital of the Yuan Dynasty. Honolulu: Silkroad Press, 2014. Chen Yunru 陳韻如. “Jin wu zhi qingtai—Beisong tihua huodong yu Huizong chao huaniao de huashi yiyi” 盡物之情態－北宋題畫活動與徽宗朝花鳥的畫史意義. Guoli Taiwan daxue meishu shi yanjiu jikan 39 (2015), 127-73. Chen Yunru. “Zhang Zeduan ‘Qingming shanghe tu’ de huayi xinjie” 張擇端《清明上河 圖》的畫意新解. Guoli Taiwan daxue meishu shi yanjiu jikan 34 (2013), 43-90. Chia, Lucille and Hilde De Weerdt, eds. Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print: China, 900-1400. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Chou, Ju Hsi and Anita Chung, eds. Silent Poetry: Chinese Paintings from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Clark, Hugh R. Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern Fujian Province from the Third to the Thirteenth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. Clunas, Craig. Empire of Great Brightness: Visual and Material Cultures of Ming China, 1368-1644. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Clunas, Craig. Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997. Clunas, Craig. Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. Copp, Paul. The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. Despeux, Catherine. “Talismans and Sacred Diagrams.” In Daoism Handbook, edited by Livia Kohn, 298-540. Leiden: Brill, 2000.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

24

Ebrey And Huang

Despeux, Catherine. “Visual Representations of the Body in Chinese Medical and Daoist Texts from the Song to the Qing Period (tenth to nineteenth centuries).” Asian Medicine 1 (2005), 9-52. Dongya huihua shi yantaohui 東亞繪畫史研討會, ed. The History of Painting in East Asia: Essays on Scholarly Method. Taipei: Shitou chubanshe, 2008. Drège, Jean-Pierre. “De l’icône à l’anecdote: les frontispieces imprimés en Chine à l’époque des Song (960-1278).” Arts asiatiques 54 (1999), 44-65. Du Jianlu 杜建录. Zhongguo cang Xi Xia wenxian yanjiu 中國藏西夏文獻研究. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2012. Dunnell, Ruth W. “Hsi Hsia.” In The Cambridge History of China, vol. 6, edited by Herbert Franke and Denis Twitchett, 154-214. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Dunnell, Ruth W. The Great State of White and High: Buddhism and the State Formation in Eleventh-Century Xia. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1996. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Emperor Huizong. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. “Introduction to a Symposium on the Visual Dimensions of Chinese Culture.” Asia Major, Third Series, 12.1 (1999), 1-7. Ebrey, Patricia and Maggie Bickford, eds. Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China: The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006. Edwards, Richard. The Heart of Ma Yuan: The Search for a Southern Song Aesthetic. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. Feng, Jiren. Chinese Architecture and Metaphor: Song Culture in the Yingzao Fashi Building Manual. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2012. Feng, Linda Rui. City of Marvel and Transformation: Chang’an and Narratives of Experience in Tang Dynasty China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2015. Flecker, Michael. The Archaeological Excavation of the 10th Century: Intan Shipwreck. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2002. Fong, Wen. “Five Hundred Lohans at the Daitokuji.” Ph.D. diss. Princeton University, 1956. Fong, Wen. Images of the Mind: Selects from the Edward L. Elliott Family and John B. Elliott Collections of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University. Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1987. Fong, Wen and James Watt, eds. Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Foong, Ping. The Efficacious Landscape: On the Authorities of Painting at the Northern Song Court. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2015.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

25

Fraser, Sarah. Performing the Visual: The Practice of Buddhist Wall Painting in China and Central Asia, 618-960. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003. Galambos, Imre. “The Northern Neighbors of the Tangut.” Cahiers de Linguistique-Asie Orientale 40 (2011), 69-104. Galambos, Imre. Translating Chinese Tradition and Teaching Tangut Culture: Manuscripts and Printed Books from Khara-Khoto. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015. Gerritsen, Anne and Giorgio Riello, eds. Writing Material Culture History. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Gerritsen, Anne and Giorgio Riello, eds. The Global Lives of Things: The Material Culture of Connections in the Early Modern World. New York: Routledge, 2015. Gesterkamp, Lennert. The Heavenly Court: Daoist Temple Painting in China, 1200-1400. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Gesterkamp, Lennert, Klaas Ruitenbeek, and Ka Bo Tsang. Beyond Clouds and Waves: Daoist Paintings in the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto: ROM, 2013. Goldschmidt, Asaf. “Huizong’s Impact on Medicine and on Public Health.” In Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China: The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics, edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Maggie Bickford, 275-323. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006. Gulácsi, Zsuzsanna. “A Manichaean ‘Portrait of the Buddha Jesus’: Identifying a Twelfthor Thirteenth-Century Chinese Painting from the Collection of Seiun-ji Zen Temple.” Artibus Asiae 69.1 (2009), 91-145. Guoli gugong bowuyuan 國立故宮博物院, ed. Daguan: Beisong shuhua tezhan 大觀： 北宋書畫特展. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 2006. Guoli gugong bowuyuan Wenyi Shaoxing: Nansong yishu yu wenhua tezhan shuhua juan 文藝紹興：南宋藝術與文化書畫卷. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 2010. Guy, John. “Quanzhou: Cosmopolitan City of Faiths.” In James Watt et al., The World of Khubilai Khan, 159-78. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Hammers, Roslyn. Pictures of Tilling and Weaving: Art, Labor, and Technology in Song and Yuan China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. Hansen, Valerie. The Silk Road: A New History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Hansen, Valerie and Helen Wang. “Introduction.” Special Issue: Textiles as Money on the Silk Road, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 23.2 (2013), 155-63. Hargett, James M. Stairway to Heaven: A Journey to the Summit of Mount Emei. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2007. Harrist, Robert E. Jr. Painting and Private life in Eleventh-Century China. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998. Harrist, Robert E. Jr. The Landscape of Words: Stone Inscriptions from Early and Medieval China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Harrist, Robert E. Jr., Wen Fong et al. The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection. Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1999.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

26

Ebrey And Huang

He Xilin 贺西林 and Li Qingquan 李清泉. Zhongguo mushi bihua shi 中国墓室壁画史. Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe, 2009. Hegel, Robert E. Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998. Heng, Chye Kiang. Cities of Aristocrats and Bureaucrats: The Development of Medieval Chinese Cityscapes. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Heng, Dereck Thiam Soon. Sino-Malay Trade and Diplomacy from the Tenth through the Fourteenth Century. Ohio University Research in International Diplomacy, Southeast Asia Series 121. Ohio University Press, 2009. Higashi Ajia Bijutsu Bunka Kōryū Kenkyūkai 東アジア美術文化交流研究会 et al. Ninpō no bijutsu to kaiiki kōryū 寧波の美術と海域交流. Fukuoka-shi: Chūgoku Shoten, 2009. Hinrichs, T. J. ed., Chinese Medicine and Healing: An Illustrated History. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013. Hong, Jeehee. “Exorcism from the Streets to the Tomb: An Image of the Judge and Minions in the Xuanhua Liao Tomb No. 7.” Archives of Asian Art 63.1 (2013), 1-25. Hong, Jeehee. “Mechanism of Life for the Nether World: Transformations of Mingqi in Middle-Period China.” Journal of Chinese Religions 43.2 (2015), 161-93. Hong, Jeehee. Theater of the Dead: A Social Turn in Chinese Funerary Art, 1000-1400. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2016. Hong, Jeehee. “Virtual Theater of the Dead: Actor Figurines and Their Stage in Houma Tomb No.1, Shanxi Province.” Artibus Asiae 71.1 (2011), 75-114. Hooper-Greenhill, Eilean. Museums and the Interpretation of Visual Culture. New York: Routledge, 2000. Howard, Angela F. Summit of Treasures: Buddhist Cave Art of Dazu, China. New York: Weatherhill, 2001. Howard, Angela et al. Chinese Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Hsu, Ya-hwei. “Antiquaries and Politics: Antiquarian Culture of the Northern Song, 9601127.” In World Antiquarianism: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Alain Schnapp et al., 230-48. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2013. Hsu, Ya-hwei. “Antiquities, Ritual Reform, and the Shaping of New Taste at Huizong’s Court.” Artibus Asiae 73.1 (2013), 137-80. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Daoist Imagery of Body and Cosmos, Part 1: Body Gods and Starry Travel.” Journal of Daoist Studies 3 (2010), 57-90. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Daoist Imagery of Body and Cosmos, Part 2: Body Worms and Internal Alchemy.” Journal of Daoist Studies 4 (2011), 32-62. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Daoist Seals, Part I: Activation and Fashioning.” Journal of Daoist Studies 10 (2017), 70-103. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Daoist Visual Culture.” In Modern Chinese Religion, Part One: Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan (960-1368), edited by John Lagerwey and Pierre Marsone, 929-1050. Leiden: Brill, 2014.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

27

Huang, Shih-shan Susan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Reassessing Printed Buddhist Frontispieces from Xi Xia.” Zhejiang University Journal of Art and Archaeology 1 (2014), 129-82. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Summoning the Gods: Paintings of Three Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water and Their Association with Daoist Ritual Performance in the Southern Song Period (1127-1279).” Artibus Asiae 61.1 (2001), 5-52. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. 黃士珊. “Xie zhenshan zhixing: cong ‘Shanshuitu’ ‘Shanshui hua’ tan Daojiao shanshuiguan zhi shijue xingsu” 寫真山之形：從「山水圖」、「 山水畫」談道教山水觀之視覺型塑. Gugong xueshu jikan 31.4 (2014), 121-204. Hymes, Robert. Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite of Fu-chou, Chiang-his, in Northern and Southern Sung. New York: Cambridge University press, 1986. Ide, Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga 日本の宋元仏画 (Song and Yuan Buddhist paintings in Japan). Nihon no bijutsu 418. Tokyo: Shibundō, 2001. Idema, Wilt and Stephen H. West. Chinese Theater 1100-1450: A Source Book. Münchener Ostasiatische Studien, Band 27. Weisbaden: Franz Steiner, 1982. Ihara, Hiroshi 伊原弘, ed. “Seimei jōkazu” to Kisō no jidai: soshite kagayaki no zanshō 「 清明上河図」と徽宗の時代 : そして輝きの残照. Tokyo: Bensei shuppan, 2012. Itakura, Masaaki 板倉聖哲. “Ba Rin ‘Sekiyō sansui zu’(Nezu bijutsukan) no seiritsu to hen’yō” 馬麟「夕陽山水図」(根津美術館) の成立と変容Bijutsushi ronsō 20 (2004), 1-31. Itakura, Masaaki “Kiyō gorō zuzō no seiritsu to tenka—hokusō jidai chishikijin no kaiga hyōshō” 睢陽五老図像の成立と展開-- 北宋時代知識人の絵画表象. Bijutsushi ronsō 24 (2008), 47-67. Itakura, Masaaki “Kyō Chūjō Gosekihekifu zukan no shi no ichi” 喬仲常後赤壁賦圖卷 の史の位置 (The historical position of Qiao Zhongchang’s illustration to the second prose-poem on the Red Cliff). Kokka 1270 (2001), 9–22. Itakura, Masaaki “Tō Sō kaiga ni okeru yū yakei hyōgen: sono sozai to no kakawari ni tsuite” 唐宋絵画における夕・夜景表現 —— その素材との関わりについて . Bijutsushi 134.3 (1993), 133-48. Izumi, Takeo泉武夫. “Keikyō seizō no kanōsei: Seiunjizō den Kokūzō gazō ni tsuite” 景 教聖像の可能性——栖雲寺藏傳虚空藏畫像について. Kokka 1330 (2006), 7-17. Jing, Anning. “Buddhist-Daoist Struggle and a Pair of ‘Daoist’ Murals.” Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 66 (1994), 119-81. Jing Anning 景安寧. Daojiao Quanzhen pai gongguan, zaoxiang yu zushi 道教全真派宮 觀、造像與祖師. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012. Jing, Anning. “Descent of the Holy Ancestor: A Re-Reading of Illustration of the Classic of the Yellow Court.” Orientations 38.3 (2007), 69-72.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

28

Ebrey And Huang

Jing, Anning. “The Eight Immortals: The Transformation of T’ang and Sung Taoist Eccentrics during the Yuan Dynasty.” In Arts of the Sung and Yuan, edited by Maxwell K. Hearn and Judith K. Smith, 213-29. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Jing, Anning. “The Longshan Daoist Caves.” Artibus Asiae 68.1 (2008), 7-56. Jing, Anning. “The Three Purities Grotto at Nanshsan, Dazu.” In Bridges to Heaven: Essays on East Asian Art in Honor of Professor Wen C. Fong, edited by Jerome Silbergeld, Dora C. Y. Ching, Judith G. Smith, and Alfreda Murck, 495-510. Princeton: P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art in association with Princeton University Press, 2011.  Jing, Anning. Yuandai bihua--shenxian fuhui tu 元代壁畫— 神仙赴會圖. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2002. Kang Baocheng 康保成, and Sun Bingjun 孫秉君. “Shaanxi Hancheng Songmu bihua kaoshi” 陝西韓城宋墓壁畫考釋. Wenyi yanjiu 11 (2009), 79-88, 169-71. Katz, Paul. Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lu Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Kauz, Ralph. “Some Notes on the Geographical and Cartographical Impacts from Persia to China.” In Eurasian Influences on Yuan China, edited by Morris Rossabi, 159-67. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 2013. Kieschnick, John. The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Kingery, W. David. Learning from Things: Method and Theory of Material Culture Studies. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996. Kohara, Hironobu 古原宏伸. Bei Futsu “Gashi” chūkai 米芾「画史」註解. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan, 2009-2010. Kohara, Hironobu. Chūgoku gakan no kenkyū 中国画卷の研究. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan, 2005. Kohn, Livia, ed. Daoism Handbook. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Komaroff, Linda and Stefano Carboni. The Legacy of Genghis Khan: Courtly Art and Culture in Western Asia, 1256-1353. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2002. Krahl, Regina and Alison Effeny, eds. Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds. Washington, D. C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, 2010. Kucera, Karil. Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhism: Visualizing Enlightenment at Baodingshan from the 12th to 21st Centuries. Amherst: Cambria Press, 2016. Kuhn, Dieter. The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011. Kuhn, Dieter. A Place for the Dead: An Archaeological Documentary on Graves and Tombs of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Heidelberg: Edition Forum, 1996. Kyehanov, E. I. “Tibetans and Tibetan Culture in the Tangut State Hsi Hsia (982-1227),” in Proceedings of the Csoma de Körös Memorial Symposium, edited by Louis Ligeti, 205-11, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiado, 1978.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

29

Laing, Ellen Johnston. “Auspicious Motifs in Ninth-to Thirteenth-Century Chinese Tombs.” Ars Orientalis 33 (2003), 32-75. Lagerwey, John and Pierre Marson, eds. Modern Chinese Religion I: Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan (960-1368). 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2014. Langlois, John D. Jr., ed. China under Mongol Rule. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. Ledderose, Lothar. Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Chinese Calligraphy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. Lee, Hui-shu. Empress, Art, and Agency in Song Dynasty China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010. Lee, Hui-shu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake and Southern Song Art. New York: China Institute, 2001. Lee, Sonya S. Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010. Lewis, Mark Edward. China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: the Tang Dynasty (History of Imperial China). Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. Li Qingquan 李清泉. Xuanhua Liao mu: muzang yishu yu Liaodai shehui 宣化遼墓：墓 葬藝術與遼代社會. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2008. Li Song 李凇, ed. Daojiao meishu xinlun: diyijie daojiao meishushi guoji yantaohui lunwenji 道教美術新論：第一屆道教美術史國際研討會論文集. Ji’nan: Shandong meishu chubanshe, 2008. Li Song. Zhongguo daojiao meishu shi 中國道教美術史, vol. 1. Changsha: Hunan meishu chubanshe, 2012. Liaoningsheng wenhua ting 辽宁省文化厅, ed. Qinggong yizhen: ‘Tianlu linlang’, ‘Shiqu baoji’ dianji shuhua ji 清宮遗珍：“天禄琳琅”“ 石渠宝笈” 典籍书画集. Shenyang: Liangning renmin chubanshe, 2015. Lin Shengzhi (Lin Sheng-chih 林聖智). “Jin shinian zhongguo fojiao meishu de yanjiu dongxiang (1999-2008)—yingwen riwen bufen” 近十年中國佛教美術的研究動向 (1999-2008)— 英文日文部分. Yishuxue yanjiu 6 (2010), 160-70. Lin Shengzhi. “The Iconography of Daoist Salvation from Hell: A Thematic Re-iden­ tification of Illustration of the Classic of the Yellow Court (Huangting jing).” Orientations 38.3 (2007), 66-68. Lin, Wei-cheng. Building a Sacred Mountain: The Buddhist Architecture of China’s Mount Wutai. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014. Lin, Wei-cheng. “Underground Wooden Architecture in Brick: A Changed Perspective from Life to Death in 10th-through 13th-century Northern China.” Archives of Asian Art 61 (2011), 3-36. Linrothe, Rob. “Peripheral Visions: On Recent Finds of Tangut Buddhist Art.” Monumenta Serica 43 (1995), 235–62.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

30

Ebrey And Huang

Liu, Cary. “The Yuan Dynasty Capital, Ta-tu: Imperial Building Program and Bureaucracy.” Toung Pao 78 (1992), 264-301. Liu, Cary and Dora C. Y. Ching, eds., Arts of the Sung and Yüan. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Liu, Cary, Dora C. Y. Ching, and Judith G. Smith, eds. Character & Context in Chinese Calligraphy. Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1999. Liu, Heping. “Empress Liu’s Icon of Maitreya: Portraiture and Privacy at the Early Song Court.” Artibus Asiae 63.2 (2003), 129-90. Liu, Heping. “The Water Mill and Northern Song Imperial Patronage of Art, Commerce, and Science.” Art Bulletin 84.4 (2002), 566-95.  Little, Stephen. Chinese Paintings from Japanese Collections. New York: Prestel Publishing, 2014. Little, Stephen and Shawn Eichman, eds. Taoism and the Art of China. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2000. Louis, François. “Shaping Symbols of Privilege: Precious Metals and the Early Liao Aristocracy.” Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 33 (2003), 71-109. Luk, Yu Ping. The Empress and the Heavenly Masters: A Study of the Ordination Scroll of Empress Zhang (1493). Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2016. Masuki, Inseiki 増記隆介. Inseiki butsuga to Tō Sō kaiga 院政期仏画と唐宋絵画. Tokyo: Chūō kōron bijutsu shuppan, 2015. Maxwell, Hearn K. and Wen Fong, eds. Along the Riverbank: Chinese Painting from the C. C. Wang Family Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. McCausland, Shane. The Mongol Century: Visual Cultures of Yuan China, 1271-1368. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2015. McCausland, Shane. Zhao Mengfu: Calligraphy and Painting for Khubilai’s China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. McNair, Amy. The Upright Brush: Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy and Song Literati Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998. McNair, Amy. Donors of Longmen: Faith, Politics, and Patronage in Medieval Chinese Buddhist Sculpture. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. Meng Sihui 孟嗣徽. Yuandai Jinnan siguan bihua qun yanjiu 元代晋南寺观壁画群研究. Beijing: Zijincheng chubanshe, 2011. Miller, Tracy. “The Architecture of the Three Teachings during the Tenth-Thirteenth Centuries.” In Modern Chinese Religion I: Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan, edited by John Lagerway and Pierre Marsone, 719-800.  Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2014. Miller, Tracy. The Divine Nature of Power: Chinese Ritual Architecture at the Sacred Site of Jinci. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2007. Miller, Tracy. “The Eleventh-Century Daxiongbaodian of Kaihuasi and Architectural Style in Southern Shanxi’s Shangdang Region.” Archives of Asian Art 58 (2008), 1-42. Mirzoeff, Nicholas. An Introduction to Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 1999.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

31

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. “What is Visual Culture?” In The Visual Culture Reader, edited by Nicholas Mirzoeff, 3-13. New York: Routledge, 1986. Mollier, Christine. Buddhism and Taoism Face to Face: Scripture, Ritual, and Iconographic Exchange in Medieval China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008. Monnet, Nathalie. Chine, l’empire du trait. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2004. Moser, Jeffrey. “The Ethics of Immutable Things: Interpreting Lü Dalin’s Illustrated Investigations of Antiquity.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 72.2 (2012), 259-93. Murck, Alfreda. Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2002. Murck, Christian F., ed. Artists and Traditions: Uses of the Past in Chinese Culture. Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1977. Murray, Julia. “‘Idols’ in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius.” The Journal of Asian Studies 68 (2009), 371-411. Murray, Julia. Ma Hezhi and the Illustration of the Book Odes. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Murray, Julia. Mirror of Morality: Chinese Narrative Illustration and Confucian Ideology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Murray, Julia. “The Hangzhou Portraits of Confucius and Seventy-two Disciples (Sheng xian tu).” Art Bulletin 74.1 (1992), 7-18. Murray, Julia. “The Temple of Confucius and Pictorial Biographies of the Sage.” The Journal of Asian Studies 55.2 (1996), 269-300. Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan奈良国立博物館, ed. Seichi Ninpō: Nihon bukkyō 1300-nen no genryū: subete wa koko kara yatte kita 聖地寧波: 日本仏教1300 年の源流: すべて はここからやって来た. Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2009. Netting, Lara Jaishree. A Perpetual Fire: John C. Ferguson and His Career for Chinese Art and Culture. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013. Ningbo “Haishang sichou zhi lu” shenbao shijie wenhua yichan bangongshi 宁波“ 海上 丝绸之路” 申报世界文化遗产办公室 et al. Ningbo yu haishang sichou zhi lu 宁波与 海上丝绸之路. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2006. Ningxia daxue Xi Xia xue yanjiu zhongxin 寧夏大學西夏學研究中心, Guojia tushuguan 國家圖書館, Gansu Wuliang guji zhengli yanjiu zhongxin 甘肅五凉古籍整理研究中 心, eds. Zhongguo cang Xi Xia wenxian 中國藏西夏文獻, 20 vols. Lanzhou: Gansu renmin chubanshe, 2005-2007. Ogawa, Hiromitsu 小川裕充. Gayū: Chūgoku sansuiga, sono sekai 臥遊 : 中国山水画 : その世界. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan, 2005. Park, Hyunhee. “China’s Long-Distance Maritime Connections to West Asia during the Mongol period.” Orientierungen: Zeitschrift zur Kultur Asiens 24.2 (2012), 92-107. Park, Hyunhee. “Cross-Cultural Exchange and Geographic Knowledge of the World in Yuan China.” In Eurasian Influences on Yuan China, edited by Morris Rossabi, 125-58. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 2013.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

32

Ebrey And Huang

Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic World: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Premodern Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Park, Hyunhee. “Port-City Networking in the Indian Ocean Commercial System Represented in Geographic and Cartographic Works in China and the Islamic World from 750 to 1500.” In The Growth of Non-Western Cities: Primary and Secondary Urban Networking, c. 900-1900, edited by Kenneth R. Hall, 21-53. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2010. Piotrovsky, Mikhail, ed. Lost Empire of the Silk Road: Buddhist Art from Khara Khoto (X–XIIIth Century). Milan: Electa, 1993. Prown, Jules D. “Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method.” Winterthur Portfolio 17.1 (1982), 1-19. Quanzhou International Seminar on China and the Maritime Routes of the Silk Roads Organization Committee, ed. Zhongguo yu haishang sichou zhi lu: lianheguo jiao­ kewen zuzhi haishang sichou zhi lu zonghe kaocha Quanzhou guoji xueshu taolunhui lunwenji 中国与海上丝绸之路: 联合国教科文组织海上丝绸之路综合考察泉州国际 学术讨论会论文集. Fuzhou: Fujian renmin chubanshe, 1991. Ridho, Abu and E. Edwards McKinnon. The Pulau Buaya Wreck: Finds form the Song Period. Jakarta: Ceramic Society of Indonesia, 1998. Robson, James. Power of Place: The Religious Landscape of the Southern Sacred Peak (Nanyue 南嶽) in Medieval China. Cambridge: Harvard Asia Center, 2009. Rossabi, Morris, ed. Eurasian Influences on Yuan China. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2013. Rossabi, Morris. China among Equals: the Middle Kingdom and its Neighbors, 10th-14th Centuries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983. Rossabi, Morris. Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Rossabi, Morris. The Mongols and Global History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. Rossabi, Morris. “The Muslims in the Early Yuan Dynasty.” In China under Mongol Rule, edited by John Langlois, 257-95. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. Schipper, Kristofer and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Schnapp, Alain, ed. World Antiquarianism: Comparative Perspectives. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2013. Schottenhammer, Angela. “Huihui Medicine and Medicinal Drugs in Yuan China.” In Eurasian Influences on Yuan China, edited by Morris Rossabi, 75-102. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies, 2013. Schottenhammer, Angela. The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000-1400. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

33

Schottenhammer, Angela, ed. The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration. Weisbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2008. Scott, Rosemary E. and John Guy, eds. South East Asia & China: Art, Interaction & Commerce. London: University of London, 1995. Sena, Yun-Chiahn C. “Archaistic Objects in Southern Song Tombs and Caches.” Guoli Taiwan daxue meishu shu yanjiu jikan 38 (2015), 51-118. Sena, Yun-Chiahn C. “Ouyang Xiu’s Conceptual Collection of Antiquity.” In World Antiquarianism: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Alain Schnapp, 212-29. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2013. Shaanxisheng kaogu yanjiusuo 陝西省考古研究所. “Shaanxi Lantianxian wulitou Beisong Lüshi jiazu mudi” 陝西藍田縣五里頭北宋呂氏家族墓地. Kaogu 考古 8 (2010), 46-52. Shanghai bowuguan 上海博物館, ed. Qiannian danqing: xidu Zhong Ri cang Tang Song Yuan huihua zhenpin 千年丹青 : 細讀中日藏唐宋元繪畫珍品. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2010. Shanghai bowuguan 上海博物館, ed. Hanmo huicui: xidu Meiguo cang Zhongguo Wudai Song Yuan shuhua zhenpin 翰墨薈萃: 细读美国藏中国五代宋元书画珍品. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2012. Shen, Hsueh-man. “Body Matters: Manikin Burials in the Liao Tombs of Xuanhua, Hebei Province.” Artibus Asiae 65.1 (2005), 99–141. Shen Qionghua 沈琼华. Dayuan fanying: Hanguo Xin’an chenchuan chushui wenwu jing­ hua 大元帆影 : 韩国新安沉船出水文物精华. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2012. Sheng, Angela. “Indexing Textiles as Currency.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Series 3, 23.2 (2013), 175-95. Shi Jinbo 史金波, Bai Bin 白滨, and Wu Fengyun 吴峰云. Xi Xia wenwu 西夏文物. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1988. Shi Jinbo 史金波 and Yasen Wushou’er 雅森・吾守尔. Zhongguo huozi yinshuashu de faming he zaoqi chuanbo: Xi Xia he Huihu huozi yinshuashu yanjiu 中國活字印刷朮 的發明和早期傳播：西夏和囘鶻活字印刷朮研究. Beijing: Shehui KexueWenxian Chubanshe, 2000. Shi Shouqian (Shih, Shou-chien) 石守謙. Cong feng’ge dao huayi: Fansi Zhongguo meishu shi 從風格到畫意：反思中國美術史. Taipei: Shi’tou chuban gufen youxian gongsi, 2010. Shi Shouqian. Feng’ge yu shibian: Zhongguo huihua shi lunji 風格與世變：中國繪畫史 論集. Taipei: Yunchen wenhua, 1996. Shi Shouqian. Yidong de taohuayuan: Dongya shijie zhong de shanshuihua 移動的桃花 源：東亞世界中的山水畫. Taipei: Yunchen wenhua, 2012. Shi Shouqian 石守謙 and Liao Zhaoheng 廖肇亨, eds. Dongya wenhua yixiang zhi xingsu 東亞文化意象之形塑. Taipei: Yunchen wenhua, 2011.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

34

Ebrey And Huang

Shimada, Hidemasa 嶋田英誠 and Nakazawa Fujio 中澤富士雄, eds. Sekai bijutsu daizenshū: Tōyō hen 世界美術大全集. 東洋編, vol. 6, Nansō kin 南宋金. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2001. Smith, Judith and Wen Fong, eds. Issues of Authenticity in Chinese Painting. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. Solonin, Kirill J. “Buddhist Connections between the Liao and Xi Xia.” Journal of SongYuan Studies 43 (2015), 171-219. Sperling, Elliot. “Lama to the King of Hsia.” The Journal of the Tibet Society 7 (1987), 31-50. Steinhardt, Nancy S. China’s Early Mosques. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2015. Steinhardt, Nancy S. Liao Architecture. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 1997. Steinhardt, Nancy S. “Yuan Dynasty Tombs and Their Inscriptions: Changing Identities for the Chinese Afterlife.” Ars Orientalis 37 (2009), 140-74. Steinhardt, Nancy S. “Yuan Period Tombs and Their Decoration: Cases at Chifeng.” Oriental Art (Winter, 1990-91), 198-221. Steinhardt, Nancy S. “Zhu Haogu Reconsidered: A New Date for the ROM Painting and the Southern Shanxi Buddhist-Daoist Style.” Artibus Asiae 48 (1987), 5-38. Steinhardt, Nancy S., ed. Chinese Architecture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Sturman, Peter. Mi Fu: Style and the Art of Calligraphy in Northern Song China. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Sun Jimin 孫繼民, Song Kun 宋坤, and Chen Ruiqing 陳瑞青. Ecang Heishuicheng hanwen fei fojiao wenxian zhengli yanjiu 俄藏黑水城漢文非佛教文獻整理與研究. 3 vols. Beijing: Beijing shifan daxue chubanshe, 2012. Tackett, Nicolas. The Destruction of the Medieval Chinese Aristocracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2014. Takenami, Haruka 竹浪遠. “ (Den) Tō Gen ‘Kan rin jū tei zu’ no kansatsu to kisoteki kōsatsu” （伝）董源「寒林重汀図」の観察と基礎的考察. Kobunka kenkyū : Kuro­ kawa Kobunka Kenkyūjo kiyō 3 (2004), 57-106; 4 (2005), 97-110. Takenami, Haruka. Tō Sō sansuiga kenkyū 唐宋山水画研究. Tokyo: Chuokoron bijutsu shuppan, 2015. Teiser, Stephen. Reinventing the Wheel: Paintings of Rebirth in Medieval Buddhist Temples. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. Teiser, Stephen. The Scripture of the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1994. Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland and Stephen H West, eds. China under Jurchen Rule: Essays on Chin Intellectual and Cultural History. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. Tong Wen’e 童文娥. Kezhi feng hua: Songdai kesi huaniao zhan tulu 緙織風華：宋代緙 絲花鳥展圖錄. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 2009.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

35

Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin. Paper and Printing, vol. 5, part 1 of Science and Civilisation in China, edited by Joseph Needham. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Tsukamoto, Maromitsu 塚本麿充. Hokusō kaigashi no seiritsu 北宋絵画史の成立. Tokyo: Chūōkōronbijutsushuppan, 2016. Twitchett, Denis Crispin. 1983. Printing and Publishing in Medieval China. New York: Frederic C. Beil, 1983. Twitchett, Denis and Paul J. Smith, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 5, Part 1: The Sung Dynasty and Its Precursors, 907-1279. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Tunstall, Alexandra. “Beyond Categorization: Zhu Kerou’s Tapestry Painting ‘Butterfly and Camellia’.” East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine 36 (2012), 39-76. Wan Chui-ki 尹翠琪. “Daojiao banhua yanjiu: Daying tushuguan cang ‘Yushu baojing’ si zhu ben zhi niandai ji chahua kao” 道教版畫研究：大英圖書館藏 《玉樞寶經》 四註本之年代及插畫考. Daojiao yanjiu xuebao: zongjiao lishi yu shehui 2 (2010), 135-83. Wan Chui-ki. “Zhengtong daozang ben Sancai dingweitu yanjiu—Beisong Huizong chao de daojiao yuzhou shenpu”《正統道藏》本《三才定位圖》研究——北宋徽宗朝 的道教宇宙神譜. Guoli Taiwan daxue meishushi yanjiu jikan 33 (2012), 113-62. Wang Cheng-hua 王正華. “Chuantong Zhongguo huihua yu zhengzhi quanli—yige yanjiu jiaodu de sikao” 傳統中國繪畫與政治權力－一個研究角度的思考. Xin shi xue 8.3 (1997), 161-216. Wang Cheng-hua. “‘Ting qin tu’ de zhengzhi yihan: Huizong chao yuanhua fengge yu yiyi wangluo” 《聽琴圖》的政治意涵：徽宗朝院畫風格與意義網絡. Guoli Taiwan daxue meishu shi yanjiu jikan 5 (1998), 77-122. Wang, Eugene Y. Shaping the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Visual Culture in Medieval China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005. Wang Yaoting 王耀庭, ed. Kaichuang dianfan: Beisong de yishu yu wenhua yantaohui lunwenji 開創典範：北宋的藝術與文化研討會論文集. Taipei: Gugong bowuyuan, 1995. Watt, James and Anne E. Wardwell. When Silk was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997. Watt, James C. Y. et al. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. West, Stephen H. “The Interpretation of a Dream: The Sources, Evaluation, and Influence of the Dongjing meng hua lu.” T’oung Pao 71 (1985), 63-108. Whitfield, Susan and Ursula Sims-Williams, eds. The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Chicago: Seindia Publications, 2004. Wong, Dorothy. Chinese Steles: Pre-Buddhist and Buddhist Use of a Symbolic Form. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

36

Ebrey And Huang

Wu, Hung. The Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2010. Wu, Hung, ed. Reinventing the Past: Archaism and Antiquarianism in Chinese Art and Visual Culture. Chicago: Art Media Resource, 2010. Wu, Hung, ed. Tenth-Century China and Beyond: Art and Culture in a Multi-centered Age. Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2013. Wu Hung 巫鴻 and Li Qingquan 李清泉. Baoshan Liao mu: cailiao yu shidu 寳山遼墓： 材料與釋讀. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 2013. Wu Wenliang 吳文良. Quanzhou zongjiao shike (zengding ben) 泉州宗教石刻（增訂 本）. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2005. Verellen, Franciscus. “The Dynamic Design: Ritual and Contemplative Graphics in Daoist Scriptures.” In Daoism in History: Essays in Honour of Liu Ts’un-yan, edited by Benjamin Penny, 159-86. New York: Routledge, 2006. Xie, Jisheng 謝繼勝. Xi Xia zangchuan huihua: Heishuicheng chutu Xi Xia tangka yanjiu 西夏藏傳繪畫：黑水城出土西夏唐卡研究. Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2002. Xie, Mingliang 謝明良. Zhongguo taocishi lunji 中國陶瓷史論集. Taipei: Yunchen, 2007. Xiong, Victor Chunrui. Sui-Tang Chang’an: A Study in the Urban History of Medieval China. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 2000. Xu, Guangji 徐光冀, ed. Zhongguo chutu bihua quanji 中國出土壁畫全集, 10 vols. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2012. Yamato Bunkakan 大和文華館. Gen jidai no kaiga: Mongoru sekai teikoku no isseiki 元時 代の絵画 : モンゴル世界帝國の一世紀. Tokyo: Yamato Bunkakan, 1998. Yamato Bunkakan. Tokubetsuten sūkōnaru sansui: Chūgoku Chōsen, Rikaku-Kei sansuiga no keifu 特別展崇高なる山水 : 中国・朝鮮, 李郭系山水画の系譜. Nara: Yamato Bunkakan, 2008. Yamato Bunkakan. Tsuifuku: Chūgoku kaiga no meihin o atsumete : kaikan 35-shūnen kinen tokubetsuten 対幅 : 中国絵画の名品を集めて : 開館 35 周年記念特别展. Nara: Yamato Bunkakan, 1995. Yan Juanying 顔娟英 and Shi Shouqian 石守謙, eds. Yishushi zhong de Han Jin yu Tang Song zhi bian 藝術史中的漢晉與唐宋之變. Taipei: Shitou chubanshe, 2014. Yang, Claire. “Burial Date Divination and Death Ritual Integration in Tang China (618907),” unpublished paper presented at the panel of “Tombs and Mortuary Arts,” International Conference of the Middle Period China, Harvard University, June 6, 2014. Yang Fuxue 楊富學 and Chen Aifeng 陳愛峰. Xi Xia yu zhoubian guanxi yanjiu 西夏與 周邊關係研究. Lanzhou: Gansu minzu chubanshe, 2012. Yokkaischi, Yasuhiro. “Chinese and Muslim Diasporas and the Indian Ocean Trade Network under Mongol Hegemony.” In The East Asian Mediterranean: Maritime

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Introduction

37

Crossroads of Culture, Commerce and Human Migration, edited by Angela Schottenhammer, 73-102. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag, 2008. Yü, Chün-fang. Kuan-yin: The Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesìvara. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. Zeng Xianyong 曾宪勇. Songdai chenchuan ‘Nanhai yi hao” 宋代沉船“南海I 号”. Guangzhou: Guangdong renmin chubanshe, 2013. Zhang, Fan Jeremy, ed. Royal Taste: The Art of Princely Courts in Fifteenth-Century China. London: Scala Art Publishers, 2015. Zhang Jianwei 张剑葳. Zhongguo gudai jinshu jianzhu yanjiu 中国古代金属建筑研究. Nanjing: Dongnan daxue chubanshe, 2015. Zhang, Hongxing et al. Masterpieces of Chinese Painting, 700-1900. London: V & A Publishing, 2013. Zhang, Huanjun 张焕君 and Liu Guohua 刘国华. Yun shui zhi si: Shanxi gudai bihua yanjiu 云谁之思: 山西古代壁画研究. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2015. Zhang Wei 张威. Suizhong Sandaogang Yuandai chenchuan 绥中三道岗元代沉船. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2001. Zhang Xunliao 張勛燎 and Baibin 白彬. Zhongguo daojiao kaogu 中國道教考古. Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju, 2006. Zhao Feng 趙豐, ed. Dunhuang sichou yu sichou zhi lu 敦煌絲綢與絲綢之路. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2009. Zhongguo hanghai xuehui 中国航海学会. Quanzhou gang yu haishang sichou zhi lu 泉 州港与海上丝绸之路. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2002-. Zhongguo mushi bihua quanji bianji weiyuan hui 中國墓室壁畫全集編輯委員會, ed. Zhongguo mushi bihua quanji 中國墓室壁畫全集, 3 vols. Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2011. Zhongguo shehui kexue yuan 中國社會科學院et al., eds. Ecang Heishuicheng wenxian 俄藏黑水城文獻, 20 vols. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1996-2013. Zhongguo wenwu yanjiu suo 中國文物研究所 et al. Xin Zhongguo chutu muzhi 新中國 出土墓誌. Henan 河南 (3 vols.); Shaanxi 陝西 (4 vols.); Chongqing 重慶 (1 vol.); Beijing 北京 (2 vols.); Hebei 河北 (1 vol.); Shanghai, Tianjin 上海、天津 (2 vols.). Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1994-.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

38

Ebrey And Huang

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

39

Introduction

Part 1 Making Art in Funeral and Ritual Contexts

∵

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

40

Ebrey And Huang

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

41

Chapter 1 Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

Modular Design of Tombs in Song and Jin North China Fei Deng The upsurge in archaeological activity in China since the 1950s has led to the discovery of a large number of eleventh to thirteenth century tombs decorated with pictorial scenes and architectural elements.1 In their studies of these tombs, scholars of later periods have much to learn from the works of Han scholars such as Wu Hung, Martin Powers, Lillian Tseng, and Anthony BarbieriLow who have explored the underlying logic of a tomb’s design, decoration, and furnishing, seeing tombs as an embodiment of social relations, history, cosmology, and religious beliefs.2 When a tomb’s creative context is long lost, 1 Decorated tombs are here defined as tombs that are adorned with elaborate facades in imitation of wooden architecture and with various indoor scenes on the tomb walls. In general, the tombs are made of brick or stone. To date nearly 200 Song and Jin tombs have been excavated in northern China, especially in the present-day Henan and Shanxi provinces. They consist of a stepped tomb path and a single or sometimes double burial chambers of varying sizes and layouts. Wooden architectural elements, such as pillars, bracket sets and eaves, are simulated in brick and sometimes enhanced with color. The pictorial scenes in the tombs usually include banquets, indoor scenes, filial stories, and household furnishings. The decoration may be entirely painted or constructed of bricks, or may be a combination of various techniques such as brick relief, clay figurines, and line drawings on the surfaces of tomb walls. Most studies of Song and Jin burials have focused on dating or pictorial subjects. Through archaeological typology scholars have built up relative dating and chronological sequences for Song as well as Jin tombs. For important studies, see Xu, Zhongguo da baike quanshu, 486-92; Kuhn, A Place for the Dead; Qin, Song Yuan Ming kaogu, 123-65. Scholars have also studied the major scenes in decorated tombs, such as images of tomb occupants at a banquet table, representations of theatrical performance, pictures of filial piety stories, and scenes of a woman standing in a half-open doorway. For selected works, see Laing, “Patterns and Problems”; Maeda, “Some Song, Chin, an Yuan Presentations of Actors”; Zhao, “Shanxi Huguan Nancun Songdai zhuandiao mu”; Deng, “Guanyu Song Jin muzang zhong xiaoxingtu de sikao”; Yi, “Song Jin zhongyuan diqu bihua mu”; Q. Li, “Kongjian luoji yu shijue yiwei: Song Liao Jin mu furen qimen tu xinlun”; Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture”; and Hong, “Virtual Theater of the Dead”; Theater of the Dead. 2 For a broad overview, see Wu, The Art of the Yellow Springs. Lillian Tseng has discussed the working traces remaining in Han tombs, and attempted to reconstruct the process of building stone tombs; Anthony Barbieri-Low’s work on artisans in early China has discussed many

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_003 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

42

Deng

recovering this information “requires piecing together scattered clues from received texts, inscriptions, and archaeological sites” (in Barbieri-Low’s words), combined with an intensive study of the tomb itself.3 Here I work in this tradition and ask: Who made these eleventh-thirteenth century decorated tombs? How were they built and decorated? How were craftsmen trained? By shifting the focus of our gaze from these elaborately decorated tombs to the people who made them, this study responds to this volume’s overarchinig concerns about visual and material cultures in Middle Period China, investigating artisans’ practices from the perspectives of workshop practice, division of labor, and use of modular designs.

Brick Reliefs

I start with four tombs in Luoyang 洛陽, Yanshi 偃師, and Wenxian 溫縣, Henan. The first is located in the area of Guanlinmiao 關林廟 at Luoyang and was excavated in 2009. It has a sloping tomb path, a tunnel, and a chamber with an octagonal plan. A coffin platform is constructed at the centre of the chamber, which is characterized by architectural elements simulating wooden structures such as pillars, eaves, and bracketing systems. Six-layer bracket sets appear on the upper register of the tomb walls, above which is an eight-sided domed ceiling.4 These all belong to a continuous tradition of tombs decorated as aboveground timber-frame buildings.5 Except for the south wall that comprises the entrance gate into the chamber, each wall is decorated with brick reliefs (Figure 1.1). The southeast and southwest walls show slat windows; a double-leaf door is constructed on the east and west walls; the northeast and northwest walls are adorned with brick reliefs representing theatrical performance and kitchen motifs; and four panels of lattice doors complete the aspects of artisans’ activities in social sites and considered techiques related to making tombs. These works can be excellent models to begin tackling the subject in later periods. See Tseng, “Zuofang, getao yu diyu zi chuantong”; Barbieri-Low, Artisans in Early Imperial China; Zheng, Titu kexiang; Z. Zhang, Handai huaxiang zhuanshi muzang, 281-94; Jiang and Yang, Handai huaxiang shi, 177; R. Dong, “Handai kongxinzhuan de zhizuo gongyi”. See also earlier work by Powers, Art and Political Expression. 3 Barbieri-Low, Artisans in Early Imperial China, 4. 4 Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao.” 5 For a discussion of the tradition of using wooden architectural elements in Chinese burials, see Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture,” 3-18.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

43

Figure 1.1 Drawing of the walls of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao,” 33, fig. 3.

decoration of the north wall. Above them, images of filial sons appear on the upper parts of the eight walls. Although no textual records were found in this tomb, it has been dated between the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, based on the style of the building structure and the pictorial subjects. For instance, a scene consisting of three panels of brick reliefs constructed on the northwest wall shows a representative subject of the Northern Song period (Figures 1.2a-c).6 The first panel depicts a pair of figures who are formally dressed (Figure 1.2a). The left figure is holding a wrapped box in his right hand, and the right one is wearing an official’s outfit and holding a tablet. The second panel shows a male figure who is wearing a long robe with a belt and unrolling a scroll painting (Figure 1.2b). Flanking this image is the third panel (Figure 1.2c), which displays two male figures wearing crude clothes. The left one is holding a birdcage in his left hand and his right hand is pointing at the cage. His shirt is casually opened, exposing his bare chest. The right figure is wearing a scarf with flowers attached and is putting two fingers of his right hand in his mouth as if whistling. All these figures seem to represent theatrical actors of the Song period. Notably, a set of identical brick reliefs was discovered in an archaeological excavation in 1958. A tomb located in the west bank of a dam in Jiuliugou 酒流 溝 of Yanshi County contains the exact same images of the five actors (Figure 1.3).7 Six brick reliefs are built into the lower half of the north wall. Three bricks

6 7

Cf. Hong, Theater of the Dead, 44-46. X. Dong, “Yanshi xian Jiuliugou shuiku Song mu,” 84; Hong, Theater of the Dead, 44.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

44

a

c

Deng

b

Figures 1.2a-c Brick reliefs on the northwest wall of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao,” 39, figs. 20, 21 and 22.

Figure 1.3 Rubbing of theatrical actors engraved in the Jiuliugou tomb in Yanshi, Henan. Adapted from Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, fig. 2. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

45

on the eastern side bear a female figure on each, depicting a kitchen scene.8 The other three panels on the west side show theatrical performances: on the first panel on the left side is a male figure holding a birdcage and on the right side is a figure whistling; the panel in the middle depicts a single actor unrolling a scroll painting; and the last panel shows two male figures, one holding a wrapped seal box and the other holding a tablet. Scholars have concluded that the three panels represent five actors who are performing on stage, though it is rather difficult to know the exact roles of these figures and what plays they are enacting.9 It is noteworthy that these reliefs show a striking resemblance to the ones found in the Guanlinmiao tomb in terms of size, composition, style, and detail, though the order of the panels is slightly different. These two tombs are at least twenty kilometers apart and located on different sides of the Yi River 伊河, which raises some questions: Why did these two tombs contain the same images? What does this reveal about the work of tomb making? Not only is there overlap between the Guanlinmiao tomb and the Jiuliugou one, but the other two reliefs on the northeast wall in the Guanlinmiao tomb are identical to the reliefs found in a brick tomb in Wenxian in 1982.10 The panels in these two tombs respectively depict a musical performance in which six musicians are playing instruments such as a floor drum, clappers, and “Tartar pipe” (Figure 1.4a), and five female attendants working in a kitchen (Figure 1.4b).11 These two tombs are over ninety kilometers apart, and yet the reliefs from the Guanlinmiao tomb are the exact same images as the ones found in Wenxian. The size and texture of the bricks are almost the same and in each the orchestra are about 40 cm long, 28 cm wide, and 1 cm high. All these bricks are stone-gray and have a hard texture. Moreover, although the images take shape on raw bricks through the subtraction of clay from the background, the 8

9

10 11

This set of brick reliefs representing female figures is identical to the other set, which is called “painted ancient bricks” and commented upon by Wang Guowei in the early twentieth century; see G. Wang, “Guhua zhuanba,” 1220. Although Wang identified these female images as figures from the Six Dynasties period, judging from their hairdos, it seems that they may have been unearthed from Song tombs in Henan and can be regarded as an extension of the traditional representations of kitchen motifs in earlier tombs. For more study, see Hong, Theater of the Dead, 44-47. For efforts to identify the actors and plays, see Xu, “Songdai de zaju diaozhuan”; Zhou, “Beisong muzang zhong renwu,” 41-46; Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, 137-44. Jeehee Hong discusses these panels but argues against attempting to match the reliefs to any specific Song drama, see Hong, “Theatricalizing Death,” 34-56; Theater of the Dead. Zhang and Wu, “Wenxian Song mu fajue jianbao,” 19-20. For discussion of “Tartar pipe” (bi-li 觱篥), see Laing, “Chin ‘Tartar’ Dynasty (1115-1234) Material Culture,” 82.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

46

Figure 1.4a

Deng

Rubbing of brick relief found in the Wenxian tomb, Henan. Adapted from Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, fig. 4.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

Figure 1.4b

47

Rubbing of brick relief found in the Wenxian tomb, Henan. Adapted from Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, fig. 5.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

48

Deng

contours of the figures are fine and the surface of the bricks appears smooth (Figures 1.5 a-b). Rather than being individually carved, these bricks seem to have been made from molds.12 The traces of wooden frames remaining on the two panels of the Wenxian tomb further confirm the use of molds. It seems that brick makers may have jointed a clay mold with wooden boards to form a frame, and then a full application of a mold was used in pressing clay and making reliefs.13 The resemblances among different sets of brick reliefs found in the Guanlin­ miao, Jiuliugou, and Wenxian tombs are indeed striking, suggesting that there may have been workshops producing these kinds of reliefs in the region around Luoyang. Nevertheless, the extraordinarily refined lines and details of these reliefs imply that the process of brick making may have involved not only mold pressing but also hand carving. As discussed by many scholars including Robert Maeda and Jeehee Hong, molds first were used in pressing clay and in making the bricks, and then artisans carved out some lines of the reliefs with carving knives. Details of the figures such as facial expressions, posture, or clothes might take shape through line carving. This method gives a slight convexity to the contours of the figures, making the reliefs rather shallow.14 How hand carving was involved in producing these elaborate bricks is an open question, but the reliefs from Luoyang, Yanshi, and Wenxian confirm that they did go through a molding process.15 The initial line drawings on the clay seem to have been

12

13

14

15

According to Jeehee Hong’s observation, a Song tomb found in the same area of Wenxian in 2005 also has an identical set of brick reliefs representing musical and theatrical performance, but the images are flipped. The reliefs were on display in the Jiaozuo 焦作 museum in 2005, but the excavation report has not been published yet. See Hong, “Theatricalizing Death,” 59-60; Theater of the Dead. Liao Ben noted the trace of the wooden frames on the Wenxian reliefs; see Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, 142-43. It is possible that the molds were used to make a new mold, which would have produced a flipped image of the original. Other reliefs that may have been made from molds are also mentioned by Liao Ben, see Liao, “Beisong zaju yiren xiaoxiang diaozhuan de faxian,” 94-95. Robert Maeda, Liao Ben, and Jeehee Hong have all considered the basic mechanisms of producing brick reliefs. See Maeda, “Some Song, Chin, and Yuan Presentations of Actors,” 136; Liao, Zhongguo xiju tushi, 153; and Hong, “Theatricalizing Death,” 58-60; Theater of the Dead. Jeehee Hong argues that reliefs could have been produced through mechanical mold pressing; see Hong, “Theatricalizing Death,” 60-61.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

49

Figures 1.5a Brick relief on the northeast wall of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao,” 40, fig. 24.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

50

Figure 1.5b

Deng

Brick relief on the northeast wall of the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao,” 40, fig. 25.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

51

Figure 1.6 Rubbing of theatrical actors engraved in the Wenxian tomb, Henan. Adapted from Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, fig. 3.

based on paintings.16 It is also possible that the contemporary technique of wood-block engraving might have had an influence on relief making.17 After these reliefs were made, masons would have set them into the tomb wall surface. Such bricks were painted, although the paint is now lost in many cases due to the natural erosion of pigments. The traces of coloring can be seen from a set of brick reliefs of actors in the Wenxian tomb (Figure 1.6).18 The reliefs display vivid colors on the figures: black on hair and eyebrows; red on lips and clothes; blue and ochre yellow on headgear and clothes.19 In addition, although the whole scene differs from the Guanlinmiao one in terms of posture of figures, judging from the style and texture of the bricks, molds may also have been used to make this set as well. Another tomb located in Wenxian has the same pictorial subjects.20 Brick reliefs depict theatrical and musical performances on the northeast and northwest walls. The whitewashed theatrical performance similarly represents five actors, though the figures appear to be crudely made and vary in details from the ones in the Guanlinmiao and Jiuliugou tombs. What should also be noted 16

17 18 19 20

Liao Ben points out that Song court paintings may have been suitable as models for brick reliefs; see Liao, “Song Jin fangmu jiegou zhuandiao mu jiqi yuewu zhuangshi,” 83-85. For a similar exchange between art forms, see Xiaolin Duan’s discussion of the relationship between paintings and poems of West Lake in her chapter in this volume. F. Zhang, “Yubei he Jinnan Song Jin mu,” 83-84. S. Zhang and Wu, “Wenxian Song mu fajue jianbao,” 19-20. Cf. Hong, Theater of the Dead, 51 (fig. 2.6). Liao, Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu, 142-44. Luo and Wang, “Henan Wenxian Xiguan Song mu,” 17-23.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

52

Deng

is that the building structure and decoration of this tomb is similar to that of the tombs discussed above. It has a chamber with an octagonal plan, and the upper register is constructed with bracket sets. The south wall comprises the entrance gate, and the other seven walls are decorated with brick reliefs: slat windows are constructed on the southeast and southwest walls; the east and west walls each feature a double-leaf door; the northeast and northwest walls are decorated with brick panels representing performances; and lattice doors appears on the north wall. The overall pictorial program in this Wenxian burial shows a resemblance to that of the Guanlinmiao tomb, except that the former contains less decorative detail and appears to be a simplified version of the latter. Besides using molds in producing brick reliefs, artisans may have employed some other standardized methods of designing and building tombs. To explore this technical aspect, let me turn to the ways in which tombs were constructed during the Song and Jin periods.

Tomb Construction

The study of funerary art benefits from being placed in the larger context of tomb-making, a more holistic level that takes into consideration secessive steps of tomb making performed by different groups of workers. What we traditionally refer to as artisans of the tombs can then be further divided into sub-groups based on their varying job definitions. In line with this volume’s emphasis on visual and material cultures, we can further think of the entire practice of tomb building as a process that involves both visual and material types of work. For example, before carvers and painters fabricated the pictorial constructions of carved bricks and painted walls (visual work), there were masons responsible for more fundamental, site-specific technical chores that deal more with the material work of digging the tomb site, charting chambers, erecting walls, and so on. The textual record on Song and Jin tombs is too fragmentary to be of much use in reconstructing how they were built.21 Nevertheless, if we set aside regional variation, we can reconstruct some aspects of the process of building brick tombs and decorating their interiors at that time by analysing 21

Inscriptions usually include the date of burial, the name of tomb occupants and tomb makers. See Zhao, “Song Yuan muzang zhong bangti, tiji yanjiu,” 87-94. We should beware that this reconstruction is a somewhat normative composite sketch, subsuming regional variation and local preferences.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

53

the working traces remaining on tomb walls. Moreover, the Song treatise on architectural methods, Yingzao fashi 營造法式 completed by Li Jie 李誡 (10351110) in 1100, also provides useful information for reconstructing the process and technology involved in tomb fashioning. This manual regulated building materials and methods, unified terms and vocabularies, and standardized building parts and styles, making it a good source for the architectural culture of the period.22 An inscription engraved above the entrance of a tomb excavated at Xin’an 新安 in Henan reveals details about the makers of this tomb (Figure 1.7): This is the tomb of Song Silang, who lived in the south of the outer city of Xin’an County. The masons Jia and Liu, along with Zhang working in a brick kiln, jointly constructed the tomb. Yang Biao painted it. Recorded on the first day of the second lunar month of the eighth year of the Xuanhe era. 宋四郎家外宅墳, 新安縣裏郭午居住, 磚作賈博士、劉博士, 莊住張窯, 共同砌墓, 畫墓人楊彪, 宣和捌年二月初一大葬記.23

We know from this textual record that the tomb belonged to Song Silang and was completed in 1126. The inscription also offers important information on the artisans who were involved in building the tomb. The Song family first commissioned Zhang to make bricks, and two masons to build the tomb path and burial chamber. After the chamber was finished, a painter was recruited to paint the interior. Many tombs found in southern Shanxi and northern Henan seem to have followed this sequence: 1) building the chamber by laying bricks; 2) trimming and plastering the interior walls; and 3) painting the walls and the ceiling. The masons would initially dig an access ramp as the tomb path. The path is usually narrow to minimize the removal of earth.24 Next, they hollowed out a chamber at the end of the passage, and a small opening was made on top of the chamber. This opening would illuminate the chamber and was also used by the

22 23 24

Yingzao fashi. On “architectural culture,” see Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture,” 13-15. Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 398-409. Song and Jin burials found in Henan and Shanxi often have this kind of narrow path. For the case of a group of tombs belonging to the Dong family, see Shanxi sheng wenguanhui Houma gongzuozhan, “Houma Jindai Dongshi mu jieshao, 50-55.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

54

Deng

Figure 1.7 Entrance of Song Silang’s tomb in Xin’an, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 399, fig. 1.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

55

masons to remove earth.25 Once the burial chamber was excavated, the masons would pave the ground with bricks and construct the chamber walls. To maintain the stability of the walls, the space between the brick shell and hollowed-out chamber was filled with earth or rubble. Choosing bricks was a key step.26 In Song Silang’s tomb, the major part of the chamber was built with rectangular bricks of a uniform size (31 x 16 x 2 cm), a type that was regularly used to build tomb walls in Henan. The bricks were laid horizontally with the stretcher showing.27 The masons also used another size of rectangular bricks and square bricks (Figure 1.8) to construct the surface of the walls. All these bricks were held together with white mud.28 It is likely that the artisans had a complete and thorough plan before they built the chamber. Architectural elements such as bracket sets, pillars, beams, and lattice doors, along with brick reliefs showing ornaments (Figure 1.9), may have been prefabricated. For instance, in a Jin tomb found in Yichuan 伊川 county of Luoyang, the picture of two attendants were each made from two bricks, which appear to be seamlessly connected to each other (Figures 1.10a-b).29 The next stage in the process was to trim the tomb walls. After the chamber was finished, the masons would further polish the walls. Alternatively, painters were recruited. The inscription for Song Silang’s tomb refers to the painter as Yang Biao from Xin’an County. The painters would first apply plaster made from straw and clay to brickwork to smooth and protect the wall surface. The use of mud and plaster is specified in a section in the Yingzao fashi.30 The plas25

26

27

28 29 30

A Jin tomb excavated in Shanxi provides information about the small opening of the burial chamber; see Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo Houma gongzuozhan, “Shanxi Jishan Macun 4 hao Jin mu,” 41-51. Yingzao fashi has a section headed “Zhuanzuo zhidu” 磚作制度 (brickwork regulations), which specifies eight types and thirteen sizes of bricks. This section concerns regulations of brickwork, platform, floor paving, wall base, sumeru base and so forth. See Yingzao fashi, 15.314-32. Lin Wei-cheng suggests that at least two different brickwork methods were in use to construct brick chambers. In the late ninth to tenth centuries, rectangular bricks were laid in two horizontal courses of stretchers alternating with one vertical course of headers. The second method employs the same kind of bricks laid horizontally, with the stretcher showing throughout the entire chamber. The simpler course pattern of brickwork was more flexible for molding the wooden motifs and became popular in the eleventh century. See Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture,” 15-18. Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 398-409. Luoyang shi dier wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Yichuan diaozhuan mu fajue jianbao,” 62-69. Yingzao fashi, 13.282-83.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

56

Deng

Figure 1.8 Square bricks from the tomb of Song Silang in Xin’an, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 405, fig. 9.

Figure 1.9 Brick relief showing peonies from the Guanlinmiao tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao,” 34, fig. 6.

tering of temples’ walls was done in several successive layers: crude mud, moderate mud, fine mud and lime. Each layer would be added only after the previous one was dry, and the plaster was pressed to smooth the surface.31 The walls of decorated tombs may have been trimmed in a similar but much simpler way. In some cases, only straw-mud mortar was applied to the walls and 31

Qin Lingyun (Minjian huagong shiliao, 41-46) discusses the ways in which the walls of temples were trimmed and painted.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

57

Figures 1.10a-b Brick reliefs of two attendants from the Yichuan tomb in Luoyang, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 458, fig. 3 and 4.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

58

Deng

the ceiling. The thickness of the wall surface, therefore, varies between tombs. For instance, the total thickness of the surface of Song Silang’s tomb is about 1 cm. The painters would then whitewash the plaster. If the walls are decorated with brick reliefs, there might be no additional paint, only whitewash.32 After the tomb walls were whitewashed, the painters would make a sketch on the prepared walls and ceiling. They often divided the surface into several registers or scenes, and laid down the borders, figures and other elements using brush and black ink. The original drafts were sometimes revised or changed. A Song tomb found in Pingshan 平山 in Hebei, for example, displays an obvious trace of an original sketch (Figure 1.11).33 Once sketched, the painters would complete the pictorial program by adding bright colors, including dark red, brown, dark yellow, and light green, most of them mineral-based.34 The interior chamber of Song Silang’s tomb is covered with red, brown, yellow, black, and white pigments (Figure 1.12). The methods of applying colorants involved flat coloring, diffusion, and tracing over lines, all of which can be seen in paintings of the period. The scholar Zhang Peng argues that these paintings might have been made the way temple murals were painted.35 The scholarship on temple mural paintings of the Song and later periods offers insight into the craft used in decorating tombs.36 Inscriptions like those in Song Silang’s tomb show that tomb construction was a cooperative project involving brickmakers, masons, painters and sometimes clay carvers and sculptors. Constructing a decorated brick tomb might have often required different specialists and multiple techniques. For instance, the decoration of a tomb in Xin’an was created using at least three different methods.37 The tomb occupants and their attendants are depicted in the wall paintings. Furniture, including tables, chairs, clothing racks, and bureaus, is literally constructed of rectangular bricks and protrudes from the walls (Figure 32 33 34

35

36

37

For a discussion of base layers, see Sun, “Henan Song mu bihua secai yanjiu,” 29-30. Hebei sheng wenwu yanjiusu, “Hebei Pingshan xian Liangcha Song mu,” 49-59. For scholarship on colors and styles of paintings in Song and Jin tombs in Henan, see Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu, 248-50; Sun, “Henan Song mu bihua secai yanjiu,” 29-43. P. Zhang, “‘Fenben’, ‘yang’ yu Zhongguo bihua chuangzuo,” 55-58. In this article, Zhang Peng considers the similar ways in which temple and tombs murals were made and how young artisans were trained. Though her effort to find similarities is certainly helpful, more needs to be done on the reasons tomb paintings appear. On temple murals in Southern Shanxi, see Steinhardt, “Zhu Haogu Reconsidered”; Baldwin, “Monumental Wall Paintings,” 241-67; Huang, “Cong Yonglegong bihua”; Katz, Images of the Immortal, 134-42; Gesterkamp, The Heavenly Court; and Meng, Yuandai Jinan siguan bihua qun yanjiu. Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Henan Xin’an xian Songcun.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

59

Figure 1.11

Painting on the southwest wall of the Liangcha tomb in Pingshan, Hebei. After Xu Guangji, ed., Zhongguo chutu bihua quanji, Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2011, vol. 1, 139, fig. 132.

Figure 1.12

Northwest, north and northeast walls of the tomb of Song Silang in Xin’an, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 399, fig. 2.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

60

Deng

1.13). Lattice doors with floral patterns are two-dimensional renderings on square bricks set into the walls.38 Paintings are applied to both kinds of brickwork. Thus there are various degrees of physical depth represented on the walls, making the scenes lively. To achieve these visual effects, artisans made use of different media such as paintings, carving, brick reliefs, and sometimes sculptured stones.39 The basic method of producing brick reliefs consisted of drawing pictorial scenes on bricks, shaping main silhouettes by removing the background clay, carving outer and inner lines of the figures and baking the bricks in a kiln. In some cases, molds may have been used in the first two stages of making reliefs. The technique of relief carving reached its maturity in Jin tombs in southern Shanxi. The images that in Song had been done in bas-relief developed into high relief and sometimes solid sculpture during the Jin, as seen in burials found in Houma 侯馬 and Jishan 稷山. These later examples show even more exquisite skill in molding the brickwork of the burial interiors into details of timber structure and decorative panels. Figures appear smoothly rounded and dramatically protruding, and many of them would have originally been painted in colors. In the late twelfth century these images began to acquire greater three-dimensionality, with only the back attached to the brick (Figure 1.14).40 In some cases, figures are completely detached from the surface and are freestanding. A Jin tomb dated to 1210 belonging to the Dong family found in Houma has a three-dimensional stage on its north wall. Five miniature figurines stand on this stage and represent a troupe of five actors of Jin opera (Figure 1.15).41 They vividly stand out when compared with the representation of other images in the tomb. Interestingly, similar figurines are found in two other Jin tombs nearby. For instance, Houma tomb M104 strikingly resembles the above one in terms of structure and interior decoration and it also contains a miniature stage and four figurines of actors that are identical to those from the Dong family’s tomb.42 The identical images indicate that some stages in

38 39 40

41 42

Laing, “Patterns and Problems,” 7. In a few stone tombs in northern Henan, we can also find pictures carved in stone. See Henan sheng bowuguan, “Henan Jiaozuo Jin mu fajue jianbao,” for this tomb. F. Zhang, “Yubei he Jinnan Song Jin mu,” 84. For instance, the images of filial sons in a Jin tomb in Shanxi are free-standing figures. They were made of clay and fixed on bricks with nails. After the bricks were baked, they were colored with various pigments. See Shang and Guo, “Shanxi Qinxian faxian Jindai zhuandiao mu.” Shanxi sheng wenguanhui Houma gongzuozhan, “Houma Jindai Dongshi mu jieshao,” 50-55. Yang, “Shanxi Houma 104 hao Jin mu.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

Figure 1.13

South and west walls of the Songcun tomb in Xin’an, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 367, fig. 3.

Figure 1.14

Brick relief of two theatrical actors from a Jin tomb in Jishan, Shanxi. After Shanxi bowuyuan, Shengsi tongle: Shanxi Jindai xiqu zhuandiao, Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 201, back cover.

61

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

62

Figure 1.15

Deng

Theatrical actors from a Jin tomb at Houma, Shanxi. After Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo, Pingyang Jin mu zhuandiao, 157, fig. 131.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

63

making clay figurines may have also involved molds.43 The popularity of certain techniques, the similarity of craftwork, and the replication of brick reliefs and figurines all suggest an increasing demand for constructing decorated tombs during this time period.44 Although building a decorated tomb in brick involves various techniques, the use of molds might have helped to shorten the time of construction. The information on artisans summoned for Song Silang’s project is limited, but other tomb inscriptions reveal clues about the number of artisans and length of time required to complete a tomb. For instance, in a Jin tomb dated to 1196 in Shanxi, an inscription above the tomb entrance explicitly mentions the masons and the dates of the tomb: The masons, Zhang, Yang, Duan, and Jing, started to construct the tomb on the fourth day of the eighth lunar month in the seventh year of the Mingchang era, and completed the construction on the …day of the ninth lunar month of the same year. 時明昌柒年捌月初四日入功，九月□日功畢，砌匠人張卜、楊卜、段 卜、敬卜.45

From the dates mentioned in the inscription, this tomb was completed within only two months. One might think that the whole process of construction would have taken more time and effort, as the tomb has double burial chambers and the interior walls are completely covered with exquisitely modeled and carved reliefs painted in colors. The speed with which they completed the tomb probably reflects not only their skill but also the prefabrication of clay reliefs. The division of labor among these artisans must have allowed them to perform their work, earn their commissions, and move on to the next job. Consequently, when different families in the same region summoned these artisans, they would probably employ the same techniques and styles for different clients, thus creating parallel tombs. This could be one of the main reasons why tombs in a geographical area shared similar features. 43

44 45

For instance, several brick panels representing an orchestra found in the Houcun 侯村 tomb at Xiangfen 襄汾 are identical to the images seen on brick reliefs in other two Jin tombs in the same area. For the reports of these decorated tombs, see H. Li, “Shanxi Xiangfen Houcun,” 36-40; Tao, “Shanxi Xiangfen xian Nandong”; and Dai, “Shanxi Xiangfen Jin mu.” For a discussion of molded reliefs, see Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo, Pingyang Jin mu zhuandiao, 35-36. Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo Houma gongzuozhan, “Houma 102 hao Jin mu,” 33-34.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

64

Deng

Apart from the decorated tombs of the late Northern Song period found in Luoyang and Wenxian, Jin tombs excavated in southern Shanxi such as Jishan, Houma, and Xinjiang 新絳 also bear resemblance in terms of tomb structure and decoration. These similarities probably reflect both the use of clay molds in making brick reliefs or clay figurines and the commissioning of the same group of artisans.

Modular Design

With Song and Jin burials, standardization extended to iconography and technique, most notably shown by a group of images of filial piety paragons that are often painted on the upper register of interior walls.46 Two tombs at Yingyang 滎陽 in Henan can serve as illustrations.47 Paintings of filial sons are presented in similar ways in Gubozui 孤伯嘴 and the Sicun 司村 tombs. Each scene has an inscription attached, indicating its content. For instance, in the tale of Shun 舜, the male figure and an elephant both appear to be in almost the same positions (Figures 1.16a-b). Shun is portrayed in the same pose in each of the tombs, holding a long stick. To his right there is an elephant, and in front of him, a black pig, and flying overhead, three birds. Both scenes present the story of Shun’s devoted filial respect, which inspired the heavens to call for assistance, the elephant to plough the fields and birds to sow seeds. In addition, some figures are painted wearing the same clothes and with the same postures, but face different directions, as in the scenes describing the tale of Zengzi 曾子. In both tombs, Zengzi is shown bowing to his mother, with a bundle of firewood between them (Figures 1.17a-b). The two figures are composed in identical positions but face the opposite way, as do their inscriptions: from right to left in the Gubozui, and from left to right in the Sicun tomb. The building structure, pictorial subjects and the overall arrangements of these two tombs also show resemblances. Given that the two tombs are physically close to each other, it is reasonable to assume that the families involved 46

47

During the Song and Jin periods, it became conventional for twenty-four pictures of filial sons to be represented in burials, but the filial sons included in the different groups often vary. For selected studies of twenty-four images of filial sons found in Song and Jin tombs, see X. Dong, “Beisong Jin Yuan muzang bishi suojian ershisixiao”; and Deng, “From Virtuous Paragons to Efficacious Images.” See Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu, 17-23 for the Sicun tomb, and 24-30 for the Gubozui tomb.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

65

a

b

Figures 1.16a-b Scenes of Shun in the Sicun tomb and the Gubozui tomb at Yingyang, Henan. After Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu, pls. 22 and 29.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

66

Deng

a

b

Figures 1.17a-b Scenes of Zengzi in the Sicun tomb and the Gubozui tomb at Yingyang, Henan. After Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu, pls. 23 and 31.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

67

commissioned the same group of artisans, who applied similar skills in building both tombs. Moreover, judging from the examples of filial paragons, there might originally have been a manual or a sketch for painting a series of filial sons which painters consulted when making preparatory drawings for the tombs. This assumption further helps to explain the cases of the Sicun tomb in Yingyang and the Beiyuancun 北元村 tomb in Songxian 嵩縣. Despite being located in two different regions, both tombs have paintings of filial sons that are almost identical in terms of composition as well as the posture and clothing of the figures.48 It seems likely that some sort of painting manual or preparatory drawing (fenben 粉本) was consulted by artisans when they sketched pictures in tombs. Unfortunately, we have not discovered any example of such painting manuals or model sketches for tomb decoration of the Song and Jin periods. We have much more information concerning sketchbooks for temple murals, such as a collection of preparatory drawings and sketches from Dunhuang 敦煌 in Gansu Province. This rich deposit includes preliminary drawings on walls and sketches of key figures and schematic diagrams of mural compositions made on paper, which are close to working notes for artists. Parallel compositions, subjects, and figures among Buddhist grottoes further confirm the use of copybooks.49 Different kinds of model books also survive.50 For instance, an anonymous album of miniature paintings of the Eighty-four Niches of Sakyamuni is preserved in Chongshan Monastery 崇善寺 in Shanxi.51 This album of paintings, which are highly finished, are believed to be cartoons for or after the lost wall paintings executed in the main hall in a major campaign

48 49

50

51

See Luoyang shi dier wenwu gongzuodui, “Songxian Beiyuancun Songdai bihua mu” for the Beiyuancun tomb. Scholars such as Sarah Fraser and Sha Wutian have examined in detail various fenben found in Dunhuang caves and discussed different ways in which fenben were used in making cave murals. For important works of Dunhuang sketches, see Fraser, Performing the Visual; “Regimes of Production: The Use of Pounces in Temple Construction”; and “Formulas of Creativity: Artist’s Sketces and Techniques of Copying at Dunhuang”; and Sha, Dunhuang huagao yanjiu. For selected scholarship on fenben, see Cahill, The Painter’s Practice, 88-102. The arrangement of pictorial subjects in some local temples, such as the Mother Goddess at Fenyang and the temple of the Mother Goddess at Huozhou 霍州, also confirm the use of fenben. For references to these temples, see Shanxi sheng gujianzhu baohu yanjiusuo, Shanxi siguan bihua, 118-22, 135-37. Shanxisheng gujianzhu baohu yanjiusuo, Shanxi siguan bihua, 10; Chai and He, Shanxi fosi bihua, 59.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

68

Deng

of resoration undertaken in 1483.52 This kind of miniature painting is likely not only to have been used as a preparatory sketch for painting, but also as part of the tradition of miniature, supplementary versions of temple paintings. After a mural was newly finished, the paintings would be kept as documentation of wall compositions and also for repairing damage.53 The production of temple murals offers us examples of possible ways in which fenben or huayang 畫樣 were used in tomb making. It is possible that painters relied on a set of stock images outlined in a model book or sketch each time a scene was depicted. As they worked freehand, the scene was never executed in the exact same way. Yet another possibility is that the artisans would not settle for a set of fixed painting manuals or model sketches, but rather vary the layout according to the size and shape of tomb walls. Li Qingquan suggests that the artisans employed the model sketch as a device to recollect crucial scenes rather than using it as a precise compositional guide.54 More importantly, fenben may have been an important way of transmitting skills within workshops. These sketch models were used as both working notes for artisans and as model books for apprentices in workshops to learn painting skills or craft techniques.55 In this way, artisans knew and recalled essential compositional elements, reused them from site to site, and created similar yet slightly different pictorial programs in tombs.56 52

53

54

55

56

Craig Clunas discusses the copybook of the Chongshan Monastery and suggests that this album may be some sort of equivalent of the presentation sketch designed to give the kingly patron a sight of the mural program and a chance to approve it prior to the work being carried out. See Clunas, Screen of Kings, 127-30. This kind of miniature copy is also called xiaoyang 小樣. The Tuhua jianwen zhi 圖畫見 聞志 3.123-24 refers to miniature copies several times. Also see Fraser, Performing the Visual, 113-19 for a discussion of miniature copies. The similarity of scenes of performances and preparing tea in different Liao tombs in Xuanhua 宣化 shows the use of fenben in decorating tomb walls. See Q. Li, “Fenben,” 36-39. Zhang Peng also considers the ways in which artisans learned their skills through fenben and concurrently created their own unique styles; see P. Zhang, “‘Fenben’, ‘yang’ yu Zhongguo bihua chuangzuo.” In addition, Wang Shucun suggests that, from the Song period onwards, local painters or workshops may have used oral rhymed formulae to teach apprentices and to transmit painting skills. Each workshop might have had its own formulae guiding the production of paintings. Wang also shows that certain words or phrases indicated specific skills and processes. See S. Wang, Zhongguo minjian huajue, 3-7. In this sense, the ways in which a model sketch was used by artisans for painting tomb walls are close to getao 格套, a sort of pictorial scheme proposed by Xing Yitian in his discussions of Han tomb paintings and carvings. He suggests that the compositions in

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

69

In addition to images of filial piety paragons, there are other pictorial scenes found in different tombs, notably images showing banquets of the tomb occupants.57 Images of the deceased couple are always placed centrally in order to engage the viewer. The female occupant is usually positioned to the right of her husband. There is also considerable consistency in the pose of tomb occupants: the couple, seated on chairs, usually turn inwards; they are seen in three-quarter profile; and male occupants look from the viewer’s left while females look from the viewer’s right. Servants or attendants are often portrayed standing behind the deceased couple. Moreover, there are other formulaic elements such as one square table, two chairs, vessels on the table, a screen, and curtains. Many examples show similar components and compositions, including Song Silang’s tomb and the Songcun tomb (Figure 1.18) in Xin’an.58 Furthermore, the decoration of many tombs found in Henan and Shanxi reflects shared methods of selecting and arranging pictorial subjects. Good examples involve a group of elaborate tombs found in Dengfeng 登封 in Henan. Five decorated tombs, including the Xiazhuanghe 下莊河 tomb, Pingmo 平 陌 tomb, Gaocun 高村 tomb, Heishangou 黑山溝 tomb, and Tangzhuang 唐 莊 M2 tomb, show a certain consistency.59 These tombs all have three registers of decoration: tomb walls are always decorated with indoor scenes; floral scrolls or filial stories occupy the upper register of burial chambers; and pictorial subjects such as celestial beings or cranes represent heavenly worlds on the ceilings. It is likely that the burials employed a similar iconographic repertoire in creating the tomb space. The selections were limited to a pool of subjects or scenes relating to various services provided for the deceased, such as preparing food or providing entertainment. All of these themes could be considered components of a pictorial program or set of subjects that provide a meaningful

57 58 59

many tombs shared a common scheme, which may have been based on the same model design or sketch. Artisans could change the combination of components as well as their arrangements. See Xing, Hua wei xinsheng, 47-68; 92-137. For a discussion of the formulaic images of tomb occupants in Song and Jin burials, see P. Zhang, “Mianshi yu yuqing.” For the two tombs, see Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 398409; and Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui, “Henan Xin’an xian Songcun,” 22-27. For references of these five tombs, see Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo, Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu, 31-40, 41-54, 62-87 and 88-116; Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiuyuan, “Henan Dengfeng Tangzhuang.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

70

Deng

Figure 1.18

West wall of the Songcun tomb at Xin’an, Henan. After Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju, Luoyang gudai muzang bihua, 368, fig. 4.

space for those who were intended to see and use it.60 Besides the Dengfeng tombs, many additional cases exist.61 Scholars often interpret tomb decoration scene-by-scene, or subject-by-subject, an approach which fails to recognize that these scenes are not isolated but designed to create an integrated single tomb. Alternatively, it is equally illuminating to examinine these images within a larger tomb environment. The advantage of doing so is to see how pictorial scenes or subjects were manufactured and used in large combinations that convey more complex visual information than a single pictorial scene or subject could. Intriguingly, these 60 61

In his chapter in this volume, Phillip Bloom likewise finds that ritual paintings served a similar purpose in ceremonies like the Arhat Offering Ritual. Similar cases are found in the Xuanhua Liao tombs, which offer a series of examples of modular designs. It is striking to note that many pictorial scenes, arrangements of the subjects, as well as postures of certain figurines, are presented in similar ways in tombs M3, M6, M7 and M10. The parallels suggest the tombs and their decoration were made within the same tradition. Textual sources discovered in the tombs reveal that the same group of artisans worked on them. For references of the Xuanhua tombs, see Hebei sheng wenwu yanjiusuo, Xuanhua Liaomu.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

71

formulaic units were sometimes interchangeable. Lothar Ledderose, who first raised this issue, noted that the ancient Chinese devised production systems to assemble objects from standardized parts.62 He named the parts “modules” and argued that they were prefabricated in great quantity and could be assembled quickly in different combinations, creating an extensive variety from a limited repertoire of components. It is thought-provoking to consider that Song and Jin tombs also present several levels of “modules.” First, a single pictorial scene can be regarded as a basic unit and is sometimes painted with a black outline. This kind of unit could consist of certain formulaic elements. Banquet scenes in different tombs, for instance, show a rather standard composition and set of elements. Second, a group of scenes constitutes a larger unit that may occupy a certain register or several walls of a tomb chamber. The unit also consists of standardized parts and indicates a more integrated sense of subjects and an organizational sequence. Third, the whole pictorial program in tombs may have been assembled from a set of conventional themes, including domestic scenes, filial scenes, and images of immortals. It seems that there existed a pool of subjects among which artisans were able to select what to carve or paint. Lastly, in addition to the overall pictorial program, architectural elements such as eaves or bracket sets were likewise interchangeable building blocks. They were prefabricated and put together in varying combinations to make different kinds of timber frame architecture. In other words, the tomb itself was also a product of modular construction. When artisans built tombs, they might have simply followed a sketchbook or painting manual. Yet it is more likely that the artisans knew a set of modular pictorial and architectural components and certain rules for combining them.63 Emphasizing the use of a modular program in tombs does not deny that elements developed over time, and there was room for creativity. The choice of particular pictorial subjects afforded a certain freedom. A major principle in creating new combinations is the exchange of one module for another. The rules about which positions certain subjects appear in were relatively fixed, but sometimes in the same register the locations of pictorial scenes could vary. Furthermore, artisans would also be influenced by their own experiences and 62

63

Ledderose, Ten Thousand Things. Ledderose argues that the ancient Chinese devised production systems to assemble objects from standardized parts and these systems conformed to a distinctly Chinese pattern of thought. What artisans learned from their masters may not have been simply transmitted by means of model books and oral formulae, but also embedded in a workshop tradition. This tradition would have involved a selection of pictorial subjects and the ways of presenting and organizing them. Both model sketches and formulae were different ways these traditions were transmitted.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

72

Deng

artistic impulses. To some extent, artisans may have produced innovative designs by using modular components. The use of modular designs in tomb making sheds light on a more fundamental issue concerning how artisans worked in Middle Period China. Such modular construction was not confined to funerary examples, and many comparative cases existed in visual culture during the tenth and thirteenth cen­turies, such as mass-produced printed frontispieces from Hangzhou, temple murals made by workshop painters in Shanxi, and portable Buddhist paintings produced by the Southern Song Ningbo workshops, a subject discussed in Phillip Bloom’s chapter in this volume.64 Artisans employed more and more recyclable modular motifs to compose prints, paintings, murals, and funerary art. The modular construction is reflected in the large quantities of units, division of labor, proportional rather than absolute scales, and production methods.65

Conclusion

Building a decorated tomb requires not only a model sketch or a design manual but also a series of complex technical processes. These include the procedures for making brick or clay reliefs, building the chamber, trimming and plastering tomb walls, and painting the interiors, which together result in the elaborate brick tomb with various decorations, notably carvings and paintings. The similarity of pictorial scenes and tomb structure among different tombs suggests the use of molds or fenben and a repertoire of interchangeable modules. All of these were embedded in a broader context of modular construction and architectural culture from the tenth to thirteenth centuries, during which there seems to have been a growing awareness of architectural and pictorial form and style, components and meanings, not limited to artisans’ know-how and skill set, but “impinging on and interrelated with institutions, society, and the economy,” to borrow Wei-cheng Lin’s words.66 64

65

66

For recent scholarship on workshop practice and modular construction, see Ide, Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga; “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu shiron,” 254–59; Meng, “Yuandai Yong­­legong yu Xinghuasi bihua,” 262-82; Meng, Yuandai Jinnan siguan bihua qun yanjiu; Huang, “Media Transfer and Modular Construction”; and “Tang Song shiqi fojiao banhua,” 385-434. Ledderose discusses major principles relating to the issue of creativity and argues that when people develop systems of modular production they adopt principles that were used in creating objects and shapes. See Ledderose, Ten Thousand Things, Chapter 1. Lin, “Underground Wooden Architecture,” 13.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

73

Unlike Tang painted tombs that usually contain a rich collection of ceramic tomb figures, only a few decorated tombs in Song and Jin Northern China contain such objects.67 In addition, the media chosen for Song burials were also different from Tang ones. Tomb makers tended to choose carvings or paintings rather than real and replica objects to furnish the tombs. It appears that a modification of tomb contents occurred between the Tang and Song periods. This indicates a transformation of Chinese burial practices during the tenth and eleventh centuries which perhaps reflects social or intellectual change. Further investigation of these changes is hindered by the limited number of archaeological finds and the brevity of excavation reports. However, it is likely that the development of decorated brick tombs was closely related to their prevalence among middle class people in the middle and late Song periods. From the latter half of the eleventh century onwards, there was a general trend in which these kinds of tombs became popular among wealthy commoners, who were probably landlords or the urban well-to-do.68 They did not hold official positions, but were rich enough to afford a luxurious tomb decorated with paintings, carvings, or both. In contrast, official tombs of the Song period were simply constructed and plainly decorated.69 This contrast between Tang and Song burials may reflect the emergence of a middle class. Given that most Tang painted tombs were prepared for imperial family members and high-ranking officials, it is easy to understand why Song tombs for lower-ranking people

67

68

69

The Baisha 白沙 tombs in Yuxian 禹縣 in Henan, for instance, only included a few ceramic bowls and coins which are common in many other examples in northern China. Tomb figures that were made in high-fired porcelain seem to have been popular in areas of southern China such as present-day Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. The function of Song ceramic tomb figures was significantly different from those of the Tang. They were generally not intended to provide earthly attendants such as servants and soldiers, but to represent aspects of the unseen world of the cosmos. For a discussion of Song grave goods, see Rawson, “Changes in the Representations of Life and the Afterlife,” 36-37. It is likely that most of the unidentified tomb occupants may have also belonged to these social classes because some illegible inscriptions or land contracts instead of epitaphs are found in their tombs. Given that a Song official would likely have had an epitaph containing his official title, the unidentified tomb occupants may not have ever held any such title. I would assume that most Song and Jin decorated tombs were made for these landlords or urban merchants. The difference between officials’ and commoners’ tombs may have resulted from the government’s strict policy on frugality in making and furnishing tombs. For example, the Song government issued several orders prohibiting officials from using sarcophagi or decorating their coffins or tombs. See Song shi 宋史 124.2909.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

74

Deng

would look different.70 Restrictions by the Song government played a less important role in the construction and furnishing of commoners’ tombs. Instead, the skills and traditions of local artisans or workshops began to shape how a tomb was decorated and furnished.71 The prevalence of decorated tombs among the middle class in the Song and Jin periods can be understood as a consequence of economic development. Agricultural advances and a booming trade network in China since the ninth century had produced a prosperous society. This flourishing market economy began evolving and spread widely to different regions, influencing social customs and cultural traditions.72 A new group of wealthy commoners began to appear. At the same time, economic changes also influenced other aspects of society, such as governmental tax policy, population increase, and technological development. These may all be considered as part of the social and cultural background from which decorated tombs developed in north China. In this context, the accumulation of commoners’ wealth may have fostered the construction of decorated tombs. When wealthy commoners could afford extravagant burials, they demanded tombs with elaborate architectural elements and various forms of decoration. The expenses involved in making decorated tombs testify to the tomb occupants’ wealth.73 At the same time, the evolving traditions and skills among craftsmen and artisans may have been additional important stimuli in changing tomb construction. Professionals 70

71

72 73

Royal and official funerals and tombs were largely restricted by the Tang ritual code. The directives for official funerals are codified in the Da Tang Kaiyuan li 大唐開元禮 of 732. For a discussion of this ritual code see McMullen, “Bureaucrats and Cosmology.” Judging from extant sources, it seems that no regulations could effectively restrict the construction of these luxurious tombs for commoners. Instead, the regulations would mainly restrict the activities of officials. Customs and beliefs had more influence on the burial practices as well as funeral traditions than governmental policies, though the policies may have sometimes regulated tomb structure, coffins, and tomb goods. For representative works on the Tang-Song transition, see Bol, “This Culture of Ours”; Kuhn, The Age of Confucian Rule. For example, Zheng Xu’s 鄭緒 tomb found at Qixian 祀縣 in Henan contains a stone epitaph related to such costs: “This site of the grave is so deep and solid that it can survive for millions of years. The structure of [Zheng Xu’s] coffin is also very grand. The tomb is carved with an image of a residence with balustrades and portals. It has been done with the most consummate skill yet cost thousands of strings of copper cash. The earnestness that has gone into it is supreme” 塋兆深固可千萬歲, 靈柩之制, 亦甚宏大. 雕刻丹□ 為欄檻樓宇之象, 極于完善, 費僅千緡, 其誠心可謂至矣. Although this epitaph does not reveal the exact cost of a decorated tomb, the “thousands of strings of copper cash” provide an indication of the expense at that time. For the tomb of Zheng Xu, see Kaifeng shi wenwu gongzuodui, Kaifeng kaogu faxian yu yanjiu, 205-208.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

75

involved in making tombs included ritual specialists, makers or sellers of coffins and tomb goods, and artisans such as masons, sculptors, and painters who could build and decorate stone or brick tombs for moderately well-off clients. The preparation of funerals and burials had become relatively commercial at the time. People probably engaged these craftsmen once they needed to prepare a tomb.74 All these factors gave rise to the modular construction of decorated tombs, a fundamental method underlining the production of arts and crafts made by professional artisans, and thus a key component of China’s visual and material culture. Wealthy commoners had the resources to commission highly decorated tombs imitating timber buildings, and requested artisans to create an eternal dwelling and to equip it with diverse pictorial subjects. The con­ struction of decorated tombs resulted from the interaction between the family of the deceased and artisans.75 On the one hand, Song tombs were customdesigned creations, built for the deceased and their moderately wealthy families. Thus the artisans had to accommodate the needs of both the deceased and their family within a system of prefabrication that allowed tombs as dwellings for the dead to be constructed and decorated by using standardized design modules. On the other hand, we could well imagine that only rarely did the family have specific wishes in terms of pictorial subject or tomb design. In that case, artisans would have probably chosen motifs from their own groups of modular elements.

74

75

Several sections in the Zaling 雜賃 and Yanhui Jialin 筵會假賃 in Meng Yuanlao 孟元 老’s (fl. 1126-1147) Dongjing menghua lu 東京夢華錄 describe different categories of these professionals. See Dongjing menghua lu 4.126. The Dongjing menghua lu was compiled around 1147. It describes life in the Northern Song capital of Bianliang 汴梁 based on the author’s reminiscences of his youthful years there. This work provides much information on people’s daily lives and activities and the social customs of the Northern Song Dynasty. The construction of tombs may have resulted from communications and compromises between the family of the deceased and artisans. Many scholars, such as Wu Hung, Martin Powers and Lillian Lan-ying Tseng, have been concerned with this issue. See Wu, Monumentality in Chinese Art and Architecture, Chapter 4; Powers, Art and Political Expression, 1-30; Tseng, “Zuofang, getao yu diyu zi chuantong,” 44-45.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

76

Deng



References



Primary Sources



Secondary Sources

Dongjing menghua lu 東京夢華錄, by Meng Yuanlao 孟元老 (fl. 1126-1147). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004. Song shi 宋史, by Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (1313-1355) et al. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977. Tuhua jianwen zhi 圖畫見聞志, by Guo Ruoxu 郭若虛 (fl. 1070-1075). Nanjing: Jiangsu meishu chubanshe, 2007. Yingzao fashi 營造法式, by Li Jie 李誡 (1035-1110). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1992.

Baldwin, Michelle. “Monumental Wall Paintings of the Assembly of the Buddha from Shanxi Province: Historiography, Iconography, Three Styles, and a New Chronology.” Artiblus Asiae 53. 3/4 (1994), 241-67. Barbieri-Low, Anthony. Artisans in Early Imperial China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. Bol, Peter K. “This Culture of Ours”: Intellectual Transitions in T’ang and Sung China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992. Cahill, James. The Painter’s Practice: How Artist Lived and Worked in Traditional China. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Clunas, Craig. Screen of Kings: Royal Art and Power in Ming China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’I Press, 2013. Chai Zejun 柴澤俊 and He Dalong 賀大龍. Shanxi fosi bihua 山西佛寺壁畫. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2006. Dai Zunde 戴尊德. “Shanxi Xiangfen Jin mu qingli jianbao” 山西襄汾金墓清理簡報. Wenwu 10 (1989), 11-23. Deng Fei 鄧菲. “From Virtuous Paragons to Efficacious Images: Paintings of Filial Sons in Song Tombs.” In Face to Face. The Transcendence of the Arts in China and Beyond, Historical Perspectives, edited by Rui Oliveira Lopes, 228-50. Lisbon: Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa, 2014. Deng Fei. “Guanyu Song Jin muzang zhong xiaoxingtu de sikao” 關於宋金墓葬中孝行 圖的思考. Zhongyuan wenwu 4 (2009), 75-81. Dong Rui 董睿. “Handai kongxinzhuan de zhizuo gongyi” 漢代空心磚的製作工藝. Huaxia Kaogu 2 (2014), 68-74; 141. Dong Xinlin 董新林. “Bei Song Jin Yuan muzang bishi suojian ershisixiao gushi yu Gaoli xiaoxinglu” 北宋金元墓葬壁飾所見《二十四孝》故事與高麗《孝行錄》. Huaxia kaogu 2 (2009), 141-52. Dong Xiang 董祥. “Yanshi xian Jiuliugou shuiku Song mu” 偃師縣酒流溝水庫宋墓. Wenwu 9 (1959), 84.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

77

Fraser, Sarah. “Formulas of Creativity: Artist’s Sketches and Techniques of Copying at Dunhuang.” Artibus Asiae 59.3/4 (2000), 189-224. Fraser, Sarah. Performing the Visual: The Practice of Buddhist Wall Painting in China and Central Asia, 618–960. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. Fraser, Sarah. “Regimes of Production: The Use of Pounces in Temple Construction.” Orientations 37.9 (1996), 69-79. Gesterkamp, Lennert. The Heavenly Court: Daoist Temple Painting in China, 1200-1400. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Hebei sheng wenwu yanjiusuo 河北省文物研究所. “Hebei Pingshan xian Liangcha Song mu” 河北平山縣兩岔宋墓. Kaogu 9 (2000), 49-59. Hebei sheng wenwu yanjiusuo. Xuanhua Liaomu 宣化遼墓. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 2001. Henan sheng bowuguan 河南省博物館, “Henan Jiaozuo Jin mu fajue jianbao” 河南焦 作金墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 8 (1979), 1-11. Hong, Jeehee. “Theatricalizing Death: In Performance Images of Mid-Imperial China.” PhD diss. University of Chicago, 2008. Hong, Jeehee. “Virtual Theater of the Dead: Actor Figurines and their Stage in Houma Tomb No.1 Shanxi Province.” Artibus Asiae 71.1 (2011), 75-114. Hong, Jeehee. Theater of the Dead: A Social Turn in Chinese Funerary Art, 1000-1400. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2016. Huang Shishan 黃士珊. “Cong Yonglegong bihua tan Yuandai Jinnan zhiye huafang de bihua zhizuo” 從永樂宮壁畫談元代晉南職業畫坊的壁畫製作. Master’s thesis, University of Taiwan, 1995. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Media Transfer and Modular Construction: The Printing of Lotus Sutra Frontipieces in Song China.” Ars Orientalis 41 (2011), 135-63. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Tang Song shiqi fojiao banhua zhong suojian de meijie zhuanhua yu zimo sheji” 唐宋時期佛教版畫中所見的媒介轉化與子模設計. In Yishushi zhong de Han Jin yu Tang Song zhi bian 藝術史中的漢晉與唐宋之變, edited by Shih Shouqian 石守謙 and Yan Quanying 顏娟英, 385-434. Taipei: Shitou Chubanshe, 2014. Ide, Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu shiron” 大徳寺伝來五 百羅漢図試論. In Seichi Ninpō: Nihon Bukkyō 1300-nen no genryū: subete wa koko kara yatte kita 聖地寧波: 日本仏教1300 年の源流: すべてはここからやって来た, edited by Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 254-59. Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2009. Ide, Seinosuke. Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga 日本の宋元仏畫. Nihon no bijutsu 418. Tokyo: Shibundō, 2001. Jiang Yingyu 蔣英炬 and Yang Aiguo 楊愛國. Handai huaxiang shi yu huaxiang zhuan 漢代畫像石與畫像磚. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2003. Kaifeng shi wenwu gongzuodui 開封市文物工作隊. Kaifeng kaogu faxian yu yanjiu 開 封考古發現與研究. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1998.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

78

Deng

Katz, Paul. Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Kuhn, Dieter. The Age of Confucian Rule: The Song Transformation of China. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. Kuhn, Dieter. A Place for the Dead: An Archaeological Documentary on Graves and Tombs of the Song Dynasty (960–1279). Heidelberg: Würzburger Sinologische Schriften, 1996. Laing, Ellen Johnston. “Chin ‘Tartar’ Dynasty (1115-1234) Material Culture.” Artibus Asiae 49.1/2 (1988-1989), 73-126. Laing, Ellen Johnston. “Patterns and Problems in Later Chinese Tomb Decoration.” Journal of Oriental Studies 16.1-2 (1978), 3-20. Ledderose, Lothar. Ten Thousand Things: Module and Mass Production in Chinese Art. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998. Li Hui 李慧. “Shanxi Xiangfeng Houcun Jindai jinian zhuandiao mu” 山西襄汾侯村金 代紀年磚雕墓. Wenwu 2 (2008), 36-40. Li Qingquan 李清泉. “Fenben: cong Xuanhua Liaomu bihua kan gudai huagong de gongzuo moshi” 粉本—從宣化遼墓壁畫看古代畫工的工作模式. Nanjing yishu xueyuan xuebao 南京藝術學院學報 1 (2004), 36-39. Li Qingquan. “Kongjian luoji yu shijue yiwei: Song Liao Jin mu furen qimen tu xinlun 空間邏輯與視覺意味: 宋遼金墓婦人啟門圖新論.” In Gudai muzang meishu yanjiu 古代墓葬美術研究, edited by Wu Hung 巫鴻 and Zheng Yan 鄭岩, 329-62. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1, 2011. Liao Ben 廖奔. “Beisong zaju yiren xiaoxiang diaozhuan de faxian”北宋雜劇藝人肖像 雕磚的發現. Zhongyuan wenwu 4 (2015), 94-95. Liao Ben. “Song Jin Yuan fangmu jiegou zhuandiao mu jiqi yuewu zhuangshi” 宋金元 仿木結構磚雕墓及其樂舞裝飾. Wenwu 5 (2000), 83-85. Liao Ben. Song Yuan xiqu wenwu yu minsu 宋元戲曲文物與民俗. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 1989. Liao Ben. Zhongguo xiju tushi 中國戲劇圖史. Zhengzhou: Henan jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996. Lin, Wei-Cheng. “Underground Wooden Architecture in Brick: A Changed Perspective from life to Death in 10th- through 13th-Century Northern China.” Archives of Asian Art 61 (2011), 3-36. Luo Houjin 羅火金 and Wang Zaijian 王再建. “Henan Wenxian Xiguan Song mu” 河南 溫縣西關宋墓. Huaxia Kaogu 1 (1996), 17-23. Luoyang shi dier wenwu gongzuodui 洛陽市第二文物工作隊. “Luoyang Yichuan diaozhuan mu fajue jianbao” 洛陽伊川雕磚墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 4 (2005), 62-69. Luoyang shi dier wenwu gongzuodui. “Songxian Beiyuancun Songdai bihua mu” 嵩縣 北元村宋代壁畫墓. Zhongyuan wenwu 3 (1987), 41-42. Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui 洛陽市文物工作隊. “Henan Xin’an xian Songcun Beisong diaozhuan bihua mu” 河南新安縣宋村北宋雕磚壁畫墓. Kaogu yu wenwu 3 (1998), 22-27.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

79

Luoyang shi wenwu gongzuodui. “Luoyang Luolongqu Guanlinmiao Songdai zhuandiao mu fajue jianbao” 洛陽洛龍區關林廟宋代磚雕墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 8 (2011), 31-46. Luoyang shi wenwu guanliju 洛陽市文物管理局. Luoyang gudai muzang bihua 洛陽古 代墓葬壁畫. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 2010. Maeda, Robert. “Some Song, Chin, and Yuan Presentations of Actors.” Artibus Asiae 41.2/3 (1979), 132-56. McMullen, David. “Bureaucrats and Cosmology: the Ritual Code of Tang China.” In Rituals of Royalty, Power and Ceremonial in Traditional Societies, edited by David Cannadine and Simon Price, 181-236. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Meng Sihui 孟嗣徽. Yuandai Jinnan siguan bihua qun yanjiu 元代晉南寺觀壁畫群研究. Beijing: Zijincheng chubanshe, 2011. Meng Sihui. “Yuandai Yonglegong yu Xinghuasi bihua: yi Xiangling huashi Zhu Haogu wei zhongxin” 元代永樂宮與興化寺壁畫: 以襄陵畫師朱好古為中心. In Daojiao meishu xinlun: diyijie daojiao meishushi guoji yantaohui lunwenji 道教美術新論: 第一屆 道教美術史國際研討會論文集, edited by Li Song 李凇, 268-82. Ji’nan: Shandong meishu chubanshe, 2008. Powers, Martin. Art and political Expression in Early China. New Haven: Yale University, 1992. Qin Lingyun 秦嶺雲. Minjian huagong shiliao 民間畫工史料. Beijing: Zhongguo gudian yishu chubanshe, 1958. Qin Dashu 秦大樹. Song Yuan Ming kaogu 宋元明考古. Beijing: Wenwu Chubanshe, 2004. Rawson, Jessica. “Changes in the Representations of Life and the Afterlife as Illustrated by the Contents of Tombs of the Tang and Sung Periods.” In Arts of the Sung and Yuan, edited by Maxwell Hearn and Judith Smith, 23-43. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Sha, Wutian 沙武田. Dunhuang huagao yanjiu 敦煌畫稿研究. Beijing: Zhongyang bianyi chubanshe, 2007. Shang Tongliu 商彤流 and Guo Hailin 郭海林. “Shanxi Qinxian faxian Jindai zhuandiao mu” 山西沁縣發現金代磚雕墓. Wenwu 6 (2000), 60-73. Shanxi sheng gujianzhu baohu yanjiusuo 山西省古建築保護研究所. Shanxi siguan bihua 山西寺觀壁畫. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1997. Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo 山西省考古研究所. Pingyang Jin mu zhuandiao 平陽金 墓磚雕. Taiyuan: Shanxi renmin chubanshe, 1999. Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo Houma gongzuozhan 山西省考古研究所侯馬工作站. “Shanxi Jishan Macun 4 hao Jin mu” 山西稷山馬村4 號金墓. Wenwu jikan 4 (1997), 41-51. Shanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo Houma gongzuozhan. “Houma 102 hao Jin mu” 侯馬102 號金墓. Wenwu jikan 4 (1997), 28-40.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

80

Deng

Shanxi sheng wenguanhui Houma gongzuozhan 山西省文管會侯馬工作站. “Houma Jindai Dongshi mu jieshao” 侯馬金代董氏墓介紹. Wenwu 6 (1959), 50-55. Steinhardt, Nancy Shatzman. “Zhu Haogu Reconsidered: A New Date for the ROM Painting and the Southern Shanxi Buddhist-Daoist Style.” Artibus Asiae 48 (1987), 5-38. Sun Sheng 孫升. “Henan Song mu bihua secai yanjiu” 河南宋墓壁畫色彩研究. M.A. thesis, University of Zhengzhou, 2012. Tao Fuhai 陶富海. “Shanxi Xiangfen xian Nandong Jin mu qingli jianbao” 山西襄汾縣 南董金墓清理簡報. Wenwu 8 (1979), 18-25. Tseng, Lillian Lan-ying 曾藍瑩. “Zuofang, getao yu diyu zi chuantong: cong Shandong Anqiu Dongjiazhuang Han mu de zhizuo hengji tanqi” 作坊、格套與地域子傳統： 從山東安丘董家莊漢墓的製作痕跡談起. Guoli Taiwan daxue meishushi yanjiu jikan 8 (2000), 33-86. Wang Guowei 王國維, “Guhua zhuanba” 古畫磚跋. In Guantang jilin 觀堂集林, bieji 別 集. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959. Wang Shucun 王樹村. Zhongguo minjian huajue 中國民間畫訣. Beijing: Beijing gongyi meishu chubanshe, 2003. Wu, Hung. The Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs. Honolulu: Uni­ ver­sity of Hawai‘i Press, 2010. Wu, Hung. Monumentality in Early Chinese Art and Architecture. Stanford: Standford Uni­versity Press, 1995. Yang Fudou 楊富鬥. “Shanxi Houma 104 hao Jin mu” 山西侯馬 104 號金墓. Kaogu yu Wenwu 6 (1983), 32-39. Yi Qing 易晴. “Song Jin zhongyuan diqu bihua mu ‘muzhuren dui (bing) zuo’ tuxiang tanxi” 宋金中原地區壁畫墓‘墓主人對(並) 坐’圖像探析. Zhongyuan wenwu 2 (2011), 73–80. Xing Yitian 邢義田. Hua wei xinsheng: huaxiangshi, huaxiangzhuan yu bihua 畫為心 聲——畫像石、畫像磚與壁畫. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2011. Xu Pingfang 徐蘋芳. “Songdai de zaju diaozhuan” 宋代的雜劇雕磚. Wenwu 5 (1960), 40-42. Xu Pingfang. Zhongguo da baike quanshu: kaoguxue 中國大百科全書·考古學. Beijing: Zhongguo dabaike quanshu chubanshe, 1986. Zhang Fan 張帆. “Yubei he Jinnan Song Jin mu zaju xingxiang de bijiao yanjiu” 豫北和 晉南宋金墓雜劇形象的比較研究. Zhongyuan Wenwu 4 (2009), 83-84. Zhang Peng 張鵬. “ ‘Fenben’, ‘yang’ yu Zhongguo bihua chuangzuo: jiantan Zhongguo gudai de yishu jiaoyu” ‘粉本’、‘樣’與中國壁畫創作: 兼談中國古代的藝術教育. Meiyuan 1 (2005), 55-58. Zhang Peng. “Mianshi yu yuqing: Song Jin muzang bihua zhong de yizhuo eryi dao fufu gongzuo” 勉世與娛情 ──宋金墓葬壁畫中的一桌二椅到夫婦共坐. Meishu yanjiu 4 (2010), 55-64.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Modular Design of Tombs in Song-Jin North China

81

Zhang Siqing 張思青 and Wu Yongzheng 武永政. “Wenxian Song mu fajue jianbao” 溫 縣宋墓發掘簡報. Zhongyuan wenwu 1 (1983), 19-20. Zhang Zhuoyuan 張卓遠. Handai huaxiang zhuanshi muzang de jianzhuxue yanjiu 漢 代畫像磚石墓葬的建築學研究. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 2011. Zhao Chao 趙超. “Shanxi Huguan Nancun Songdai zhuandiao mu” 山西壺關南村宋代 磚雕墓. Wenwu 2 (1997), 41-50. Zhao Ran 趙冉. “Song Yuan muzang zhong bangti, tiji yanjiu” 宋元墓葬中榜題、題記 研究. Nanfang wenwu 1 (2012), 87-94. Zheng Lijun 鄭立君. Titu kexiang: Handai huaxiangshi de diaoke gongyi yu chengxiang fangshi 剔圖刻像: 漢代畫像石的雕刻工藝與成像方式. Chongqing: Chongqing daxue chubanshe, 2010. Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 鄭州市文物考古研究所. Zhengzhou Song Jin bihua mu yanjiu 鄭州宋金壁畫墓研究. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2005. Zhengzhou shi wenwu kaogu yanjiuyuan 鄭州市文物考古研究院. “Henan Dengfeng Tangzhuang Songdai bihua mu fajue jianbao” 河南登封唐莊宋代壁畫墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 9 (2012), 35-50. Zhou Yibai 周貽白. “Beisong muzang zhong renwu diaozhuan de yanjiu” 北宋墓葬中 人物雕磚的研究. Wenwu 10 (1961), 41-46.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

82

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting* Phillip E. Bloom At first glance, occultism and empiricism might seem to make an odd couple.1 The former points us to hidden supramundane realms far distant from, and perhaps far less tangible than, that in which we lead our lives; the latter directs us to the systematized study and recording of phenomena accessible to the senses. Yet lying at the heart of many texts and paintings of the Middle Period is an intriguing tension between these two ostensibly incommensurable approaches to the world. The Yijian zhi 夷堅志, the 420-fascicle collection of “tales of the strange” (zhiguai 志怪) compiled by the scholar-official Hong Mai 洪邁 (1123-1202) between 1143 and 1200, is perhaps the best-known exemplar of this phenomenon.2 In it, fantastic encounters between humans and spirits are recounted in a purely documentary manner, devoid of the moralizing or speculation about the workings of the cosmos that earlier compendia often contained.3 Even more significantly, the particular details of each of these experiences of the supramundane—that is, the date on which the episode took place, the location in which it occurred, the names of the persons involved, and the name of the person who reported the story to Hong Mai—are, whenever possible, recorded with absolute precision. Fascinated by supramundane * The research for this chapter was supported by fellowships from the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. I sincerely thank Shih-shan Susan Huang, Patricia Ebrey, Eugene Y. Wang, Yukio Lippit, Ide Seinosuke, Itakura Masaaki, and Yurika Wakamatsu for their thoughtful comments on various earlier drafts of this chapter. 1 I use the latter term in its common sense of the privileging of knowledge derived from observation, experience, and experiment rather than abstract theory. See, for example, MerriamWebster.com, s.v. “empiricism,” accessed November 20, 2016, . Although the term has found currency in various fields of aesthetic discourse, especially concerning photography, my use of it is not intended as a reference, however oblique, to such discussions. 2 Yijian zhi; on the history of the text, see Hansen, Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276; Davis, Society and the Supernatural in Song China; Inglis, Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener. 3 On earlier “tales of the strange,” see Dudbridge, Religious Experience and Lay Society; Campany, Strange Writing; Signs from the Unseen Realm.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi Patricia 10.1163/9789004349377_004 Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

83

phenomenon invisible to many, Hong Mai sought to render them as present as possible to his readers. Hong Mai’s editorial approach gives clear expression to this tension that seems to have characterized the Song experience of the world more generally. On the one hand, it is evident that people at all levels of society in the Song were hounded by gods and ghosts; from the loftiest of scholar-officials (who might be expected to deny the existence and influence of supramundane specters) to the lowliest of peasants, none was exempt from the possibility of supernatural harassment. On the other hand, there was a simultaneous obsession with ordering and rationalizing the world; every experience needed to be recorded, catalogued, quantified, and accounted for.4 This tension seems to have posed a particularly productive challenge to painters of the period, who developed a sophisticated visual culture of religion and ritual to render the occult as present as possible. Nowhere is this phenomenon made clearer than in the numerous painted hanging scrolls crafted for use in large-scale Buddhist and Daoist offertory rituals, such as the Buddhist Arhat Offering (luohan gong 羅漢供),5 Water-Land Retreat (shuilu zhai 水陸齋),6 and Golden Light Repentance Ritual (jinguangming chanfa 金光明懺法)7 and the Daoist Retreat of the Yellow Register (huanglu zhai 黃籙齋).8 In these various liturgies, gods and ghosts alike were summoned to assemble in a ritual arena (daochang 道 場) in a highly ordered, hierarchical manner. A variety of offerings, both alimentary and spiritual, were then presented to them. Such offerings served two ends. On the one hand, they ensured that benevolent spirits might continue to bring benefits to their mundane supplicants. In the Buddhist context, these figures included heavenly devas (tian 天) and arhats (luohan 羅漢)—disciples of the historical buddha Śākyamuni who came to be worshipped widely in 4 For example, flower collections could not be praised without touching upon their price, as Egan, Problem of Beauty, 133-39, discusses. Karmic merit, too, was quantified in monetary terms; see Hou, Monnaies d’offrande; Huang, Picturing the True Form, 239-40. 5 On arhat worship in China, see Liu, “Songdai de luohan xinyang”; Joo, “Arhat Cult in China”; Michihata, Rakan shinkōshi, 37-184. 6 For the best introduction to the Water-Land Retreat in any language, see Stevenson, “Text, Image, and Transformation.” A more comprehensive account, including references to recent scholarship, may be found in Bloom, “Descent of the Deities.” 7 Lin, Sōdai Tendai kyōgaku, esp. 660-793; Taniguchi, “Seiryōji Shaka nyorai.” 8 On the Retreat of the Yellow Register, see Huang, Picturing the True Form, 243-80, 333-38. The Water-Land and Yellow Register Retreats are insightfully compared in Davis, Society and the Supernatural in Song China, 227-41. More comprehensive overviews of Buddhist and Daoist ritual during the Song may be found in Stevenson, “Buddhist Ritual in the Song”; Matsumoto, “Daoism and Popular Religion in the Song.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

84

Bloom

China for their possession of a variety of supernatural powers (shentongli 神通 力). On the other hand, offerings to ghosts and other unruly spirits maintained the separation of such beings from the human realm, as rancorous specters were exorcised and transformed into higher classes of beings spatially and ontologically removed from the human realm. Such rituals were characterized, then, by the repeated, albeit temporary, dissolution and reestablishment of the boundaries between the spaces of humans and spirits. Thus, artists producing works for use in this wide range of rituals were faced with the challenge of rendering the irruption of the supramundane into mundane space in a direct, sensorially accessible manner. Their attempts to respond to this challenge spurred the development of a new visual culture of ritual—a visual culture that, I will argue, posits ritual and representation as parallel acts of mediation.9 In this chapter, I explore this new visual culture of ritual in Middle Period China through case studies of three individual hanging scrolls drawn from a larger set of one hundred Southern Song paintings. Rendered in ink, colors, and gold on silk and now largely held by Daitokuji 大德寺 in Kyoto, Japan, the paintings collectively depict the five hundred arhats (wubai luohan 五百羅 漢), semi-human, semi-divine figures who were thought to dwell in the Tiantai Mountains 天台山 south of Mingzhou 明州 (modern-day Ningbo 寧波, Zhe­ jiang Province).10 Each scroll in the set includes five arhats, who are shown in a variety of settings both mundane and supramundane. On the one hand, they are depicted bathing, copying sutras, and taking part in the daily activities of monastic life familiar to any Song-dynasty monk; on the other hand, they are represented performing supernatural feats, participating in episodes drawn from Buddhist history, and soaring through the cosmos on clouds.11 Most 9 10

11

For a fuller treatment of these issues, see Bloom, Nebulous Intersections. The set was probably imported to Japan during the thirteenth century. Eighty-two of the original one hundred scrolls now survive in the collection of Daitokuji, ten scrolls are held in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and two are in the collection of the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC. For the most recent overviews of the history of the production of the set, see Ide, “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu no seiritsu haikei (shōzen)”; “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu shiron”; Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga, 66-71. Foundational studies in English include Fong, “Five Hundred Lohans at the Daitokuji”; The Lohans and a Bridge to Heaven; Beyond Representation, 343-48. For more recent English-language discussions of the paintings, see Huang, “The Triptych of Daoist Deities of Heaven, Earth and Water,” 12947; Lippit, “Ningbo Buddhist Painting”; “Daitokuji 500 Luohans”; Fong, Art as History, 21570. On the history of the transmission of the scrolls, see Taniguchi, “Kimura Tokuō hitsu Gohyaku rakan zu.” The modern fate of the scrolls is treated in Levine, Daitokuji, 287-313. Throughout the Daitokuji set (and in most arhat paintings more generally), the division between supramundane “arhat” and mundane “monk” is rarely clear. The ontologically

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

85

intri­guingly, several scrolls show the arhats engaged in the performance of liturgical activities, including the Arhat Offering, the Water-Land Retreat, and various mortuary and offertory rites. In providing these myriad views of the arhats’ activities, the set furnishes a comprehensive visual overview of Song Buddhist practice, mytho-history, and doctrine; as such, the paintings might be said to collectively argue for the efficacy of this religious system. Inscriptions on forty-eight of the paintings indicate that the set was crafted by two artists, Lin Tinggui 林庭珪 and Zhou Jichang 周季常, and their studios between 1178 and 1188 for the small temple of Huianyuan 惠安院 on the outskirts of Mingzhou.12 A monk named Yishao 義紹 spearheaded the project, soliciting donations throughout the Jiangnan region. Unfortunately, the inscriptions provide little further information other than the names and generic prayers of the patrons, only one of whom appears in other historical records. Contextual studies of the arhat cult during the Song have suggested that the paintings are likely to have been crafted to be hung during performances of the Arhat Offering, a feast in honor of the arhats that focused especially on the offering of tea, as well as incense and various foods.13 In the Song, this comparatively simple liturgy, which generated the production of vast numbers of sculptures and paintings, found favor among monks and laity alike as a means of supplicating for rain, generating merit for the living and the dead, and ensuring safe childbirth, among other ends. Having been eulogized and painted by the great monk-poet Guanxiu 貫休 (832-912), arhat paintings also became the subject of extensive poetic commentary by Song scholar-officials, as well as beloved objects of collection.14 As paintings that simultaneously depict ritual and were crafted to be hung in ritual—in other words, paintings that both show the mediation of the mundane and the supramundane and participate in that act of mediation—the three works that are the focus of this chapter provide unparalleled insights into the visual culture of ritual in the Song. Importantly, each offers a different solution to the tension outlined at the beginning of this chapter. In its depiction of the Arhat Offering, the very ritual for which the Daitokuji Five Hundred

12 13

14

liminal status of these semi-divine figures seems to have been a great part of their appeal to Song worshippers and artists. Kondō, “Nihon Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu meibun,” 262-67. On the Arhat Offering Ritual, see Liu, “Songdai de luohan xinyang,” 726-46; Joo, “Arhat Cult in China,” 291-342; “Ritual of Arhat Invitation.” The ritual continues to be performed in some temples in Japan, such as Engakuji 円覚寺 in Kamakura 鎌倉, where sets of scrolls depicting both the five hundred arhats and the sixteen arhats are hung during its performance. Joo, “Arhat Cult in China,” 67-173; Michihata, Rakan shinkōshi, 117-83.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

86

Bloom

Arhats were crafted, the first of the three paintings that will be examined controverts compositional convention to give the viewer a direct vision of the supramundane (Figures 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3). In the second painting, a sophisticated stratigraphy of pigmentation suggests the material manifestation of spirits within the ritual arena of the Water-Land Retreat, creating a link between ritualized processes of visualization (guanxiang 觀想) and painterly processes of representation (Figures 2.4 and 2.5). Finally, a figure of ambiguous identity sutures the viewer into the third painting, providing a visual entry into the complex dynamics of internal and external ritual action (Figure 2.6). Ultimately, the three techniques employed in these paintings serve to integrate the viewer into the represented space of ritual, thereby rendering the occult more accessible, and hence empirical, than it might otherwise be.

Fragrant Clouds in Arhat Offering

Let us begin with Arhat Offering, the painting now numbered as the very first among the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats (Figure 2.1). Though unsigned and undated, the painting’s comparatively unmodulated lines, flat colors, and unnuanced inkwork suggest its stylistic affiliation with the signed works of Zhou Jichang.15 Depicting the cloud-borne descent of arhats to an offering ritual, the composition provides a seemingly straightforward representation of Buddhist liturgy in Middle Period China. However, through its focus on the prominent place of incense in ritual, it directs our attention to the visionary implications of the olfactory stimulation of incense, suggesting that much of liturgy is not physically “seen” but mentally “envisioned.” Moreover, its transformation of the compositional conventions of Chinese painting points to an initial approach by which artists sought to render the ethereal occult accessible to the senses. Like many paintings in the Daitokuji set, the composition of Arhat Offering is structured around a clear division between the supramundane space occupied by the five arhats and the space of the this-worldly narrative surrounding them. The crisply polychromed arhats, placed in the upper register of the painting, first draw our attention. They are held aloft on a monochrome cloudbank that descends diagonally from the heavens, carrying them toward the lower register of the composition. Thin, scalloped ink lines give a sense of the roiling motion of the cloud, while faintly colored washes of differing intensities, predominantly rendered in a light mineral blue, imbue the cloud with a 15

On the styles of Lin Tinggui and Zhou Jichang, see Kitazawa, “Rin Teiki to Shū Kijō.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

87

Figure 2.1 Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.5 cm x 53.5 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), ca. 1178-1188. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

88

Bloom

Figure 2.2 Detail of incense offering. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.5 cm × 53.5 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), ca. 1178-1188. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Figure 2.3 Detail of icons and food offerings. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Arhat Offering, first of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.5 cm × 53.5 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), ca. 1178-1188. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

89

Figure 2.4 Studio of Zhou Jichang, Water-Land Retreat, seventeenth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.1 cm × 52.5 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), ca. 1178-1188. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

90

Bloom

Figure 2.5 Detail of ghosts. Studio of Zhou Jichang, Water-Land Retreat, seventeenth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.1 cm × 52.5 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), ca. 1178-1188. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

91

Figure 2.6 Zhou Jichang, Visit to the Palace, twenty-fourth of the one hundred scrolls of the Five Hundred Arhats; ink, colors, and gold on silk; 111.5 cm × 53.1 cm; Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), 1178. Collection of Daitokuji, Kyoto, Japan. Photograph by Morimura Kinji, provided by Nara National Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

92

Bloom

sense of volume.16 The basic compositional schema of this upper register is derived from the most common genre of Chinese liturgical painting of the past thousand years—namely, the portrayal of deities descending on clouds from their realm to ours, sometimes called jianglin tu 降臨圖 (“descent pictures”).17 However, in this work, the iconic cloudy descent has been integrated into a narrative scene that fills its lower and middle registers (Figure 2.2). The lower register is devoted to the depiction of a ritual performance. A table, situated within a pond-top pavilion attached to a layman’s mansion, has been set with peonies and a lion-shaped censer from which thin wisps of white smoke float heavenward. Two silk-covered lanterns flank the table. A monk, who has removed his shoes to stand on his sitting cloth (zuoju 坐具) and who holds a censer from which smoke rises to conjoin with the clouds above, leads a group of laypeople in making an offering. Two men dressed in the garb of scholarofficials bow behind the monastic officiant, while their wives, children, parents, and servants gather in the background. The monk is, clearly, inviting the arhats into the space of the layman’s house to receive offerings—to be feasted. Interestingly, only the monk raises his eyes heavenward, as though anticipating, or visualizing, the descent of the arhats to accept the offerings prepared by the lay sponsors of the ritual. It is precisely those offerings that the servants in the middle register of the painting are laying out (Figure 2.3). Bowls of tea are carried by the bearded figure at left, while red lacquered bowl stands and plates of various kinds of fruits and foods fill the long table at right. Significantly, these offerings are being arrayed in front of paintings that each depict a haloed arhat surrounded by other figures (likely arhats, as well).18 Even more significantly, the composition of these intrapictorial pictures closely echoes that of contemporaneous arhat paintings, including scrolls within the Daitokuji set itself; for example, the composition of the intrapictorial painting at right bears close resemblance

16

17

18

For a macro photograph of this section of the painting, which seems to reveal small particles of mineral pigment coloring the clouds, see Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 228, no. 1. For an overview of such depictions, see Ide, “Buddhist Paintings from the Song and Yuan Dynasties”; “Shoson kōrin zu”; Bloom, “Cong kong er zhi”; “Descent of the Deities,” 241369. On the rise of this genre in the context of ninth- and tenth-century ritual practice, see Hamada, “Tonkō Tō Sō jidai no Senju sengen kannon hen.” For a discussion of the use of such paintings in Song Buddhist ritual, see Takashi, “Nansō jidai no suirikuga.” On such intrapictorial pictures, which found particular popularity in the Song, see especially Wu, Double Screen.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

93

to that of the twenty-second scroll in the set.19 In including such intrapictorial pictures that call to mind contemporaneous works and in showing those intrapictorial pictures in active ritual use, Arhat Offering creates something like a mise en abyme—that is, an internal reference to itself, as well as to its own context of use (which will be discussed in detail below).20 Representation and reality are multiply nested within each other, each referring back to the other, as the painting (a representation rooted in reality) contains within it a representation of itself (that is, a representation of a representation that nevertheless remains rooted in reality). Consequently, the painting blurs the boundaries between the real world and the represented world pictured on its surface. Such intrapictorial self-representation lays bare the artificiality of the conceit, so common to painting, that the internal space of representation is somehow separate from the external world of the viewer; rather, each is imbricated in the other. This multiply mediated self-representation signals to the attentive viewer that the realm of representation is not only intimately bound up with reality but may even provide insights into its less obvious aspects. Repre­ sentation thus becomes a means to a deeper understanding of reality through complex forms of visual engagement. The arraying of offerings before depictions of arhats, as well as the distinctly lay nature of the ritual arena, suggests a specific liturgical context—namely, the Arhat Offering, the very ritual for which the Daitokuji Five Hundred Arhats likely were crafted.21 Unfortunately, complete liturgies for the performance of the ritual do not survive from the period. Nevertheless, related sources— including encomia to be recited during the ritual composed by the Northern Song scholar-official Huang Shang 黃裳 (1044-1130), accounts of monastic performances observed by the Japanese pilgrim-monk Jōjin 成尋 (1011-1081) in 1072, and numerous announcements (shu 疏) compiled in the collected writings of various scholar-officials—allow the general contours of the liturgy to be reconstructed22; further, passages in monastic regulations (Chn.: qinggui; 19

20

21 22

See Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 31. Given that only four arhats are visible in each of the intrapictorial pictures, they may be intended to represent a set of paintings of the sixteen arhats in four scrolls. The concept of the mise en abyme is succinctly introduced and elegantly applied to the analysis of photography in Owens, “Photography en abyme.” For a compelling use of this concept in the study of Chinese Buddhist art, see Wang, “Oneiric Horizons and Dissolving Bodies,” esp. 518-19. Joo, “Arhat Cult in China,” 291-342; “Ritual of Arhat Invitation.” The basic contours of the ritual are defined in Qing Bintoulu fa in T32.1689, which prescribes the offering of food to the eminent arhat Piṇḍola (Bintoulu 賓頭盧), as well as the

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

94

Bloom

Jpn.: shingi 清規) from Kamakura (1185-1333) Japan and Qing-dynasty (16441911) China that likely were based on Song precedents have enabled Liu Shufen 劉淑芬 to envision the ritual even more precisely.23 All of these texts suggest that the liturgy consisted of a ritualized feast with the arhats as the guests of honor. After inviting the arhats into the ritual arena with incense and chanting, the officiants sang the praises of the arhats, presented them offerings both alimentary and otherwise, and beseeched their blessings. They then sent the arhats back to their dwelling places throughout our world. Jōjin’s accounts further indicate that the monastic participants in such feasts also engaged in musical performances and dance until late at night. The simplicity of the ritual proceedings allowed the liturgy to be performed frequently during the Song for a variety of ends by both monks and laypeople. Huang Shang’s invocations, Jōjin’s diary, and the many encomia on arhat paintings that were composed during the Song suggest that although the offering of food, especially tea, may have been the focal act in the performance of the Arhat Offering, the burning of incense held an important place in the contemporary imagination of the ritual—and in contemporary ritual practice more generally.24 No mere olfactory stimulant, incense served as a signal to alert arhats to rush into the ritual arena on cosmic clouds. It is no surprise, then, that two incense burners, as well as clouds, figure prominently in Arhat Offering. Indeed, thin wisps of incense smoke brushed in a white mineral pigment float heavenward from both the tabletop incense burner and the handheld censer borne by the monastic officiant. Further, some of the smoke from the officiant’s censer rises to overlap with the washy cloudbank that carries the arhats into the arena. Smoke, in other words, gives way to clouds. The close association between smoke and clouds is reinforced even at a linguistic level in Chinese: the character for “smoke” (yan 煙) has formed a common compound with the character for “cloud” (yun 雲) at least since the Han dynasty; and in many contexts, yan is actually better understood as “mist” rather than “smoke,” further solidifying the links among these various nebu-

23 24

bathing of the deity. As Miyazaki Noriko 宮崎法子 has discussed, performances of the Arhat Offering in Heian (794-1185) Japan, several of which are carefully described in contemporaneous diaries, closely followed the guidelines suggested by the scripture. See Miyazaki, “Den Chōnen shōrai Jūroku rakan zu kō,” esp. 170-78. For Huang Shang’s encomia, see his “Qing luohan zanwen 請羅漢讚文,” in QSW 104.16-21. For Jōjin’s accounts, see San Tendai Godaisan ki, 32, 40-41. Liu, “Songdai de luohan xinyang,” 721-35. For the monastic regulations, see Keizan shingi, T82.433b-36c; Baizhang qinggui zhengyi ji, X63.426a-29a. For a concise overview of the importance of incense offerings in Chinese Buddhism, see Welter, “Buddhist Ritual and the State.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

95

lous entities. Both clouds and smoke are infinitely protean forms, a quality that likely allowed both to serve as important communicative media throughout Chinese history. Smoke, the index of the transformative process of burning, was invariably used as the medium by which to render offerings to the other world; and incense smoke, in particular, often served to alert spirits that an offering or request was about to be made of them.25 The forms, colors, and locations of clouds, meanwhile, were frequently read with a prognosticative eye, for they were thought to communicate portents about both this world and the cosmos more generally.26 Moreover, within almost all Chinese Buddhist ritual manuals, regardless of time period, incense becomes a prompt for mental visualizations predicated on the transformational properties of those thin wisps of smoke. Specifically, the ritualist visualizes that incense smoke becomes “fragrant clouds” (xiangyun 香雲) that suffuse the entire cosmos, reaching all beings and alerting them to assemble within the ritual arena.27 In this scroll, the painter very clearly figures that transformation, as the thin, clear, crisp white wisps of mineralpigmented smoke join with the messier, supernatural clouds that carry the arhats into the arena. Moreover, the upward gaze of the monk suggests his looking into the cosmos, visualizing the incredible transformation and ex­­ pansion of infinitesimally small smoke wisps into infinitely large cosmic cloudbanks.28 No naïve rendering of the corporeal manifestation of arhats in 25

26 27

28

The prominent monk Baotan 寶曇 (1129-1197), who was active in Mingzhou during the creation of the Daitokuji set, addressed precisely these qualities of incense in a short prose piece entitled “On Incense 香說,” which speaks of incense’s capacity to “bring the spirits down.” See QSW 241.147­-48. For a historicized account of incense use during the Song, see Yang, Xiang shi. Similar uses of incense in Daoist ritual contexts are treated in Huang, Picturing the True Form, 192, 386n18. On cloud portentology, see Ma, Zhongguo fojiao shiku kaogu wenji, 443-65, esp. 452-65; Ho and Ho, Dunhuang canjuan Zhan yunqi shu yanjiu; Bloom, “Descent of the Deities,” 275-78. For a rather complete example, see the visualization instructions accompanying the incense offering before the invocation of Buddhist saints in Fajie shengfan shuilu shenghui xiuzhai yigui, X74.789b. The close associations among incense, clouds, and visualization are given particularly compelling expression in a banner dated to 943 depicting the thousand-armed, thous­ and-eyed Avalokiteśvara (qianshou qianyan Guanshiyin 千手千眼觀世音), which was recovered from Dunhuang Mogao Cave 17 by Paul Pelliot; it is now held in the Musée Guimet, Paris, as object MG 17775. An incense burner placed atop a small ritual altar seems to generate a welling body of red clouds that rise to support the moon-disk in which the deity manifests. The connections between such moon-disk imagery and visualization practice, as well as references to past scholarship on the painting, may be found in Wang, “Ritual Practice Without a Practitioner?,” 138-45.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

96

Bloom

the ritual arena, this painting instead suggests a more complex interaction among the physical act of incense offering, mental visions of cumulous transformation, and the imminent arrival of saintly bodies. Transformation is, in fact, the keyword for understanding both this painting and Song Buddhist ritual practice more generally. After all, ritual effects both visual and ontological transformation, rendering unseen, ethereal deities into accessible bodies temporarily present within the ritual arena and visible to those ritualists who know how to look. Taking a cue from such liturgical transformations, the painter engages in acts of visual transformation in order to provide the viewer-worshipper with an unexpectedly direct experience of those ritual acts. Specifically, the painter controverts compositional convention in order to integrate the arhats’ vehicular cloud into the composition in a surprising manner.29 Notably, the cloud and the deities it bears are proportionally far larger than the humans and their architecture below. As such, the painting sets up a conundrum for a viewer familiar with the conventions of Chinese painting. In a typical Southern Song hanging scroll, such as any number of landscapes or narrative scenes produced by court artists and their professional associates, the upper registers of the painting contain that which is most distant from the viewer; the lower registers thus become the work’s foreground, and the painting is consequently read from bottom to top. In Arhat Offering, however, the comparatively large size of the arhats in the upper register of the scroll ensures that the viewer feels physically closest to those descending deities at top. Compositional convention is, in other words, inverted. The painter places us viewers on the same plane as the arhats, allowing us to feel as though we are descending with them toward the ritual assembly in the lower register. We gain a privileged view of the proceedings—a view normally inaccessible to all but the deities themselves, a view that empowers us to experience the supramundane in a decidedly direct, almost physical manner. Through such a composition, the painter provides a means of transcending the tension between the empirical and the occult, giving the viewer’s own gaze a degree of agency in that process. In controverting compositional convention to furnish the viewer a direct experience of the supramundane, and in situating this striking pictorial innovation within a larger ritual narrative about the relationship among incense, clouds, and mental visualization, Arhat Offering provides an important entry into the new visual culture of Song ritual. Notably, it suggests the 29

The confluence of clouds and composition in Arhat Offering resonates in important ways with Hubert Damisch’s conception of the role of clouds in the transformation of perspective in Western Renaissance painting. See Damisch, A Theory of /cloud/.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

97

possibility that the painter’s careful attention to the particulars of painting can transform the supramundane into something accessible—or, to use the terms laid out at the beginning of this chapter, the occult into something empirical. Through acts of visual transformation, painting reveals to mundane viewers visions both of the divine and of ritual practices that would otherwise remain invisible.

Ghosts and Mists in Water-Land Retreat

Visual and ontological transformations also lie at the heart of the painting now numbered as the seventeenth in the Daitokuji set, a work provisionally titled Water-Land Retreat (Figure 2.4).30 To an even greater degree than Arhat Offering, Water-Land Retreat gives perfect expression to the tension between the empirical orderliness of this world and the unpredictable unruliness of the occult. However, rather than resolving this tension through a controversion of compositional convention, it employs nuanced pigmentation to ensure that ritual acts of visualization and representational acts of pictorialization will be read as parallel activities. The foreground of this painting, which stylistically aligns with the signed works of Zhou Jichang, conveys a sense of order. Five brightly polychromed arhats capture our attention, their robes and visages depicted with crisp lines and solid colors that radiate against the aged silk ground. Formal subtlety and nuance are abandoned in favor of clarity when rendering these arhats, who each act as officiants in a liturgy performed on an outdoor platform. At center, a senior arhat sits cross-legged on an elaborate chair placed before a red table. The green ruyi 如意 scepter that he holds signifies his eminent status; meanwhile, his gaze, fixed on the open text spread before him on the table, and his open mouth, depicted mid-intonation, suggest that he serves as the principal liturgist. His table is filled with the accoutrements of ritual: a hand-held censer, a woodblock (chi 尺) used to sonically punctuate the recitation of texts, and a closed text (whose recitation the monk has, presumably, already completed). A larger censer placed on a separate stand and two tall candleholders (whose presence likely signifies that this is a nighttime scene) complete the set of basic implements necessary for the performance of any Buddhist offering.31 Four 30 31

The following discussion is based on the fuller account of this work in Bloom, “Ghosts in the Mists”; “Shikakuka sareta girei to kansō.” For contemporaneous examples of the common use of the candleholder to indicate the nighttime setting of a painting, see Ma Yuan 馬遠 (act. late twelfth to early thirteenth

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

98

Bloom

arhats surround their senior colleague—two bowing their heads in contemplation, two holding their hands in gestures of reverence (hezhang 合掌) as they raise their eyes to gaze into the mists of the background. Meanwhile, a wild-haired boy with an exaggerated nose ascends the platform at lower right to bring another volume of the text to the master, his gaze also fixed on the brume beyond. This space of ritual order is circumscribed by a wooden balustrade with gold finials that ensures its separation from the unruliness of the background. The middle and upper registers of the composition produce a starkly different visual effect (Figure 2.5). Dominated by the extensive use of aqueous washes of monochrome ink, the background is filled with a dusky bank of mist, the contours of which seem to transform before our very eyes. Strikingly, almost imperceptible specters can be found emerging from the brume, reinforcing the sense that the background is a space of unpredictable trans­ formation. Through his manipulation of the materials of painting, the artist thus seems to perfectly express the tension outlined at the beginning of this chapter: the directly apprehensible clarity, order, and material presence of this world, rendered in the stable medium of mineral-pigmented polychromy, stand in opposition to the ethereal messiness of the otherworld, pictorialized in the unstable medium of monochrome ink. Looking more closely at this spectral assembly, we see that a variety of figures have gathered—from scholar-officials and courtiers at upper right to warriors at upper left, from a three-eyed martial guardian (perhaps a yuan­ shuai 元帥) at lower left to an asura (axiuluo 阿修羅) just above.32 The far reaches of the background hold further surprises, as much of the space is filled not by mist but by figures with deformed bodies, wild hair, and sickly green skin—that is, the wandering, rancorous ghosts (guhun 孤魂 or yuanhun 冤魂) of the never- or improperly-buried. These specters peer intently toward the ritualizing arhats, their revent hand gestures suggesting that they recognize the salvific power of the liturgy performed in the foreground. Importantly, as Ide Seinosuke has argued, all of these figures bear some connection to war or war-time death, an important clue for understanding the

32

century) (attrib.), Banquet by Lantern Light 華燈侍宴圖 (National Palace Museum, Taipei), and Ma Lin 馬麟 (act. early to mid-thirteenth century), Night Outing by Candlelight 秉燭夜遊圖 (National Palace Museum, Taipei). In contemporary Buddhist ritual practice, however, candles are burned regardless of the time of day. Asuras represent one of the six paths of rebirth in the Buddhist cosmos; sometimes characterized as “titans,” they are described in many sutras as being locked in eternal combat with devas (tian 天).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

99

nighttime ritual depicted here.33 Given that the scene involves the assembly of numerous ghosts before monks who recite texts and offer incense, it can be surmised that the moment rendered is that of the assembly of specters to be saved during a rite of food distribution (shishi 施食), a number of variants of which were performed during the Song, particularly for the benefit of hungry ghosts (egui 餓鬼).34 The assembling of ghosts of the war dead at night likely points to an even more specific liturgical context—namely, to the Water-Land Retreat, a ritual that assumed its contemporary contours by about the midninth century.35 A liturgy of cosmic assembly and offering, the Water-Land Retreat brings together all beings in the cosmos to be bathed, to receive food offerings, to delight in the Buddha’s teachings, to be purified of past transgressions, and to be sent to a higher path of rebirth. During the Song, the ritual was frequently sponsored by the court and local officials to quell the rancorous, wandering ghosts of the unburied masses killed in the wars that plagued the empire during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.36 From the late twelfth to the thirteenth centuries, Mingzhou, the very region in which the Daitokuji Five Hundred Arhats are thought to have been crafted, served as an important center for the performance of the ritual, and it was there that two important liturgies for it were composed. Significantly for our understanding of Water-Land Retreat, in the course of performing this ritual, the head liturgist, referred to as the Ritual Master (fashi 法師), is directed to visualize the material manifestation of all of the summoned spirits within the ritual arena.37 Most notably, when inviting hungry 33 34

35 36 37

See, for example, his brief account of this painting in Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 26. The distribution of food to hungry ghosts is, in fact, depicted in two paintings in the Daitokuji set; see Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 81, 101. On rites of food distribution, see esp. Lye, “Feeding Ghosts.” See above, n6. On the uses of the Water-Land Retreat during the Song, see Bloom, “Descent of the Deities,” 128-240. Instructions for the visualizations to be performed by the Ritual Master are incorporated most explicitly into the Fajie shengfan shuilu shenghui xiuzhai yigui in X74.1479, a manual that is said to have been first compiled by the Southern Song Tiantai master Zhipan 志磐 (ca. 1220-1275) near Ningbo and later revised by the late Ming Tiantai reformist Zhuhong 袾宏 (1535-1615). The dating of the manual remains a matter of scholarly debate. Given that instructions for the visualizations to be performed by a head liturgist are also included in other Song-period ritual manuals (see, for example, Shoulengyan tanchang xiuzheng yi in X74.1477 and Lanpen xiangong yi in X74.1500), I use this manual to exemplify the kinds of mental images that were commonly constructed in many rituals in the

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

100

Bloom

ghosts to assemble, the “Ritual Master visualizes the innumerable masses of the myriad hungry ghosts either coming from the four directions or arriving from below the earth 法師想諸餓鬼無央數眾，或從四方而來，或從地下而至.”38 Wandering ghosts, too, are visualized to assemble from the four directions,39 whereas loftier deities, such as the arhats depicted in Arhat Offering, are envisioned to “arrive from the void 從空而至.”40 From visualizations such as these, we begin to get a sense of the important resonances between ritual practice and the representation of such activities in the Daitokuji Five Hundred Arhats. In this particular scroll, terrestrial mists depicted in monochrome ink wash become a painterly means of suggesting the manifestation of ghosts from the four directions or from below the earth. The assembling ghosts in this painting, we might conjecture, are not simply corporeal beings; instead, their appearance takes cues from the visualizations of the Ritual Master’s mind. The painting can thus be understood to open invisible aspects of ritual performance to our gaze. To reveal the mental dimensions of ritual to us, the artist has carefully manipulated his pigments to mediate between the realms of the ritualists and the spirits—that is, he has exploited the subtleties of his medium in order to make the occult accessible. Significantly, although the background mists are rendered in monochrome ink, the specters that haunt that misty realm have been pictorialized through the nuanced use of multiple kinds and layers of pigments.41 Most importantly, the artist likely applied pigments to the silk’s verso, a technique widely employed in Song polychrome painting; when viewed through the golden-hued warp and weft fibers of the silk, verso pigmentation appears to glow with a subtle spectral energy.42 Light vegetal pigments may also have been employed to add further nuance to the ghostly figures. The subtlety of such pigmentation becomes clear when compared

38 39 40 41

42

period. For further discussion of the links between liturgical painting and visualization, see Huang, Picturing the True Form, 333-39; Bloom, Nebulous Intersections. X74.802a. Emphasis added. See, for example, X74.804b-806c. See, for example, X74.790c-91c. The recent high-resolution images captured by Shirono Seiji 城野誠治 do much to help us understand how the scroll was crafted. See esp. Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 151. On such verso pigmentation (Chn.: beifen 背粉; Jpn.: urazaishiki 裏彩色), see the brief discussion in Huang, “The Triptych of Daoist Deities of Heaven, Earth and Water,” 170. The painting techniques employed in the thirteenth-century Śākyamuni’s Descent 出山釋迦 圖 by Liang Kai 梁楷 have been the subject of particularly extensive analysis. See Kimishima, “Shūri hōkoku jūyō bunkazai Shussan Shaka zu”; Lippit, Colorful Realm, 187­-88.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

101

with the recto-applied colors of the arhats in the foreground, who stand out from the silk ground with opaque brilliance. This is not to say that the artist did not employ recto-pigmentation when painting the ghosts; in fact, certain passages, such as the red accents of the armor of the military figures at upper left and the green robe covering the shoulders of the yuanshuai at bottom, seem to have been rendered with comparatively vivid, recto-applied pigments. However, the artist seems to have further applied a wash of ink over the figures, dulling their colors in imitation of a bank of mist shrouding their forms. These sophisticated pictorial techniques, which sharply contrast with the vivid surface treatment of the arhats, capture the specters in a moment of transformation, when the ghosts are neither fully material nor fully ethereal. Indeed, in the figure of the yuanshuai—whose coloration is slightly more vivid than that of the figures that surround him and far more vivid than that of the wandering souls in the farthest reaches of the background—the progressively material manifestation of these spirits is given particularly clear expression. In choosing to render this liminal moment, the artist has attempted to bridge the gap between the realms of the mundane and the supramundane, successively making the otherworldly as material—and hence, as empirical—as the seen-world. To put this claim slightly differently, we might say that the painting embodies two acts of mediation, one ritual and one representational. On the one hand, the moment depicted is that of the ritual mediation of the mundane and supramundane; it is the moment when ghosts are transformed to take corporeal presence in the ritual arena, when the visions of the Ritual Master’s mind become, in a sense, material. On the other hand, to render this moment, the painter specifically pigments a spatial and ontological division, depicting the unruly space of the spirits in monochrome ink and the stable space of the arhats in vivid polychromy. However, by enlivening the spectral figures themselves with subtle layers of color, he bridges that division. In painting, as in ritual, ghosts are transformed to achieve material, empirical presence. Thus, the painter ultimately succeeds in giving us viewer-worshippers privileged access to empirical visions of transformation, much as he did through his controversion of compositional convention in Arhat Offering.

Liturgical Avatars in Visit to the Palace

Clouds and incense, transformation and mediation, visualization and manifestation all remain keywords for interpreting Visit to the Palace, now numbered as the twenty-fourth scroll in the Daitokuji set (Figure 2.6). Signed by Zhou

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

102

Bloom

Jichang and dated to 1178, this work encourages the viewer to identify with a figure in the painting—that is, to imaginatively enter it and to experience its space from an intrapictorial perspective.43 In doing so, it dissolves any separation between the real and the represented, the mundane and the supramundane. All become equally accessible to the senses. Like the two scrolls examined previously, this deceptively simple composition is also divided into two spatial and ontological zones. Here, it is the permeable boundary of a screen-like cloudbank that separates the two. The upper register shows two laywomen standing amid offering tables in a hall. Their sumptuous robes and jewelry, which are depicted with bright mineral pigments, suggest their elite, perhaps courtly, status. The hall is brilliantly tiled, and its columns are rendered in a vibrant vermilion. The tables have been set with offerings, including flowers, gold cups, small plates of food and tea bowl stands. It is likely, then, that this architectural structure represents a palace compound that has been temporarily adorned for ritual use. Near the upper right corner of the composition, a large gilded incense burner has been placed atop a fine silk brocade covering a portable table. Although the censer does not directly emit white smoke, the red bank of clouds that partially shrouds its left side almost seems to emerge from the tip of its cover, calling to mind the connections among incense, clouds, and visualization seen in Arhat Offering. On the other side of the nebulous screen—which is outlined in wiry ink lines and which is given the slightest sense of volume through the application of a light layer of a red mineral pigment—we find the familiar five arhats, who emerge from the scrim that separates them from their supplicants.44 A cumulous bank, rendered in a light blue mineral pigment and imbued with a sense of spiraling volume fills much of the lowest reaches of the composition. The painting begins to become more intriguing, however, when we turn our attention to the rather awkward sixth figure on the arhats’ side of the nebulous screen. Represented in odd contrapposto, he seems to move forward while looking over his shoulder. He is dressed in elaborate gowns whose elegance contrasts with the robes of the arhats he leads, and he wears a crown, perhaps suggesting his affiliation with the court ladies above. Further, he holds a censer, 43

44

For a transcription of the painting’s inscription, see Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 183. The scroll was subject to some repainting during the Edo period (1603-1868), but the work’s composition seems to have remained unchanged. For a sense of minerality of the pigments used in rendering the cloud-screen, see the macro photograph in Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 233, fig. 48.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

103

from which wisps of smoke rise to merge with the clouds. His posture clearly suggests that he is in the midst of leading the arhats. Looking carefully, we see that they are about to stride through a cleft in the clouds that opens onto a set of stairs rising to the interior of the ritual hall. Who, exactly, is this figure, and what is his relation to the arhats beside him and to the laywomen above? The figure’s elegant robes and distinctive crown suggest the costume of a king, many different types of which are depicted in the Five Hundred Arhats. However, no other kingly figure in the Daitokuji set is depicted with the hairless, youthful face of the figure in Visit to the Palace. Attempting an identification of the figure based solely on attire and countenance clearly will not suffice. A consideration of the ambiguous narrative scenario in this work only complicates matters further. Certainly, it is clear that this figure is leading the arhats into the hall. In this respect, a parallel might be drawn with the sixth scroll, which depicts a venerable dragon king (longwang 龍王) leading five arhats into his underwater palace.45 Like the youthful regent in Visit to the Palace, the dragon king also bears a censer, and he, too, looks over his shoulder to ascertain that the deities are descending; further, two palace ladies also appear, holding a brocaded cloth onto which the arhats dismount from their vehicular bank of clouds. However, despite the implication that the deities are about to enter the Dragon Palace, the arhats and their supplicants are kept spatially separate. Liminality—that is, a sense of “being on the verge of,” of not yet having “crossed over”—is the keyword in that painting, just as it was in Arhat Offering and Water-Land Retreat. Of course, liminality remains at the heart of Visit to the Palace; after all, the arhats have yet to step into the space of the laywomen. Yet the king’s placement in the same space as the arhats and his being surrounded by the same clouds as the arhats raises an important question: Given the strict spatial and ontological division maintained in so many of the Daitokuji paintings that depict the performance of ritual—the division that ultimately enables the artist to suggest the sense of liminality with which he seems so obsessed—how are we to understand this king’s physical interaction with the arhats he leads when the laywomen remain so separate? Liturgy provides a solution. If we accept that the kingly attire of this figure and the courtly demeanor of the laywomen indicate that he is a regent who has invited the arhats to a feast within a ritually adorned palace hall, we can see him as a host or sponsor who is performing an Arhat Offering or a related rite modeled on the guest-host paradigm of ritual practice ubiquitous in Chinese

45

For a reproduction of this painting, see Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 15.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

104

Bloom

Buddhism.46 Manuals for the performance of the Water-Land Retreat give us an important clue for interpreting the work, as they furnish a particularly complete account of the duties of hosting common to all rituals based on the guest-host paradigm. Even more usefully for an analysis of the kind of ritual action depicted in the Daitokuji set, they strictly apportion the mental and material aspects of those duties to two monks—the Ritual Master and the Cantor (biaobai 表白).47 As we saw earlier in the discussion of Water-Land Retreat, the Ritual Master is primarily responsible for performing the many visualizations that accompany externally visible actions; he also leads the lay Sponsor (shizhu 施主) in performing actions within the ritual arena, and he delivers certain homilies. The Cantor, on the other hand, recites gāthās (ji 偈), mantras, and invocations, and he manipulates ritual implements. The Ritual Master thus stands in opposition to the Cantor, as the mental stands in opposition to the material. Yet neither can satisfactorily perform a ritual without the other; indeed, the sounds of the Cantor’s voice, his manipulation of ritual implements, and his offerings of incense provide the sensory cues for the Ritual Master’s visualizations.48 Importantly, in smaller-scale rituals (including the Arhat Offering), a single ritualist often fulfills both functions, serving as both Ritual Master and Cantor; in other words, a single ritual host simultaneously presents material offerings and mentally visualizes the acceptance of those offerings by the invited spirits. Such small-scale rituals may even have been officiated by laypeople, as Huang Shang’s encomia for the Arhat Offering seem to suggest. Visit to the Palace thus might be understood to reveal to us the visions of the host’s mind, as the clouds and deities that he envisions take on externally visible form. The painting, in essence, depicts an ontological fiction: in reality, the host would be seated quietly, bringing the deities forth solely through his mental exertions; yet in painting, he physically interacts with the gods, even leading them into the ritual arena. Importantly, by representing this officiant within the space of the arhats, and by clearly indicating a cleft in the cloudbank that otherwise divides the spheres of the human and divine, the artist suggests the very real possibility both of the physical irruption of the divine into our mundane world and of our own bodily interaction with the supramundane. 46 47 48

For a succinct treatment of the guest-host paradigm, see Sharf, “Thinking through Shingon Ritual,” esp. 58n13. For a fuller treatment of these roles, see Bloom, “Descent of the Deities,” 357-63. The codependence of the internal and external acts of ritual performed by the Cantor and the Ritual Master is given particularly clear expression in sections of the liturgy involving the offering of incense. See, for example, X74.789b.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

105

The pictorial interest of this seemingly simple work may be further highlighted by examining it with the formal device of the suture in mind.49 On the one hand, the host sews together the spaces of deities and humans, bridging the mundane and the supramundane; indeed, more than any other figure, it is he who exists simultaneously as human yet within the space of the divine. On the other hand, thanks to his being depicted from behind, the host serves as a figure that solicits the viewer to identify with him; he becomes a figural suture through which we viewer-worshippers can imagine ourselves into the painting, thus opening the work of art, and the ritual performance it depicts, to imaginative engagement on our part. Similar such figures, generally depicted directly from behind as though to ensure the viewer’s complete self-identification, are ubiquitous in printed sutra frontispieces, temple murals, and even cave shrines of the Middle Period.50 In the end, the suturing figure creates a visual effect not unlike that of the compositional controversion that we investigated in Arhat Offering. Through both techniques, as well as through the skillful manipulation of pigments in Water-Land Retreat, we viewer-worshippers are brought into the multisensory space of the painting, transgressing the boundaries that otherwise ought to separate our real-world selves from both the representational space of the painting and the divine space of the arhats. These techniques thus give us direct access to the internal, unseen aspects of ritual.

Conclusion

The works examined in this chapter point to three important approaches by which Song artists attempted to make the unruliness of the supramundane sensorially accessible, even empirical, to the viewer. Controversions of compositional convention place the viewer among a group of descending arhats in Arhat Offering; sophisticated strategies of pigmentation give visual form to ghosts materializing amid inky mists in Water-Land Retreat; and a suturing figure points to the very real possibility of the supramundane’s taking material 49

50

In thinking about this figure as a suture, I draw particularly from the use of the term in film studies; see, for example, Silverman, The Subject of Semiotics, 194-236. The role of figures depicted from behind as figural sutures for the viewer has been discussed extensively in studies of German Romantic painting; see esp. Koerner, Caspar David Friedrich, 179283. On such figures in sutra frontispieces, see Huang, “Reassessing Printed Buddhist Frontispieces from Xi Xia,” 153-56; Bloom, “Jujian de tuxiang,” 105-11. On similar figures in landscape painting, see Barnhart, “Figures in Landscape.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

106

Bloom

form in mundane space in Visit to the Palace. In all of these works, it is the triumvirate of cloud, mist, and smoke that is at the heart of the mediational acts of both representation and ritual. These nebulous entities become media that simultaneously separate and suture different spaces, realms, and ontologies. These works thus erase the paradox outlined at the beginning of this chapter, as they render the unseen occult visible, almost empirical. Further, the medium of painting serves to exteriorize the otherwise inaccessible visions of meditating monks—that is, the hidden aspects of internal ritual. With a certain hubris, the painter almost seems to imply his superiority to those monks by cleverly uniting both internal and external acts of ritual performance within the represented space of the pictorial field, opening to us visions that we otherwise would never have. If occultism and empiricism might be brought together easily enough in written texts, these paintings reveal that the tension between these two seemingly incommensurate interests inspired the creation of a sophisticated visual culture that leads us into the deepest reaches of the mists of the mind.

References



Bibliographic Abbreviations

QSW T

X



Quan Song wen. Edited by Zeng Zaozhuang and Liu Lin. 360 vols. Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe and Anhui jiaoyu chubanshe, 2006. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新修大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順 次郎. Tokyo: Issaikyō Kankōkai, 1924-1932. Digital edition by the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association (CBETA), . 卍 Shinsan Dai Nihon Zokuzōkyō 卍新纂大日本續藏經. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai, 1975-1989. Digital edition by the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association (CBETA), .

Primary Sources

Baizhang qinggui zhengyi ji 百丈清規證義記, annotated by Yirun 儀潤 (act. nineteenth century). In X63.1244. Fajie shengfan shuilu shenghui xiuzhai yigui 法界聖凡水陸勝會修齋儀軌, compiled by Zhipan 志磐 (ca. 1220-1275), edited by Zhuhong 袾宏 (1535-1615). In X74.1479. Lanpen xiangong yi 蘭盆獻供儀, by Yuanzhao 元照 (1048-1116). In X74.1500. Keizan shingi 瑩山淸規, by Keizan Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾 (1268-1325). In T82.2589. Qing Bintoulu fa 請賓頭盧法, translated by Huijian 慧簡 (act. mid-fifth century). In T32.1689.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

107

San Tendai Godaisan ki 参天台五臺山記, by Jōjin 成尋 (1011-1081). Reprinted as San Tendai Godaisan ki kōhon narabi ni kenkyū 参天台五臺山記校本並に研究. Annotated by Hirabayashi Fumio 平林文雄. Tokyo: Kazama Shobō, 1978. Shoulengyan tanchang xiuzheng yi 首楞嚴壇場修證儀, compiled by Jingyuan 淨源 (10111088). In X74.1477. Yijian zhi 夷堅志, compiled by Hong Mai 洪邁 (1123-1202). Edited and annotated by He Zhuo 何卓. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981.



Secondary Sources

Barnhart, Richard. “Figures in Landscape.” Archives of Asian Art 42 (1989), 62-70. Bloom, Phillip E. “Cong kong er zhi: Nansong fohua yu yigui zhong zhushen jianglin de tuxiang 從空而至：南宋佛畫與儀軌中諸神降臨的圖像.” In Yi fa xiang hui: Baoningsi, Pilusi Ming, Qingdai shuiluhua zhan ji xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 以法相會：寶寧 寺、毗盧寺明、清代水陸畫展暨學術研討會論文集 , 149-81. Kaohsiung: Foguangshan wenjiao jijinhui, 2016. Bloom, Phillip E. “Descent of the Deities: The Water-Land Retreat and the Transformation of the Visual Culture of Song-Dynasty (960-1279) Buddhist Art.” PhD diss. Harvard University, 2013. Bloom, Phillip E. “Ghosts in the Mists: The Visual and the Visualized in Chinese Buddhist Art, ca. 1178.” The Art Bulletin 98.3 (2016), 297-320. DOI: 10.1080/00043079.2016.1145518. Bloom, Phillip E. “Jujian de tuxiang: Yuanjue bianxiang zhong de changgui pusa xiang yu Songdai fohualun 居间的图像—— 圆觉变相中的长跪菩萨像与宋代佛画论.” Dazu xuekan 大足学刊 1 (November 2016), 100–15. Bloom, Phillip E. Nebulous Intersections: Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhist Art, ca. 1178. Forthcoming. Bloom, Phillip E. “Shikakuka sareta girei to kansō: Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu ni okeru suiriku-e no hyōgen 視覚化された儀礼と観想—— 大徳寺伝来五百羅漢 図における水陸会の表現.” Bukkyō geijutsu 佛教藝術 344 (2016), 32-53. Campany, Robert Ford. Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. Campany, Robert Ford. Signs from the Unseen Realm: Buddhist Miracle Tales from Early Medieval China. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2012. Damisch, Hubert. A Theory of /cloud/: Toward a History of Painting. Translated by Janet Lloyd. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. Davis, Edward L. Society and the Supernatural in Song China. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2001. Dudbridge, Glen. Religious Experience and Lay Society in T’ang China: A Reading of Tai Fu’s Kuang-i chi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Egan, Ronald. The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in Northern Song Dynasty China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

108

Bloom

Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th-14th Century. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992. Fong, Wen C. “Five Hundred Lohans at the Daitokuji.” PhD diss. Princeton University, 1956. Fong, Wen C. The Lohans and a Bridge to Heaven. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1958. Fong, Wen C. Art as History: Calligraphy and Painting as One. Princeton: P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, 2014. Hamada Tamami 濱田瑞美. “Tonkō Tō Sō jidai no Senju sengen kannon hen 敦煌唐宋 時代の千手千眼観音変.” In Chūgoku sekkutsu bijutsu no kenkyū 中国石窟美術の研 究, 309-68. Tokyo: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan, 2012. Hansen, Valerie. Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1127-1276. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. Ho Peng Yoke 何丙郁, and Ho Koon Piu 何冠彪. Dunhuang canjuan Zhan yunqi shu yanjiu 敦煌殘卷占雲氣書研究. Taipei: Yiwen yinshuguan, 1985. Hou, Ching-Lang. Monnaies d’offrande et la notion de trésorerie dans la religion chinoise. Paris: Collège de France and Institut des hautes études chinoises, 1975. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Reassessing Printed Buddhist Frontispieces from the Xi Xia.” Zhejiang University Journal of Art and Archaeology 1 (2014), 129-82. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “The Triptych of Daoist Deities of Heaven, Earth, and Water and the Making of Visual Culture in the Southern Song Period (1127-1279).” PhD diss. Yale University, 2002. Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. “Buddhist Paintings from the Song and the Yuan Dynasties: Visual Representations in the Paintings of Devotional Deities.” The International Journal of Korean Art and Archaeology 4 (2010), 94-115. Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu shiron 大徳寺伝来五 百羅漢図試論.” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Seichi Ninpō, 254-59. Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. “Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu no seiritsu haikei (shōzen) 大徳寺伝来五百羅漢図の成立背景（承前） .” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 268-81. Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. Nihon no Sō Gen butsuga 日本の宋元仏画. Nihon no bijutsu 日本の美術 418. Tokyo: Shibundō, 2001. Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔. “Shoson kōrin zu 諸尊降臨圖.” Kokka 國華 113.12 (2008), 22-28. Inglis, Alister D. Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener and Its Song Dynasty Context. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

109

Joo, Bong Seok. “The Arhat Cult in China from the Seventh through Thirteenth Centuries: Narrative, Art, Space, and Ritual.” PhD diss. Princeton University, 2007. Joo, Ryan Bongseok. “The Ritual of Arhat Invitation during the Song Dynasty: Why Did Mahāyānists Venerate the Arhat?” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 30. 1-2 (2007 [2009]), 81-116. Kimishima Takayuki 君嶋隆幸. “Shūri hōkoku: Jūyō bunkazai Shussan Shaka zu Tōkyō kokuritsu hakubutsukan  修理報告: 重要文化財出山釈迦図東京国立博物館.”  Shū­ fuku 3 (1996), 24-31. Kitazawa Natsuki 北澤菜月. “Rin Teikei to Shū Kijō, futari no gaka to sono keikō ni tsuite 林庭珪と周季常、二人の画家とその傾向について .” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 284-89. Koerner, Joseph Leo. Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape. 2nd ed. London: Reaktion Books, 2009. Kondō Kazunari 近藤一成. “Nihon Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu meibun to Nansō Minshū shijin shakai 日本大徳寺伝来五百羅漢図銘文と南宋明州士人社会.” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 262-67. Lagerwey, John, and Pierre Marsone, eds. Modern Chinese Religion I: Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan (960-1368 AD). 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 2015. DOI: 10.1163/9789004271647. Levine, Gregory P. A. Daitokuji: The Visual Cultures of a Zen Monastery. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005. Lin Mingyu 林鳴宇. Sōdai Tendai kyōgaku no kenkyū: Konkōmyōkyō no kenkyūshi o chūshin to shite 宋代天台教学の研究—— 『金光明経』の研究史を中心として. Tokyo: Sankibō Busshorin, 2003. Lippit, Yukio. Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2012. Lippit, Yukio. “The Daitokuji 500 Luohans: A World Perspective.” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 298-99. Lippit, Yukio. “Ningbo Buddhist Painting: A Reassessment.” Orientations 40. 5 (2009), 54-62. Liu Shufen 劉淑芬. “Songdai de luohan xinyang ji qi yishi: cong Dadesi Songben ‘Wubai luohan tu’ shuoqi 宋代的羅漢信仰及其儀式―— 從大德寺宋本「五百羅漢圖」說 起.” Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan 中央研究院歷史語言研究所 集刊 86.4 (2015), 679-775. Lye, Hun Yeow. “Feeding Ghosts: A Study of the Yuqie Yankou Rite.” PhD diss. University of Virginia, 2003. Ma Shichang 馬世長. Zhongguo fojiao shiku kaogu wenji 中國佛教石窟考古文集. Xinzhu: Juefeng foyi jijinhui, 2001.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

110

Bloom

Matsumoto Kōichi 松本浩一. “Daoism and Popular Religion in the Song.” In Lagerwey and Marsone, Modern Chinese Religion I, 1.285-327. DOI: 10.1163/9789004271647_007. Michihata Ryōshū 道端良秀. Rakan shinkōshi 羅漢信仰史. Tokyo: Daitō Shuppansha, 1983. Miyazaki Noriko 宮崎法子. “Den Chōnen shōrai Jūroku rakan zu kō 傳奝然將來十六羅 漢圖考.” In Suzuki Kei sensei kanreki kinen: Chūgoku kaigashi ronshū 鈴木敬先生還 曆記念―— 中國繪畫史論集, edited by Suzuki Kei Sensei Kanreki Kinen Kai 鈴木 敬先生還曆記念會, 151-95. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1981. Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan奈良国立博物館, ed. Seichi Ninpō: Nihon bukkyō 1300 nen no genryū 聖地寧波: 日本仏教1300 年の源流. Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2009. Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan 奈良国立博物館 and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō 東京文 化財研究所, eds. Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu 大徳寺伝来五百羅漢図. Kyoto: Shibunkaku Shuppan, 2014. Owens, Craig. “Photography en abyme.” October 5 (1978), 73-88. DOI: 10.2307/778646. Sharf, Robert. “Thinking through Shingon Ritual.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 26.1 (2003), 51-96. Silverman, Kaja. The Subject of Semiotics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. Stevenson, Daniel B. “Text, Image, and Transformation in the History of the Shuilu fahui, the Buddhist Rite for Deliverance of Creatures of Water and Land.” In Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, edited by Marsha Weidner, 30-72. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2001. Stevenson, Daniel B. “Buddhist Ritual in the Song.” In Lagerwey and Marsone, Modern Chinese Religion I, 1.328-448. DOI: 10.1163/9789004271647_008. Takashi Midori 高志緑. “Nansō jidai no suirikuga ni kansuru fukugenteki kōsatsu: kojin zō Shoson kōrin zu to Chion’in zō Rakan shū-e zu o chūshin ni 南宋時代の水陸画に 関する復元的考察―— 個人蔵「諸尊降臨図」と知恩院蔵「羅漢集会図」を中心 に.” Bijutsushi 美術史 175 (2013), 36-52. Taniguchi Kōsei 谷口耕生. “Kimura Tokuō hitsu Gohyaku rakan zu: ushinawareta Daitokuji bon rokufuku o megutte 木村徳応筆五百羅漢図―— 失われた大徳寺本 六幅をめぐって.” In Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan and Tōkyō Bunkazai Kenkyūjō, Daitokuji denrai Gohyaku rakan zu, 290-95. Taniguchi Kōsei 谷口耕生. “Seiryōji Shaka nyorai ryūzō kyū zushi tobira-e kō 清凉寺釈 迦如来立像旧厨子扉絵考.” In Kinō ron: tsukuru, tsukau, tsutaeru 機能論­­－つくる・ つかう・つたえる, edited by Nagaoka Ryūsaku 長岡龍作, vol. 5 of Bukkyō bijutsu ronshū 仏教美術論集, 372-97. Tokyo: Chikurinsha, 2014. Wang, Eugene Y. “Oneiric Horizons and Dissolving Bodies: Buddhist Cave Shrine as Mirror Hall.” Art History 27.4 (2004), 494-521. DOI: 10.1111/j.0141-6790.2004.00435.x. Wang, Eugene Y. “Ritual Practice Without a Practitioner? Early Eleventh Century Dhāra­ ṇī Prints in the Ruiguangsi Pagoda.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 20 (2011), 127-60.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

111

Welter, Albert. “Buddhist Ritual and the State.” In Religions of China in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 390-96. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. Wu Hung. The Double Screen: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Yang Zhishui 揚之水. Xiang shi 香識. Hong Kong: Xianggang zhonghe chuban youxian gongsi, 2014.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

112

Bloom

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Visualizing Ritual in Southern Song Buddhist Painting

113

Part 2 Setting a Scene

∵

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

114

Chapter 3 

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

115

Chapter 3 Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

Dreams, Spirits, and Romantic Encounters in Jin and Yuan Theatrical Pictures Fan Jeremy Zhang In Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) China, the flowering of narrative and theatrical arts fundamentally shaped the visual culture not only of that era but also of the following centuries. By focusing on surviving pictorial evidence from the north, this essay introduces Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao (Sima You mengyu Su Xiaoxiao 司馬槱夢遇蘇小小), a well-known ghost love story that is closely related to Jin and Yuan vernacular literature, stage performance, and pictorial art. This fascinating story generated a popular ballad entitled “The Song of Golden Threads (Huangjinlü 黄金縷),” which evolved into a short play that later became the prologue to a famous Yuan drama, Romance of the West Chamber (Xixiangji 西廂記).1 More importantly, this story became a popular pictorial subject and was illustrated on both silk scrolls and ceramic pillows to amuse different viewers. Because no earlier painting had ever combined the subjects of love, romance, dream visions, and ghostly encounters in one single image, these pictures provide important evidence of how new pictorial subjects and representational forms got incorporated into Jin and Yuan visual culture under the impact of performing arts. In previous studies of Jin and Yuan art, scholars have competently drawn from historical and literary records to examine paintings and sculpture traditionally appreciated by the cultural elite, while neglecting theatrical evidence that is equally important for a full understanding of visual culture of the time, especially considering the increasing importance of non-elite people in formulating social and cultural developments from the Tang period on.2 By analyzing the origins, subjects, and styles of storytelling pictures in their larger cultural context, this essay explores artistic achievements in the depiction of romance 1 A translation of this Yuan drama is provided in West and Idema, The Moon and the Zither. 2 Scholars have recently started to treat overlooked theatrical tomb images as important evidence in exploring cultural and religious lives of Middle-Period Chinese people, especially those farmers and merchants undocumented in traditional histories. For instance, Jeehee Hong assembled in her book this kind of visual material to examine its symbolic roles in the mortuary context, revealing how representations of theater were utilized to socialize the sacred tomb space. See Hong, Theater of the Dead, 10-14.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_005 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

116

Zhang

and fantasy under the influence of secular theater during the thirteenth century. It also explores the possible influence of Daoist theater on Jin and Yuan art through the spread of deliverance dramas promoted by Quanzhen (Complete Perfection 全真) masters. The use of multiple formats for depicting Sima You’s story suggests that these pictures of fictional stories and dramas attracted viewers from different walks of life. By revealing the impact of theater on the making and spread of these images, this study sheds new light on the sophisticated interplay between pictorial art and popular culture during the thirteenth century and illuminates a neglected aspect of the visual culture in the vast land of Jin and Yuan northern China. Drawing on visual materials made in such diverse media as portable paintings, printed illustrations, temple murals, ceramic pillows, bronze mirrors, and outdoor theatrical stages still in situ, this study shows how the new love for romance and theatrical performance added to Middle Period China’s material and visual cultures.

Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao: From Pictures to Performances

Story scenes on Jin and Yuan ceramic pillows have seldom been studied or identified due to a neglect of crafts for everyday use or a lack of knowledge about popular fiction and drama of the period. Although these story scenes were familiar to every household eight hundred years ago, many no longer convey their original meaning to the modern eye. For instance, a Cizhou 磁 州–ware (modern Linzhang 臨漳 county, Hebei province) pillow, dated to the first half of the thirteenth century, has a charming human-spirit encounter scene of particular interest—a fairy lady carrying clappers in her hands appears in the clouds before a young student in a studio (Figure 3.1).3 No one has previously explained why this lady was carrying clappers and approaching a sleeping man or tried to associate this dream encounter scene with a theatrical story. Fortunately, the same episode is illustrated in a similar composition on a Jin dynasty silk scroll by Liu Yuan 劉元 (fl. early 13th century) from the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum (Figure 3.2). From the colophons on 3 It is notable that traditional fiction and drama frequently portrayed female protagonists as fairy ladies who descended to the mundane world and fell in love with young students who would soon achieve successful official careers. For instance, Cui Yingying 崔鶯鶯, a character who first appeared in Yuan Zhen’s 元稹 (779-831) Biography of Yingying (Yingying zhuan 鶯 鶯傳) which served as the basis for the Jin dynasty play Medley of Master Dong’s Western Chamber Romance (Dong xieyuan xixiang zhugongdiao 董解元西廂諸宮調), was supposed to have a beautiful visage like a fairy lady in Master Dong’s book, attracting the reader’s attention from her very first appearance, see Q. Li, “Kongjian luoji yu shijue yiwei,” 21.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

117

this handscroll, one learns that the episode is from Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, an eleventh-century ghost love story that recounts an ephemeral encounter of the spirit of Su Xiaoxiao 蘇小小 (d. ca. 501), a renowned Southern Qi (479-502) courtesan, and Sima You 司馬槱 (fl. late 11th century), nephew of the famous Northern Song scholar-official, Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019-1086).4 While this young scholar was taking a nap in his studio in Luoyang, Su Xiaoxiao appeared in his dream and sang a lyrical song, telling him of their future reunion in Hangzhou, where her body was buried at the bank of West Lake.5

Figure 3.1 Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow, 41.5 × 17.5 × 14.5 cm, private collection in Handan, Hebei. After Z. Zhang, Cizhou yao cizhen, pl. 48.

Figure 3.2 Liu Yuan, Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, early 13th century, Handscroll, ink and color on silk, 29.2 × 73.6 cm, Cincinnati Art Museum, 1948.79. After Avril, Chinese Art in the Cincinnati Art Museum, pl. 28. 4 Avril, Chinese Art in the Cincinnati Art Museum, 59-60. 5 This story was recorded by Song literati in several books, such as Zhang Lei’s (1054-1114) Zhang Lei ji 張耒集 and He Wei’s 何薳 (1077-1145) Chunzhu jiwen 春渚紀聞. For the story, see Zhanglei ji 44.814; and Chunzhu jiwen 7.102.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

118

Zhang

When unrolling this scroll from right to left, one can see Sima sleeping on a chair in a stage-like open pavilion, while Su Xiaoxiao appears in a billow of clouds. A breeze is suggested by the quivering flame of a lit lamp. Hunched forward with a sleeve covering her mouth, Su expresses grief at the passing of time and the transience of beauty.6 This lovely but lonely lady yearns for her lover by singing “The Song of Golden Threads” over the rhythmic sound of clappers. The melody of this lyric is suggested by a pictorial atmosphere full of poignancy and melancholy: I used to live by the Qiantang River, Flowers fall, flowers bloom, Without regard for the passing of years. The swallows are taking with them the colors of spring, At the gauze window - how many bouts of yellow plum rain? 妾本錢塘江上住，花落花開，不管流年度。燕子銜將春色去，紗窗幾 陣黃梅雨。

After he awoke, Sima completed the second stanza of Su’s lyric song to the tune of “Butterflies Love Flowers (Dielianhua 蝶戀花)”: The horn comb is set at an angle in her hair, which is so like half-rising clouds, Lightly marking time with her sandalwood clapper, She pours her soul into the song of “Golden Threads.” The dream ends, colored clouds are nowhere to be found, In the coolness of the night, the moon rises on the spring riverbank. 斜插犀梳云半吐，檀板轻敲，唱彻黄金縷。梦里彩云无觅处，夜凉明 月生南浦。7

A couple of years later, Sima You passed a special examination and obtained an official position in Hangzhou. However, not long after, he died in a strange accidental fire on the Qiantang River, where someone saw him boarding a pleasure boat with a mysterious, beautiful lady. 6 Bush, “Five Paintings,” 197. For a brief discussion of the dream vision, see W. Li, “Dream Visions,” 71-72. 7 The translation of the lyrics follows the Cincinnati Museum catalogue, see Avril, Chinese Art in the Cincinnati Art Museum, 59-60.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

119

The similarity of the pillow illustration and the silk scroll suggests that they were derived from the same prototype, with their production closely associated with the thriving narrative arts and stage performances of the time.8 The lyrics of “The Song of the Golden Threads” (sometimes also known as “Butterflies Love Flowers”), which derived from this story, would soon become one of the most popular songs of Song and Jin daqu 大曲 songs in northern China during the twelfth century.9 The majority of these popular daqu songs originated in the Central Plains and maintained an enduring popularity throughout the Jin and Yuan dynasties. Fashionable gentlemen of the time would carry small booklets of popular songs to show off their literary talents and artistic taste.10 The subsequent association of these songs with secular theater and their presence in the performance of Yuan zaju 雜劇 dramas further sustained their popularity among illiterate audiences.11

8 9

10

11

The viewer can immediately recognize that the two pictures depict the same episode, though the pillow image lacks the dramatic effect seen in Liu Yuan’s silk painting. Zhang Ming argues that a scholar at the Yuan court probably recorded these ten most popular songs in the first chapter of the Yuefu xinbian yangchun baixue 樂府新編陽春 白雪, an anthology of songs and ballads of the Jin and Yuan periods. The first chapter of this anthology records these popular songs; the following chapters introduce sanqu 散曲 songs that were collected in the form of both songs and lyrics. The prime position of these songs suggests that the compiler viewed them as important for setting the standard for other popular songs and ballads. M. Zhang, “Song Jin shida qu,” 83-85. Zhang also mentions that, although Yuan dynasty literati chose these songs and ranked them in the newly compiled handbook of the music bureau at the court, these songs were actually selected based on their popularity rather than on their literary value or their author’s fame. In a play entitled Talented and Lustful Wang Huan at the Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers (Cheng fengliu Wang Huan Baihuating 逞風流王煥百花亭), the protagonist Wang Huan 王煥, pulled a small booklet of the ten most popular songs out of his sleeve in his first appearance, presenting himself as a fashionable young scholar. Wang would soon meet a singing girl named He Lianlian 賀憐憐 and live with her in her parents’ house near Luo­ yang. Yuanqu xuan 337-53. For instance, some popular songs were often sung before formal stage performances, as recorded in the first act of the Wind and Moon, A Medley of the Purple Cloud Pavilion (Zhugongdiao fengyue ziyunting 諸宮調風月紫雲亭), written by Shi Junbao 石君寶 (11901275?), a playwright born in Jin dynasty Pingyang 平陽 (modern Linfen 臨汾 region, Shanxi province). This play tells the love story of a man, Ling Shouchun 靈壽春, and an actress, Han Chulan 韓楚蘭, from a family troupe. In the first act, the actress Chulan sings, “I will sing the ten popular songs before reciting the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; my mother will narrate the History of Five Dynasties before adding a talk on the Bayang 八陽 sutra.” Yuan kan zaju sanshizhong, 181.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

120

Zhang

Literary sources featuring romances between men and women had gained popularity in the Tang dynasty (618-907).12 Yet, it was during the subsequent Song dynasty that love stories enjoyed an unprecedented popularity through narrative and theatrical genres, and were increasingly found in lyrics, ballads, and dramatic moments. Among the most popular songs, at least four are directly related to stories of love between literati and courtesans of the time: Sima You’s “Butterflies Love Flowers,” Liu Yong’s 柳永 (987?-1053) “Bells Ringing in the Rain (Yulinling 雨霖鈴),” Cai Songnian’s 蔡松年 (1107-1159) “Man-mode of Shi Prefecture (Shizhouman 石州慢),” and Zhang Xian’s 張先 (990-1078) “Heavenly Fairy (Tianxianzi 天仙子).” Notably, Cai Songnian was a Chinese scholar-official who served at the Jurchen Jin court. On his journey as an envoy to the court of the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), he briefly met a beautiful Korean courtesan at a post station and immediately fell in love with her. Along with the lyrics that Cai Songnian left for the girl, this love story became a popular romance and was eventually adapted by the playwright Li Wenwei 李文蔚 (active 1250s) as a Yuan zaju drama.13 This checklist of romance writers also suggests that there was no dichotomy separating “high” from “low” art especially in the shaping of the visual tradition of romance, because the stories of love and longing that eventually reached the Jin and Yuan common folk through performance arts were indeed rooted in earlier writings by members of the literati elite, who often drew inspiration from local tales or popular ballads. Perhaps of greater interest, “The Song of Golden Threads” and related ballads later evolved into the short play Su Xiaoxiao’s Moon Night Dream at the Qiantang River (Su Xiaoxiao yueye Qiantang meng 蘇小小月夜錢塘夢) (Figure 3.3). As illustrated in a fifteenth-century book, Sima’s dream encounter was moved from an afternoon setting into a starry night one, in which an upscale residence with a beautiful garden full of fancy rocks and plants is featured. Vivid details of the characters and architectural surroundings were added into the expanded illustration of four pages that spread over two full-size woodblocks. This play probably served as a prologue to the famous Yuan drama, Romance of the West Chamber, in traditional theater, given that its illustrated 12 13

For a detailed discussion of love stories and fiction in the Tang dynasty, see Hsieh, Love and Women in Early Chinese Fiction. M. Zhang, “Song Jin shida qu,” 90. Although its title is recorded in the Register of Ghosts (Lu gui bu 錄鬼簿, preface dated 1330), the text of this Yuan drama has been lost. When another Yuan playwright named Jia Zhongming 賈仲明 (1343-1422) once wrote a poem memorializing Li Wenwei’s life, he specifically mentioned that Li created a drama about Cai Songnian’s story in which he wrote down the lyrics of “Man-mode of Shi Prefecture” (Cai Xiaoxian zui xie Shizhouman 蔡萧闲醉写石州慢).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

121

Figure 3.3 Su Xiaoxiao’s Moon Night Dream at the Qiantang River, Augmented with Illustration, from the Romance of the West Chamber, 1498 edition printed in Beijing. After Peng, “Beijing fangke banhua zhi qipa,” 157.

text was placed before the main text of this drama in several versions of the playbook.14 The rationale behind this insertion most likely was to inform the audience that a pre-determined fate ultimately decides the outcome of all love affairs. Written by the renowned Yuan playwright Wang Shifu 王實甫 (ca. 12501321), the Romance of the West Chamber was originally based on a short play developed by a Shanxi native, who most likely lived in a world full of storytelling images and stage performances during the Mingchang 明昌 era (1190-1196) of the Jin dynasty.15

Picturing Divine Romances and Dream Encounters

The illustrations of Sima You’s story include three elements worthy of further examination in the context of theater—a romantic encounter with a female 14 15

Peng Yu-xin also expresses a similar opinion; see Peng, “Beijing fangke banhua zhi qipa,” 46-47. The story of the Romance of the West Chamber allegedly took place at the Monastery of Universal Salvation (Pujiusi 普救寺) in Puzhou 蒲州 in southern Shanxi, where a young scholar, Student Zhang 張生, unexpectedly met Cui Yingying, a beautiful girl from an elite family who was taking refuge in the temple with her mother. Aided by Yingying’s maid, Hongniang 紅娘, and other friends, these two lovers finally married after overcoming several hurdles. As mentioned above, a Shanxi scholar, whose surname is Dong 董 (fl. 1190-1196), compiled the Medley of Master Dong’s Western Chamber Romance by elaborating upon Yuan Zhen’s Biography of Yingying, a Tang dynasty short story based on a local tale in Shanxi. For more information, see the introductions in L. Chen, Master Tung’s Western Chamber Romance; and West and Idema, The Moon and the Zither.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

122

Zhang

spirit in a dream, an exchange of lyrics as a means of communication between human and supernatural beings, and an eventual reunion with the spirit at the cost of leaving the human world. The painter of the scroll particularly depicted Su Xiaoxiao, a courtesan who lived five hundred years earlier, as a singer of popular lyrics in Sima’s time. She is not only wearing a robe and shawl fashionable among Song dynasty women, but is also carrying seven-panel clappers (tanban 檀板), a musical instrument popular in the narrative arts since the sixth century.16 The singing and exchange of lyrics, a favored means of association between literati and courtesans in literature, was also adopted as a method of communication between the earthly and the supernatural. Meeting a divine woman in one’s dream was not something completely new in Chinese literature and art. During the Warring States period (475-221 BCE), there was a popular tale about the erotic dream encounter of a king of Chu with a mountain goddess at Gaotang 高唐, where a shrine was later built to commemorate this divine contact. When accompanying his master, King Qingxiang of Chu 楚頃襄王 (298-263 BCE), to visit the site, Song Yu 宋玉 (ca. 298-222 BCE) wrote the famous Rhapsody of Gaotang (Gaotang fu 高唐賦) to describe the imagined beauty of this legendary deity and commemorate this tale full of romantic interest.17 Because of Song’s captivating prose, King Qingxiang became fascinated with this tale and eventually experienced his own romantic contact with the supernatural through a dream. Song Yu’s work not only represented the longing for love and fantasies about women in Chinese literary tradition, but also promoted the belief that dreams could function as means of encountering divine powers. By Song times the “Dream of Gaotang” (Gaotang meng 高唐夢) had been well-known among commoners, as indicated by an inscribed pillow from the period (Figure 3.4). Its inscription clearly states that a wonderful pillow is indispensable if one wants to have a magical dream in which one can, like the king of Chu, meet

16

17

It is reasonable to assume that the prototype for Su Xiaoxiao was probably a contemporary actress who sang a solo while playing her own musical instrument, allowing the painter to imagine the vivid appearance and posture of this famous figure who lived hundreds of years before. Gaotang is the ancient name for the place near Mount Wu where King Qingxiang met the mountain goddess. He tried to pursue this beautiful fairy lady but his love was sadly rejected because she was loyal to her lover, a previous king of Chu. Song Yu created another well-known Rhapsody of Nüshen to commemorate this unconsummated romance between a human and a deity. For more discussion of Song Yu’s prose poems and their importance in Chinese literary tradition, see W. Li, Enchantment and Disenchantment, 25-29.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

123

Figure 3.4 Ink inscription of a couplet, surface decoration of a Northern-Song Cizhou-ware pillow, 26 × 19 × 13 cm, Handan Municipal Museum. After Wang, Zhengmeng Handan, 40.

longed-for fairy ladies.18 This text promoted the belief, probably common at the time, that such a dream could help men reach the land of the immortals and obtain good fortune. Yet readers might also have understood that the ways of the divine and human must diverge, and that a dream could only offer brief contact with the supernatural because of the difficulty in crossing or transcending the boundaries between two different realms.19 To obtain eternal access, one eventually had to leave the human world or achieve religious enlightenment. Thus, the ending of Sima You’s story seems not to be completely tragic: the disappearance of Sima in the company of a mysterious lady possibly refers to his transcendence to another realm and final reunion with Su.

18

19

Deng, “Yuzuo gaotang meng,” 95. The ink inscription can be roughly translated as: “To have a wonderful Gaotang dream [meeting immortal ladies], one must lie on a fantastic pillow (Yuzuo gaotang meng, xuping miaozhen qi 欲作高堂[唐] 夢, 須憑妙枕欹).” Li Wai-yee has pointed out that, in early literary traditions, those divine women were hard to access because the men could not easily cut their connections with the human world. See W. Li, “Dream Visions,” 70.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

124

Zhang

The tradition of illustrating romantic encounters between spirits and humans can be traced to earlier dynasties. A famous example is Nymph of the Luo River (Luoshen fu 洛神賦), a handscroll painting attributed to the famous Eastern Jin dynasty (317-420) artist Gu Kaizhi 顧愷之 (ca. 344-405). This scroll depicts the Wei dynasty (220-265) prince Cao Zhi’s 曹植 (192-232) romantic encounter with a goddess who briefly appeared near the Luo River in Luoyang.20 Their short contact ended abruptly because the prince rejected the goddess’ invitation to leave with her due to his attachment to the earthly world. Cao Zhi later wrote a famous rhapsody to commemorate his unconsummated passion for this mythical divine lover. The twelfth century witnessed a boom in pictures of supernatural encounters in media other than painting. Many tales about encountering fairy ladies and visiting heavenly realms became popular decorative motifs on everyday objects, especially on bronze mirrors discovered in Northern Song and Jin tombs in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Hebei. For instance, a bronze mirror image depicts a man standing before a thatched yurt, seeing off a fairy lady and her maids who are leaving on clouds. It most likely depicts an episode of the popular love story between a fairy lady and the legendary filial paragon Dong Yong 董永 (Figure 3.5) during the Eastern Han period (25-220).21 Another en­­counter frequently depicted is the night visit of Emperor Minghuang (r. 712-756) to the Moon Palace, where he saw fairy ladies and learned about the heavenly music that he later compiled into the famous “Song of Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers” (Nichang yuyi qu 霓裳羽衣曲). Many surviving mirrors use the same composition, in which Emperor Minghuang is led by a Daoist priest to cross a bridge where a toad and a jade rabbit stand. The Moon Palace has its doors half-opened by a maiden, while the Moon Goddess and her attendants are waiting in the clouds to welcome the guest (Figure 3.6).22 Because scholars mainly depend on later scroll paintings and printed illustra20

21

22

The original painting has unfortunately been lost, but at least a few Song and Yuan copies have survived, including one at the Palace Museum, Beijing, possibly a twelfth-century copy (27.1 x 572.8 cm). Li Wai-yee is particularly interested in the role of this painting in initiating the pictorial tradition of illustrating literary works about mythical encounters between the spirit and human worlds. See W. Li, “Dream Visions,” 65-72. Yang, “Song Jin Niulang Zhinü gushijing kaoshuo,” 96-103. It is notable that, although most people now treat Dong Yong’s story the same with another tale that recounts the annual meeting of a cowherd and a weaver girl, the Song dynasty illustrations of these two stories are different as shown by evidence from surviving bronze mirrors. During the Yuan dynasty, the playwright Wang Bocheng 王伯成 (fl. 1264-1294) incorporated this tale as an episode into his Medley of Memoirs of the Tianbao Era (Tianbao yishi zhugongdiao 天寶遺事諸宮調). Based on this tale, Bai Pu 白樸 (b. 1226) also wrote the

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

125

Figure 3.5 Scene of Dong Yong meeting a fairy lady, decoration on a 11th-century bronze mirror, diam. 26 cm, 1950 g, sold in the Guardian auction, Beijing, Spring 2009, Lot 4839. After Yang, “Song Jin Niulang Zhinü gushijing kaoshuo,” 102.

tions to discuss the imagery of romance and fantasy, they have not made much use of this kind of pictorial evidence on everyday objects to fully explore the visual culture of Song and Yuan northern China. Although mythical encounters of both Dong Yong and Emperor Minghuang occurred while the characters were awake, dreaming frequently functioned as an efficacious way to meet someone from another world. As Yao Dajuin has pointed out, the tradition of depicting one’s dreams and inner world was deeply rooted in Chinese literature and art. By the Tang dynasty, artists had Yuan drama Emperor Minghuang Visits the Moon Palace (Tang Minghuang you yuegong 唐 明皇遊月宮). See Zeng, Zhongguo gudian xiju, 617-19.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

126

Zhang

Figure 3.6 Scene of Emperor Minghuang visiting the Moon Palace, decoration on a 11th-century bronze mirror, diam. 21.5 cm, 1095 g, sold in the Hongsheng auction, Beijing, Fall 2011, Lot 1024.

learned to use devices such as a cartouche or billowing clouds to depict dream visions, represent different states of being, or render the inner world or consciousness of a character.23 Although little pictorial evidence before the thir­teenth century has survived, it is certain that skills of depicting dream visions and different illusions had matured during the Southern Song period, as exemplified by a storytelling scroll, Auspicious Omens for Dynastic Revival (Zhongxing ruiying tu 中興瑞應圖) (Figure 3.7), painted by the Southern Song 23

D. Yao, “Pleasure of Reading Drama,” 449. These devices were probably derived from Indian Buddhist painting, given that contemporary Buddhist sutra illustrations first applied frames or clouds to create cells for different spaces and times. Also, Philip Bloom in this volume discusses these devices in some detail.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

127

Figure 3.7 Xiao Zhao (active 1230s-1260s), Auspicious Omens for Dynastic Revival, section detail of a handscroll, ink and color on silk, 26.7 × 397.3 cm, Tianjin Museum.

court artist, Xiao Zhao 蕭照 (active 1230s-1260s). One section of this long scroll depicts Emperor Gaozong 高宗 (r. 1127-1162) having a dream encounter while encamped with the army in the countryside. In the dream, he meets his elder brother, Emperor Qinzong 欽宗 (r. 1125-1127), who was captured by Jurchen troops in 1127. Surrounded by a billow of clouds emanating from the tent where Gaozong is sleeping, the dream scene on the right shows a man handing an imperial robe to another, a symbol implying the transfer of the throne. By the thirteenth century, writers were more frequently using dreams to enrich romantic fiction and plays. In response, artists also started to merge romantic encounters and dream visions in their paintings and illustrations, which resulted in a proliferation of such pictures during the Yuan dynasty. For instance, possibly inspired by the tale of the “Dream of Gaotang,” the compiler of King Wu Rebels Against King Zhou (Pinghua Wuwang fa Zhou 平話武王伐紂, preface dated 1321-1323), included an episode of King Zhou’s (d. 1046 BCE?) dream encounter with a Jade Maiden at the beginning of the story.24 The book illustrator rendered this episode by the conventional means of depicting a dream: King Zhou appears in a billow of clouds and meets the Jade Maiden in the left half of the page spread. He directly proposes to his lover, but the deity rejects him, leaving him a gift of a jade belt (Figure 3.8).25 Interestingly, this illustration differs from Liu Yuan’s painting and inserts into the clouds a trumpet-shaped frame that encloses the protagonist himself, directly connecting

24 25

This was the prototype for the Investiture of the Gods (Fengshenbang 封神榜). Takimoto ed., Zenso heiwa goshu, 6-7. After this dream, King Zhou started a countrywide selection of consorts and found Da Ji 妲己, who would cause trouble for King Zhou’s regime, leading to its eventual demise.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

128

Zhang

Figure 3.8 “King Zhou’s Dream Encounter with the Jade Maiden,” from the Investiture of the Gods, 1321-1323 edition printed by the Yu family in Jian’an, Fujian. After Takimoto ed., Zensō heiwa goshu, 2.

King Zhou’s dream vision with the supernatural realm where the Jade Maiden lives.26 Stories of the Romance of the West Chamber figured in Chinese narrative painting ever since the thirteenth century, if not earlier, and its illustrations of lovers meeting in dreams were widely circulated in the form of both decorated ceramics and woodblock prints.27 In the 1498 edition of this play, the most beautifully illustrated version, one sees that the illustration of a major dream 26

27

Kenji Kajiya summarizes two similar features observed in Japanese pictures of dreams and ghosts in early Edo (1603-1868) art—the cloud-shaped frame to enclose dream scenes and the omission of a figure’s feet to suggest his or her identity as a spirit, see Kajiya, “Reimagining the Imagined,” 87. Hsu, “Illustrations of ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’,” 39-40.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

129

Figure 3.9 “Student Zhang’s Dream of Yingying in an Inn at Caoqiao,” from the Romance of the West Chamber, 1498 edition printed in Beijing (131a and b).

scene exactly follows the tone set by its Jin dynasty precursor—Liu Yuan’s painting (Figure 3.9). In this book illustration that depicts his dream of Yingying in an inn at Caoqiao 草橋, Student Zhang is accompanied by a sleeping attendant, as in Sima’s scene, while his lover, Yingying, appears as the only character in the cloud-shaped dream vision.28 One can hardly distinguish it from Sima’s dream scene without the help of inscriptions. Susan Bush has observed that, despite its popularity in literature and theater, the theme of romance was still rare in the pictorial art of the Northern Song period (960-1127), given that no comparable paintings survive from that 28

Clunas, “The West Chamber,” 82. The 1498 edition was most likely derived from an earlier fourteenth-century version from which only a few pages exist today. Interestingly, the illustration of Sima’s dream in the same book, which was newly added to that edition, looks slightly different, because Sima appears in his own dream and is now greeting his lover, Su Xiaoxiao, face-to-face.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

130

Zhang

time.29 This situation, if true, had apparently changed during the subsequent Jin and Yuan dynasties, when various performing genres became prevalent in the secular world and motivated artists of the time to create vivid pictures of romance and fantasy. As Liu Yuan’s scroll manifests, Jin and Yuan artists employed innovative ways to create this kind of storytelling picture to cater to image-hungry readers and theater-lovers, allowing them to enjoy dramatic scenes between humans and ghosts and reality and dreams.

Impacts of Performing Arts on Image-Making

A two-line inscription by the painter of this Sima You’s Dream scroll provides some important information. First, it identifies the artist, Liu Yuan, as a native of Pingyang, the capital of the Jin dynasty Southern Circuit of Hedong (modern southern Shanxi).30 From historical and literary records, we know that Jin and Yuan southern Shanxi was a regional center of printmaking and theater and had a strong influence on the popular culture of the time. City dwellers there could enjoy drama in the urban entertainment district, while rural people could watch plays in their own villages. Second, the inscription reports that Liu Yuan served in the Commission of Palace Services (Zhiyingsi 祇應司) of the Jin court, an office founded in 1201 to provide painting and weaving services to the court.31 Given his role at court, Liu’s painting suggests that the popularity of love stories in pictures had expanded upward from the Han Chinese secular world to the non-Chinese Jurchen court by the early thirteenth century. Liu Yuan’s association with Jin dynasty southern Shanxi is intriguing. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Shanxi witnessed a rapid development of the performing arts, from daqu to zhugongdiao 諸宮調 and then to zaju. The zhugongdiao medley was a performing art form invented by a southern Shanxi 29 30

31

Bush, “Five Paintings,” 197. This inscription reads “ 三堂王門人/ 祇應司平水劉元製.” We know from this text that Liu Yuan was an apprentice of Santang Wang 三堂王, who was probably a renowned secular artist associated with Luoyang, a regionally important historical city on the major trade route connecting Shanxi and Henan. Bush, “Five Paintings,” 198-99. Bush has a detailed discussion of this institution at the Jin court. She suggests that many scholar-officials in government posts painted for the imperial family, and that there was no organized “Painting Academy” under the Jin court’s supervision, unlike in the Song (Bush, “Five Paintings,” 208-11). Liu was most likely a former commercial artist who was recruited by the Jin court after it moved from Beijing to Henan in the early thirteenth century, and as such he could have introduced local ideas and popular tastes in pictorial art to the Jurchen court.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

131

native during the eleventh century.32 Over several decades, it evolved from a simple set of ballads into a dramatic performance consisting of a suite of arias sung in a mixture of vernacular and classical language. While gradually replacing earlier daqu performances that mainly consisted of music and dance, this new form of all-keys-and-modes was integrated into zaju performances, leading to the birth of Yuan drama during the thirteenth century.33 Interestingly, southern Shanxi was the major region where zhugongdiao medley scripts were printed and distributed. The earliest extant zhugongdiao book, The Medley of Liu Zhiyuan’s Story (Liu Zhiyuan zhugongdiao 劉知遠諸宮調), is believed to have been published in southern Shanxi.34 The dissemination of such playbooks would have spurred public interest in theater and fulfilled the pre­ requisites of the occurrence of printed theatrical illustrations, which would be added to playbooks to attract more readers. The thriving performing arts and entertainment culture eventually fostered a demand for theatrical imagery outside the theater. In fact, historical records indicate that theater-related romance pictures had been used as fashionable decorations in building interiors in remote regions of northern China during the second half of the twelfth century. For instance, Wang Ji 王寂 (1128-1194), a famous Jin dynasty scholar-official, inscribed poems for four colorful pictures of love stories on the screen panels surrounding his bed when he stayed in a guest room at the Buddhist Monastery of Great Brightness (Damingsi 大明寺) in Hanzhou 韓州 (modern Changtu 昌圖 county, Liaoning province) during his trip to the Liaodong 遼東 region around 1190.35 Wang particularly identified the plays from which these scenes were taken, which included [Sima] Xiangru 32 33

34

35

Idema and West, Chinese Theater, 197-201. The zhugongdiao medley was usually performed by a single singer with supporting musicians. In addition to prose portions that are supposed to be spoken, the play has verse portions that include a set of arias in fixed musical modes to be sung to various tunes. Favoured by villagers and townspeople, its performance gradually developed into an extended form that incorporated dramatic elements into the singer’s solo narrative. For more information about this performance art form, see Idema, “Performance and Construction,” 63-78. This script, of exceptional literary and theatrical value, presents the historic tale of Liu Zhiyuan 劉知遠 (895-948), a poor peasant from Shanxi who later became the founding emperor of the Later Han dynasty (947-951). The publication of this zhugongdiao script indicates a close connection between the local printing industry and this vernacular performing art based on local stories. For more discussion on the connection between printed scripts and theatrical pictures in Shanxi, see F. Zhang, “Jin-Dynasty Pingyang,” 350-52. Wang Ji’s travel diary from his Liaodong trip is annotated in Jia Jinyan’s book Wudai Song Jin Yuanren bianjiang xingji, 295.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

132

Zhang

Pursuing a Female Phoenix (Xiangru qiuhuang 相如求凰), Broken Mirror Restored (Pojing chongyuan 破鏡重圓), and Missives of Love Exchanged on Horseback and Over the Garden Wall (Qiangtou mashang 牆頭馬上).36 The presence of these illustrations, especially at a Buddhist monastery in the remote countryside, is strong evidence for the widespread popularity of narrative and dramatic performances around 1200. Given that Liu Yuan once resided in southern Shanxi, a major center that led the new development of performing arts of the time, it is necessary to examine several important features of his scroll in relation to the thriving theater culture to which this artist had been exposed. First of all, the development of some aspects of Jin-dynasty theater, such as stage architecture, performance format, and the roles of actors, could have had an impact on the composition and style of Liu Yuan’s painting. As demonstrated by the remains of theaters in Shanxi, such as a recently restored stage dated to 1183 (Figure 3.10), during the twelfth century permanent performance stages had evolved from open platforms to sheltered ones with frontal viewing.37 This architectural evolution of stages that enabled the division between front and rear stages would encourage audiences to view stage performance mostly from the front rather than from all four directions, signaling a transition towards a visual experience of a centralized, framed view. As zaju drama developed in twelfth-century southern Shanxi, its performance also tended toward a combination of dramatic action, song, dance, and dialogue along with staging practices. Arguably, these new manners and devices of presenting plays could have affected contemporaneous painters’ view of how to render the narrative of a story on a scroll.38 36

37

38

In the first story, a talented scholar, Sima Xiangru 司馬相如 (fl. 2nd century BCE), proposed to a beautiful lady, Zhuo Wenjun 卓文君, and eventually earned her heart by playing zither music. The second story is about a princess of the Chen dynasty (557-589) who managed to reunite with her husband by matching two halves of a broken mirror. The third story recounts the elopement of Pei Shaojun 裴少俊, a minister’s son, with his lover, Li Qianjin 李千金. This story was later developed by the abovementioned playwright Bai Pu into one of the four most well-known Yuan romantic dramas in China. See X. Li, Guben xiqu jumu tiyao, 160 and Yuanqu xuan 640-61. Liao, Zhongguo xiju tushi, 101-06. By using historical texts and surviving stage remains, Liao Ben proposes that the changes of theater names and stage locations within temple compounds, the developments of stage roof types and wall structures, as well as added divisions of front and rear stages, all indicate that Yuan audiences would no longer surround roofed stages to view plays from multiple directions. Instead, they would mainly gather at the front side. Although this issue has not been studied by Chinese art historians, some Western scholars have explored possible interactions between the evolution of dramatic illustrations and the new architectural norms for theater space in Europe. For instance, Julie Peters

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

Figure 3.10

133

A recently restored Jin dynasty performance stage (dated 1183) at the Erlang Temple, Wangbao village, Gaoping, Shanxi. Photo by Fan Jeremy Zhang, 2007.

Comparable to European modern theater, the shift of theater aesthetics towards staged viewing and the elaboration of theatrical modes of representation added increased theatricality into Jin and Yuan plays and trained the audience of the time to comprehend sophisticated narrative devices on stage.39 With a greatly improved viewing experience, townspeople and villagers developed interest in the plots and the inner world of the protagonists.40 Their

39

40

argues that some of the manuals used by stage designers and theater-builders recorded new architectural norms that influenced painters in Renaissance Europe. The idea of controlling the audience’s attention can be observed in some architects’ designs for new stages. Following these strategies, European painters used a framed, unified perspective to encourage spectators to focus on particular parts of their paintings, see Peters, Theater of the Book, 185-94. It is noteworthy to reference William Egginton’s discussion on the birth of modern theatre, in which he proposed that new forms of illusionistic theatre led to a fundamental change of the human mentality, from a medieval “magical” worldview to a theatrical understanding of the world. Egginton, How the World Became A Stage, 42-43 and 54-55. Lara Blanchard points out that Song artists applied several methods to render the inner world of females such as facial expressions and gestures, the use of musical instruments

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

134

Zhang

imaginative experience was enhanced as a result of the greater attention paid to actors’ makeup, costumes, and facial expressions.41 Possibly in response to viewer’s interest in dramatic action in the illustration of plays, Liu Yuan applied a close-up format lacking in earlier narrative paintings. He thus was able to enhance the emotive power and dramatic effect of his painting, making it touch the viewer the way a real stage performance did. In addition to expending considerable effort in rendering vivid details of a mysterious dream encounter, Liu Yuan also uses an innovative spatial composition in which the single moment of the two characters’ meeting is abruptly cropped from its surroundings. He purposefully erases space beyond the encounter scene to force the viewer’s eye to focus on the major characters rather than on their surroundings.42 This compositional strategy enabled him to manipulate the perceived space and strengthen the intimacy of the theatrical effect in this painting. With the help of such an intimate perspective, Liu successfully captured the emotional nuance of the female protagonist, allowing the viewer to experience fully the poignancy and melancholy of this ephemeral encounter.

41

42

and intimate objects, as well as through inscriptions of poems and associated texts. See Blanchard, “Visualizing Love and Longing,” 262-65. The clay figures and brick tiles in Jin dynasty tombs provide vivid evidence that much attention was given to the make-up and costumes of zaju actors. As seen in the Macun tomb no. 1, one of the actor figurines had his cheeks painted white and lips painted red to show his role as a clown. This detail indicates that the audience cared about drama actors’ facial expressions and appearance. The development of distinct make-up for different roles probably reminded artists to pay attention to physiognomic and psychological details with elaborate brushwork. For more information, see Z. Huang, Zhongguo xiqu wenwu tonglun, 292-98. On clay figures and brick tiles in Jin dynasty tombs see also Deng’s chapter in this volume. Interestingly, this abrupt erasure of extra-scenic space and the absence of a complete background echoes similar spatial compositions often seen in printed illustrations of fiction books during the Yuan. We do not know if this kind of spatial composition and visual efficiency was borrowed from book illustration, or the other way around, but mutual influence between woodblock prints and paintings is possible. Yao Dajuin also points out that, for the convenience of the viewer, Chinese printmakers often removed doors, screens, and roofs in printed illustrations. This reminds us of the widely-used “blown-off roof method” (fukinuki-yatai 吹き抜き屋台) in Japanese paintings and prints, see D. Yao, “The Pleasure of Reading Drama,” 447.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures



135

Spirits and Dreams in Quanzhen Deliverance Plays

In the same period and region where the performing arts of zhugongdiao and zaju flourished, the Daoist Quanzhen movement also penetrated local life.43 The founder of the Quanzhen sect, Wang Zhe 王喆 (1112-1170), employed storytelling and pictorial illustration to proselytize Quanzhen teachings in Shanxi, where the Quanzhen Sect had a stronghold and built one of its regional headquarters, the Yonglegong 永樂宮 (Palace of Eternal Joy), in Ruicheng 芮城 near Pingyang. By showing Daoist masters’ hagiographic stories of quelling ghosts, enlightening lay people, and assisting the poor, Quanzhen priests encouraged believers to leave the burden of family life and pursue the eternal joy of immortality, either through religious exercise or reclusive life in the mountains. The frequent new construction and additions of stages in local shrines and temples indicates there had been a well-established theatrical tradition in religious ceremonies and festivals in Shanxi during the Jin dynasty.44 The simultaneous rise of zaju drama and the Quanzhen movement further suggests a close relationship between vernacular theater and institutional ritual there.45 As Quanzhen priests utilized drama performances and liturgical plays to encourage common folk to undertake religious conversion, illiterate villagers and townspeople also began to seek religious salvation and ritual healing from efficacious Daoist theater and to believe in the magical power of stage spectacles and theatrical images. Considering their overlap in time and place, the widely popular Daoist plays most likely added to the prevalence of imagery of dream visions and divine encounters. In other words, if the secular theatrical tradition boosted the development of entertaining pictures of romance and fantasy, the popularity of religious theater further inspired the making and circulation of this kind of imagery. A case in point is an encounter scene on a Cizhou ware pillow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which depicts a Daoist-like exorcist waving a sword and confronting a female ghost under a new moon and the stars. While she is approaching upon billowing clouds, another man, perhaps an attendant, is so scared that he tries to hide behind the exorcist (Figure 3.11).46 This ghost story possibly recounts the moment when Daoist master Zhang helps an offi43

44 45 46

Chen Yuan is the first Chinese scholar to systematically study the development of the early Quanzhen sect and its roots in both literati elite and lower classes. See Y. Chen, Nansong chu Hebei xin Daojiao kao, 20-23 and 34-37. Liao, Zhongguo xiju tushi, 98. Idema and West, Chinese Theater, 90-91. See Camusso, Ceramics of the World, 319.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

136

Zhang

Figure 3.11

Scene of an exorcist confronting with a female ghost, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow, 32 × 16.4 × 14.5 cm. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gift of Charles Sumner Bird in memory of Francis William Bird, 44.619.

cial ward off a female spirit of the fragrant olive flower (Guihua xianzi 桂花仙 子), whose beauty haunted the soul of the official’s nephew. The exorcist, Celestial Master Zhang, successfully rescued the young man from ghost possession and restored the proper separation between the realms of humans and spirits. This story was later developed into a well-known Yuan drama by Wu Changling 吳昌齡 (fl. 1250s), entitled Celestial Master Zhang Judging Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon (Zhang tianshi duan feng hua xue yue 張天師斷風花雪 月).47 Since Daoism had for a long time used dreams as a means of enlightment and persuasion, many dream-related pictures and plays were eventually developed into tools of Daoist teaching and suasion. One of the most famous dreams in Chinese literary tradition, Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi’s 莊子 “Dream of 47

X. Wang and S. Wang, “Yuandai Cizhou yao huazhen,” 65-73. For the drama derived from Master Zhang’s story, see Yuanqu xuan 421-34. It is also possible that the illustration links to another Yuan drama with a similar plot, entitled Spiritual Master Sa Judges the Spirit of Flowering Peach at Night (Sa zhenren ye duan bi taohua 薩眞人夜斷碧桃花). Yuanqu xuan 594-612.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

137

the Butterfly,” once functioned as a constant source of inspiration for scholars and artists to describe dream visions and imagine other realms. During the Yuan dynasty, the subject of “butterfly dream” was depicted in paintings and adapted into dramas to promote Daoist ideas and conversion.48 Interestingly, the best known dream scene related to Quanzhen Daoism is the “Dream of the Yellow Millet (also known as Dream of Handan, Handan meng 邯鄲夢),” which constitutes a key episode in the conversion story of the famous Daoist patriarch, Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 (fl. 9th century), who eventually devoted himself to Daoism after an enlightening dream. As shown by this hagiographic story scene on the wall paintings of the Chunyang 純陽 Hall at the Palace of Eternal Joy, the master Zhong Liquan 鍾離權 (fl. early 3rd century) arranged for Lü, who was then still young and reluctant, to convert to Daoism and experience the gain and loss of all fortune and luck over his lifetime through a brief dream lasting less than the time of cooking a yellow millet meal. One can see that Lü Dongbin has left his sleeping body and set off, riding a white horse, on a dream journey marked by a rising billow of clouds (Figure 3.12). Based on this tale, the playwright Ma Zhiyuan 馬致遠 (ca. 1250-1321) wrote the well-known Yuan drama, Enlightenment from the Dream of the Yellow Millet on the Road to Handan (Handan dao xingwu huangliang meng 邯鄲道省悟黃粱夢).49 Zhu Quan 朱權 (1378-1448), a Ming prince and pious Daoist devotee, introduced twelve categories of zaju drama in a rhyming dictionary, Formulary of the Correct Sounds of an Era of Peace (Taihe Zhengyin pu 太和正音譜, preface dated 1398).50 The first two categories draw on Daoist teachings, first deliverance plays and stories of immortals, which would inform the living of the wonders of Daoist transcendence and enlightenment, and second, plays about recluses and hermits, which offers didactic teachings promoting reclusive life and religious cultivation. About one tenth of surviving Jin and Yuan drama titles belong to these two categories, notes Yao Shuyi, who also observes that about forty of some four-hundred drama titles listed in the Register of Ghosts do as well.51 These plays persuasively educated their audiences about correct lifestyles, free from the earthly temptations of wine, sex, money, and fame, as well as the advantages of becoming a recluse. Because of the close relation 48

49 50 51

The C. C. Wang Collection in New York used to have a painting attributed to Liu Guandao 劉貫道 (active late 1280s), which depicted Zhuangzi becoming a butterfly in his dream. Also, there is a Yuan drama entitled The Butterfly Dream of The Elder Zhuang Zhou on a Pillow (Lao Zhuang Zhou yizhen hudie meng 老莊周一枕蝴蝶夢). The episode relates to Daoist conversion and suasion, see L. Huang, Nanju liushi zhong qu yanjiu, 96. Yuanqu xuan 367-82. Taihe zhengyin pu 1.36. S. Yao, “Yuan zaju,” 64-65.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

138

Zhang

Figure 3.12

Detail of Dream of the Yellow Millet, mural scene from the east wall of the Chunyang Hall (dated 1358), Yonglegong, Ruicheng, Shanxi. After Xiao, Yonglegong bihua quanji, pl. 197.

between the rise of the Quanzhen sect and the development of popular theater on Daoist themes, David Hawkes proposes calling these zaju dramas Quanzhen plays, which were secular in format but religious in content.52 These hagiographies and plays about religious conversion often included important concepts of Quanzhen teachings, such as the Four Delusions (simi 四迷) and the Fire Courtyard (huoyuan 火院).53 Quanzhen patriarchs and Daoist immortals were willing to assist devoted believers to attain immortality and to help poor people in need.54 They also frequently used dreams to enlighten laypersons or descended disguised as 52 53 54

Hawkes, “Quanzhen Plays,” 168. Hawkes, “Quanzhen Plays,” 160. Katz, Images of the Immortal, 74-76.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

139

commoners to teach Daoist beliefs. To enlighten Ma Yu 馬鈺 (1123-1183) and his wife Sun Buer 孫不二 (1119?-1182), for instance, Wang Zhe sent this rich couple on a dream journey through hell, where they witnessed the brutal punishments of the dead who had sinned in their previous lives. A series of fourteenth-century hell scenes in the Chongyang 重陽 Hall at the Palace of Eternal Joy show the dream experience of this couple, exemplifying the pictorial tradition of depicting dreams in the Quanzhen Movement.55 Shown as a savior descending among clouds in each scene, Wang Zhe uses his magical power to rescue this couple from sufferings and eventually converts them into Daoist believers. As Paul Katz and others have suggested, the success of the Quanzhen movement can be attributed to popular faith in the spiritual powers and benevolent nature of the immortal patriarchs of the sect, such as the Eight Immortals. To some extent, the popular plays of the Eight Immortals best represent the success of Daoist theater in Shanxi.56 Although the scripts of most of these plays have been lost, their popularity can be seen from the prevalence of relief tiles and wall paintings of the Eight Immortals in local tombs and temples. Over the north entrance of the Chunyang Hall at the Palace of Eternal Joy, for instance, a wood panel dated to 1358 shows Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea (baxian duhai 八仙渡海) (Figure 3.13).57 These immortals, using their respective attributes and magical powers, are crossing East Sea to attend the banquet held by the Queen Mother of the West. As Susan Huang points out, this kind of image was also a powerful redemptive symbol because the “ocean crossing (du 渡)” is a homonym for “salvation (du 度)” in Chinese.58 Due to their auspicious implications and entertaining content, the short plays and performances of the Eight Immortals were often presented at birthday parties or holiday celebrations.59 The vivid illustrations of the Eight Immortals could

55 56

57 58 59

S. Huang, “Daoist Visual Culture,” 1007-08; for mural scenes, see Xiao, Yonglegong bihua, 292-95. Hawkes proposes that the popular notion of the Eight Immortals was influenced by some folk memory of Wang Zhe and his seven disciples, because the eastward and westward journeys of these Quanzhen masters in the early days of their preaching are similar to the multiple trips of the Eight Immortals, who travelled from their islands of the Blest to the banquets of the Queen Mother of the West. See Hawkes, “Quanzhen Plays,” 170. For more discussion of the motifs of the Eight Immortals, see Jing, “The Eight Immortals,” 213-29; also see Chai, Shanxi siguan bihua, pl. 155. S. Huang, Picturing the True Form, 319-20. A. Wang, “Ming zaju de yanchu changhe,” 64.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

140

Zhang

Figure 3.13

The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, panel scene from the Chunyang Hall (dated 1358), Yonglegong, Ruicheng, Shanxi. After S. Huang, Picturing the True Form, 321.

not only help viewers relive what they watched on stage but also inform them of the Daoist ideas and teachings embodied in these magical stories. Because of the wide influence of Daoist teaching and religious theater, Ma Zhiyuan, like other literati and low-rank government officials of the time, withdrew from the pursuit of fame and fortune and started to compile Quanzhen plays. In addition to the Dream of the Yellow Millet, this productive playwright incorporated vernacular tales and Daoist ideas into at least three other important deliverance plays, including Ma Danyang Leads Crazy Butcher Ren to Enlightenment Thrice (Ma Danyang sandu Renfengzi 馬丹陽三度任瘋子), Lü Dongbin Gets Drunk Thrice at the Yueyang Tower (Lü Dongbin san zui Yueyanglou 呂洞賓三醉岳陽樓), and Stories of the Daoist Recluse Chen Tuan at Mount Xihua (Xihua shan Chen Tuan gaowo 西華山陳抟高臥).60 The recruitment of Daoist playwrights and the use of religious theater helped the Quanzhen Sect engage more illiterate devotees through captivating images and plays, and thus spread the idea of seeing beyond superficial realities and escaping predetermined fate.

Cizhou-Ware Pillows for Dreams and Afterlife

In southern Shanxi, a thriving center for theater culture, local tales and vernacular stories were quickly adapted into ballads, stories, and short plays for popular entertainment and artisans were encouraged to convert stories and plays into pictures and carvings in a variety of media. Not all viewers could afford to patronize a court painter such as Liu Yuan or to buy a silk painting from the market merely for their private amusement. Many villagers and 60

For related dramas, see Yuanqu xuan 581-93 (Ma Danyang); 206-23 (Lü Dongbin); 310-20 (Chen Tuan).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

141

townspeople could, however, afford pictures in other media, including decorated ceramics and woodblock prints, two major media for disseminating images across Jin and Yuan northern China. Cizhou wares in particular provide the most revealing visual evidence to date of the thriving production of storytelling pictures related to the performing arts. They were mass-produced out of common stoneware clay and decorated in fashionable styles to cater to public tastes. The nearby location and convenient trade network meant that the products of Cizhou kilns had a large market in southern Shanxi.61 Local artisans employed the white surface of Cizhou wares as a vehicle for displaying various attractive scenes and auspicious motifs for everyday decoration.62 Given that Cizhou-ware pillows were produced in the region of Handan, the abovementioned popular story, “Dream of Handan,” could have promoted the idea among villagers and townspeople that pillows from there were especially useful for helping their users experience wonderful dreams.63 Over the white surface, in iron-rich slip, artisans often inscribed popular lyrics, poems, and proverbs, as well as landscapes, plants, and animals accompanied by geometric patterns and auspicious motifs. Notably, ceramic pillows decorated with narrative and landscape scenes did not become fashionable until the late twelfth century, with their prevalence closely related to the concurrent development of popular theater and Quanzhen Daoism.64 A large number of extant pillows decorated with Daoist lyrics or didactic stories are marked with designers’ studio names that identify themselves as Daoist hermits, such as “Recluse by the Zhang River (Zhangbin yiren 漳濱逸人).” The frequency of discoveries of Cizhou-ware pillows in Jin and Yuan tombs demonstrates that these objects 61

62

63

64

In fact, Cizhou wares were mostly produced in kilns along the border of the Southern Circuit of Hedong and Western Circuit of Hebei (Hebei xilu 河北西路). The west corner of the ancient Cizhou region (modern Shexian 涉縣 county, Hebei province) belonged to the Southern Circuit of Hedong and was under the administration of Pingyang Prefecture during the Jin. Feng Junjie informed me that a stele inscribed “Pingyang” was once unearthed during his field survey in Shexian, where there are some sites of Cizhou-system kilns. Vainker, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, 116. For a general introduction, see Mino, Freedom of Clay and Brush, 138-47. The production of Cizhou wares peaked during the Jin dynasty, when townspeople and villagers widely used them as domestic decoration and enjoyed their floral patterns, illustrated scenes, and poetic inscriptions. Wang Wenjian speculates that Cizhou artisans depicted popular storytelling and dramatic scenes on the surface of pillows so that people could recall stories, ballads, and plays before going to sleep on a summer night, see W. Wang, Zhenmeng Handan, 176-85. Extant Cizhou-ware pillows have shown different aspects of Jin and Yuan theater. In addition to inscriptions of long lyrics and ballads, some of them directly illustrate theatrical performance scenes, including puppet plays and zaju dramas.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

142

Zhang

had become popular household items, used by well-to-do local farmers, merchants, clerics in life and afterlife.65 Scenes from the romantic and dream stories were depicted on both expensive silk scrolls and wall paintings and affordable decorative art.66 The ornament of another interesting Cizhou-ware pillow, for instance, shows two gentlemen crossing a bridge and walking towards a cave residence hidden in a cloudy ravine. They are welcomed by a group of fairy ladies who have opened the gate of their residence for guests (Figure 3.14). Similar to the Moon Palace setting seen on the mirror, this illustration uses a cloudy “grotto palace (dongfu 洞府)” setting in the mountains to indicate that such a romantic encounter involved fairy ladies from another realm. Li Qingquan has proposed that this picture depicts the story of Liu Chen 劉 晨 and Ruan Zhao 阮肇, two young alchemists of the Northern and Southern dynasties (317-589).67 If he is correct, the same story has also been illustrated by elegant ink brushwork on a long handscroll by Zhao Cangyun 趙蒼雲 (fl. late 13th–early 14th century), a descendant of the Song royal family living

65

66

67

Cizhou-ware pillows have frequently been discovered in Song, Jin, and Yuan tombs of common households in Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan. Zhang Ziying has briefly introduced previous discoveries of Cizhou-ware pillows and indicated their importance in local burial beliefs for providing the deceased with a comfortable life in the underworld, see Z. Zhang, Cizhou yao, 11-14. The majority of some 200 pillows in this catalogue were unearthed by local farmers and then collected by various museums over the past few decades. The similar scenes in Liu Yuan’s scroll and the Cizhou-ware pillow are by no means the only evidence of this. For example, Lady Cai Wenji’s 蔡文姬 (c. 177-239) story was painted by Zhang Yu 張瑀 (active early 13th cen.), another Jin dynasty painter who also served the Jurchen court like Liu Yuan. Now at the Jilin Provincial Museum, this ink and color painting depicts a single episode from the story of Lady Cai, who was abducted at a young age to marry a nomadic chieftain and separated from her parents for many years. Her tragic life and eventual return to China was adapted into several plays and dramas during the Jin and Yuan periods. Episodes from Lady Cai’s story were frequently illustrated by both Song and Jin artists in various formats that included silk scrolls, album leaves, wall paintings, pillow illustrations, and porcelain decorations. For a brief description of this and other similar subjects in Song and Jin paintings, see Murray, Mirror of Morality, 81-82. Q. Li, “Kongjian luoji,” 22. See also S. Huang, Picturing the True Form, 118. Numerous Song dynasty literary accounts have cited this kind of wondrous encounter experience with female immortals in grotto heavens. Also, the Handan Municipal Museum has a Cizhouware pillow showing a similar scene, possibly from the same story. See Z. Zhang, Cizhou yao cizhen, pl. 49.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

143

Figure 3.14

Scene of gentlemen visiting ladies in a cave residence, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou ware pillow, 39.1 × 17.2 × 14.1 cm, the Palace Museum, Beijing. After Deng, “Gaotang meng,” 91).

Figure 3.15

Zhao Cangyun, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao Entering the Tiantai Mountains, c. 1300. Handscroll, ink on paper, 22.5 × 564 cm, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.494.1. After Hearn and Fong eds., Along the Riverbank, 83.

under Mongol rule (Figure 3.15).68 According to the narrative inscribed by the artist around 1300, sections of this painting depict that Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao accidently lost their way and entered a mysterious place in the Tiantai 天 台 mountains, where they were hospitably welcomed by two female immortals and their friends. While enjoying a comfortable and happy life there, full of banquets and amusements served by attendants, they did not notice the pas68

For the painting and colophons, see Hearn et al., Along the Riverbank, 80-92; for artist inscriptions, see 148-51.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

144

Zhang

Figure 3.16

A dream scene of a ghost story, probably the Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess, surface decoration of a Jin dynasty Cizhou-ware pillow, L.: 40.6 cm, Honolulu Museum of Art, Gift of Honorble Edgar Bromberger, 1956 (2176.1).

sage of time. After they returned home, however, they realized that the visit they had thought lasted only a few months actually had spanned decades in the human world. This fascinating story was later developed into the Yuan drama, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao Strayed into the Land of Peach Blossoms (Liu Chen Ruan Zhao wu ru taoyuan 劉晨阮肇誤入桃源).69 In addition to incidental visits to divine lands, dreams became another major channel through which contact with the supernatural could occur. One pillow scene, which probably depicts the Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess, combines dreams and ghostly encounters as in Liu Yuan’s scroll. In the story, Liu Yi helped the daughter of a dragon king deliver a message back home and saved her from the abuse of her husband. The pillow scene presents a dream encounter, soon after Liu Yi knocked an old orange tree on the bank of Dongting 洞庭 Lake to notify messengers from the underwater dragon palace. As the ghost emerges from a fenced well and approaches, Liu Yi is surrounded by a billow of clouds that suggest he has entered his dream (Figure 3.16). Based on this tale, Shang Zhongxian 尚仲賢 (active 13th century) wrote a drama, Liu Yi Delivers the Letter at the Dongting Lake (Dongtinghu Liu Yi chuanshu zaju 洞庭 湖柳毅傳書雜劇).70 69 70

Yuanqu xuan 268-81. Yuanqu xuan 538-51. Mino’s Freedom of Clay and Brush first introduced this pillow image (133, F.156). It shows a ghost emerging from a large well, who is an envoy from the dragon Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

Figure 3.17

145

Scene of Liu Yi meeting the dragon princess, from the Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess, decoration on a 12th-century bronze mirror, diam. 17.2 cm, 702 g, with an inscription “white bronze mirror made by Ma family of the Hezhong prefecture,” sold in the Huaxia auction, Beijing, Fall 2010, lot 5446.

Like Dong Yong’s story, the story of Liu Yi was also a preferred subject for the surface decoration of bronze mirrors during the Jin dynasty, as exemplified by one made by a Ma family workshop in the Hezhong prefecture according to its inscription (Figure 3.17). This mirror instead shows another well-known episode of the story, in which Liu Yi accidentally meets the dragon princess who is being punished to herd sheep outdoors all day. Interestingly, the manufacture place of the mirror, Hezhong prefecture, is the place where the story of the West Chamber occurred. During the Jin dynasty, this prefecture belonged to the king’s palace and is going to talk to Liu Yi and bring his message back to the dragon king. A similar scene is illustrated in a book of this story (Wanli reign edition) during the sixteenth century. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

146

Zhang

Pingyang region that was known for its theater culture and printing industry. The circulation of these pictures certainly enabled related fictional and theatrical stories of romance and fantasy to spread beyond southern Shanxi and reach a wider public across the Central Plains. Roderick Whitfield thus points out that, “Given the rarity of Song illustrated books and narrative figure paintings, the pillows must be one of the major bodies of material illustrating these developments of [fiction and drama].”71 One can observe on pillow surfaces theater-related stories from all major categories of Jin and Yuan plays, including historical stories of famous figures and battles, religious tales of deities and immortals, as well as romances and courtroom dramas.72 Pillows with scenes of stories made it easy for their users to enjoy fantastic dreams on a summer night or during their eternal rest in the underworld.

Conclusion

Vernacular literature, dramatic performances, and religious teachings left clear marks on Chinese visual culture through the production and distribution of images of romance and fantasy during the Jin and Yuan periods. Common folk gained easy access to popular theater through affordable pictures sold in the marketplace as well as through widespread narrative and dramatic performances at local villages and temples. To cater to a variety of tastes and needs, artists and artisans purposefully rendered interesting episodes from fiction and drama in a variety of formats, including paintings, murals, prints, relief tiles, and the decoration of everyday objects. As an ensemble, these pictures became an indispensable component of the theater culture of the time and represented a visual tradition that was highly fashionable among villagers and townspeople in Jin and Yuan northern China, but became buried in the rubble of subsequent wars and forgotten over time. It is not simply a coincidence that the narrative painting, Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao, visually combines all elements of dreams, ghosts, and romance. This painting sheds new light on a vital aspect of Jin and Yuan visual culture 71 72

Whitfield, “Tz’u-chou Pillows,” 84. Both Zhang Ziying’s and Wang Wenjian’s catalogues offer a good selection of representative story scenes on Cizhou-ware pillows. A good example is “Yingying Praying with Incense at a Moon Night,” an episode from the Romance of the West Chamber. This scene was illustrated on both a Jin dynasty Cizhou-ware pillow and in the drama book of the 1498 edition. F. Zhang, “Drama Sustains the Spirit,” 253.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

147

that featured thriving storytelling, stage performances, ritual spectacles, as well as innovative artistic styles and forms. The prevalence of imagery of spirits and fantasy also reflects the profound influence of Quanzhen Daoism in Shanxi, where a variety of Daoist plays attracted audiences from different social strata and became an important part of daily life and preparation for the afterlife. Pictures of popular love stories, historical accounts, and religious tales were widespread in northern China and over time reached audiences in urban marketplaces, rural temple fairs, and remote border towns. To sum up, the public desire for novelty and transcendence had a profound impact on the production and consumption of Jin and Yuan arts and boosted widespread interest in stage spectacles and dramatic scenes that included plots and elements crossing temporal, regional, and social boundaries, and sometimes even the border of the human and spirit worlds. A variety of artistic forms and media functioned as vehicles for the dissemination of theatrical pictures, which not only served illiterate folk but also reached elite circles and non-Chinese courts. Religious beliefs, cultural preferences, and social morals, especially those of Quanzhen Daoism, reached a wider audience outside of traditional theater since more people could enjoy spectacles and pictures of popular plays on the streets and at home. The proliferation of pictures of romance, dream, and fantasy from fiction and drama and the rise of popular entertainment culture in thirteenth-century China indeed constituted a crucial development of Jin and Yuan visual culture, heralding the full blossom of theatrical imagery in the subsequent Ming dynasty.

References



Primary Sources

Chunzhu jiwen 春渚紀聞, by He Wei 何薳 (1077-1145). Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 1983. Taihe zhengyin pu 太和正音譜, by Zhu Quan 朱權 (1378-1448). In Zhongguo gudian xiqu lunzhu jicheng 中国古典戲曲論著集成 vol. 3. Beijing: Zhongguo xiju chubanshe, 1959. Xinkan qimiao quanxiang zhushi Xixiangji 新刊奇妙全相註釋西廂記, by Wang Shifu 王 實甫 (ca. 1250-1321), reprinted in 1498. Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1961. Yuan kan zaju sanshizhong 元刊雜劇三十種. Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1962. Yuanqu xuan 元曲選, compiled by Zang Maoxun 臧懋循 (1550-1620). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2002. Zhanglei ji 張耒集, by Zhang Lei 張耒 (1054-1114). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1998.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

148

Zhang

Secondary Sources

Avril, Ellen. Chinese Art in the Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati: Cincinnati Art Museum, 1997. Blanchard, Lara. “Visualizing Love and Longing in Song Dynasty Paintings of Women.” Ph.D. diss. University of Michigan, 2001. Bush, Susan. “Five Paintings of Animal Subjects or Narrative Themes and Their Relevance to Chin Culture.” In China Under Jurchen Rule: Essays on Chin Intellectual and Cultural History, edited by Hoyt C. Tillman and Stephen H. West, 183-215. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995. Camusso, Lorenzo, ed. Ceramics of the World: From 4000 BC to the Present. New York: Harry Abrams, 1992. Chai Zejun 柴澤俊, ed. Shanxi siguan bihua 山西寺觀壁畫. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1997. Chen, Li-li. Master Tung’s Western Chamber Romance (A Translation). New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. Chen Yuan 陳垣. Nansong chu Hebei xin Daojiao kao 南宋初河北新道教考, first published in 1941. Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1989. Clunas, Craig. “The West Chamber: A Literary Theme in Chinese Porcelain Decoration.” Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society 46 (1981-82), 69-84. Deng Fei 鄧菲. “Yuzuo gaotang meng, xuping miaozhen qi” 欲作高唐夢, 須憑妙枕欹. Gonggong wenwu yuekan 338 (2011), 88-95. Egginton, William. How the World Became A Stage: Presence, Theatricality, and the Question of Modernity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003. Hawkes, David. “Quanzhen Plays and Quanzhen Masters.” Bulletin de I’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient 69.1 (1981), 153-70. Hearn, Maxwell, and Wen Fong, eds. Along the Riverbank: Chinese Painting from the C.C. Wang Family Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999. Hong, Jeehee. Theater of the Dead: A Social Turn in Chinese Funerary Art, 1000-1400. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2016. Hsieh, Daniel. Love and Women in Early Chinese Fiction. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2008. Hsu, Wen-chin. “Illustrations of ‘Romance of The Western Chamber’ on Chinese Porcelains: Iconography, Style, and Development.” Ars Orientalis 40 (2011), 39-107. Huang Li-zhen 黃麗貞. Nanju liushi zhong qu yanjiu 南劇六十種曲研究. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1995. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. “Daoist Visual Culture.” In Modern Chinese Religion. Part One: Song-Liao-Jin-Yuan (960-1368), edited by John Lagerwey and Pierre Marsone, 929-1050. Boston: Brill, 2014. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist visual Culture in Traditional China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Romantic Encounters in Jin-Yuan Theatrical Pictures

149

Huang Zhusan 黃竹三. Zhongguo xiqu wenwu tonglun 中國戲曲文物通論. Taiyuan: Shanxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 2010. Idema, Wilt. “Performance and Construction of the Chu-Kung-Tiao.” Journal of Oriental Studies 16.1/2 (1978), 63-78. Idema, Wilt and Stephen H. West. Chinese Theater 1100–1450: A Source Book. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1982. Jia Jinyan 贾敬顏. Wudai Song Jin Yuanren bianjiang xingji shisanzhong shuzhenggao 五 代宋金元人边疆行记十三种疏证稿. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004. Jing, Anning. “The Eight Immortals: The Transformation of Tang and Song Taoist Eccentrics During the Yuan Dynasty.” In Arts of the Song and Yuan, edited by Maxwell Hearn, 213-29. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. Katz, Paul. Images of the Immortal: The Cult of Lü Dongbin at the Palace of Eternal Joy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999. Kajiya, Kenji. “Reimagining the Imagined: Depictions of Dreams and Ghosts in the Early Edo Period.” Impressions 23 (2001), 86-108. Li Qingquan 李清泉. “Kongjian luoji yu shijue yiwei—Song Liao Jin mu ‘furen qimen’ tu xinlun” 空間邏輯與視覺意味—宋遼金墓”婦人啓門”圖新論. Meishu xuebao 2 (2012), 5-25. Li, Wai-yee. “Dream Visions of Transcendence in Chinese Literature and Painting.” Asian Art 3.4 (1990), 53-77. Li, Wai-yee. Enchantment and Disenchantment: Love and Illusion in Chinese Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993. Li Xiusheng 李修生. Guben xiqu jumu tiyao 古本戲曲劇目提要. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 1997. Liao Ben 廖奔. Zhongguo xiju tushi 中國戲劇圖史. Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 2012. Mino, Yutaka. Freedom of Clay and Brush Through Seven Centuries in Northern China: Tz’u-Chou Type Wares, 960-1600 A.D. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. Murray, Julia. Mirror of Morality: Chinese Narrative Illustration and Confucian Ideology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, 2007. Peng Yu-xin 彭喻歆. “Beijing fangke banhua zhi qipa: Ming Hongzhi ‘Xinkan dazi kuiben quanxiang canzeng qimiao zhushi Xixiangji’ banhua yanjiu” 北京坊刻版畫之奇葩: 明弘治《新刊大字魁本全像參增奇妙註釋西廂记》版畫研究. Master’s thesis, National Taiwan Normal University, 2009. Peters, Julie. Theater of the Book 1480-1880: Print, Text, and Performance in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Takimoto, Hiroyuki eds. Zensō heiwa goshu. Sangokushi engi 全相平話五種、三国志演 義. Tokyo: Yushikan, 2009. Vainker, S. J. Chinese Pottery and Porcelain: From Prehistory to the Present. New York: George Braziller, 1991.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

150

Zhang

Wang Anqi 王安祈. “Ming zaju de yanchu changhe yu wutai yishu” 明雜劇的演出場合 與舞台藝術. Zhongwai wenxue 17.3 (1988), 59-86. Wang Wenjian 王文建. Zhenmeng Handan: Cizhouyao jingpin shangxi 枕夢邯鄲: 磁州 窯精品賞析. Guangzhou: Guangdong renmin chubanshe, 2011. Wang Xing 王興 and Wang Shilei 王十磊. “Yuandai Cizhou yao huazhen shang de daojiao gushi” 元代磁州窯畫枕上的道教故事. Shoucang no.3 (2014), 65-73. West, Stephen H. and Wilt Idema. The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Whitfield, Roderick. “Tz’u-chou Pillows with Painted Decoration.” In Chinese Painting and the Decorative Style, edited by Margaret Medley, 74-94. London: University of London, 1975. Xiao Jun 蕭軍. Yonglegong bihua quanji 永樂宮壁畫全集. Tianjin: Tianjin renmin meishu chubanshe, 2007. Yang Yubin 楊玉彬. “Song Jin Niulang Zhinü gushijing kaoshuo” 宋金牛郎織女故事鏡 考說. Wenwu jianding yu jianshang 3 (2013), 96-103. Yao, Dajuin. “The Pleasure of Reading Drama: Illustrations to the Hongzhi Edition of The Story of the Western Wing.” In The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing, edited by Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema, 437-68. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Yao Shuyi 么書儀. “Yuan zaju zhongde ‘shenxian daohua’ xi” 元雜劇中的神仙道化戲. Wenxue yichan 3 (1980), 90-95. Zeng Yongyi 曾永儀. Zhongguo gudian xiju de renshi yu xinshang 中國古典戲劇的認識 與欣賞. Taipei: Zhengzhong shuju, 2006. Zhang, Fan Jeremy. “‘Drama Sustains the Spirit’: Art, Ritual, and Theater in Jin and Yuan Period Pingyang, 1150-1350.” Ph.D. diss., Brown University, 2010. Zhang Fan 張帆. “Jin-dynasty Pingyang and the Rise of Theatrical Pictures.” Artibus Asiae 74.2 (2014), 337-80. Zhang Ming 張鳴. “Song Jin shida qu/yue jianshuo” 宋金十大曲/ 樂箋說. Wenxue yichan 1 (2004), 83-96. Zhang Ziying 張子英. Cizhou yao cizhen 磁州窯瓷枕. Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 2000.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

151

Chapter 4

The Ten Views of West Lake Xiaolin Duan In 1924, Leifeng Pagoda 雷鋒塔, which had stood for over a thousand years beside West Lake outside Hangzhou, suddenly collapsed. This news, which one might expect to be regarded as quite insignificant in such a politically unstable era, drew the attention not only of local people but also of the elite from all over the country. Literati found this incident to be a perfect opportunity to lament historical change and to argue in favor of having the tower rebuilt in order to keep the set of the Ten Views of West Lake 西湖十景 intact. The wellknown writer Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936), however, used the incident to criticize traditional Chinese culture. He wrote, in his characteristically satirical tone, Many of us in China … have a sort of “ten views syndrome” or at least an “eight views syndrome,” which reached epidemic proportions in the Qing dynasty, I should say. Look through any county annals, and you will find the district has ten sights, if not eight, such as “Moonlight on a Distant Village,” “Quiet Monastery and Clear Bell,” “Ancient Pool and Crystal Water.”1 What bothered Lu Xun was the extremely formulaic practice of assigning eight or ten four-character poetic phrases to epitomize the best local scenic sites. Long before Lu Xun, the Qing Dynasty literatus Zha Qichang 査其昌 (1713-1761) already had noted that local people routinely designated the requisite number of stereotyped titles. Commenting on the excessive use of eight or ten views, Zha complained, “as for the ten scenic views or eight scenic views, it is common to find them even in the gazetteers of remote areas. This is really a bad habit.”2 Though Zha Qichang and Lu Xun were correct that most of the “ten views” produced in late imperial times were clichéd, the Southern Song Ten Views of West Lake—probably the source of this “ten views syndrome”—for a long time had usefully served as a creative discourse that helped shape how people inter1  See Lu’s “More Thoughts on the Collapse of Leifeng Pagoda” in Lu et al., Selected Works of Lu Hsun, 96. 2 (Qianlong) Haining xianzhi 3.422.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_006 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

152

Duan

acted with the natural landscape. The place titles associated with West Lake defined the spots that drew visitors’ eyes, and influenced how these viewers interpreted what they saw. Unlike most of the titles that Lu Xun criticized, the Ten Views of West Lake drew extensively from the actual local scenery. This place-energized visual culture was intricately interconnected with social activities and cultural norms. On the one hand, it was rooted in, and in turn enhanced, local pride. And more broadly, it allowed any visitor to feel more familiar within the landscape. By investigating how the Ten Views of West Lake was envisioned, presented, and circulated during the Song, this chapter explores how visual and material cultures in this case were closely tied to both cultural geography and urban life. While the tradition of sightseeing around West Lake dates back to the Tang Dynasty, Song visitors undoubtedly were the ones who initiated the process of systematically selecting its iconic spots. When exposed to a new environment, sightseers desire focal points to help them assimilate, and they tend to assign symbolic meanings to these focal locations. Their habits are embedded in culture, in “cultural styles, circulating images and texts of this and other places.”3 This culturally influenced way of viewing surrounding nature helped visitors to connect with the landscape. Yi-fu Tuan labels this affective bond between people and place topophilia.4 Once the Ten Views of West Lake were enriched through art and literature, they became a perfect checklist for sightseers who wished to take in what West Lake had to offer. Paintings of the lake also evoked a sense of being there for people who were physically unable to visit. This form of enjoyment was traditionally called “travel while lying at ease” (臥游 woyou), a term first used by the early landscape painter Zong Bing 宗炳 (375-443).5 Place and time both offer constructive points of departure in studies of Chinese visual and material cultures. As Ronald Egan remarked, depicting the natural landscape involves a complicated process of conceptualizing and abstracting the natural elements.6 Specific places can serve as anchors for organizing cultural memories; they help people to construct their personal identities, and facilitate the joining of meaningful words and images.7 Eugene Wang, in his study of Leifeng Pagoda, approaches it as both a signpost and a literary topic: “In reality, a site is echoed in collective memory by its capacity to

3 4 5 6 7

Urry and Jonas, The Tourist Gaze 3.0, 17. Tuan, Topophilia, 4. Hua shanshui xu, 583-584. Egan, “Nature and Higher Ideals,” 303. Clunas, Elegant Debts, 93; L. Liu, “Collecting the Here and Now,” 57-69.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

153

inspire writings on it and the topical thinking it provokes.”8 The meaning of places was frequently tied to the circulation and continuing interpretation of textual records. Past scholarship on the Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang 瀟湘八 景9 (a precursor of the Ten Views of the West Lake) demonstrates that interconnections between textual and visual records contributed to the wide circulation of specific sets of views, or visualizations, of nature.10 The Ten Views are specific to certain places but also evoke specific seasons or even times of day. Time functions as an important coordinate in one’s memory. Watching the sunset, appreciating the reflection of the moon on the water, and enjoying the snowy scenery are experiences people could acquire in many other places. By connecting visual sites with more universal emotional attachments to nature, the Ten Views encourage spectators to recall and reflect upon their past experiences while contemplating the specific places around West Lake. Such deliberate utilization of place and time should be kept in mind when analyzing the creation of the Ten Views in the Song period. Gazing at the sites, representing them in words or pictures, and circulating these images created a way of seeing and thinking about natural scenery that could be both personal and communal. In this chapter, the Ten Views are examined in contemporary manifestations of visual and material culture—poetry, maps, and paintings (particularly details of a special ten-leaf album of the Ten Views)—to show how their titles and intended meanings were constructed to evoke simultaneously a place, an artistic motif, and a culturally-laden naming convention.11

8 9

10 11

Wang, “Tope and Topos,” 489. The earliest extant pictorial example of the Eight Views is by the Northern Song literatus Song Di 宋迪 (jinshi during 1023-1032). The titles of the Eight Views are: “Wild Geese Descending to Sandbar 平沙落雁,” “Returning Sail off Distant Shore 遠浦歸航,” “Mountain Market, Clear with Rising Mist 山市晴嵐,” “River and Sky in Evening Snow 江天暮 雪,” “Autumn Moon over Lake Dongting 洞庭秋月,” “Night Rain on Xiao and Xiang 瀟湘 夜雨,” “Evening Bell from Mist-shrouded Temple 煙寺晚鐘,” and “Fishing Village in ­Evening Glow 漁村夕照.” See Mengxi bitan 9.549. The translations of the eight titles are from Murck, “Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang Rivers,” 216. Also see Barnhart, “Shining Rivers”; I, “‘Landscape Like a Picture’ and ‘Landscape in the Picture’,” 33-70; “Song Yuan ti ‘Xiaoxiang’ shanshui huashi,” 33-70; Lee, Exquisite Moments; Empresses, Art, and Agency, 171-79; Miyazaki, “Saiko wo meguru kaiga,” 203; and Shi, Yidong de taohua yuan, 23-25. Shi, Yidong de taohua yuan; Murck, “Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang.” Mitchell, Iconology, 13.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

154

Duan

The Origins of the Ten Views

The earliest extant record of the Ten Views of West Lake is found in Zhu Mu’s 祝穆 (?-1255) geographical work, Fangyu shenglan 方輿勝覽. He wrote: People who were fond of things used to name [the scenery] using ten titles: Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake, Spring Dawn at Su Dike, Remnant Snow on Broken Bridge, Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda, Evening Bell from Nanping Hill, Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery, Watching Fish at Flower Cove, Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples, Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon, and Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds. 好事者嘗命十題，有曰：平湖秋月，蘇堤春曉，斷橋殘雪，雷峯落 照，南屛晚鐘，曲院風荷，花港觀魚，栁浪聞鶯，三潭印月，兩峯挿 雲。12

The earliest extant paintings and poems on this topic are also dated to the 1250s and 1260s, suggesting that this was the period in which the Ten Views were invented. The Ten Views were meant to convey the essence of the West Lake experience through a set of sights and associated activities correlated with specific times of day and seasons (see Table 4.1 below). Earlier researchers have long drawn attention to the practice of naming eight or ten sites with four-character poetic titles, and have pointed to connections between the Ten Views and the earlier convention of the Eight Views. However, the Ten Views differ from the Eight Views in several respects—above all, in their emphasis on specific locations and the inclusion of more human activities. While the Eight Views could be applied to many natural places in southern China during the Song period, eight of the Ten Views at West Lake include a specific place or structure.13 What might seem a minor elaboration of adding specific locales to the Eight Views in actuality had major consequences as it changed how people saw nature. The Ten Views would not have become nearly as famous had it not been for the Jurchen conquest of north China and the Song relocation of the capital south to Hangzhou. Located at the south end of the Grand Canal and on the southeast coast, Hangzhou benefitted from both domestic waterway 12 13

Fangyu shenglan 1.6b-7a. The translation is from Lee, Exquisite Moments, 32. Concerning the Eight Views, during the later Yuan Dynasty literati connected the eight views with actual locations in the Hunan area, and made the practice of assigning poetic names to certain scenic places fashionable. See Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China, 260.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

155

The Ten Views of West Lake Table 4.1

The Ten Views of West Lake

Title (numbered Location/ Construction Season Time Weather Plant Activity as on Figure 4.1) architecture date 1. Autumn Moon Temple of the Song Dynasty Autumn Night Clear above the Placid Dragon King (960-1276) Lake 平湖秋月 Su Dike

Northern Song Spring (1089)

3. Remnant Snow Bai Dike on Broken Bridge 斷橋殘雪

Winter Before the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

2. Spring Dawn at Su Dike 蘇堤春曉

Dawn

Watch

Watch and feel After snow

Watch from distance

4. Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda 雷峰夕照

Leifeng Pagoda

975

Dusk Clear

Watch

5. Evening Bell from Nanping Hill 南屏晚鐘

Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺

954

Dusk

Listen

6. Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery 麴院風荷

Qu Garden/ Winery

Southern Song Summer (1127-1276)

7. Watching Fish At the foot of Southern Song Hua Family (1127-1276) at Flower Cove Mountain 花港觀魚 Spring

8. Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples 柳浪聞鶯

Assembling Xiaozong Reign (1127Scenery 1194) Garden (jujing yuan)

9. Three Stupas and the Reflected Moon 三潭印月

Three pagodas in the heart of the lake

Built by Su Shi, Northern Song (around 1089)

10. Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds 兩峰插雲

Among the mountains west of the lake.

Tang Dynasty Spring (618-907) or autumn

Breeze

Lotus Watch, smell and sense

Clear

Flower Fish viewing

Breeze

Willow Listen, watch

Night Clear

Watch

Misty

Watch

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

156

Duan

transportation and international maritime trade. Its population soon grew to an estimated one million people, making the city nearly four times as densely populated as Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty.14 Tuan said in his discussion of topophilia, “once society had reached a certain level of artifice and com­plexity, people would begin to take note, and appreciate, the relative simplicities of nature.”15 Early in the period of the new capital, the imperial family and scholar-officials were the main sightseers at West Lake. But gradually, Hangzhou’s commoners joined them, especially during festivals.16 In further explanation of this widening of interest, Cahill suggested that the hustle and bustle of city life there aroused a deep feeling of nostalgia due to both the loss of the north and the “closeness to nature that has characterized China’s idealized past.”17 Attention to the lake also seems to have fit into a shift in elite interests. The Southern Song is widely seen as a period when the Chinese elites turned their attention away from the central government and its needs, shifting instead toward their home communities which they wrote about with evident pride.18 Local gentry sought to mitigate a feeling of political instability by faithfully and enthusiastically recording specific places. With their knowledge of the North­ ern Song’s demise, the elite were highly conscious of the fact that dynasties have limited lives.19 But unlike dynasties which fall, local places have natural and cultural histories of their own, as well as geographical permanence. This perception could be reassuring in an age when the Song was threatened by the alien Jin and Yuan Dynasties.20

The Ten Views in Poetry

Naming scenic places with poetic titles was an enduring literati tradition. The ten titles at West Lake clearly reflect the influence of site names used in Tang 14 15 16 17 18

19 20

Gernet, Daily Life in China, 18. Tuan, Topophilia, 103. For records of how both commoners and elites enjoyed the lake scenery, see Wulin jiushi, 3.351. Cahill, “The Imperial Painting Academy,” 186. Local pride in the Southern Song period is a subject that has been widely discussed in recent scholarship. Hymes has argued that during that time, the elite focused more on local affairs than on the central government. See Hymes, “Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy.” Peter Bol also argued that the rise of local history was partly due to this transition. See Bol, “The Rise of Local History.” Bol, “The Rise of Local History,” 61. On the literati’s sense of insecurity, see T.C. J. Liu, China Turning Inward, 147.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

157

and Northern Song gardens. In his study of the development of naming locations in Northern Song gardens, Robert Harrist argued that while the site names in Tang gardens were usually “simple references to the locations, surrounding scenery, or function of a site,” the Northern Song garden owners “devoted far more attention to the moods and feelings, the literary, historical, and biographical associations that the named sites evoked.”21 In the Tang period, Wang Wei’s poems preserved the site names of his beloved Wangchuan Villa, including Southern Hillock, Willow Ripples, and Northern Hillock. These titles are reminiscent of the first two characters in the titles of the Ten Views, such as “Qu Winery,” “Flower Coves,” and “Double Peaks.” Northern Song site names, such as Reading Hall, Fishing Hut, Pavilion for Playing with Water, and Pavilion for Watering Flowers in Sima Guang’s 司馬光 (1019-1086) Garden of Solitary Enjoyment, remind one of “Watching Fish” and “Listening to Orioles” in the Ten Views at West Lake. By the Southern Song Dynasty, the two naming traditions, which emphasize natural scenery and human activity respectively, had been fused. At least four collections of ten poems on the Ten Views of West Lake survive from the Southern Song Dynasty, written by Zhang Ju 張矩 (fl. 1253-1258), Wang Wei 王洧 (ac. around 1256), Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1298), and Chen Yunping 陳允 平 (fl. 1275).22 Read as a whole, they reflect the vibrant poetry writing activities that were popular at West Lake during that period. Hangzhou literati were known for forming poetry clubs, in which they played poem-rhyming games during boating parties. Sometimes they collected their poems and published them. The Ten Views likely served as an apt choice for poetry competitions on many occasions. Many poems could be read as miniature trip diaries that indicated where and how the sightseers had spent their time. For example, all of the poems about “Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon” indicate that the scene was viewed from a lake boat. Interestingly, all four poets depicted a similar scene for “Spring Dawn at Su Dike.” The sightseers enjoyed themselves around the lake all night; in the early morning, the courtesans, just awakened, had not yet 21 22

Harrist, “Site Names and their Meaning,” 207. For Wang Wei’s poem, see Xihu youlan zhiyu 10.153. For Zhang Ju’s poem: Yuxuan lidai shiyu 64.23-26. Zhou Mi’s poems are from Juemiao hao ci jian, 7.11-12. Chen’s poems can be seen in Rihu yuchang, 80.663. Chen Qi 陳起 (fl. 13th century) was a well-known publisher who published an anthology for the River and Lake Poetry Club. See Pinzhou yudi pu 1.16a; F. Liu, Shengshi fanhua, 168. The preface to Zhou Mi’s poems indicates that he had read Zhang Ju’s poems and wanted to write his own versions to compete with them. Chen’s preface indicates that Zhou also invited Chen to write, using this group of titles and rhymes.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

158

Duan

put on their make-up, while those who were eager to meet the girls had already arrived on horseback. Zhou Mi, for instance, wrote: 23 [At] Eastern Garden, the night excursion just came to an end… Quickly refresh their make-up, those who stayed on all night, And mount a horse in a rush. All because people who desire to seek beauty get up early. Beside the dike, boats have been rushing for a while.23

東園， 夜游乍散，…… 宿妝旋整 忙上雕軿。 都緣探芳起早， 堤邊、早有已開船。

It is unclear why all of the poems shared this theme, the later poets may have copied the earlier themes intentionally, perhaps to combine respect for past masters with a claim of their own knowledge of that literary past and specific place. This trend also implies a common understanding of these lake excursions, which could last from late night to very early morning. The Ten View poems also remind one of the verse-like structures of the Eight Views.24 Three of the four sets of West Lake poems changed the sequence of the ten titles, as they had been recorded by either Zhu Mu or Wu Zimu 吳自 牧 (fl. ca. 1270-1274). The reason for rearranging the ten titles seems to have been to seek better pairing possibilities (see Table 4.2). Comparisons between poems about the Eight Views and the Ten Views reveal a striking difference. While the Eight Views conveyed the sentiments of someone in exile (such as “Night Rain on XiaoXiang”), poems about the Ten Views usually depicted flourishing sightseeing activities, even when the poems focused on the topic of the sunset, which was usually thought to arouse sorrowful feelings.25 For example, in the poem on “Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda,” while the first half of the song lyric depicts the scenery before sunset, the second half starts from the moment of sunset:

23

24 25

Juemiao hao ci jian 7.10b. The scenery depicted by the Southern Song literati was presented in a set of woodblock prints in a late Ming book, which introduced the scene “Spring Dawn at Su Dike.” This publication represents a further development of the coincidence of poems and paintings on the Ten Views. See Xinjuan hainei qiguan 3.407. For more on the Ming Dynasty print, see Duan, “A Com­parative Study of Two Series,” 224-49. Murck argued that the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers imitated the structure of regulated verse. See Murck, “Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang Rivers,” 219-20. For more discussion on the sentiment of exile expressed in the Eight Views, see Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

159

The Ten Views of West Lake Table 4.2

Poetic Structure of “Ten Views of West Lake”

Location+Season+Time

Spring Dawn at Su Dike

Location+Lingering Beauty Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda

Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake Remnant Snow on Broken Bridge

Location+Water Related Scenery

Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery Watching Fish at Flower Cove

Sounds

Listening to the Orioles by Evening Bell from the Willow Ripples Nanping Hill

The Numbers and Verbs are Twin Peaks Piercing the Perfect Matches Clouds

Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon

At the suburb, [tourists] are not yet bored with pleasure. Gloomy clouds crowd together, blinding the sorrow. Stop singing and dancing. The misty flowers and willows with dew are all left for the orioles.

郊坰。未厭遊情。 雲暮合、謾消凝。 想罷歌停舞，煙花露柳 都付棲鶯。

Several gates, already locked, Decorated carts and horses compete to enter the gate. Silver candles light the flower [fire] to warm the night, Forbidden streets with diluted moon around dusk.

重闉。已催鳳鑰 正鈿車繡勒入爭門。 銀燭擎花夜暖， 禁街淡月黃昏。26

Although this part of the poem focuses on the ending phase of an excursion, that event is not overwhelmed by sentiment. Rather, the poet adds to the joyful picture of sightseeing by emphasizing the continuing pleasure, decorated carts, and silver candles.  26 It was not uncommon for scholar officials writing about West Lake to sing the praises of the central government. After being uprooted for several years due to the political turmoil after 1127, both the imperial court and many officials had a strong desire to settle down. They injected their yearning for a new home into their writings about West Lake, and also praised the government 26

Juemiao hao ci jian, 7.10b.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

160

Duan

that would make that possible. This praise was certainly welcomed by the new court of Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127-1162), whose members saw their legitimacy confirmed by the prosperity they had helped to generate. Zhu Dunru 朱敦儒 (1081-1159), who in 1135 served as judicial commissioner of Zhedong circuit, praised the court by referencing West Lake: 27 Nowadays the true environment around West Lake is the revitalization of sagely rulership. One only needs to listen to the music and watch the dancing; the fragrances linger, and deep cups are filled with wine. Celebrating the good years and the peace that pervades the country is the best part.

此日西湖真境，聖治 中興。 直須聽歌按舞，任留 香，滿酌杯深。 最好是，賀豐年，天 下太平。27

This poem starts with praise for the restoration and ends by declaring an age of great peace. The word zhongxing (restoration) conveys the desire to recover from warfare and regain the strength of the Northern Song. People’s enjoyment of the lake showed the country’s recovery. Something similar happened in the north, under the Jin Dynasty. The Eight Views of Yanjing 燕京八景, painted around 1260-1264 by Chen Li 陳櫟 (1252-1334), depicts the Jin Southern Capital as flourishing, as I Lo-fen has pointed out.28 In both cases, a political point was made by shifting the emphasis from exiled travelers in the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers to the happy sightseers who indulged themselves at the lake.

Maps of West Lake

The Ten Views also appeared in maps. Such maps would have helped to prevent visitors from inadvertently missing a must-see scene. A detailed sight­seeing map of West Lake was included in the local gazetteer published in 1268 (Figure 4.1). This map labels more than 400 famous sites.29 The fact that 27 28

29

Quan Song ci 2.839. I, “‘Landscape Like a Picture’ and ‘Landscape in the Picture’,” 38-39. In another article on the Eight Views of Beijing, I Lo-fen pointed out that, compared to the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, which could be categorized as “cultural geography,” the Eight Views of Beijing represents “realistic geography.” But she also pointed out that not all the paintings on such Eight Views are realistic depictions of the natural landscape; some are painted to invoke recollections of previous poems on the Eight Views. See I, “A New Exploration on Qing Palace’s Collection of Ming Dynasty Artists Wang Fu’s painting--‘The Eight Views of Beijing’,” 288. The map is west-side up, as viewed from Hangzhou city.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

161

Figure 4.1 The ten views noted on the map of West Lake published in 1268. After Xianchun Lin’an zhi 1.9.

these sites were also recorded in contemporary miscellanies, along with different sightseeing routes, indicates that some sort of shared knowledge was circulating, at least among scholars.30 While this gazetteer map stands out for the rich information it provided, other handier maps were much more widely circulated. During the Southern Song Dynasty, travelers who visited Hangzhou always purchased a “guide map” (地經 dijing) of the city at the south-side of the lake, near the White Pagoda.31 This was considered something scholars “must do.” Guide maps became so popular that someone even wrote a poem on the wall of the pagoda satirizing the buyers and sellers of the maps for caring more about touring Hangzhou than returning to the lost northern capital. From that poem, we know that the guide map had clearly labeled the distances between the West Lake sites. The 30 31

Wulin jiushi, juan 5. Guhang zaji, 1.1b. The White Pagoda is located on the south of the lake and along the northern bank of the Zhe River, which served as the main waterway used by Song people to get into the city.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

162

Duan

name-labels of these famous sites helped promote the visual culture that the Ten Views represented by reconfirming what to see, where to see it, and the geographical relationships between different vistas. The maps not only provided a visual aid for people to imagine the Ten Views in the context of both the lake and the city, but also offered topographical information to facilitate their actual visit. Guide maps are an important manifestation of popular knowledge. They helped their owners to become familiar with the Ten Views, so that the visitors could partake in the activity of gazing at these specific sites.

Paintings of the Ten Views

The coupling of poems and paintings was a well-established practice in Song times, especially among court painters.32 Sometimes the poem came first, other times the painting. Zhao Xigu 趙希鵠 (fl. 1237-1252) contrasted the formation of the Eight Views, the titles of which first came from poets and were later used by painters, with contemporary practice: “Nowadays, painters come up with the titles first, not the scholars.”33 This association of the Ten Views with painting was confirmed by Wu Zimu 吳自牧 (fl. around 1270) who wrote, “In recent times the ten most spectacular scenes of the four seasons around West Lake and its mountains have been illustrated by painters (近者畫家稱湖 山四時景色最奇者有十).”34 West Lake scenery was a major inspiration for Southern Song landscape painting. Southern Song painters, such as Liu Songnian 劉松年 (fl. 1155-1218), 32

33 34

The interdependence of poems and paintings has been discussed by many scholars of Song Dynasty art. The practice of using a poem or poetic line as the inspiration for a new work first took root during Huizong’s (r. 1100-1125) reign. For examples of painting tests conducted using poetic titles, see Hua ji 1.5. Cahill, “The Imperial Painting Academy,” 16061, 165. For a detailed discussion on the interconnections between poems and paintings in the Eight Views, see Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China; Ortiz, Dreaming the Southern Song Landscape. Recently, Shih-shan Susan Huang borrowed from W. J. T. Mitchell’s discussion of western culture to rearticulate the interlocking relationships between text and image. Huang, Picturing the True Form, 11. This close interaction between poetic images and painting may also explain why most album paintings of the Ten Views since the Southern Song period were based on the practice of pairing poems with paintings. For example, Ming scholar-painter Li Liufang’s 李流芳 (1575-1629) Poem and Painting Integration of West Lake 西湖詩畫合璧 (private collection) includes ten paintings with ten poems. Dongtian qinglu ji 1.566. Mengliang lu 12.220.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

163

Chen Qingbo 陳清波, Ma Lin 馬麟 (fl. 1194-1224), and Xia Gui 夏圭 (fl. ca. 12001240) produced many paintings of West Lake.35 The development of landscape painting in turn also contributed to the rise of the custom to compare the lake scenery to landscape painting. The Southern Song Hangzhou literatus Zhou Mi mentioned a scholar who, on his first glance of West Lake, exclaimed: “So beautiful! So unique! The green water is surrounded by blue mountains. The golden and green buildings are situated among the scenery, just like a colorful landscape painting.”36 Paintings became an effective medium of visual culture for people to communicate what and how they saw. While handscroll paintings were used to capture panoramic views of the lake’s scenery, fan paintings were used to depict specific scenic sites. The account of a Jin embassy to Hangzhou records: Suddenly, they [the Jin emissaries] turned their heads and looked back at the city’s hilly slopes, where houses were stacked layer upon layer. Temples, towers, and terraces of varying heights looked like immortal palaces amidst falling flowers. [The Jin emissaries] got off the carriage and walked along, all enthusiastically praising the vista by saying that inside the city and along the lake were the scenes of a thousand fan paintings. 回頭看城内山上，人家層層叠叠，觀宇樓臺參差，如花落仙宮。下車 步行，爭說城里湖邊，有千個扇面。37

The album format (a book-sized set of small paintings bound together) worked well for capturing the Ten Views. It was not until the Southern Song period that album leaf painting became an established and well-represented artistic format. Unlike the long-established handscroll or hanging scroll, which customarily covered a distance beyond what the human eye is capable of absorbing in a single glance, an album leaf painting is a more faithful representation of scenes that are visible within the field of a single observer’s vision at a single moment. The formation of the Ten Views as an invention of contemporary painters attests to the importance of framing and selecting scenic elements to form a particular view. Most of the ten titles included diverse elements that are suitable for a painting. The independent but still inter-connected leaves of an album facilitated the presentation of a set number of scenes. This 35 36 37

Qinghe shuhua fang 3.383a; Jiangcun xiaoxia lu 7.1031; Yanshi shuhua ji 8.51; Nan Song yuan­­hua lu 2.635; Huishi beikao 6.20b-21a. Guixin zazhi xu.203-4. Fansheng lu 122-123. The translation is from Lee, Exquisite Moments, 19.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

164

Duan

also partly explains why the Ten Views throughout its history were usually depicted in the format of a ten-leaf album. The fact that each composition was painted as part of a set made it easier for viewers to identify each leaf. Specific landmark features function as indicators of which view each album leaf is depicting and can effectively trigger viewers’ mental images of the site, even though the rest of the compositional elements are not very realistic.38 However, if a leaf was separated from the album for any reason, it would be difficult to be sure it belonged to a set or which scene it depicted.39 The Southern Song academy painters produced several sets of the Ten Views, and some artists created more than one.40 Yet, despite this known production, Ye Xiaoyan’s 葉肖巖 (fl. around 1253-1258) album is the only extant Song period depiction.41 Little is known about Ye, and his Ten Views album is his only surviving work. Ye’s debts to Ma Yuan 馬遠 (fl. ca. 1190-1264) and Xia Gui can be seen in this album in his frequent application of the axe-cut textual stroke and his rendering of misty scenery in a distinctive way. Recurring themes and visual elements, and the use of particular techniques were all essential in reproducing and reinforcing the characteristic visual culture of West Lake. It is quite possible that Ye’s paintings of the Ten Views were closely based on or even copied from an earlier masterpiece. James Cahill argued that a fresh pictorial conception created by one of the major masters within the academy might have spread outward through copies and imitations in response to 38

39

40 41

Amy Huang, in her discussion of Ming paintings of real scenery in Nanjing, identified a similar practice among those painters. She used the term “synecdoche” to describe the practice: it means a part of something is used to refer to the whole of it. Huang, “Nature, Fengshui, and Political Symbolism.” There are untitled album leaves from the Southern Song period that are reminiscent of the titles of the Ten Views, such as Travelers at Dusk—a Southern Song painting now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (for an image of it, see Lee, Exquisite Moments, 67). Both Barnhart and Lee suggested that it is very likely a depiction of “Evening Bell from Nanping Hill” because the topographical features firmly place the scene at West Lake, and the composition is close to Ye Xiaoyan’s painting (Figure 4.14). Barnhart, “Shining Rivers,” 56; Lee, Exquisite Moments, 66. Lee also suggested that another two album paintings possibly depict the Ten Views. One is Ma Yuan’s Bare Willows and Distant Mountains, also now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The willows and their relative position in this painting indicate that the painter was possibly depicting the Assembling Scenery Garden—the place in “Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples.” The other is an anonymous fan painting now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, titled Boating by a Willow Bank. The depiction of round lotus leaves reminds viewers of Ye Xiaoyan’s album leaf on “Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery.” See Lee, Exquisite Moments, 68-69, 108-09. Jiangcun xiaoxia lu 7.1031. Nansong yuanhua lu 8.635. For plate illustrations, see Gugong shuhua tulu 22.74-79.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

165

­ arket demand.42 In Hangzhou, styles popular among the court painters m quickly spread to ordinary consumers. If Ye’s painting was based on another lost ­masterpiece, this could explain the discrepancy between the thoughtful arrangement of the visual elements and his less impressive brushwork. Depictions of the Ten Views of West Lake and the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers reveal clear influences from one another.43 Some Southern Song painters, such as the monk Muqi 牧谿 (ca. 1200-after 1279), based their painting of the Eight Views on their observations of West Lake scenery.44 This practice in turn encouraged painters to borrow inspirations from Eight Views paintings when they depicted the Ten Views. For example, Ye Xiaoyan’s leaf “Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples” (Figure 4.2) echoes Monk Muqi’s album leaf “Returning Sail off Distant Shore” (Figure 4.3), with the depiction of a nearby lakeshore and a misty rendering of distant waters.45 Similarly, it is widely believed that Xia Gui’s Twelve Views of Landscape was influenced and inspired by paintings of the Eight Views (see Figure 4.4).46 Though the four scenes which are extant today are mistier and feature less concrete forms than the images in Ye’s album, the shape of the mountain, the use of trees to signify the lakeshore, and the mountain silhouettes are all very similar. Though influenced by paintings of the Eight Views, Ye’s painting demonstrates very different intentions. Hui-Shu Lee argued that Ye’s utmost concern was to make sure that the ten leaves could be easily identified.47 He thus made every effort to convey the information in each title by appropriating and arranging varying visual elements such as trees, mountains, buildings, and figures in the miniature format. Compared to other sites, West Lake’s accessible location meant that painters could observe it up close, given the academy’s

42

43

44 45 46 47

Cahill, The Lyric Journey, 42; “The Imperial Painting Academy,” 169. He also suggests that the imitation could also go the other way, as local artists could bring their traditions with them when they were summoned to court. Richard Barnhart suggested in his discussion of the Eight Views, “While the new ten views focused on the distinctive scenery of West Lake, it is clear that the earliest painters of the subject were fundamentally influenced by the popular tradition of the eight famous views of Hsiao and Hsiang in creating compositions.” Barnhart, “Shining Rivers,” 55. Lee, Exquisite Moments, 12. For further information on Figure 4.2, see Li, “Ye Xiaoyan de xihu tu ji qita.” For further discussion on Figure 4.3, see Barnhart, “Shining Rivers,” 51 (Fig. 26). I, “‘Landscape Like a Picture’ and ‘Landscape in the Picture’,” 52. Lee, “The Domain of Empress Yang,” 305.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

166

Duan

Figure 4.2 Ye Xiaoyan, Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

167

The Ten Views of West Lake

Figure 4.3 Monk Muqi, Sail Returning from Distant Shore; ink on silk; H: 32.3, W: 103.6 cm. Image Countesy of the Kyoto National Museum.

Figure 4.4 Xia Gui, Twelve Views of Landscape (part); ink on paper; H: 28, W: 230.5 cm. Image Countesy of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

very close proximity to the Watching River Gate, on the east bank of West Lake.48 As can be seen in Table 4.1, many of the Ten Views are based on specific physical sites or structures, such as Leifeng Pagoda (Figure 4.5), Jingci Monastery 淨慈寺, and Su Dike. Ye made these locations the foci in his paintings. Even images lacking specific identifying features contain clues that link 48

Chen, Nansong huihua shi, 53-56.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

168

Duan

Figure 4.5 Ye Xiaoyan, Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

169

Figure 4.6 Ye Xiaoyan, Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

170

Duan

Figure 4.7 Ye Xiaoyan, Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

171

The Ten Views of West Lake

Figure 4.8 Ye Xiaoyan, Watching Fish at Flower Cove; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

172

Duan

the depicted scenery to a specific View. For instance, in “Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake,” while there is no specific landmark to identify the “Placid Lake,” Ye depicted a sharply obtruding peak intended to contrast with and therefore attract the viewers’ attention to the calm lake (Figure 4.6). Specific depictions of plants and uses of color also help the viewer identify the scene. The leaves corresponding to “Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery” (Figure 4.7) and “Watching Fish at Flower Cove” (Figure 4.8), for instance, are quite similar at first glance, but Ye was able to use round lotus leaves to make a further distinction. The clear emphasis on place in the Ten Views was not a Southern Song innovation. The Tang painters Wang Wei 王維 (699-759) and Lu Hong 盧鴻 (fl. 740s) painted pictures of their own gardens, as did the Northern Song painter Li Gonglin 李公麟 (1049-1106), as is reflected in versions of the Mountain Villa, which have been attributed to him (Figure 4.9).49 Each of the ten album leaves in Lu Hong’s Ten Images of My Grass Hut has a site name, such as “Writing Grass Hall” or “Expecting Immortal Steps,” and includes a figure sitting or wandering in the landscape (Figure 4.10).50 Each album also features a short description of the site’s geography and history, followed by one or two poems related to the place. Both the format of ten associated album paintings and the emphasis on the representation of actual sites with figures suggest a possible inspiration for the Ten Views at West Lake. What differentiates Ye’s painting from these predecessors was his apparent assumption that the viewers already knew the site. While Lu Hong’s and Li Gonglin’s paintings offer an illustrated introduction to these sites, Ye’s depiction is less topographic. It was natural for viewers who had been to West Lake, or at least had read poems about its famous attractions, to notice these “signposts” around the lake. The emphasis on physical sites also enabled the painter to represent the scenery in a closer and more intimate way. A comparison of Ye’s painting with Li Song’s 李嵩 (1166-1243) handscroll (Figure 4.11), which also includes most of the Ten Views (labeled on the image), reveals an alternative way to direct the perspective of viewers. Taking a bird’s-eye view, Li Song ambitiously represented the entire lake from a high and distant standpoint. In Ye’s painting of “Spring Dawn at Su Dike” (Figure 4.12), instead of trying to show the entire Su Dike, he rendered only one of the six bridges that connected the dike. These techniques helped to draw viewers close to the scenery to create an intimate 49 50

For a study of the various extant versions of the Mountain Villa, see Harrist, Painting and Private Life in Eleventh-Century China. For studies of Lu Hong’s Ten Images of My Grass Hut, see Zhuang, Tang Lu Hong caotang shizhi tu juan kao; Wu, “Lu Hong ji qi huaji wei e yuanliu kaojian.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

173

Figure 4.9 Li Gonglin, Mountain Villa, ink on paper. H: 28.9, W: 364.6 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei. After Daguan: BeiSong shuhua tezhan, 97-100.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

174

Duan

Figure 4.10

Lu Hong, Reflecting Scenery Altar; ink on paper; H: 29.4, W: 60 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Figure 4.11

Li Song, West Lake, ink and color on paper; H: 27, W: 80.7 cm; Shanghai Museum.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

Figure 4.12

175

Ye Xiaoyan, Spring Dawn at Su Dike; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

176

Figure 4.13

Duan

Ye Xiaoyan, Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

177

The Ten Views of West Lake

Figure 4.14

Ye Xiaoyan, Evening Bell from Nanping Hill; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

178

Duan

atmosphere. Some other leaves, although still influenced by Li Song’s bird’seye view, were designed to provide a zoomed-in effect; examples of this approach are “Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon” (Figure 4.13) and “Evening Bell from Nanping Hill” (Figure 4.14). This zooming-in technique enhanced the viewers’ affective bond and personal identification with the place. Viewers were not only brought closer to specific sites but were also deliberately represented in the paintings. Some views, such as “Watching Fish at Flower Cove” (Figure 4.8), have the sightseeing activity in the title. Here, Ye posed the figure who is boating on the lake in a leisurely manner, and directed the viewers’ attention to the open surface of the lake.51 In Southern Song paintings, a boat was usually interpreted as “the connection of the owners with the outside world” because it recalled the reality of traveling via waterways.52 A sense of connection with the outside world was also depicted in paintings in the way the figure of the featured visitor was posed. Their position usually would direct the viewers’ gaze to the natural scenery and/or to the structure emphasized in the title. In the painting “Spring Dawn at Su Dike” (Figure 4.15), for example, Ye placed three figures on one side of the bridge: two are dressed as literati and one as a servant. One of the literati is turning his head towards the other and is pointing to the bridge, as if proposing to cross it. This arrangement of figures functions as an invitation to viewers to place themselves in the painting. Other Views, such as “Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon” (Figure 4.13) and “Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds” (Figure 4.16), are depicted from a considerable distance. Instead of adding figures directly into these paintings, Ye rendered these two vistas as if the viewers of the album were standing right in front of the scenic sites. Thus, the viewers can imagine themselves as the suggested (but un-pictured) gazers visiting the location. Nature in Ye’s album is “idealized and secure,” due to his thoughtful arrangement of visual elements; this reflects Southern Song landscape conventions.53 His album representations of the ten titles follow a style that was fashionable in Southern Song academy painting. In other words, his visual representations of the Ten Views are influenced by artistic traditions, and at the same time also evoke and echo the actual sightseeing experience. Based on such experiences, viewers of the paintings could decode Ye’s visual clues to discern the identity 51

52 53

This also differentiates it from “Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery” (Figure 4.7), in which only an empty boat is added under the willow trees, partly because no specific activity is mentioned in the title. Cahill, “The Imperial Painting Academy,” 181. Cahill, “The Imperial Painting Academy,” 173.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

179

The Ten Views of West Lake

Figure 4.15

Ye Xiaoyan, Spring Dawn at Su Dike (detail); ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

180

Figure 4.16

Duan

Ye Xiaoyan, Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds; ink on paper; H: 23.9, W: 20.2 cm; National Palace Museum, Taipei.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

181

of each view, which offers them a sense of accomplishment. People familiar with the skyline of New York can easily recognize the Empire State Building for its unique shape and its frequent appearance in photos. Southern Song visitors to West Lake must have had a similar experience: standing beside the lake, when they look at the distant hills, two peaks will stand out because of the two pagodas located there (Figure 4.16); and if one looks at the Southern Hill, the silhouette of Leifeng Pagoda and the eaves of Buddhist monasteries revealed behind the trees will grab the viewer’s attention (Figure 4.5). Both the depiction and identification of nature in the album paintings called the viewer to come to the actual site in order to spiritually join others who do the same and thus created a community based around a place. The seasonal dimension of the Ten Views is worth further discussion as it offers clues to what to see during particular times. As can be seen in Table 4.1, among the titles of the Ten Views, two are about spring and one (each) is about summer, autumn, and winter. Based on her analysis of album paintings, Huishu Lee argued that Ye’s paintings of the Ten Views manifest a theme commonly seen in Southern Song paintings: the articulation of seasonal moods.54 Many Southern Song paintings were devoted to the depiction of seasonal scenery and activities, such as Liu Songnian’s Siji Landscape Painting of the Four Seasons and Xia Gui’s Clear Summer among the Lotus. Several literary works also were arranged according to the annual calendar.55 Wu Zimu, in his records of the Ten Views, rearranged the sequence of the ten titles so that they would better correspond with the natural order of seasons and times.56 In addition to sensitivity towards seasonal changes, the Ten Views also suggest a fondness for capturing transient moments such as dawn and dusk. Southern Song writers loved to lament the loss of youth (youth was traditionally symbolized by early morning and early spring), and the transient nature of the physical world. In his discussion of Southern Song paintings, Max Loehr stated, “such condensed moments were expressed in events like sunset, dusk, and nightfall; a breeze, gust of wind, or squalls; a sudden shore, a gentle rain, or clearing skies.”57 Martin Powers also argued that changes of time became a 54

55 56 57

Lee attributed this feature to imperial interest in Daoism and Chan Buddhism, both of which emphasized an awareness of the transience of the human world. Lee, Exquisite Moments, 41-42. For more discussion on the compiling style of these miscellanies, see West, “The Interpretation of a Dream” and de Pee, “Nature’s Capital.” Mengliang lu 12.216-217, The translation is from Lee, Exquisite Moments, 32. Loehr, The Great Painters of China, 191.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

182

Duan

fit subject for artists’ brushes in the Southern Song period, when the paintings tended to “privilege the viewer’s subjective experience.”58 It was very common for travelers to notice seasonal changes during their regular visits throughout the year, and to combine this with comments especially on flowering plants. As Wu Zimu noted, city dwellers would pay visits to the lake during several festivals in the spring, summer, and autumn.59 From dawn to dusk, the passing of time enabled the sightseers to perceive the concurrent changes in light, shadow, mist, and wind. The same pagoda appears more vivid against a sunset, especially when sightseers are at the same time also saying goodbye to the lake on their way back home. The ten titles advertised the greatest touring and gazing experience by pointing out the best time for enjoying each site: for example, Qu Garden is always blessed with the smell of wine floating in the wind, but it would be best if accompanied by the smell of lotus flowers in the summer. Time not only functioned as the most important coordinate in one’s memory, but also endowed the Ten Views with universal meanings. People respond in similar ways to watching the sunset or seeing the reflection of the moon on water. These shared reactions made it easier for people who have never been to the lake to imagine themselves standing on its shore. Just as the album paintings framed visual images of the vistas, the ten titles offered a framed way of seeing and experiencing nature.60

Conclusion

This study has drawn on poems, maps, and paintings to explore the cultural practice of epitomizing the experience of nature at West Lake in terms of fourcharacter poetic titles—titles that capture scenes. The visual culture of West Lake was produced, reproduced, and circulated in multiple forms of media by numerous actors. In this culture-building process, the interplay and tension between text and image became pervasive, and neither texts nor pictures alone dominated people’s interpretations of the lake. Rather, words and images 58 59

60

Powers, “Picturing Time in Song Painting and Poetry,” 66-67. For example, the Qingming Festival, the Cold Food Festival, the Double Fifth Festival, and the Birthday of Lord Cui. For more discussion on festivals, see Duan, “Scenic Beauty outside the City,” 145-55. As Jacques Lacan argued, gaze usually happens in the presence of others. So at the very moment that people were gazing at the ten vistas, both the real ones and the painted ones, the interaction was no longer between an individual and pure nature. Gaze, as Lacan contends, reduces the power of the objective while empowering the subjective by providing a tool to order the objective. Lacan, The Four Fundamental Concepts, 84-85.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

183

merged in their influences on the viewers and upon each other to capture ephemeral moments and to associate them indelibly with this cultural landmark. Given the wide circulation of poems and pictures of West Lake, even those who failed to pay a physical visit could enjoy a virtual experience of it. In this way, the people could share a uniting set of memories that also could have individual and even nostalgic resonances for anyone who contemplated this showplace garden of the new capital. The practice of giving poetic names to scenic spots lasted much longer than the Song Dynasty. But beginning in the Southern Song period, the convention of using ten views to present local scenery became a countrywide practice and even spread to Japan and Korea.61 This was because the practice served both to reinforce local pride and to help any visitor to feel more familiar within the landscape. Eventually, local gazetteers for almost every county in the country would include a section devoted to mingsheng (名勝, “places of interest”). With such indiscriminate adoptions of the Ten Views model by other local patrons, the gap between real experiences and artistic depictions grew. This may be the reason for Lu Xun’s withering criticism of the “ten views syndrome.” Though the practice of highlighting ten views was adopted by painters and poets to apply in other places, the Ten Views of West Lake continued to be a popular subject for painters, who tirelessly depicted the lake scenery with their brushes. Drawing on well-circulated visual and textual materials, painters could create new images without setting foot anywhere near the lake. Such images closely relied on the titles and the traditions associated with them, more than on the painters’ emotional response to the place. As many locations mentioned in the Ten Views were destroyed or abandoned after the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, paintings based on the titles of these focal spots became increasingly disconnected from the real, ecologically altered natural scenes. Ironically then, while these ten titles were invented in response to an affective bond with the natural environment and were intended to evoke a positive attachment to the place, they also gradually could place personal connections with the nature in jeopardy. In addition to describing scenes that might no longer actually exist (at least in their original forms), the popularization of the visual and material cultural artifacts also made actual visits to the place optional. Thus, the Southern Song visual culture pertaining to West Lake

61

For example, the Eight Views of Ōmi 近江八景 were believed to be influenced by both the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers and the Ten Views of West Lake. For more discussion on the influence of West Lake on Japanese and Korean culture, see Jin, “Xihu zai Zhong Ri Han.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

184

Duan

Figure 4.17 Today’s Leifeng Pagoda (rebuilt in 2002), with elevator built in. Photo: Xiaolin Duan, 2011.

simultaneously framed and hindered later visitors’ personal bonds with the environment. In Hangzhou today, people are attempting to reconstruct the Ten Views by rebuilding the relevant sites, adding signposts to explain each view, and selling a variety of souvenirs. Lu Xun very likely would have disappointed to learn that Leifeng Pagoda was rebuilt (complete with an elevator, in 2002; see Figure 4.17) as a way to restore the Southern Song Ten Views and attract more visitors. Modern visitors, arriving almost eight hundred years after the inception of the Ten Views, can still find these places and images of them on tourist maps, encounter them while walking around the lake, capture the view of the Leifeng Pagoda against the sunset with their cameras, and purchase a group of ten postcards—each depicting one view like a modern ten-leaf album. Moreover, the local government has been inspired by the traditional Ten Views to organize citizens to vote for new versions of them. The visual culture of West Lake’s Ten Views—popular through centuries of Chinese history—continues to provide a particular manner of describing and representing the landscape, encourages corresponding acts of viewing, and continues to enhance people’s attachment to certain locations around the lake.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake



References



Abbreviations



Primary Sources

SKQS ZGSHQS

185

Siku quanshu 四庫全書. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983-1986. Zhongguo shuhua quanshu zhencang ben 中國書畫全書 珍藏本. Lu Fusheng 盧輔圣, Cui Erping 崔爾平 and Jiang Hong 江宏 ed.. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 2000.

Dongtian qinglu ji 洞天清錄集, by Zhao Xigu 趙希鵠 (fl. 1180-1240). Finished ca. 12251264. In Meishu congshu 美術叢書, edited by Huang Binhong 黃賓虹 and Deng Shi 鄧實. Taipei: Yiwen yinshu guan, 1960. Fangyu shenglan 方輿勝覽, by Zhu Mu 祝穆 (fl. 13th century). Finished ca. 1225-1269. SKQS. Fansheng lu 繁盛錄, by Xihu Laoren 西湖老人. Finished in 1250. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 1988. Gugong shuhua tulu 故宮書畫圖錄, edited by Guoli gugong bowuyuan 國立故宮博物 院. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 1989. Guhang zaji 古杭雜記, by Li You 李有. In Ding Bing 丁丙, Wulin zhanggu congbian 武 林掌故叢編. Taipei: Tailian guofeng chubanshe; Huawen shuju lianhe yinxing: Jinghua shuju, 1967. Guixin zazhi 癸辛雜識, by Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1298). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju: xinhua shudian Beijing faxingsuo faxing, 1988. Haining xianzhi 海寧縣誌, by Jin Ao 金鏊 (fl. 18th century) et al. Published in 1765. Taipei: Chengwen chubanshe, 1983. Hua ji 畫繼, by Deng Chun 鄧椿 (fl. 1127-1167). Beijing: Renmin meishu chubanshe, 1963. Hua shanshui xu 畫山水序, by Zong Bing 宗炳 (375-443). Composed around 430. In Zhongguo hualun leibian 中國畫論類編, edited by Yu Jianhua 俞劍華. Beijing: Remin meishu chubanshe, 1986. Huishi beikao 繪事備考, by Wang Yuxian 王毓賢 (fl. ca. 1691). SKQS. Jiangcun xiaoxia lu 江村消夏錄, by Gao Shiqi 高士奇 (1645-1704). ZGSHQS. Juemiao hao ci jian 絕妙好詞箋, by Zha Weiren 查為仁 (1694-1749), Li E 厲鶚. SKQS. Mengliang lu 夢梁錄, by Wu Zimu 吳自牧 (fl. ca. 1274). Finished ca. 1274. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 1988. Mengxi bitan 夢溪筆談, by Shen Gua 沈括 (1031-1095). SKQS. Nansong yuanhua lu 南宋院畫錄, by Li E 厲鶚 (1692-1752). Qiantang dingshi zhushutang, 1884. Pinzhou yudi pu 蘋洲漁笛譜, Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1298). SKQS. Qinghe shuhua fang 清河書畫舫, by Zhang Chou 張丑 (1577-1643). ZGSHQS.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

186

Duan

Rihu yuchang 日湖漁唱, by Chen Yunping. In Congshu jicheng xinbian 叢書集成新編. Taipei: Xin wenfeng chuban gongsi, 1986. Wulin jiushi 武林舊事, by Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1298). Composed between 1280 and 1290. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 1988. Xianchun Lin’an zhi 咸淳臨安志, by Qian Yueyou 潛說友 (fl. ca. 1268). Compiled in 1268. Song Yuan fangzhi congkan 宋元方志叢刊. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju: Xinhua shudian Beijing faxingsuo, 1990. Xihu youlan zhiyu 西湖遊覽志餘, by Tian Rucheng 田汝成 (fl. 1526). Hangzhou: Zhejiang renmin chubanshe, 1980. Xinjuan hainei qiguan 新鎸海內奇觀, by Yang Erzeng 楊爾曾 (fl. 17th century). Published in 1609. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2002. Yanshi shuhua ji 嚴氏書畫記, by Wen Jia 文嘉 (1501-1583). ZGSHQS. Yuxuan lidai shiyu 御選歷代詩餘, by Wang Yiqing 王奕清 (d. 1736?), Shen Chenyuan 沈 辰垣 (fl. 17th-18th centuries), Xuanye 玄燁 (1654-1722). Finished in 1707. SKQS.



Secondary Sources

Barnhart, Richard. “Shining Rivers: Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang in Sung Painting.” In International Colloquium on Chinese Art History: Proceedings, 45-95. Taipei: National Palace Museum, 1992. Bol, Peter. “The Rise of Local History: History, Geography, and Culture in Southern Song and Yuan Wuzhou.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61.1 (Jun. 2001), 37-76. DOI:10.2307/3558587 Cahill, James. “The Imperial Painting Academy.” In Possessing the Past: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 159-99. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.  Cahill, James. The Lyric Journey: Poetic Painting in China and Japan. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1961. Chen Ye 陳野. Nansong huihua shi 南宋繪畫史. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008. Clunas, Craig. Elegant Debts: The Social Art of Wen Zhengming, 1470-1559. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004. De Pee, Christian. “Nature’s Capital: The City as Garden in The Splendid Scenery of the Capital (Ducheng jisheng, 1235).” In Senses of the City: Perceptions of Hangzhou and Southern Song China 1127-1179, edited by Christian de Pee, Joseph Lam, Shuen-fu Lin, and Martin Powers, 179-204. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2017. Duan, Xiaolin. “A Comparative Study of Two Series of Printed West Lake Ten Views.” In 2011 nian Beijing Daxue meishuxue boshisheng guoji xueshu luntan lunwenji 2011 年北 京大學美術學博士生國際學術論壇論文集, edited by Li Song 李凇 and Ding Ning 丁 寧, 224-49. Xi’an: Shaanxi Normal University Press, 2012.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

187

Duan, Xiaolin. “Scenic Beauty outside the City: Tourism around Hangzhou’s West Lake in the Southern Song (1127-1276).” PhD diss. University of Washington, 2014. Egan, Ronald. “Nature and Higher Ideals in Texts on Calligraphy, Music, and Painting.” In Chinese Aesthetics: The Ordering of Literature, the Arts, and the Universe in the Six Dynasties, edited by Zong-qi Cai, 277-309. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2004. Gernet, Jacques. Daily Life in China, On the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1962. Harrist, E. Robert. Painting and Private Life in Eleventh-Century China. Princeton: Prince­ ton University Press, 1998. Harrist, E. Robert. “Site Names and Their Meaning in the Garden of Solitary Enjoyment.” Journal of Garden History 13 (1993), 199-212. DOI:10.1080/01445170.1993.10412488 Huang, Amy. “Nature, Fengshui, and Political Symbolism: Pines on Mount Zhong during the Seventeenth Century.” Presentation at the Annual Conference of Association for Asian Studies. March, 2016. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012.  Hymes, Robert P. “Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy in Sung and Yuan Fu-chou.” In Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China, 1000-1940, edited by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and James L. Watson, 95-136. Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1986. I Lo-fen 衣若芬. “A New Exploration on Qing Palace’s Collection of Ming Dynasty Artists Wang Fu’s painting-‘The Eight Views of Beijing’” 玉堂天上: 清宮舊藏明代「北京八 景圖」新探. Gugong xuekan 16(2016), 283-96. I Lo-fen. “ ‘Landscape Like a Picture’ and ‘Landscape in the Picture’: On the Song and Yuan Poems on the ‘Xiaoxiang’ Landscape Paintings” 「江山如畫」與「畫裡江山」 ：宋元題「瀟湘」山水畫詩之比較. Zhongguo wenzhe yanjiu jikan 23 (2003), 33-70. Jin Wenjing 金文京. “Xihu zai Zhong Ri Han: Luetan fengjing zhuanyi zai Dong Ya wenxue zhong de yiyi.” 西湖在中日韓—— 略談風景轉移在東亞文學中的意義. In Dong Ya wenhua yixiang zhi xingsu 東亞文化意象之形塑, edited by Shi Shouqian 石守謙 & Liao Zhaoheng 廖肇亨, 141-66. Taipei: Yunchen wenhua shiye gufen youxian gongsi, 2001. Lacan, Jacques. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psycho-Analysis. London: Karnac, 2004.  Lee, Hui-shu. Empresses, Art, and Agency in Song Dynasty China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010. Lee, Hui-shu. Exquisite Moments: West Lake & Southern Song Art. New York: China Institute Gallery: Distributed by Art Media Resources, 2001. Lee, Hui-shu. “The Domain of Empress Yang (1162-1233): Art, Gender and Politics at the Southern Song Court.” PhD diss. Yale University, 1994. Li Lincan 李霖燦. “Ye Xiaoyan de xihu tu ji qita” 葉肖巖的西湖圖及其他. Gugong wenwu yuekan 28.7 (1985), 126-31.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

188

Duan

Lin Boting 林柏亭 et al. Daguan: Beisong shuhua tezhan 大觀：北宋書畫特展. Taipei: Guoli gugong bowuyuan, 2006. Liu Fang 劉方.  Shengshi fanhua: Songdai jiangnan chengshi wenhua de fanrong yu bian­ qian 盛世繁華: 宋代江南城市文化的繁榮與變遷. Hangzhou: Zhejiang daxue chubanshe, 2011. Liu, Lihong. “Collecting the Here and Now: Birthday Albums and the Aesthetics of Association in Mid-Ming China.” Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture. 2.1 (2015), 43-91. DOI:10.1215/23290048-2887553 Liu, T.C. James. China Turning Inward: Intellectual-Political Changes in the Early Twelfth Century. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988. Loehr, Max. The Great Painters of China. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Lu, Xun, Xianyi Yang, and Gladys Yang. Selected Works of Lu Hsun. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1956. Mitchell, W. J. T. Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1986.  Miyazaki, Noriko 宮崎法子. “Saiko o meguru kaiga” 西湖をめぐる絵画. In Chūgoku kinsei no toshi to bunka 中國近世の都市と文化, edited by Kaoru Umehara 梅原郁, 199246. Kyōto-shi: Kyōto Daigaku Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyūjo, 1984. Murck, Alfreda. “Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang Rivers by Wang Hong.” In Images of the Mind, edited by Wen C. Fong, 214-35. Princeton: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1984. Murck, Alfreda. Poetry and Painting in Song China: the Subtle Art of Dissent. Cambridge. Mass: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard-Yenching Institute, 2000. Ortiz, Valérie Malenfer. Dreaming the Southern Song Landscape: the Power of Illusion in Chinese Painting. Boston: Brill, 1999. Powers, Martin. “Picturing time in Song Painting and Poetry.” In Senses of the City: Perceptions of Hangzhou and Southern Song China 1127-1179, edited by Christian de Pee, Joseph Lam, Shuen-fu Lin and Martin Powers, 55-72. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2017. Shi Shouqian 石守谦. Yidong de taohua yuan: Dong Ya shijie zhong de shanshui hua 移 動的桃花源：東亞世界中的山水畫.  Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhilian shudian, 2015.  Tuan, Yi-fu. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes, and Values. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974. Urry, John and Larsen Jonas. The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: Sage Publications, 2011. Wang, Y. Eugene. “Tope and Topos: The Leifeng Pagoda and the Discourse of the Demonic.” In Writing and Materiality in China: Essays in Honor of Patrick Hanan, edited by Patrick Hanan, Judith T. Zeitlin, Lydia He Liu, and Ellen Widmer, 488-552. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center, 2003.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

The Ten Views of West Lake

189

West, Stephen. “The Interpretation of a Dream: The Sources, Evaluation, and Influence of the Dongjing meng hua lu.” T’oung Pao 71.1/3 (1985), 63-108. DOI: 10.1163/ 156853285X00034 Wu Gangyi 吳剛毅. “Lu Hong ji qi huaji wei e yuanliu kaojian” 盧鴻及其畫跡偽訛源流 考 鑑. M.A. Thesis, Taiwan shifan daxue meishu xi, 1998. Zhuang Shen 莊申. Tang Lu Hong caotang shizhi tu juan kao 唐廬鴻草堂十志圖卷考. Taipei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo, 1960.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

190

Duan

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

191

The Ten Views of West Lake

Part 3 Appreciating the Written Word

∵

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

192

Duan

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

193

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

Chapter 5

A Forgery and the Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi Hui-Wen Lu Appreciating and commenting on rubbings of engraved calligraphy was a key practice in the visual culture of the literati of the Song period. They pursued well-known pieces, differentiated early versions from later recuts, and compiled inventories documenting collectors and collections. The engraved calligraphy that attracted the attention of the Song literati was wide-ranging, including large stone monuments dated from the third century BCE to the ninth century CE, and compendia of model calligraphies engraved on smallscaled stone or wood blocks, which became popular only in the late tenth century. Some of the most passionate debates and comments were centered on the Eastern Jin calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303-361). His most renowned work, Lantingxu 蘭亭序, enjoyed unprecedented popularity during the Song period due to the wide circulation of reproductions in the form of rubbings. The rubbings of Lantingxu, in great number and from various sources (many collectors boasted of owning hundreds of rubbings), in fact constructed a world of their own, in which collectors and critics were enthralled by the tasks of assembling, sorting, dating, commenting, tracing provenances, and making facsimiles. The fascination with Wang Xizhi and the Lantingxu also helped create a lively market and encouraged the production of imitations, and even new works. Claims about authenticity, history, and aesthetics were often bitterly contested. These activities and their byproducts—including the engraved blocks, rubbings, colophons, and connoisseurial manuals—made up an important part of visual and material culture in Song literati circles. Moreover, they were crucial in shaping the image of Wang Xizhi. An in-depth study is yet to be done on the reproductions of calligraphy and how they participated in the formation of the calligraphic canon during the Song period. This essay is an attempt to demonstrate some of the complexities. This chapter starts with an examination of Epitaph for My Nursemaid (Baomuzhi 保母志; hereafter the Epitaph) (Figure 5.1), a piece of carved clay brick unearthed in 1202 and attributed to Wang Xianzhi 王獻之 (344-386), the

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_007 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

194

Lu

son of Wang Xizhi. The authenticity of the epitaph ignited debate upon its discovery, but it soon received support from most calligraphers and scholars of the thirteenth century. Bearing striking similarities to Lantingxu in its elegant calligraphy, the Epitaph was welcomed as a proof that the younger Wang carried on the family tradition. Furthermore, because the Epitaph was exhumed from the ground, it was considered more reliable and was praised as an ideal model for followers of the Two Wangs. Nevertheless, I argue in this essay that the Epitaph was a new work fabricated not long before its discovery. And the Song literati’s enthusiastic endorsement was possibly a sign of anxiety over the fact that, although Wang Xizhi and his son enjoyed high status, authentic works were scarce while distorted look-alikes were abundant. I then probe the creation and dissemination of Wang Xizhi’s Lantingxu, in the hope of illuminating Song literati’s concerns about the authentic style of Wang Xizhi and the burst of reproductions.1

The Epitaph for My Nursemaid

In the spring of 1202, a woodsman Zhou 周 came upon Epitaph for My Nursemaid in the Kuaiji 會稽 mountains of Shaoxing 紹興, Zhejiang. It was a thin block of brick, carved on one side, dated 365, and dedicated to Li Yiru 李 意如, “the nursemaid of Wang Xianzhi of Langye 郎耶王獻之保母.” A small inkstone with the design of a meandering stream was unearthed from the same site. On the back of the inkstone was inscribed: “Xianzhi of the Jin [Dynasty] 晉獻之” and “Yonghe 永和,” an era name of the Eastern Jin dynasty (317-419). The Yonghe era corresponds to the period from 345 to 361, during which the “Two Wangs” were active in the Shaoxing area. Although the epitaph was unsigned, these clues hinted at the possibility that the master calligrapher Wang Xianzhi, the son of Xizhi, brushed the epitaph. Jiang Kui 姜夔 (1155-1221), a leading art critic and theorist in the Southern Song capital Lin’an 臨安 (modern Hangzhou 杭州), was presented with these exciting finds, which he detailed in a colophon written not long after their discovery (Figure 5.2): 1 A few scholars have written about Epitaph for My Nursemaid, but almost all the inquiries ended with a statement that the epitaph was a forgery without delving further into the issue. For example, see Wang Lichun 王力春, “Cong jiancang shijiao kan Wang Xianzhi Baomuzhi zhi wei,” 82-85. Nomura, “So Tetsu no seibo nikansuru—kōsatsu—So Shoku ‘Hobo Yō shi boshimei’ to Ō Kenshi ‘Seibo senshi’ wo megutte”; and Nomura, “Su Shi Baomu Yang shi muzhiming zhi mi,” 102-15.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

195

In the tenth month of the Renxu year (1202), my old friend Monk Liaohong brought the rubbing [of the epitaph] from Qianqing 錢清 (modern Shaoxing) to show me. He mentioned that when he visited Mr. Wang on the sixth day of the sixth month, a countryman came with a small inkstone, which he presented to Mr. Wang’s son. The countryman asserted that he found the inkstone while cutting woods in the mountains. [Liao] hong reckoned the inkstone came from a tomb after inspecting the inkstone to find “Yonghe” and “Jin Xianzhi” inscribed on its back. He asked whether any stele existed [nearby]. The countryman replied that there was a piece of brick, already broken, with inscriptions. [Liaohong] demanded that he bring it over. The next day, [the countryman] brought over the first five lines [of the brick]. It was when [this part of the brick] was still unbroken. [Liaohong] decided that [the brick] was the epitaph for Wang Xianzhi’s nursemaid. He demanded that the other parts be collected. After ten days, the countryman came with another five lines, in three pieces of fragments. The countryman had used the first piece, with the characters “jiao chi,” to support his bed. His young child had played with the second, with the characters “qu shui,” using it to build a tower. And the third piece has been recovered from the trash. It seems that Heaven assisted the reunion of these broken pieces. 壬戌十月余故人了洪灋師攜墨本自錢清來示余，且言六月六日過王 君，有野人自外至，出小硯以饋王君之子，云春時斸山得之。洪取 視，見硯背有「永和」及「晉獻之」字，知是壙中物。問：「有碑 否？」野人云：「一甎上有字，已碎矣。」亟使致之。明日持前五行 來，是時猶未斷也。驗是大令保母墓志，而文未具，又使尋之。旬 日，乃以後五行來，斷為三矣。一以支牀，上有「交螭」字者是也； 一為小兒壘塔，上有「曲水」字者是也；一棄之他處。碎而復合，似 有神助。2

2 Jiang Kui’s colophon, along with those written by more than a dozen other writers, is preserved in a long scroll now in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi, Shufa bian, 18-27.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

196

Lu

Figure 5.1 (Att.) Wang Xianzhi, Epitaph for My Nursemaid, rubbing. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase—Regents’ Collections Acquisition Program, F. 1980.7. Table 5.1

[10] 宮 于 茲 土 者 尚 □ 焉

Layout of the inscription of Epitaph for My Nursemaid.

[9] 悲 夫 後 八 百 餘 載 知 獻 之 保 母

[8] 樹 雙 柏 於 墓 上 立 貞 石 而 志 之

[7] 岡 下 殉 以 曲 水 小 硯 交 螭 方 壺

[6] □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □

[5] 歲 在 乙 丑 二 月 六 日 無 疾 而 終

[4] 解 釋 老 旨 趣 年 七 十 興 寧 三 年

[3] 王 氏 柔 順 恭 懃 善 屬 文 能 草 書

[2] 廣 漢 人 也 在 母 家 志 行 高 秀 歸

[1] 郎 耶 王 獻 之 保 母 姓 李 名 意 如

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

197

According to Jiang Kui, the brick epitaph, which he inspected in person, was decorated with coin patterns in shallow relief along three of its four sides. The fragment with the first five lines of the inscription later broke into two in Wang’s possession. Thus, the epitaph was in five pieces when Jiang Kui recounted the incredible story of its discovery (Figure 5.1). The epitaph, in ten columns, was largely intact. Only the sixth column was almost entirely gone (Table 5.1). Based on traces of the radicals left, Jiang Kui surmised that the words in the sixth column were: 中冬既望葬會稽山陰之黃閍3

The epitaph, with 117 words in total, reads as follows: The nursemaid of Wang Xianzhi of Langye had the surname Li, the given name Yiru, and was a native of Guanghan. While still at her home, she was lofty and cultivated in both mind and deed, and when she came to the Wang family, she was compliant, obedient, respectful, and diligent. She was skilled at prose composition, able to write in cursive script, and could explicate the meaning of Buddhist and Daoist texts. At the age of seventy, during the third year of Xingning when the year-star was in yichou, on the sixth day of the second lunar-month, she passed away without illness, and [on the day after the full moon in Zhongdong (the eleventh lunar-month) was laid to rest at the Yellow Gate Ridge (Huang­ feng gang) in Shanyin, Kuaiji]. She was buried with a small inkstone with a design of a meandering stream, and a square hu jar with intertwining dragons. Two cypresses were planted at her grave and a memorial stone was put up in her honor. Alas, how sad! But eight hundred years hence, it shall be known that Xianzhi’s nursemaid lies in this ground.4 The inscription can be divided into four sections according to its contents. Columns one to four record the name, place of origin, deeds, and manners of the tomb occupant, Li Yiru. Columns four to six record that she died on the sixth day of the second lunar month of 365, and was laid to rest on the day after the full moon of the eleventh lunar month at Huangfang Ridge in Shanyin, Kuaiji (modern Shaoxing). Columns seven and eight record the burial goods, 3 Jiang Kui’s colophon to the rubbing of Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi, Shufa bian, 18, 20. 4 Translation adapted from the “Object Documentation and Images” database on the website of Freer/Sackler, The Smithsonian Institute of Asian Art: . Documentation.pdf last accessed January 30, 2017. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

198

Lu

Figure 5.2 Jiang Kui (1155-1221), Colophon to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, c. 1202, detail. Palace Museum, Beijing. After Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi, Shufa bian, 20.

including a small inkstone with a design of a meandering stream and a square hu jar with intertwining dragons, and the twin cypresses and the memorial stone set up above ground. Columns nine and ten assert that eight hundred years hence it shall be known that Xianzhi’s nursemaid rests there. The discovery of the epitaph soon sparked interest in the capital Hangzhou. The story of its discovery appeared in several accounts, each differing slightly in detail. According to Ye Shaoweng 葉紹翁 (fl. ca. early 13th century), Monk Liaohong later presented the epitaph and inkstone to the prime minister Han Tuozhou 韓侂冑 (1152-1207).5 In 1207, Han was killed in a power struggle at court. The Song imperial court then ordered the submission of the Epitaph, placed it in a lacquer box, and stored it in the Soufang Treasury 搜訪庫 in 1208.6 While there are almost no credible records of the whereabouts of the epitaph following its storage in the palace, rubbings taken from it abounded. 5 Sichao wenjian lu 5.200. Zhao Xihu (fl. first half of the 13th century), however, recorded in his Dongtian qinglu that Han Tuozhou purchased the epitaph for one thousand min 緡 (one min is ten strings of copper coins), 24. 6 Nansong guan’ge xulu 3.207. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

199

During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, many people had the chance to see or even own a rubbing. Scholars wrote extensively in praise of its calligraphy. An impressive scroll in the Palace Museum in Beijing, measuring over seven meters long, has nearly two-dozen colophons originally attached to a rubbing of the Epitaph, now lost (Figure 5.3). This scroll (hereafter the Beijing scroll) was originally even longer, with almost double the number of colophons, now available only in transcription by the Qing book collector and publisher Bao Tingbo 鮑廷博 (1728-1814).7 The writers of the colophons in the Beijing Scroll, praising the Epitaph with poetry or prose, are all prominent literati. In addition to Jiang Kui, they include Zhou Bida 周必大(1126-1204), Lou Yao 樓鑰 (1137-1213), Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1298), Xianyu Shu 鮮于樞 (1246-1302), Qiu Yuan 仇遠(1247-1326), Feng Zizhen 馮子振 (1253-1348), Zhao Mengfu 趙孟 頫 (1254-1322), Deng Wenyuan 鄧文原(1258-1328), Zhang Yu 張雨 (1277-1348), and Yu He 俞和 (1307-1382). Some literati reportedly saw or even owned more than one rubbing. For example, the great calligrapher and painter Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫 (1254-1322) wrote colophons for at least two rubbings.8 His friend Guo Tianxi 郭天錫 (ca. 1235-ca. 1302) wrote that he and Zhao even found significant differences when comparing different versions of the rubbing.9 Only one rubbing of the Epitaph exists today, now in the collection of the Freer Gallery (Figure 5.1). Attached to it are seven colophons, dating from the late thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. The colophons were written by Guo Tianxi, Zhao Mengfu, Chen Conglong 陳從龍 (fl. ca. mid-14th century), Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555-1636), Xu Shouhe 徐守和 (1574-after 1646), and the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1795) (Figure 5.4; hereafter the Freer Scroll).10 What these colophons recorded provide invaluable clues as to how the Epitaph was perceived and accepted.

7

8

9 10

For a detailed record of the original scroll, see Sichao wenjian lu, juan 5.203-28. For reproductions of the scroll in the Palace Museum, see Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi. Shufa bian, 18-27. The first, datable to around 1287, appears in the long scroll of colophons to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. See Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi. Shufa bian, 18-27. Another colophon, dated 1309, is attached to the rubbing now in the collection of the Freer Gallery. See Nakata and Fu, eds., Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū, 16-20, 131-33. Guo Tianxi’s colophon to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the collection of the Freer Gallery. See Nakata and Fu, eds., Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū, 18. See Nakata and Fu, eds., Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū, 16-20, 131-33. For images, documentation, and English translations of all the colophons of this scroll, see also “Object Documentation and Images” database on the website of Freer/Sackler, The Smithsonian Institute of Asian Art: . Documentation.pdf last accessed January 30, 2017. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

200

Lu

Figure 5.3 Various Writers, Colophons to Epitaph for My Nursemaid. Palace Museum, Beijing. After Y. Wang, ed., Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi. Shufa bian, 18-19.



Skeptics and Supporters

Doubts surfaced about the authenticity of the Epitaph soon after it was made known. An otherwise unknown scholar named Zhu Rixin 朱日新 reportedly listed all the characteristics of the epitaph that he considered unreasonable, and published his findings in a volume called Yaozhui ji 爻贅集, now lost.11 Zhao Xihu 趙希鵠 (fl. first half of the 13th century), a member of the Song imperial clan, was an expert in discerning fine objects and antiquities. He had authored the Dongtian qingluji 洞天清祿集, which was a collection of treatises on fine collectibles including ancient zithers, inkstones, bronze ­vessels, calligraphy, and paintings. In the section on ancient stone carvings, Zhao Xihu expressed his suspicions about the authenticity of the Epitaph: I have always suspected that it is a fake. It looks nothing like Daling (Wang Xianzhi). After I read the epitaph inscription for Ziyou’s (Su Zhe, 11

Sichao wenjianlu 5.200. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

201

1039-1112) nursemaid by Dongpo (Su Shi, 1037-1101), I realized that it was forged by the monk. 予每疑其贗作，殊無一㸃大令氣象。及見東坡所作子由保母墓志語， 則僧實僞也。12

The epitaph by Su Shi mentioned here is Epitaph for Nursemaid Yang 乳母楊氏 墓誌銘, written in 1085. Another similar work, Epitaph for Nursemaid Ren 乳母 任氏墓誌銘, also by Su Shi and dated 1080, still exisits in a rubbing.13 Modern scholars have shown convincingly that there are remarkable similarities in both the structure and wording between Su Shi’s work and the Epitaph. The

12 13

Dongtian qingluji 1.24. Several rubbings of Su Shi’s Epitaph for Nursemaid Ren exist in the collection of the Academia Sinica, Taipei. For a detailed analysis of the literary and historical significances of this epitaph, see Lau, “Su Shi rumu Ren Cailian muzhiming suo fanying de lishi bianhua.” Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

202

Lu

Figure 5.4 (Att.) Wang Xianzhi, Epitaph for My Nursemaid with colophons. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase—Regents’ Collections Acquisition Program, F. 1980.7.

similarities are a clear sign of plagiarism, and argue against the possibility that the Epitaph was a fourth-century artifact.14 Another scholar, Zhao Yanwei 趙彥衛 (fl. late 12th to early 13th centuries), listed five problematic features of the epitaph, ranging from its calligraphic style, choice of words, format, and the mystic yet dubious prediction at the end of the inscription that the epitaph would be unearthed eight hundred years hence.15 The difference between the date of the epitaph (365) and the year in which it was discovered (1202) is 837 years, not far off from the prediction, which Zhao thought was too good to be true. Jiang Kui, however, fervently defended the epitaph. His long colophon, totaling more than two thousand characters, appears in the Beijing Scroll. Disputing allegations against the epitaph point by point, Jiang stated with absolute assurance that it was not only an authentic work by the younger Wang but also a prime masterpiece, even superior to the celebrated Dingwu 定武 version of Lantingxu by Wang Xizhi (Figure 5.5).16 Jiang made a list of “Seven Splendors 七美” of Epitaph for My Nursemaid: 1.

Wang Xianzhi wrote Langye 郎耶, his ancestral home, in front of his own name. This shows how ancient people thought highly of their family lineage.

14

See especially Nomura, “So Tetsu no seibo nikansuru—kōsatsu—So Shoku ‘Hobo Yō shi boshimei’ to Ō Kenshi ‘Seibo senshi’ o megutte”; and Nomura, “Su Shi Baomu Yang shi muzhiming zhi mi,” 102-15. Zhao Yanwei, Yunlu manchao 5.88. 「真大令之名蹟，不經重摹，筆意具在，猶勝定武刻也。」Only one complete rubbing taken from the original Dingwu engraving exists today, in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. For problems surrounding the Lantingxu and its numerous copies, see discussions in this paper.

15 16

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

203

Figure 5.5 Wang Xizhi, Lantingxu, 353, rubbing, the Dingwu version. National Palace Museum, Taipei. Image from National Palace Museum’s website, last accessed January 30, 2017.

2.

3.

4.

This is the only work written in the regular-running script 正行書 by Wang Xianzhi. The others are either in the small-sized regular script 小 楷, such as the Luoshen fu 洛神賦 (Nymph of the Luo River), or in the running-cursive script 行草. It embodies the principles. Its brush method is vigorous. Its style is in accordance with that of the Lantingxu and Yue Yi lun 樂毅論 (Essay on Yue Yi). Because ancient copies of the Lantingxu no longer exist, people treasure the Dingwu engraving. But the Dingwu engraving was made several hundred years later than Wang Xizhi’s time. How can it not lose its truthfulness? This (i.e., Epitaph for My Nursemaid) was carved when Daling (Xianzhi) was still alive. All the brush ideas (biyi 筆意) are intact. Anyone pursuing the method of the Two Wangs has nothing more authentic than this. Not only does the calligraphy resemble the Lantingxu, the composition is similar to that of Xianzhi’s father in its unpretentiousness and elegance. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

204 5.

6.

7.

Lu

Practiced craftsmen made the Dingwu engraving of Lantingxu. Therefore it is overly attractive. The characters of this piece were cut deep into the brick. The strokes are not rounded and beautiful. Many characters show traces of repeated carving. I suspect that Daling (Xianzhi) carved this brick by himself, just like many other gifted calligraphers in ancient times. Yiru was a woman, and yet she was skilled at prose composition and cal­ ligraphy. This shows that it was a time of culture, and people surrounded them­selves with women of refinement and reason. This was fitting for Zijing 子敬 (Xianzhi), a renowned official of the Jin. The prediction of the epitaph emerging eight hundred years hence is inexplicable. But it is not uncommon for accomplished men in the ancient time (to have this ability).17

Jiang agrees that the calligraphy of Epitaph for My Nursemaid bears a striking similarity to the Lantingxu by Wang Xizhi. Unlike the skeptics, however, Jiang considers this to be unmistakable proof that the epitaph was an authentic piece of calligraphy by the younger Wang, who carried on his father’s legacy. Jiang’s assertion found many determined followers from his time on. Preeminent calligraphers and scholars from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries expressed views echoing Jiang in their writings. In sharp contrast to the relatively little known skeptics, these supporters are among the most renowned figures in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Even in the Ming and Qing periods, Epitaph for My Nursemaid enjoyed great popularity among collectors.18 The Epitaph for My Nursemaid also found its way into model calligraphy compendia 法帖 as a genuine work by Wang Xianzhi. The most prominent of these included the Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Playful Goose (Xihong tang fatie 戲鴻堂法帖) (Figure 5.6), compiled by Dong Qichang and completed in 1603, and the Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Three Treasures (Sanxi tang fatie 三希堂法帖) (Figure 5.7), completed in 1747 at the court of the Qianlong Emperor. The latter was an engraving based on the Freer Scroll, which was in the Qianlong Emperor’s collection and bears his seals and colo-

17 18

Jiang Kui’s colophon to the rubbing of Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Y. Wang, ed., Gugong boyuyuan cangpin daxi, Shufa bian, 20, 21. For example, the Beijing Scroll bears collector’s seals of the famous Ming collector Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525-1590). Both Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 (1626-1709) and Chen Tingjing 陳 廷敬 (1638-1712) recorded that the Epitaph for My Nursemaid fetched a high price. For documentation of these Ming and Qing records, see Wang Lichun, “Cong jiancang shijiao kan Wang Xianzhi Baomu zhi zhi wei,” 84.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

205

Figure 5.6 The Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Playful Goose (Xihong tang fatie 戲 鴻堂法帖), 1603, rubbing. Collection of the Harvard-Yenching Library. After , last accessed January 30, 2017.

Figure 5.7 The Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Three Treasures (Sanxi tang fatie 三希堂法帖), 1747, rubbing. National Palace Museum, Taipei. Image from National Palace Museum’s website, , last accessed January 30, 2017.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

206

Lu

phon. The emperor expressed no reservation about the authenticity of the epitaph.19 Only a few people voiced their doubts on the credibility of the epitaph through the Ming and Qing periods. In 1625, An Shifeng 安世鳳 (fl. 17th century) remarked: (Epitaph for My Nursemaid) … was (made) by unsophisticated fellows out of their poorest judgments and lowliest skills. It is so laughable that I spit rice out of my mouth when viewing it. It is so irksome that I still chew my gums after discarding it. Heaven and earth suddenly lose their clarity and radiance. Ghosts emerge during daytime. It disgraces Daling (Xianzhi), and even more so for Songxue gong [ 松雪公] (Zhao Mengfu). …… 乃有無識之輩，以其至卑之主見，而副之以至拙之腕，開卷令人 噴飯，而抛書仍令人嚙齦。則清朗乹坤忽不覺，魑魅晝見。如此字既 不佳，語復不倫，勿論辱大令，即其辱松雪公甚矣…… 。20 An Shifeng considered Epitaph for My Nursemaid unsuitable for discussion because it would likely bring shame to Zhao Mengfu, who not only believed in its authenticity but wrote several colophons praising it. Other skeptics in the Ming and Qing periods include Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526-1590), Bao Shichen 包世臣 (1775-1855), and Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858-1927).21 Their comments were brief, and none of them elaborated on their reasons. Only in recent decades, with more examples of epitaphs dated from the fourth century available through archaeological discoveries, have scholars seriously questioned the reliability of the date and attribution of the epitaph.22

Material and Format of the Epitaph for My Nursemaid

In the twentieth century, archaeologists have found numerous epitaphs dated from the fourth century in the vicinity of Nanjing. For example, Epitaph for 19 20 21 22

The Qianlong Emperor’s colophon in the Freer Scroll. Nakata and Fu, eds., Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū, 19. An Shifeng, Molin kuaishi 4.247-8. For Wang Shizhen, see Yanzhou shanren sibugao 154.340. For Bao Shichen, see Yizhou shuangji, 94-5. For Kang Youwei, see Guang Yizhou shuangji, 40. See for example, Hua, “Tan muzhi”; Wang Lichun, “Cong jiancang shijiao kan Wang Xizhi Baomuzhi zhi wei.” 82-85. In his entry to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, Fu Shen also questioned the authenticity of this piece but spoke highly of its historical value. See Nakata and Fu, eds., Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū, 131-33. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

207

Figure 5.8 Epitaph for Wang Xingzhi, 341, rubbing. After Nanjingshi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, Wenwu, 1965:6, 31.

Wang Xingzhi 王興之墓誌 (341) (Figure 5.8), Epitaph for the Wife of Yan Qian 顏 謙婦劉氏墓誌 (345), Epitaph for Wang Minzhi 王閩之墓誌 (358), Epitaph for Wang Danhu 王丹虎墓誌 (359) (Figure 5.9), Epitaph for Wang Jianzhi 王建之墓 誌 (372), and Epitaph for the Wife of Wang Jianzhi 王建之妻磚誌 (371) (Figure 5.10) are all dated within two decades of Epitaph for My Nursemaid (365).23 They are all thin blocks of stone or brick, square or rectangular in shape, just like Epitaph for My Nursemaid.24 It is also worth noting that many of them belonged to members of Wang Xizhi’s and Xianzhi’s extended family. While these are recent archaeological discoveries, Southern Song scholars were familiar with similar brick epitaphs. Historical documents record that many such epitaphs were unearthed from the ground as early as the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. For example, in 1182, Epitaph for Du Yi 杜義墓誌, dated 479 and made of brick, was found in Shaoxing.25 Li Lü 李呂 (1122-1198) recorded that in 1193, a brick epitaph, dated 445, was unearthed by the riverbank.26 Liu Zai 劉宰 (1167-1240) had seen a piece of a brick epitaph, dated to the Jin period and belonging to the ancestor of a Wang family. He commented,

23 24

25 26

For a discussion on Eastern Jin engraved calligraphy, see Liu, “Dong Jin mingke shuji de titai ji xiangguan wenti,” 2-25. The traces of rope imprinted on Epitaph for My Nursemaid and the decoration of coin patterns in shallow relief along three of its four sides are also common features of tomb bricks from the Eastern Jin period. (Jiatai) Kuaiji zhi 16.355. Danxuan ji, 2.444. Li Lü had also seen the epitaph for one of his ancestors, dated 864 and also made of brick. Danxuan ji 5.464; 8.485. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

208

Lu

Figure 5.9 Epitaph for Wang Danhu, 359, rubbing. After Nanjingshi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, Wenwu, 1965:10, 45.

Figure 5.10 Epitaph for the Wife of Wang Jianzhi, 371, rubbing. After Nanjingshi bowuguan, Wenwu, 2000:7, 17.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

209

“Both [this] Jin brick epitaph and Epitaph for My Nursemaid were unearthed in our time. This is perhaps a sign of the revival of the Wang family.”27 Although similar in both material and format, the inscription of the Epitaph is much longer and provides more detail about the tomb occupant than the Eastern Jin examples. It combines characteristics from sources of different periods. As mentioned previously, the structure and the wording of the inscription are very similar to Su Shi’s epitaphs for nursemaids Ren and Yang. Su’s epitaphs were readily available in Song leishu 類書 encyclopedias, such as Zhu Mu’s 祝穆 (?-1255) Shiwen leiju 事文類聚.28 Additionally, the prediction that the epitaph would re-emerge eight hundred years later might have come from Northern Wei (386-534) epitaphs.29 Table 5.2 Comparison of characters from Epitaph for My Nursemaid and Lantingxu, the Dingwu version Epitaph for My Nursemaid

Lantingxu, the Dingwu version

A far cry from the clumsy calligraphy common to the Eastern Jin examples, the writing on the Epitaph was beautifully executed. Striking similarities can be found between the Epitaph and the Dingwu engraving of Lantingxu. Dozens of characters are very close in calligraphic style to those by Wang Xizhi, and some are almost identical (see Table 5.2 for a comparison of six characters between the two works). Rather than a result of the younger Wang carrying on his father’s legacy, it is more likely that the characters were picked from Lantingxu and rearranged.30 During the Southern Song, Lantingxu was the prime fixation 27 Mantang wenji 24.408-9. 28  Xinbian gujin shiwen leiju, houji 5. 6b-7a. 29 For inscriptions of Northern Wei epitaphs, see Shi, “My Tomb Will Be Opened in Eight Hundred Years.” 30 This was an ancient practice called jizi (集字, meaning “collecting and arranging characters”). It was especially widely used during the Tang period. Wang Xizhi was so popular that painstaking efforts were made to fashion important documents in his writing during that time. The most renowned example of this practice is probably the Preface to the Buddhist Teachings (Shengjiao xu 集字聖教序), dated 672, which used Wang Xizhi’s

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

210

Lu

for calligraphers and collectors. They not only copied and learned its calligraphy, but also participated in an all-encompassing pursuit of anything associated with this masterpiece. In his Investigations of Lanting[xu] (Lanting kao 蘭亭 考), the Southern Song scholar Sang Shichang 桑世昌 (fl. late 12th to early 13th century) included an entire chapter on “collecting and arranging characters” using Lantingxu. Unfortunately, little of this chapter is extant today.31 For someone familiar with the practice of tweaking and remaking Lantingxu, it was probably not a very difficult task to fabricate the Epitaph. In addition, the Epitaph and Lantingxu share many other visual features. Both have the borders around the inscription and lines between the columns, notable cracks on the broken stone/brick, and missing and damaged characters. The Epitaph was more likely a thirteenth-century forgery, which combined the elements of factual and invented features of a fourth-century epitaph. The material and format of the brick slab were possibly modeled after authentic examples of fourth century epitaphs available during the Song period. The inscription, however, seems to be the most thoughtless part. Its incredible resemblance to Su Shi’s Epitaph for Nursemaid Yang should suffice to rule out the possibility that it is an ancient piece. Although Jiang Kui and the other supporters of the Epitaph knew of Su Shi’s work, they viewed the similarities as a coincidental match. Lou Yao, for example, stated in a poem: Old-man Po (Su Shi) could not have seen this epitaph, but how similar is his Epitaph for Jinchan (Nursemaid Yang) to this! Then we know that there are coincidental matches in writings, and great minds think alike. 坡翁應未見此志，金蟬之銘何絕類？ 又知文章有暗合，智謀所見略相似。32

Similarly, they firmly believed that the resemblances in the calligraphic style between Lantingxu and the Epitaph testified to the artistic bond between the Two Wangs, father and son. Among the “Seven Splendors” of the Epitaph listed by Jiang, four were in praise of the extraordinary quality of the calligraphy. Jiang acknowledged that its style was in accordance with Lantingxu. He then criticized the Dingwu version of Lantingxu for not retaining authenticity

31 32

calligraphy to write out Emperor Taizong’s (r. 626-649) preface of almost 1500 characters. The project took Monk Huairen 懷仁 (fl. late 7th century) twenty-five years to complete. For an introduction to this piece, see Wang et al., Jin Tang fashu mingji, 55-69. Zhizai shulu jieti 14.409-10. Gongkui ji 4.551.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

211

because it was carved by practiced but ignorant craftsmen several hundred years after Wang’s time. By contrast, Jiang believed that the Epitaph was brushed and carved by the younger Wang himself and therefore retained the brush ideas and methods of the Two Wangs. The absolute faith that Jiang and his followers had in the Epitaph seems puzzling. It is not easy to come up with a satisfying explanation given the limited evidence available. But the recurring reference to Lantingxu, especially the Dingwu version, in comments by Jiang and other advocates, is worthy of notice. A closer look into Lantingxu, its history, and its significance during this period may shed some light on the frenzy over the Epitaph.

Lantingxu and Its Copies

Lantingxu, the preface to a collection of extemporized poems composed by family and friends on a spring outing in 353, was the most venerated and influential work by Wang Xizhi. On the third day of the third lunar month of that year, Wang Xizhi gathered with family and friends at the Orchid Pavilion for the Shangsi Festival 上巳節 at the foot of Mt. Kuaiji. The Shangsi Festival traditionally included rituals of bathing and cleaning by the water to dispel evil and disasters. Its religious origins aside, it was also an occasion for spring outings and literary gatherings. On this day in 353, Wang Xizhi and his party sat along a winding stream at the scenic Orchid Pavilion. They enjoyed the fine late spring weather, composed poems, and drank from wine cups floating down the stream. Wang Xizhi later wrote a preface to the collection of poems composed by the party that day. A draft copy of Wang’s preface, littered with deletions and corrections, was eventually passed down as a calligraphic masterpiece. Called Lantingshi xu 蘭亭詩序 (Preface to the Poems of the Gathering of the Orchid Pavilion) or simply Lantingxu 蘭亭序, the piece by the seventh century attained its supreme status as representing the highest achievement of Wang Xizhi’s art. Emperor Taizong of the Tang dynasty, a great admirer of and advocate for Wang Xizhi, allegedly went through many hardships to acquire the scroll of Lantingxu. He kept it in his collection as the pinnacle of Wang’s works, and on his deathbed ordered it to be buried with him.33 Although the original scroll was thus lost forever, the calligraphic masterpiece Lantingxu survived in innumerable copies. Emperor Taizong had ordered his court calligraphers to make truthful tracing copies by tracing the outlines of the brushstrokes on a thin, semitransparent paper placed over the original 33

For an introduction to Lantingxu, see Wang Lianqi, “Guanyu Lantingxu de ruogan wenti.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

212

Lu

and then carefully filling in the empty shapes with fine ink lines. This method, widely used into the Tang period to reproduce calligraphic works, demands great skill in execution, is extremely time consuming, and its products are limited in number. It is unclear how many tracing copies of Lantingxu were actually made at the Tang court. From the Song to the Qing periods, however, only a handful of them were documented in collectors’ records. Just one survives today, the Shenlong Lanting 神龍蘭亭 (for the “Shenlong” seal it bears) in the Palace Museum, Beijing.34 Since about the tenth century, calligraphy model-books have replaced tracing copies as the major method of making reproductions of calligraphic works. Model-books are small-scale ink rubbings taken from engraved stone or wood blocks. The original work, oftentimes a tracing copy, was first transferred onto the surface and engraved to make the rubbings. In addition to single-work productions 單帖, the Song witnessed a surge in the publication of compilation albums 叢帖, in which the collector or connoisseur assembled select works by one or more writers. Virtually block prints, the model-books provided a much larger quantity of reproductions and facilitated a wider circulation. They eventually induced a radical change in how past calligraphers and masterpieces were conceived and studied, similar to what printing brought about in intellectual and literary histories at roughly the same time. This change in the technique of calligraphic reproduction, along with its ramifications in knowledge transmission and canon re-formation, corresponded to the transit from the age of manuscripts to the age of printing in China during the tenth century.35 In the case of Lantingxu, only the engraved versions were accessible to the majority of calligraphers and collectors from the Song on. The steps involved in making an engraved block of calligraphy includes transferring a tracing copy onto the surface of a stone or wood block, carving along the tracing lines, and hollowing out the material between the lines. Rubbings are then taken by pounding an inkpad on the thin rice paper placed over the engraved surface. 34

35

For the authentication and dating of copies of Lantingxu, now in the collection of various museums, see the successive articles by Xu, “Wang Xizhi Lantingxu linben qianhou qizhong he kao.” There have been many studies on the social and cultural impacts of printing and publication in the West. See for example, Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe; and Darnton, “What is the History of Books.” On how printing functioned in China, see Tsien, Paper-making and Printing; Brokaw, “On the History of the Book in China,” 3-54; Chia and De Weerdt, eds., Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print. For discussions of Song model-books in general, see McNair, “Engraved Calligraphy in China”; McNair, “The Engraved Model-Letters Compendia of the Song Dynasty.” For a general review of the relation between productions of calligraphy model-books and large publication houses during the Southern Song, see Mok, “Nansong ketie wenhua guankui.” Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

213

The final outcome is a rubbing with characters in white against an inked background. Multiple rubbings could be taken from one engraved stone or wooden block, greatly facilitating the circulation and appreciation of the work. Nevertheless, because of the many steps of transmission involved in making an engraving, it is almost inevitably less accurate than a tracing copy. Taking rubbings contributes to the inaccuracy, as pounding the inkpad on the stone or wood causes damages to its surface, resulting in the loss of the brushstrokes’ details. The engraved channels between the outlines also become shallower as more rubbings are taken, leaving the brush strokes in later rubbings thinner than those taken earlier. In many cases, a rubbing later becomes the model from which new engravings are made. The chain of production results in a series of facsimiles, bearing resemblances to the original and each other, but the correlations diminish as they multiply.36

Proliferation of the Lantingxu and Its Discontents

Since Lantingxu was frequently duplicated in engravings during the period from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, rubbings of these engravings proliferated. They constructed a world of their own, in which originals and replicas lay side by side in the collector’s chest, and the effort to discern authenticity was often more than offset by the energy invested in making look-alikes. The extreme scarcity of reliable, early copies of Lantingxu and the abundance of its facsimiles created an interesting dilemma. As early as the first half of the eleventh century, rubbings of the engraved versions of the Lantingxu were popular among collectors and calligraphers. For example, in his collection of notes on ancient calligraphy, Colophons of the Retired Scholar Liuyi 六一題跋, Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) recorded rubbings taken from several different engraved versions of Lantingxu.37 Starting in the mid-eleventh century, the Dingwu stone of the Lantingxu, allegedly uncovered in Zhending 真定, Hebei under the jurisdiction of the Dingwu military prefecture 定武軍 which lent its name to the stone, stood out among all as the most faithful to the original. The calligraphers Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (10451105) and Li Zhiyi 李之儀 (1048-1117) praised its calligraphy as “fleshy without being overly fat, lean without being gaunt 肥不剩肉，瘦不露骨” and “the best 獨定武本為佳.”38 The idea that the Dingwu stone was superior to all the other

36 37 38

For a study of the materiality and historicity of rubbings, see Wu, “On Rubbings.” Liuyi tiba 4.183-184. Shangu tiba 7.1b. Guxi jushi wenji 41.57. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

214

Lu

engraved versions was cemented in the early twelfth century and remained popular ever since.39 The Dingwu stone supposedly was lost during the sacking of the Northern Song palace in 1126 when the Jurchens captured the capital Bianjing 汴京. The fascination with the Dingwu rubbings, however, only heightened during the Southern Song. The scholar and collector Lou Yao 樓鑰 (1137-1213) once lamented in a quatrain: A piece of stone from Dingzhou has several lines. Thousands and tens of thousands of people write, just for this [trivial] thing. 定州有片石，石上幾行字。□千人萬人題，只為這箇事。40

At the same time, the number of reproductions of the Dingwu Lantingxu burgeoned. Another scholar and collector Wang Bai 王栢 (1197-1274) recounted: True Dingwu [rubbings] are rare. Ever since the Song imperial court moved south, the number of recuts reached several thousands. Mistakes lead to more mistakes. It is like a child’s play game. I often laugh in my sleeve. 故定武蘭亭亦不多見。南渡以來紛紛翻刻數千石矣，訛以傳訛，僅同 兒戲，每竊哂之。41

Zhao Mengfu, in his colophon to a rubbing of the Dingwu stone, also mentioned that during the Southern Song, every household (of the literati) had a reproduction of this piece made.42 Wang Bai explained in detail the shortfalls of such recuts: Even for the rubbings taken from a single stone, there are differences in the paper, ink, and level of skill applied in pounding (the surface) and taking rubbings, causing them to vary (from each other) in the ink tone and stroke thickness. When a stone produces offspring and turns into tens and hundreds of stones, how can it not lose authenticity? Its essence 39 40 41 42

For a discussion of the Dingwu stone and the handful of rubbings taken from it, see Wang Lianqi, “Guanyu Lantingxu de ruogan wenti.” Gongkui ji 75.475. Luzhai ji 5.71. 「南渡後家刻一石」Zhao Mengfu, “Thirteen Colophons to the Lantingxu,” now in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

215

is damaged after one generation. Its qi energy is diffused after another. It is rare to still retain its distinguished quality and lingering charm after three or four generations. 然一石之字，搥搨〔拓〕之間且有紙墨工拙之異，濃淡肥瘠之不同， 豈有一碑轉相傳禪，子子孫孫變而為數十百種，而有不失其真者乎？ 一傳而質已壞，再傳而氣已漓，三四傳之後尚髣髴其流風餘韻者鮮 矣。43

Even so, Lantingxu remained one of the most desired collectibles during the Southern Song period. Numerous collectors boasted the extraordinary number of Lantingxu rubbings they acquired. Many owned one hundred or even more. For example, Kang Weizhang 康惟章 (fl. late 11th to early 12th centuries) once allegedly took out one hundred Lantingxu rubbings from his chest to show his guest the minute differences in dots and strokes among them.44 The collector and dealer Bi Liangshi 畢良史 (?-1150) had three hundred.45 Wang Houzhi 王厚 之 (1131-1204), one of the most renowned experts on Lantingxu, had one hundred, kept in ten packets.46 The collector Shen Kui 沈揆 (fl. late 12th century) purportedly had more than one hundred.47 Emperor Lizong 理宗 (r. 1224-1264) owned one hundred seventeen rubbings of Lantingxu. The contents of Emperor Lizong’s collection, divided into ten sets, was documented by Tao Zongyi 陶宗儀 (1329-1410), who had the chance to view the collection in its entirety in the late fourteenth century.48 Tao recorded the title of each rubbing and in a few cases made a note of specific features or colophons. According to these titles, Emperor Lizong’s remarkable collection included “wide-columned” (kuohang 闊行), “rigid” (banke 板刻), “fat” (fei 肥), “thin” (shou 瘦), “incomplete” (queshi 缺石), and “broken” (duanshi 斷石) versions of the Dingwu stone, along with a mixture of categories from non-Dingwu sources that ranged from Tang tracing copies to free-hand copies by Song calligraphers. Assembled around the same time, the set owned by the official You Si 游似 (?-1252) further illuminates the hodgepodge nature of these grand collections of Lantingxu copies. You’s collection is the only one that can still be reconstructed with a substantial number of examples in existence. Scholars have identified about forty extant Lantingxu rubbings out of the one hundred once

43 44 45 46 47 48

Luzhai ji 4.57. Lanting kao 7.65-6. Lanting kao 3.25. Lanting kao 11.97. Lanting xukao1.13. Nancun chuogenglu 6.68-70. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

216

Lu

Figure 5.11

(Att.) Wang Xizhi, Lantingxu, 353, rubbing made in the 12th-13th c., detail, “Number Two” in You Si’s (?-1252) collection of One Hundred Lanting. Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After Gugong bowuyuan, ed., Lanting tudian, 152.

owned by You Si.49 These included later recuts of the Dingwu version, Tang copies turned into engravings in the eleventh or twelfth century, and engravings based on free-hand copies by Song calligraphers. For example, “Number 2” in You Si’s collection is a lively and unprompted copy of Lantingxu, possibly from the hand of Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127-1162) (Figure 5.11).50 49

50

In recent years, Wang Liangqi of the Beijing Palace Museum has been working on You Si’s collection of Lantingxu, and has identified almost twice the number of rubbings than previously known. For a preliminary sketch of his research, see Wang Lianqi, “You xiang Lanting xiangguan wenti yanjiu.” A book-length study by Wang Lianqi on this subject is forthcoming. For a study of this copy and the identification of Emperor Gaozong as its writer, see Wang Lianqi, “Guanyu Lantingxu de ruogan wenti,” 38. In 2011, the Palace Museum, Beijing held a special exhibition on Lantingxu, which gathered about 30 ink copies by later Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

217

As the number of replicas grew, there appeared guides and rules for distinguishing a true Dingwu rubbing from look-alikes. Wang Bai’s passage cited above was in fact from a preface to his own guidebook of this kind, Examining Lan[tingxu] (Kao Lan 考蘭), now lost. Better known guides to Lantingxu from this period included Investigations of Lanting[xu] by Sang Shichang and Supplementary Investigations of Lanting(xu) (Lanting xukao 蘭亭續考) by Yu Song 俞松 (fl. early to mid-13th century).51 In addition to documenting various Lantingxu copies, their provenances, and colophons, they also recorded the minute yet supposedly definitive features of a Dingwu rubbing, such as the width of particular columns, dents and fractures in the stone at particular spots, the ways in which some of the characters were written, and whether certain characters were damaged. Knowledge about the Lantingxu and its numerous copies became a distinct field of expertise, but much of its substance was about the material aspects of the engravings and rubbings, not the calligraphy.

Jiang Kui’s Frustrations and a Quest for the Brush Ideas of the Two Wangs

This focus on the study of the smallest details of a Lantingxu rubbing rather than the artistic quality of the calligraphy drew criticism and sparked debate. The scholar Zeng Pan 曾槃 (fl. late 11th to early 12th centuries) had warned that making judgments based on rigid and diminutive rules missed the point: The reason that people cherish the Dingwu version is because it was meticulously and skillfully engraved, retaining the brush idea of Youjun (Wang Xizhi), not because certain characters have the “needle hole” or appear in the shape of “crab feet” or look like the “ding” character. If [a rubbing] retains the brush idea, even if it does not have those three features, it is still a fine version. Besides, those three features can be forged but the brush idea can only be recognized by the truly capable.

51

calli­graphers, 70 rubbings made in various periods along with paintings and crafts on the subject of Wang Xizhi and the Lanting gathering. The exhibition with its massive catalogue provides the most extensive collection of visual materials for the study of Lantingxu to date. Gugong bowuyuan, ed., Lanting tudian. Also called A Comprehensive Treatise on Lanting[xu] (Lanting boyi 蘭亭博議), Sang’s book first came out in 1208. It was later re-published in 1241, after being heavily amended and altered by Gao Sisun 高似孫 (1158-1231). Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

218

Lu 夫世之所以貴定武者，以其鐫刻精好，不失右軍筆意而已，非以其能 為針眼，為蟹爪，為丁形也。使其能得其筆意，雖無此三者，不害為 善本。況此三者皆可以人力為，而其筆意，非真能者未易辨。52

Jiang Kui was an expert on the Lantingxu and the author of two treatises on this subject, Examinations of the Origins and Developments of Lantingxu 禊帖 源流考53 and Investigation of the Character Components in Lantingxu 禊帖偏旁 考.54 The former was a discourse on the history and derivations of tracing copies, free-hand copies, engravings, and the Dingwu stone of the Lantingxu, and the latter was a list of unique features of fifteen characters in the Lantingxu that one should find in an authentic copy. Nevertheless, Jiang sought insights beyond these aspects. He cared about the spirit and essence of the calligraphy. He praised the Dingwu stone as best preserving the shape of the original, and yet he objected to blindly pursuing Dingwu rubbings. In his Supplements to the Essay on Calligraphy 續書譜, a collection of his notes on writing, learning, and appreciating calligraphy, he cautioned against trusting the Dingwu rubbings indiscriminately: Among the hundreds of Lantingxu rubbings, those taken from the Dingwu engraving are the best. Yet there are still differences among them. Taking several of them for a comparison, one will find that the characters vary in the position, length, size, thickness, strength, and skillfulness. It is like [how] each person differs in physical appearance. Therefore one knows that although Dingwu was an engraving [made after the original], it does not necessarily retain the bearing and spirit of the original. 世所有蘭亭何翅數百本，而定武最佳。然定武本有數樣，今取諸本參 之，其位置長短大小無不同，而肥瘠剛柔工拙要妙之處，如人之面無 有同者，以此知定武雖石刻，又未必得真蹟之風神矣。55

Jiang advised that among the various rubbings, one should pick the ones that “retain the sharpness and brilliance [of the brush tip].”56 Jiang, contrary to most collectors who were obsessed with the Dingwu rubbings, also sought out 52 53

Baoke congbian 6.215. The text of this treatise is available in a scroll transcribed by Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), now in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. For an introduction to the scroll, see Chen Jianzhi, “Yuan Zhao Mengfu Xitie yuanliu juan shangxi,” 76-84. 54 Qidong yeyu 12.146-7. 55 Xu Shupu, 5. 56 「然有鋒芒稜角為上」Jiang Kui, Examinations of the Origins and Developments of Lan­ tingxu 禊帖源流考, now in a scroll transcribed by Zhao Mengfu in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

219

versions of the Lantingxu that might better convey the virtuosity of Wang Xizhi. For example, he praised a version from Luoyang, with only about a dozen characters left, to be superior to the Dingwu stone.57 In light of this background, I can provide a few thoughts on Jiang’s reasoning in defending the authenticity of the Epitaph. First, the Epitaph is splendid in its calligraphy. The delicate balance in the character structure and the minute movements of the brush tip, including the turns and kicks, and even hesitance and urgency, are still lively and vivid in the rubbing. It contains more nuances and refinement in its execution than most facsimiles of Lantingxu. Jiang argued that this was because it came directly from the hand of the younger Wang and was of course superior to the Lantingxu versions that had gone through the seemingly endless cycle of copying.58 It is no surprise that the Epitaph won Jiang Kui’s wholehearted support. The emphasis on artistic quality over provenance or attributions was actually in accordance with his approach to appraising calligraphic works. Second, Jiang’s endorsement could be seen as an admonition against the excessive obsession over Lantingxu among collectors of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. As shown in the previous section, some of these collectors labored over dents, damages, and missing strokes to identify a true Dingwu rubbing, while others hoarded Lantingxu rubbings from various sources. Jiang’s endorsement of the Epitaph essentially raised him above the labyrinth of Lantingxu, pressing forward to the fundamental question of what were the essential and true “brush ideas” of the Two Wangs. In other words, the Epitaph could function as a corrective to the craze over Lantingxu, which had prevented collectors and calligraphers from pursuing that most important question.59 On the face of it, the discovery of the Epitaph filled an important gap in the Song scholar’s understanding of the younger Wang, but a closer look reveals a different story. Under the enthusiastic support from Jiang Kui and the other supporters in fact lay a deep frustration over the senseless fixation on Lantingxu, the over-production of replicas, and the consequential loss of a true understanding of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. The emergence of the Epitaph, a work by

57 「近見劉清卿出學易所藏洛陽斸地本，但手大，十餘字，以定本較之，宛在其 下。」 Jiang Kui, Examinations of the Origins and Developments of Lantingxu 禊帖源流 考, now in a scroll transcribed by Zhao Mengfu in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. 58 「真大令之名蹟，不經重摹，筆意俱在，猶勝定武刻也。……定武本刻於數百 年之後，寧不失真？此乃大令在時刻，筆意都在，求二王法，莫信於此。」 Jiang Kui, Colophon to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. 59 「此乃大令在時刻，筆意都在，求二王法，莫信於此。」Jiang Kui, Colophon to Epitaph for My Nursemaid, now in the Palace Museum, Beijing. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

220

Figure 5.12

Lu

(Att.) Wang Xizhi, Essay on Yue Yi, from the Calligraphy Compendium of the Shi Family in Yuezhou 越州石氏帖, rubbing made in the late 12th c. Tokyo National Museum. After Uno Sesson, et al., ed., Ō Gishi shoseki taikei. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

Figure 5.13

221

Anonymous, Eulogy for Burying the Crane, fragments, 6th c. Photograph by author.

his son restored confidence in the principles and methods of the Two Wangs in an indirect and unexpected way. The forgers of the Epitaph, most likely motivated by profit, were well-versed in the vocabulary of Wang Xizhi, specifically the Lantingxu. They used a very good Dingwu rubbing as the model, refashioned it, and disguised it as a buried artifact. Reports of stone carvings recovered from the ground or water were plentiful during the Song period. These stones seem to promise direct access to antiquity. Some of the most prominent ancient pieces of calligraphy had come (back) into the world of Song literati in this way, including the Dingwu engraving of the Lantingxu, the Essay on Yue Yi by Wang Xizhi (Figure 5.12),60 and the Eulogy for Burying the Crane (Yihe ming 瘞鶴銘, which was struck by lightning and fell into the water from a high cliff) (Figure 5.13).61 The prevailing interests 60 61

See my research on Essay on Yue Yi (Lu, “Tang zhi Song de Liuchao shushiguan zhi bian: yi Wang Xizhi Yueyi lun zai Songdai de moke ji bianmao weili.” Xue, “The Elusive Crane.” Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

222

Lu

in antiquarian studies among the Song literati and their attentiveness to exhumed artifacts reinforced their confidence in these stones. Jiang Kui claimed that the Epitaph was superior to the Lantingxu. He strongly advised students of calligraphy to copy it and learn from it instead of the Lantingxu. This was also the message that other supporters of the Epitaph repeated over and over again. Perhaps the excitement for the Epitaph in the early thirteenth century was not so much about the younger Wang as it was about his father Xizhi and his foremost masterpiece, Lantingxu. In an age when images proliferated through recuts and rubbings, Wang Xizhi and his works enjoyed extraordinary popularity. Yet at the same time they were at risk of being discredited by that very proliferation and dissemination. Ironically, it was through a piece of forgery that the pursuit of authenticity seemed possible.

Conclusion

As the passion surrounding the Epitaph for My Nursemaid shows so well, it is difficult to overestimate the place of calligraphy in the visual and material culture of the Song literati class. There may have been some highly respected scholars like Zhu Xi, who as Patricia Ebrey shows in the next chapter, was relatively indifferent to beautiful writing. But even he was familiar with the names of famous artists and their most esteemed pieces and was used to handling and inspecting rubbings. At the other extreme were his contemporaries who might amass several hundred rubbings or compile inventories documenting collectors and collections. These passionate devotees constructed a world of their own, of men like them enthralled by the tasks of assembling, sorting, dating, commenting, tracing provenances, and making facsimiles. Their willingness to pay substantial sums for these treasures encouraged the production of imitations and forgeries, resulting as well in often bitterly contested views concerning authenticity, history, and aesthetics. During Song times, one might have thought that ever more efficient techniques of visual reproduction would threaten through their technical reliability to dislodge longstanding con­fidence in connoisseurs’ ability to discriminate between real artefacts and fakes. In many cases it led instead to broader collecting and more minute visual discrimination.

References



Primary Sources

Baoke congbian 寶刻叢編, by Chen Si 陳思 (fl. 1225-1264). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 682. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

223

Danxuan ji 澹軒集, by Li Lü 李呂 (1122-1198). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 1156.Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006. Dongtian qingluji 洞天清祿集, by Zhao Xihu 趙希鵠 (fl. first half of 13th century). In Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu, vol. 871. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983. Gongkui ji 攻媿集, by Lou Yao 樓鑰 (1137-1213). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 1156. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006. Guang Yizhou shuangji 廣藝舟雙楫, by Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858-1927). Beijing: Beijing shi Zhongguo shudian, 1983. Guxi jushi wenji 姑溪居士文集, by Li Zhiyi 李之儀 (1048-1117). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 1125. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006. (Jiatai) Kuaiji zhi (嘉泰) 會稽志, by Shi Su 施宿 (1164-1222). InYingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu, vol. 486. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983. Lanting kao 蘭亭考, by Sang Shichang 桑世昌 (fl. late 12th to early 13th century). In Wang Yunwu 王雲五 ed., Congshu jicheng jianbian 叢書集成簡編, vol. 95. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuaguan, 1965. Lanting xukao 蘭亭續考, by Yu Song 俞松 (fl. 13th century). In Wang Yunwu 王雲五 ed., Congshu jicheng jianbian 叢書集成簡編, vol. 95. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuaguan, 1965. Liuyi tiba 六一題跋, by Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072). In Wang Yunwu 王雲五 ed., Congshu jicheng jianbian 叢書集成簡編, vol. 92. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuaguan, 1966. Luzhai ji 魯齋集, by Wang Bo 王柏 (1197-1274). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 1190. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006. Mantang wenji 漫塘文集, by Liu Zai 劉宰 (1167-1240). In Songji zhenben congkan, vol. 72. Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju, 2004. Molin kuaishi 墨林快事, by An Shifeng 安世鳳 (fl. 17th century). In Yishu xuanjian shangzhen, vol. 8-1. Taipei: Guoli Zhongyang tushuguan, 1970. Nansong guan’ge xulu 南宋館閣續錄, by Anonymous. In Songdai zhuanji ziliao congkan. Beijing: Beijing tushuguan chubanshe, 2006. Nancun chuogenglu 南村輟耕錄, by Tao Zongyi 陶宗儀 (1329-1410). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997. Qidong yeyu 齊東野語, by Zhou Mi 周密 (1232-1308). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. Shangu tiba 山谷題跋, by Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045-1105). Taipei: Guangwen shuju, 1971. Sichao wenjian lu 四朝聞見錄, by Ye Shaoweng 葉紹翁 (fl. ca. early 13th century). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1989. Xinbian gujin shiwen leiju 新編古今事文類聚, by Zhu Mu 祝穆. In Zhonghua zaizao shanben, Jin Yuan bian, zibu, vol. 17. Beijing: Beijing tushuguan chubanshe, 2005. Xu Shupu 續書譜, by Jiang Kui 姜夔 (1155-1221). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. Yanzhou shanren sibugao 弇州山人四部稿, by Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526-1590). In Wenjin’ge Siku quanshu, vol. 1285. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2006.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

224

Lu

Yizhou shuangji 藝舟雙楫, by Bao Shichen 包世臣 (1775-1855). Beijing: Beijing shi Zhongguo shudian, 1983. Yunlu manchao 雲麓漫鈔, by Zhao Yanwei 趙彥衛 (fl. late 12th to early 13th centuries). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1996. Zhizai shulu jieti 直齋書錄解題, by Chen Zhensun 陳振孫 (fl. early 13th century). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987.



Secondary Sources

Brokaw, Cynthia J. “On the History of the Book in China.” In Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China, edited by Cynthia J. Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, 3-54. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2005. Chen Jianzhi 陳建志. “Yuan Zhao Mengfu Xitie yuanliu juan shangxi” 元趙孟頫《禊帖 源流》卷賞析. Gugong wenwu yuekan 329 (2010), 76-84. Chia, Lucille and Hilde De Weerdt, eds., Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print—China, 900-1400. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Darnton, Robert. “What is the History of Books?” In The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History, edited by Robert Darnton, 107-35. New York: Norton, 1990. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Hua Rende 華人德. “Tan muzhi” 談墓誌. Shupu 53 (1983), 14-33. Gugong bowuyuan 故宮博物院, ed. Lanting tudian 蘭亭圖典. Beijing: Zijincheng chubanshe, 2011. Lau Nap-yin 柳立言. “Su Shi rumu Ren Cailian muzhiming suo fanying de lishi bianhua” 蘇軾乳母任採蓮墓誌銘所反映的歷史變化. Zhongguoshi yanjiu 1 (2007), 105-118. Liu Tao 劉濤. “Dong Jin mingke shuji de titai ji xiangguan wenti” 東晉銘刻書迹的體態 及相關問題. Shufa congkan 4 (1999), 2-25. Lu Hui-Wen 盧慧紋. “Tang zhi Song de Liuchao shushiguan zhi bian: yi Wang Xizhi Yueyi lun zai Songdai de moke ji bianmao weili” 唐至宋的六朝書史觀之變: 以王羲之《樂 毅論》在宋代的摹刻及變貌為例. Gugong xueshu jikan 31.3 (2014), 1-56. McNair, Amy. “Engraved Calligraphy in China: Recension and Reception.” Art Bulletin 77.1 (1995), 106-14. McNair, Amy. “The Engraved Model-Letters Compendia of the Song Dynasty.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 114.2 (1994), 209-25. Mok Harold Kar Leung 莫家良. “Nan Song ketie wenhua guankui” 南宋刻帖文化管窺. In Zhongguo beitie yu shufa guoji yantaohui lunwenji 中國碑帖與書法國際研討會論 文集, vol. 1, edited by You Xuehua 游學華 and Chen Juan’an 陳娟按, 69-76. Hong Kong: Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001. Nakata Yūjirō 中田勇次郎and Fu Shen 傅申, eds. Ō-Bei shūzō Chūgoku hōsho meisekishū 歐米收藏中國法書名蹟集, vol. 1. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōronsha, 1981. Nomura Ayuko 野村鮎子. “So Tetsu no seibo nikansuru—kōsatsu—So Shoku ‘Hobo Yō shi boshimei’ to Ō Kenshi ‘Seibo senshi’ o megutte” 蘇轍の生母に關する一考察──

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Pursuit of the Authentic Wang Xizhi

225

蘇軾「保母楊氏墓誌銘」と王獻之「保母磚志」をめぐって──. Kanran: Sōdai

shibun kenkyūkai kaishi 11 (2002), 129-42. Nomura Ayuko “Su Shi Baomu Yang shi muzhiming zhi mi” 蘇軾《保姆楊氏墓誌銘》 之謎. Songdai wenhua yanjiu 12 (2003), 102-15. Nanjingshi bowuguan, “Nanjing Xiangshan bahao jiuhao shihao mu fajue jianbao,” 南 京象山8 號、9 號、10 號墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 7 (2000), 4-20. Nanjingshi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, “Nanjing Rentaishan Dongjin Wang Xingzhi fufumu fajue baogao,” 南京人台山東晉王興之夫婦墓發掘報告. Wenwu 6 (1965), 26-33. Nanjingshi wenwu baoguan weiyuanhui, “Nanjing Xiangshan Dongjin Wang Danhu mu he er sihao mu fajue jianbao,” 南京象山東晉王丹虎墓和二、四號墓發掘簡報. Wenwu 10 (1965), 29-45. Shi, Jie. “‘My Tomb Will Be Opened in Eight Hundred Years’: A New Way of Seeing the After­life in Six Dynasties China.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 72.2 (2012), 217-57. Tsien, Tsuen-hsuin. Paper-making and Printing (Zaozhi ji yinshua). Translated by Liu Tuo and Wang Liu Cixin. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu, 1995. Uno Sesson 宇野雪村. “Yū shō hon Rentei kō 游相本蘭亭考. Tōyō kenkyū 32 (1973), 1-35. Uno Sesson, et al., ed. Ō Gishi shoseki taikei 王羲之書蹟大系. Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu, 1990. Wang Lianqi 王連起. “Guanyu Lantingxu de ruogan wenti” 關於《蘭亭序》的若干問 題. Shufa congkan 129 (2012), 18-96. Wang Lianqi “You xiang Lanting xiangguan wenti yanjiu” 游相蘭亭相關問題研究. Presentation at Rethinking the Written Word: An Interdiscplinary Symposium on Chinese Calligraphy, Taipei, TW, November 1-2, 2008. Wang Lichun 王力春. “Cong jiancang shijiao kan Wang Xianzhi Baomuzhi zhi wei” 從 鑒藏視角看王獻之《保母志》之偽. Liaoning shifan daxue xuebao (shehui kexue baoban) 34.2 (2011), 82-85. Wang Yaoting 王耀庭 et al. Jin Tang fashu mingji 晉唐法書名蹟. Taipei: National Palace Museum, 2008. Wang Yimin 王亦旻, ed. Gugong bowuyuan cangpin daxi, Shufa bian 故宮博物院藏品 大系－書法編, vol. 4. Beijing: Gugong chubanshe, 2012. Wu, Hung. “On Rubbings: Their Materiality and Historicity.” In Writing and Materiality in China: Essays in Honor of Patrick Hanan, edited by Judith T. Zeitlin and Lydia H. Liu, 29-72. Massachusetts: Harvard University Asia Center, 2003. Xu Bangda 徐邦達. “Wang Xizhi Lantingxu linben qianhou qizhong he kao” 王羲之蘭 亭序臨本前後七種合考. Shupu 44 (1982), 66-75; 45 (1982), 76-80; 46 (1982), 66-71; 47 (1982), 68-71; 48 (1982), 76-80; 49 (1982), 66-71. Xue, Lei. “The Elusive Crane: Memory, Metaphor, and a Stone Monument from Sixth Century China.” PhD diss., Columbia University, 2009.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

226

Ebrey

Chapter 6

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents Patricia Buckley Ebrey In Song times it was not uncommon for literati to take out something handwritten—letters, poems, essays, calligraphic exercises and other types of writing—to show to their hosts or guests. These handwritten, ink-on-paper (or more rarely silk) documents (in Chinese called tie 帖 or moji 墨蹟, among other terms) can be loosely referred to as “calligraphies,” but not all of them were valued primarily for their artistry. Some were valued more as historical documents, other as mementos of deceased friends and relatives, still others as autographs—traces of the brush of famous people. Yet even if the works were treasured above all for the people connected to them, they were visually stimulating material objects, and viewing them was a key practice in the visual and material culture of the literati of the day. After showing a piece of paper with writing on it, the owners often asked viewers to write a comment, something that would show that they had seen the work and could say something about it. These comments were commonly called ba 跋 or ti 題, and will be called “colophon” here. When the owner had the pieces of paper mounted as a handscroll, the colophons would usually be placed after the work itself. For important works, new comments could be added over the centuries, offering us today evidence of the history of the object. Art historians have made much use of colophons as sources for critical standards as well as the social practices associated with collecting, drawing especially on colophons by major critics, collectors, and artists, some recorded in books and others attached to extant artworks.1 That tendency can convey the false impression that colophons were a literary form for writing on and 1 I would like to thank Ronald Egan, Hui-Wen Lu, and Susan Huang for their careful reading of this chapter and suggestions for improvement. For some examples of using colophons to explore art theory and criticism, see Ledderose, Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Calligraphy; Egan, “Ou-yang Hsiu and Su Shih,” Word, Image, and Deed, and The Problem of Beauty; Sturman, Mi Fu: Style and the Art of Calligraphy; and McNair, The Upright Brush, and Hui-Wen Lu in this volume. For examples of using colophons to trace the history of objects, see Harrist, “A Letter from Wang Hsi-chih”; Wang, “Beyond the Admonitions Scroll”; Little, “A ‘Cultural Biography’ of the Admonitions Scroll”; Ebrey, Accumulating Culture; and Lee, The Night Banquet.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi Patricia 10.1163/9789004349377_008 Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

227

about artworks, whereas in fact they were written for a much wider variety of objects that drew the attention of literati. Writing colophons became an established practice in the Northern Song period. Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) wrote colophons on the many rubbings of inscriptions that he had gathered, and more than four hundred of these came to circulate independently of the rubbings themselves. His colophons vary greatly in length and in focus; some concentrate on the historicity of the people mentioned, others on calligraphic style.2 Colophons by Ouyang Xiu’s younger contemporaries Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101) and Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045-1105) also survive in large number, but are not exclusively for rubbings of inscriptions. In Su’s case, his collected works have colophons for letters, books, poems, paintings, ancient bronzes, musical instruments, inkstones, and much else.3 Quite a few Southern Song scholars’ collected works include dozens if not hundreds of colophons.4 As the tradition of writing colophons became established, members of the literati elite not only viewed each other’s prized possessions, but also read the comments that earlier literati had made about them, a practice that would have shaped their viewing experience. The body of colophons examined in this essay are those written by the preeminent philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200) and preserved in his collected works.5 The four chapters devoted to colophons take up just over 200 pages in a recent punctuated edition of his works. By rough count, the 301 colophons in these chapters include one on a seal; 10 on paintings; up to 50 on books, only a few of which seem to have been printed; 52 for poems; 32 for letters; and 40 for works probably best thought of as calligraphy. The remaining 103 included the types of documents one finds in collected works, from memorials and funerary 2 Ouyang Xiu quanji, “Jigu lu bawei”; see also Egan, The Problem of Beauty, 7-59. 3 See Su Shi wenji, juan 66-71, which extends over 234 pages in the modern punctuated edition of Su’s works. On Su Shi’s set of colophons, see Hatch, “Tung-p’o t’i-pa.” 4 Twenty Song authors’ colophons are conveniently collected by Mao Jin 毛晉 (1599-1659) in parts 12 and 13 of his collectanea Jindai mishu 津逮秘書. The twenty authors range from Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) and Su Song 蘇頌 (1020-1101) to Wei Liaoweng 魏了翁 (11781237) and Liu Kezhuang 劉克莊 (1187-1269). For the full list, see Shanghai tushuguan, ed., Zhongguo congshu zonglu, 1:56. 5 Zhu Xi’s collected works (wenji) was put together early, beginning in his lifetime and after his death by his eldest son. Already in Song times two versions were printed, a Min (Fujian), and a Zhe (Zhejiang) version that differed in relatively minor ways. The current 100 juan edition dates to the 1220s, and during the next twenty-five years two supplements were added (a Xu 續 and a Bie 別 collection). Here all but two of the colophons I cite are from the basic collection, rather than the supplements. On the history of Zhu Xi’s collected works, see the prefatory matter in Zhu Xi ji 7-12.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

228

Ebrey

inscriptions to essays and occasional pieces of all sorts. Not many of Zhu Xi’s colophons in his hand are still extant, but for one that he wrote for a small set of Ouyang Xiu’s original colophons on ancient rubbings, see Figure 6.1.6 Since my goal is to explore the visual culture of the larger literati class, rather than that of the minority most deeply interested in art, an advantage of Zhu Xi as a subject is that he was not known as an expert on art or a collector of art objects.7 In addition, he commonly sets the scene, mentioning who showed him a work, something done less often by other prolific Song authors of colophons. This is valuable because what people took out to show Zhu Xi is as much a part of visual culture as what he eventually wrote about it. Zhu Xi’s colophons were, of course, themselves handwritten documents, and as his fame grew they would have been sought by contemporaries in part as autographs, tangible evidence that they had a connection to a famous man. Zhu Xi also did other types of calligraphy on request, above all the sign boards/ name plates for halls at schools or academies or for individual men’s studies. Often these were in response to a request for a name for the building plus a transcription of it in large characters.8 Quite possibly those requesting pieces of this sort of calligraphy expressed their appreciation with a monetary gift. Whether some of those asking for colophons also made gifts is unclear. It cannot be ruled out, but I have not found any explicit reference to Zhu Xi expecting or accepting money for colophons. A considerable body of Zhu Xi’s calligraphy is still extant, notably at the Palace Museums in both Taipei and Beijing.9 Here, however, the topic is not Zhu Xi as a calligrapher but rather Zhu Xi as a participant in a culture of viewing, discussing, and inscribing hand-written documents. To give readers a sense of what Zhu Xi’s colophons are like, a selection of them are translated below. These ten are among his shorter colophons, selected 6 This work was probably at that time in the collection of Wang Houzhi (on whom see below). This colophon is included in Zhu Xi’s collected works (Zhu Xi ji 82.4223). For a picture of it mounted with earlier and later colophons, along with a discussion of it, see Lin Boting, ed., Daguan, 298-305. Another scroll that includes a colophon by Zhu Xi was sold by China Guardian auction house in 2009 for a very high price. See Baiqi jiapin: 194-2015: Zhongguo Jiade Tongxun, 12-13. 7 On Zhu Xi’s discomfort with Su Shi’s aesthetic interests, see Egan, Word, Image, and Deed, 357-63. 8 The Qing scholar Zhu Yu 朱玉 made a list of 20 two-character inscriptions Zhu Xi did, 29 three-character ones, and 31 four-character ones, mostly for name plates. They are all listed in Chen Rongjie, Zhuzi xin tansuo, 689-92. 9 Wing-tsit Chan identified 33 pieces of Zhu Xi’s calligraphy still extant on paper and 103 on stone or on rubbings of stones (Chen Rongjie, Zhuzi xin tansuo, 692-96).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

229

Figure 6.1 Zhu Xi’s colophon on a scroll of Ouyang Xiu’s colophons on antiquities. National Palace Museum, Taipei. After , last accessed January 1, 2017.

to show a range of situations in which a viewing occurred and the types of writings shown, as well as the variety of sentiments and ideas that Zhu Xi expressed in colophons. They are presented here in the order they appear in his collected works, as that conveys something of the abrupt shift in topic that comes from collecting together pieces written at different times and places for a wide assortment of documents. Because the features of interest in these ten colophons are found in many other colophons as well, rather than discuss them one by one, they will be discussed by topic after the translations.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

230

Ebrey



Ten Examples



Colophon 1, on the Award Letter for Ouyang Guorui’s Mother In the second month of spring in the jihai year of the Chunxi reign period [1179], I was ill in bed at the Chongshou temple at Mt. Qian. A local gentleman Ouyang Guorui came to see me and pulled out the document conferring the title Gentle Lady on his mother, along with the colophons written by several prominent people, and asked me also to inscribe something. I saw that Guorui is capable and lively and he explained the meaning [of the text] in a very lofty way. He surely has made progress in the ancients’ “learning for oneself.” Considering that local people say of him, “fortunate, indeed, to have a son like this!” his mother is blessed not just with external honors. Therefore I presumed not to decline his invitation and have written this respectfully at the end. Guorui should do his best to overlook how unpolished my words are.10 跋歐陽國瑞母氏錫誥 淳熙己亥春二月，熹以臥病鉛山崇壽精舍，邑士歐陽國瑞來見，且出 其母太孺人錫號訓 辭，及諸名勝跋語，俾熹亦題其後。熹觀國瑞器識 開爽，陳義甚高，其必有進乎古人為己之 學，而使國人願稱焉，曰︰ 「幸哉！有子如此矣。」夫豈獨以其得乎外者為親榮哉？因竊不 辭而 敬書其後如此。國瑞勉旃，無忽其言之陋也。



Colophon 2, for the Poems that Xu Chengsou Gave to Yang Boqi When I was eighteen or nineteen, I studied with Master Xu [Xu Cun 徐 存] in the Qinghu region and received his instruction of “restrain oneself and return to ren,” and “know words and cultivate qi.”11 At that time I did not yet have a full understanding of the sayings; it was not until long afterwards that I came to realize that this was not an easy topic. Since coming to Nankang, I have discovered Yang Boqi, who stands out from the crowd, and understand [that Master Xu’s teaching] is the source [of Yang’s fine qualities]. One day he took out this scroll to show me. I went through it several times, wishing I could to see Master [Xu] again, to no avail. When I re-rolled the scroll, I let out a long sigh.12

10 11 12

Zhu Xi ji 81.4188. The first phrase is from Analects; the second is an abbreviation of a passage in Mencius. Zhu Xi ji 8 1 . 4 19 6 .

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

231

跋徐誠叟贈楊伯起詩 熹年十八九時，得拜徐公先生於清湖之上，便蒙告以「克己歸仁，知 言養氣」之說。時 蓋未達其言，久而後知其為不易之論也。來南康， 得楊君伯起於眾人中，意其淵源之有自也， 一日出此卷示熹，三復恍 然，思復見先生而不可得，掩卷太息久之。



Colophon 3, for a Letter from [Cheng Yi] Yichuan to Fang Daofu The above are letters from Master Yichuan [Cheng Yi 程頤, 1033-1107] to Fang Yuancai (Daofu) from Putian. The second piece records what was said in the second year of the Jiayou period [1057] when the master was only twenty-five. The original is now owned by Daofu’s great-grandson’s Youling’s family. One hundred and twenty-four years have passed. [I], the later scholar Zhu Xi, was able to get Cao Jian’s tracing copy and had it carved into stone at White Deer Grotto Academy.13 跋伊川與方道輔帖 右，伊川先生與莆田方君元宷道輔帖，後一帖乃嘉祐二年語，時先生 之年纔二十有五爾。 真蹟今藏道輔曾孫友陵家，後百二十四年，後學 朱熹得曹建模本，刻石于白鹿洞書院。



Colophon 4, on Calligraphy by Chen [Yuyi] Jianzhai This is a scroll of a poem composed by Chen Jianzhai [Chen Yuyi 陳與義, 1090-1138] and copied out in his own hand as a gift for Liu Baowen. Liu’s heir Guanwen loved it and had Zhang Jingfu [Zhang Shi 張栻, 1133-1180] of Guanghan write the title slip. Once when I had borrowed it, I wanted to have it traced and carved at Jiangdong Academy, but in the end was not able to find a good enough craftsman, so I gave up. From time to time I would open it to inspect it, unable to put it down. I admired the excellence of the words and the brushwork, and also felt sad that I would never again see the Liu men, father and son, or Jingfu. With a great sigh, I write this at the end and send it back to the Liu family.14

13

14

Zhu Xi ji 81.4196. In Zhu Xi’s collected conversations, he is said to have shown this letter to his students and commented on Cheng Yi’s patience in trying to get Fang to shift his position slightly. Zhuzi yulei 95.2445. Zhu Xi ji 8 1 . 4 2 02 .

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

232

Ebrey 跋陳簡齋帖 簡齋陳公手寫所為詩一卷，以遺寶文劉公，劉公嗣子觀文公愛之，屬 廣漢張敬夫為題其 籤。予嘗借得之，欲摹而刻之江東道院，竟以不能 得善工而罷。間獨展玩，不能去手，蓋 嘆其詞翰之絕倫，又嘆劉公父 子與敬夫之不可復見也。俯仰太息，因書其末，以歸之劉氏云.



Colophon 5, on a Work by Su (Pinjun) Xiang When I first arrived in Nankang, knowing that Su Pinjun [Xiang, 10651147] once lived outside the west gate, on a day off I went to look for calligraphy by him, but none survived. As I had long cherished his lofty style, this was disappointing. When Nan Shangren took out this scroll [by Su Pinjun] to show me, I looked through it several times, as it invoked increasingly deep and far-reaching thoughts.15 跋蘇聘君庠帖 予來南康開蘇聘君嘗居郡西門外，暇日訪其遺跡，無復存者。永懷高 風，不勝慨嘆。南上人出示此軸，三復之餘，益深遐想。



Colophon 6, again on a [Work by Su Shi] In the xinchou year of Chunxi [1181], the people of Zhedong were starving because of floods and drought. I was summoned to return to submit a report. I passed through Sanqu and saw this piece of calligraphy at the home of the Wang family of Yushan. Believing that one must do whatever possible to make the words of a humane (ren 仁) man circulate more widely, the next year I had it carved into stone at the western studio of the Stabilization Fund Bureau. Written by Zhu Xi of Xin’an.16 再跋 淳熙辛丑，浙東水旱民饑，予以使事被召入奏，道過三衢，得觀此帖 於玉山汪氏，以為 仁人之言不可以不廣也。明年乃刻石常平司之西 齋。新安朱熹書。

15 16

Zhu Xi ji 8 1 . 4 2 02 - 3 . Zhu Xi ji 82.4210-11. For another example of carving a writing of Su Shi at a school, see Zhu Xi ji 83.4295.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents



233

Colophon 7, on Calligraphy by the Duke of Jingguo [Wang Anshi] My late father [Zhu Song 朱松, 1097-1143] studied Wang Anshi’s 王安石 (1021-1086) calligraphy from his youth and our family has several pieces of Wang’s calligraphy, so he could usually distinguish the fake ones. His late friend Deng Zhihong [Deng Su 鄧肅, 1091-1132] once discussed this. He noted that [Zhu Song reasonably] followed the Shuo group [e.g., Sima Guang 司馬光, 1019-1086] and the Luoyang group [e.g., Cheng Yi] in his pursuit of the Way, the Yuanyou period group [e.g., Su Shi] in his literary writings, and yet, inexplicably, followed Jingshu [i.e., Wang Anshi] in his calligraphy. When I now look at this piece, the elegant configuration of the strokes resembles the works that my family owns. The regret that I cannot show it to my father chokes me up as I write this at the end.17 題荊公帖 先君子自少好學荊公書，家藏遺墨數紙，其偽作者，率能辨之。先友 鄧公志宏嘗論之， 以其學道於河，雒，學文於元祐，而學書於荊舒為 不可曉者。今觀此帖，筆勢翩翩，大抵與 家藏者不異，恨不使先君見 之，因感咽而書于後。朱熹書。

17

Zhu Xi ji 82.4214-15. Zhu Xi here is paraphrasing (slightly incorrectly) the colophon that Deng Su wrote on a colophon that Zhu Xi’s own father had previously written for a piece of calligraphy by Wang Anshi. Deng’s colophon is in his collected works (Binglü ji 19.6a-b, or Quan Song wen 183:4016.156). It reads: “Because Jingshu [Wang Anshi] took as a model Sang Hongyang’s policy of exhausting the benefits of the mountains and seas, there were no well-nourished farmers for a generation. Because he followed the practice of Shang Yang of the Qin in extending unsuitable laws, none of the dynastic precedents were preserved. Because he acted in the way Yang Xiong did when he praised the Xin dynasty [of Wang Mang], today scholars are serving an illegitimate dynasty [lit. one of a different surname, probably referring to Jin]. When I read [Wang Anshi’s] writings I cannot finish reading a piece, much less scrutinize his characters’ [calligraphy]! Zhu Qiaonian takes the Luoyang group as his teacher in the study of the Way and the Yuanyou group in his study of literary writing, and yet as we see here he finds pleasure in Jingshu’s [Wang Anshi’s] literary writing and his calligraphy. This must be a case of ‘recognizing the good in [one who is] evil.’” 自荊舒祖桑弘羊，以竭山海之利，故世無飽食之農; 師秦商鞅以推 不可行之法，故祖宗無可畱之典; 尊揚雄以贊美新之書，故學者甘為異姓之 臣。予讀其書不能終篇，況學其字乎。朱喬年學道於西洛，學文於元祐，而 能喜荊舒之文與其書如此！殆所謂惡而知其善者歟. This last phrase is a shortening of a sentence in the “Quli” chapter of the Liji which states: “ [The worthy person] sees the evil in those he loves and the good in those he hates” (Liji 1.6a-b; Legge, Li Chi, 1:62, which leaves out the second half).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

234

Ebrey

Colophon 8, for Chen [Guan] Liaoweng’s “Blaming Submersion” Chen Zhongsu’s [Chen Guan 瓘, 1060-1124] firm and upright integrity was part of his inborn nature. Through time his exposition of principle became increasingly more refined and his expositions of morality increasingly more incisive. Consequently his contributions to learning cannot be denied. Looking on this ink-on-paper manuscript, one can still discern [Chen’s] intentions to restrain himself, honor the worthy, empty his heart, and serve the good. This work is currently in the collection of the family of Yun, the son of Zongzheng, who was the grandnephew to whom it had been given. It has been engraved in stone in Jianye, Guilin, and Yanping; on close inspection of the strokes of the characters [in rubbings from those places], there are inevitably slight discrepancies. Much worse is the version carved into woodblocks [for printing] in Sha county, which is not worth transmitting. Huang Dongshi, the current deputy magistrate, has traced another copy from the original and is having it carved into stone at the county school shrine [to Confucius], so that it will continue to inspire and motivate the local population for a hundred generations—showing how far-sighted he is. People will be moved by the marvels of brushwork revealing his heart-and-mind, the exceptionally fine carving, and the imposing appearance. In addition, the version from Guilin has an inscription by Zhang [Shi] Jingfu, which helps illuminate Chen Guan’s ideas, so it, too, will be engraved.18 跋陳了翁責沈 陳忠肅公剛方正直之操，得之天姿，而其燭理之益精，陳義之益切， 則學問之功，有不 可誣者。觀於此帖，其克己尊賢、虛心服善之意， 尚可識也。墨蹟今藏所贈兄孫宗正之子筠 家，而建業，桂林，延平皆 有石本，顧字畫不能無小失真，獨沙縣乃為版刻，尤不足以傳遠。 今 縣丞黃東始復就摹墨蹟，礱石刻之縣學祠堂，以為此邑之人百世之 下，猶當復有聞風而興起者，其志遠矣。至於心畫之妙，刊勒尤精， 其凜然不可犯之色，尚足以為激貪立懦之助。 而桂林本有張敬夫題 字，以為於公之意有發明者，因并刻之。

18

Zhu Xi ji 82.4238-39.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents



235

Colophon 9, for Cai [Xiang] Duanming’s Protocols for Birthday Celebrations Cai [Xiang 蔡襄, 1012-1067] Zhonghui’s calligraphy is found all over the realm but this piece alone is not widely available. This year on my trip south I got to see it for the first time at the home of his grandson Yi. From it I learned how gentlemen of the past served their parents with both love and reverence. As an orphan, alone, I have no way to be filial. Holding it in my hands and inspecting it, choked up with sad feelings, I am unable to look up. I asked for the original so that it could be traced and engraved to let current day sons see it and so spread the Honorable Cai’s type of devotion. Doing this is not simply because his calligraphy is fine. But I happened to find an excellent craftsman and have entrusted managing the job to my disciple Huang Gan [1152-1221]. Those knowledgeable in calligraphy also appreciate preserving the way [Cai] handled the brush. On the night of the full moon in the eleventh month of the gengxu year of Shaoxi [1190], Zhu Xi of Danyang writes this in the prefectural hall at Zhangpu.19 跋蔡端明獻壽儀 蔡忠惠公書蹟遍天下，而此帖獨未布，今歲南來，始得見於其來孫誼 之家，乃知昔之君 子所以事其親者，如此其愛且敬也。孤露餘生，無 所為孝，捧玩摧咽，不能仰視，遂請其真摹而刻之，以視世之為人子 者，庶以廣蔡公永錫爾類之志，非獨以其字畫之精而已。然又偶 得善 工，且屬諸生黃榦臨視唯謹，知書者亦以為不失其用筆之微意云。紹 熙庚戌臘月既望，丹陽朱熹書于漳浦郡齋。



Colophon 10, on “On the Teacher” Owned by Huang Huyin Huang Nan (Dacai) of Yujiang brought by a booklet hand copied by his father, Huyin. It was [Han Yu’s 韓愈, 768-824] “On the Teacher,” which [Huyin] had taught me years back. The handwritten part was in the front, with recorded comments following. Reading it, I blushed, as though I was again sitting in attendance and listening to the words. My thoughts went back to my regrettable indolence, my inability to hold fast [to his teachings] to repay even one part in 10,000 [of my debt to him], or that being shallow and ignorant in that period, I failed to comprehend the depth and subtlty of his ideas. I went through the piece several times before

19

Zhu Xi ji 82.4256.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

236

Ebrey

returning it, deeply moved. I perceived the strength of Huyin’s love of study, and the degree to which he found so much pleasure in the good that he did not tire. Consequently, even though I would not recognize his face, this was enough to give me a glimpse at what he had attained. Thus I have ventured to record this at the end before returning it. Daci and his brothers should preserve it reverently, focusing and working hard at study, thereby keeping alive the memory of their father’s instruction.20 跋黃壺隱所藏師說 旴江黃柟達材以其先君子壺隱居士手抄此冊見示，乃熹昔年所受《師 說》。手書居 前，記錄在後，伏讀愀然，如復得侍坐右右而聞其緒言 也。顧恨慵惰，不能拳拳服膺以報萬 一，而荒淺昧陋，趣錄之際，又 不能無失其深微之意，三復以還，不勝悚愧。然觀壺隱好學 自強，樂 善不倦，乃至於此，熹雖不及識面，而於此亦足以窺其所存矣。因竊 記其後而歸之， 達材昆弟其亦寶藏敬守，精究而勉學焉，以無忘前人 之訓。

Below these ten colophons are discussed along with other colophons by Zhu Xi in terms of situations he encountered, ideas and feelings he expressed, and actions he took.

Situations, Practices, and Expectations

The practice of showing others handwritten documents and writing colophons on them may have been less that two centuries old in Zhu Xi’s day, but already there were established understandings of how it would proceed. Zhu Xi himself found value in the practice. In his late years he asked his sons and grandsons to preserve the writing by his own teacher Liu Zihui 劉子翬 (1101-1147) that he had kept for decades, telling them to show them to like-minded people who would appreciate them.21 Many of Zhu Xi’s colophons would appear to have been written in a social setting, with the owner present, and most likely other people as well. Zhu Xi often traveled with students, and some of them could have been present. Other members of the owner’s family or other guests might also have been looking on as well. This gives a performative dimension to colophon writing in the sense that it was frequently done in front of an audience. 20 21

Zhu Xi ji 84.4352. Zhu Xi ji 84.4340-41. For other pieces he was leaving his children, see Zhu Xi ji 84.4342-43.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

237

Zhu Xi mentions several different contexts in which he wrote a colophon. One common one was on his travels when he visited someone’s home. These included the homes of people he already knew, but also homes of people he was meeting for the first time. In Colophon 6, Zhu Xi mentions that he was passing through Sanqu in 1181 and while at the home of a Wang family saw a piece of calligraphy by Su Shi, most likely owned by the Wangs. In Colophon 9 Zhu Xi mentions that he was traveling south when he visited the home of Cai Xiang’s grandson who showed him a work by his grandfather, which Zhu Xi asked to borrow. Colophons on works that Zhu Xi borrowed seem generally to have been written when he was returning them, so may have been composed while he was alone. Zhu Xi also refers to cases in which someone brought a work to show to him, perhaps calling on him in his home, government office, an academy, or an inn. In Colophon 1, Zhu Xi was staying at a temple when a local literatus he did not know brought something to show him in the hopes of getting him to write a colophon. In Colophon 2, Zhu Xi mentions that he was staying in Nankang (where he served in office from 1179 to 1181) when a man he knew brought some hand-written poems to show to him. In Colophon 10 Zhu Xi refers to the son of one of his teachers bringing by a piece that his father had written. In a few cases we know that many objects were viewed on a single occasion. Zhu Xi’s collected works has a series of colophons he wrote for works in the collection of Wang Houzhi 王厚之 (1131-1204), a major collector of the day, who owned the manuscript of Ouyang Xiu’s colophons that Zhu Xi commented on, illustrated in Figure 6.1.22 Zhu Xi also looked at many works on visits to his former teacher’s son, Liu Ping 劉玶 (1138-1185).23 In 1195 he reminisced about an 1167 visit to Zhang Shi in Changsha when the two of them went to visit Liu Ping and spent the full day “looking at calligraphies and old rubbings assembled by the earlier generation [of the Liu family], as well as letters back and forth by recent gentlemen.”24 Most of Zhu Xi’s colophons, however, make no mention of anything else viewed that day. Referring to only a single work gave the owner the option of attaching the colophon to the work that it responded to. This practice of writing on a single object seems to have been well-established already in Northern Song times, so Zhu Xi and those who showed him works probably took it for granted as part of the colophon genre.

22 23 24

Zhu Xi ji 82.4214-16. Zhu Xi visited Liu Ping on a variety of occasions and also exchanged letters with him. See, Chan, Zhuzi menren, 307. Zhu Xi ji 84.4359.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

238

Ebrey

Those who showed Zhu Xi pieces of writing undoubtedly had acquired the works in a variety of ways, but the way that Zhu Xi most frequently mentions is through their family. Colophon 1 above concerns a document connected to the mother of the man showing it. Colophon 8 mentions that Huang Nan brought a manuscript in the hand of his father to show Zhu Xi. Many other examples can be cited. Once a son-in-law of Sima Guang showed Zhu Xi an unfinished manuscript by him.25 In 1179 Zhou Dunyi’s 周敦頤 (1017-1073) great-grandson called on Zhu Xi and made a present of his great-grandfather’s original draft of his essay on loving lotus flowers.26 One of Zhu Xi’s senior disciples Cai Yuanding (蔡元定, 1135-1198) showed Zhu Xi his late father’s manuscripts.27 In 1191 Zhu Xi was shown the correspondence between Gao Deng 高登 (d. 1148) and other prominent men of the time by Gao’s heir.28 Similarly, Fang Shilong 方士龍 showed Zhu Xi letters between his father and five of his contemporaries. Zhu Xi commented, “These not only show us what sort of man Fang Deshun 方德 順 was but also let us see the caliber of the prominent figures of the era of dynastic revival and the quality of their strategic thinking.”29 In 1192 a Mr. Yin brought his father’s transcriptions of three treatises by Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072) to show Zhu Xi.30 In 1194 Zhu Xi wrote a colophon for manuscripts by Zhao Bian 趙抃 (1008-1084) which Zhao Zun 遵, a descendant of his brother or cousin, showed him. As he did in many other colophons, Zhu Xi found evidence of the merit of both the person who showed him the document and his relative who had written it.31 That same year Zhu Xi visited a grandson of Zhang Shi, who showed him a memorial Zhang Shi had written, for which Zhu Xi then supplied a colophon.32 Sometimes people showed something that their ancestor had received rather than written. For instance, in 1190, a great-grandson of Fang Daofu 方道 輔 asked Zhu Xi to write comments on Cheng Yi’s letters to his great grandfather.33 In another case a grandson of Xie Kejia 謝克家 (d. 1134) showed Zhu Xi a letter his grandfather had received from the high official and general Zhang Jun 張浚 (1097-1164). After commenting on Zhang Jun’s humility and desire to advance in learning, Zhu Xi reported that “I looked through it several times, my 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Zhu Xi ji 81.4176. Zhu Xi ji 81.4192. Zhu Xi ji 83.4269-70. Zhu Xi ji 82.4257. Zhu Xi ji 82.4241. Zhu Xi ji 83.4268. Zhu Xi ji 83.4290. Zhu Xi ji 83.4290. Zhu Xi ji 82.4244-45.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

239

admiration beyond me. I am now returning it, having made this record, placed it in a cloth case, and reverently writing this at its end.”34 Why did individuals show works connected to their relatives? It is possible that in many cases these were the only old handwritten documents that they had. In addition, though, I think they expected their act to be well-received, taken as an expression of filial piety. Someone who would consider it too forward to take out poems he had written himself would not feel awkward taking out poems by his deceased father or grandfather. In the case of descendants of famous men, they were making themselves more important by acting as guardians of their ancestor’s material legacy. On one occasion, Zhu Xi acted the role of the filial son himself, writing on his own father’s calligraphy: “Three poems by my late father were written on the wall of Government Harmony Extended Blessings Hall in the xinchou year of the Xuanhe reign period [1121]. From then to now, the gengxu year of the Shaoxi reign period [1190], is seventy years. [I], his orphaned son, visiting from Chong’an, walked back and forth beneath it, gazing at it, tears rolling down. Two local men, Xie Dongqing 謝東卿 and Chen Ke 陳克, asked permission to trace and engrave it so that it can be passed down indefinitely.”35 Zhu Xi was sometimes shown works by well-known calligraphers whose style he did not care for. He occasionally criticized the calligraphy of Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107), among the most famous calligraphers of the Northern Song. In one colophon, Zhu Xi referred to Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu as going too far either in the direction of being pliant and ingratiating or crazy and passionate.36 Zhu Xi’s students recorded him speaking disparagingly of the calligraphy of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian while praising the discipline of Cai Xiang’s writing.37 Whatever he actually thought, Zhu Xi could find polite things to say about works by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Mi Fu when the occasion demanded. Zhu Xi’s colophon for Huang Tingjian’s transcription of the Thousand Character Essay in cursive script comments at length on Huang’s admirable behavior during the factional struggles of the 1090s but declines to comment on the calligraphy, merely stating, “As for his calligraphy, there are today connoisseurs able to talk about it, so I will not get into it.”38 In the case of two letters 34 35 36 37 38

Zhu Xi ji 83.4308. Zhu Xi ji 82.4242. Zhu Xi ji 82.4220. Zhuzi yulei 140.3336. Zhu Xi ji 84.4348. For another time he commented on Huang Tingjian, see Zhu Xi ji 84.4336.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

240

Ebrey

exchanged between a man’s father and Su Shi, Zhu Xi points to the friendship between the two evidenced by the letters and the fact that Su Shi’s legal troubles had not lowered the esteem in which he was held.39 On another occasion when shown a work by Su Shi, Zhu Xi noted that there are many pieces by him in circulation, but it was difficult to distinguish the fake ones. He also admitted that his family had two pieces by him, both with lively “dancing brush strokes,” but some viewers doubted their authenticity.40 When asked to write on a work that was valued solely for its calligraphy, Zhu Xi occasionally expressed his disinterest. On one he wrote, “The calligraphy of Xitai [Li Jianzhong 李建中, 945-1013] was in his time considered to have method and essentials, but it is not in the same class with [calligraphers] of the mid Tang and earlier. When I closely inspected this ink-on-paper piece, I also cannot see what Yanzhi [You Mao 尤袤, 1127-1194] said.”41 Probably the work already had a colophon by You Mao which praised it. On another occasion, when Zhu Xi was shown a recent facsimile of work by the Han/Three Kingdoms calligrapher Zhong You 鍾繇 (151-230), he wrote, “The characters are small and my vision blurry, so I cannot detect the marvelous places” that others had attributed to this artist.42 On other occasions, Zhu Xi expressed more enthusiasm. In 1182 when he was asked to write for a copy of the famous Orchid Pavilion Preface 蘭亭序, Zhu Xi discussed the different versions in circulation, then confirmed the owner’s high opinion of the one he was shown. “When Drafter Chen arrived in Zhedong, he was highly conversant in calligraphy and brought this copy for us to look at. From inspection, none of the other traced or rubbed versions are its equal.”43 That Zhu Xi’s colophons are found in his collected works also testifies to another practice: someone made a copy of the colophon, allowing it to circu39 40 41 42 43

Zhu Xi ji 83.4269. Zhu Xi ji 84.4354. For other examples, see Zhu Xi ji 84.4323 and 4337-38. Zhu Xi ji 82.4214. Zhu Xi ji 82.4215. Zhu Xi ji Yi 3.5685. On Song copies of this famous piece, see Lu’s chapter in this volume. Zhu Xi also commented on recensions of works by famous calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi in the large collection of Wang Houzhi (Zhu Xi ji 82.4216). On the size of Wang’s collection, see Rongzhai suibi san 16.605. Another sign of Zhu Xi’s ambivalence about the art of calligraphy can be seen in his praise for the owner of a piece of calligraphy on the grounds that he was not attached to it as art. In this case, his 1176 colophon asserts that Zhao Ye 趙 燁 (1138-1185) valued writing by a Mr. Yin 尹not because of his calligraphic skill nor for the pleasure of connoisseurs, but for what he learned from its content (Zhu Xi ji 81.4172). Su Shi also expressed unease with attachment to art objects. See Egan, The Problem of Beauty, 162-88.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

241

late independently of the object with which it was associated. Perhaps Zhu Xi himself made a copy, or perhaps one of his students accompanying him undertook this task. Since Zhu Xi and his contemporaries would have known that Su Shi’s and Huang Tingjian’s collected works included numerous colophons, they may have treated colophons the way they did letters and tried to retain copies of them. And like the letters in collected works, colophons too are undoubtedly not complete in the sense that not every one he ever wrote is included. The two supplements to Zhu Xi’s collected works compiled in the 1220s added a couple dozen colophons and several hundred letters not in the first posthumous collected works prepared by his eldest son.44

Thoughts and Feelings

In his colophons, Zhu Xi expresses a variety of reactions to holding in his hands and viewing a hand-written document. One notable one was to draw attention to the physicality of the work and his contact with it. That is, Zhu Xi regularly stresses the impact on him of holding a piece of calligraphy in his hands or at least looking at it on a table in front of him. For instance, in Colophon 2 above, for his teacher’s poems, he writes, “One day he took out this scroll to show me. I went through it several times, wishing I could to see Master [Xu] again, to no avail. When I re-rolled the scroll, I let out a long sigh.” Sometimes Zhu Xi claims he found it difficult to put a work down, as in Colophon 4 above, “From time to time I would open it to inspect it, unable to put it down.” Not uncommonly, he stressed that he did not look through a work just once, but several times, as in Colophon 5, where he said “I looked through it several times, as it invoked increasingly deep and far-reaching thoughts.” In Colophon 9, he says “Holding it in my hands and inspecting it, choked up with sad feelings, I am unable to look up.” In Colophon 10 he puts it this way, “I went through it several times before returning it, deeply moved.” Although he does not use identical words, Zhu Xi in all of these cases brings attention to the connection between having the physical object in front of him and his emotional response. Besides the colophons already translated, there are many others that use comparable language. To give a single example, in 1199 Zhu Xi wrote of being shown a piece of calligraphy by Zhang Xiaoxiang 張孝祥 (1132-1170) by a collector. He wrote, “As I opened it to inspect it, it was like I was meeting him and talking and laughing with him.”45 44 45

The colophons are in Zhuzi ji, Bieji 7.5515-24. Zhu Xi ji 84.4335-36

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

242

Ebrey

Zhu Xi repeatedly testifies to another emotional response: seeing a man’s handwriting stirred up memories of him. This, of course, occurred only when Zhu Xi knew the person whose calligraphy he was shown. Colophon 2 translated above was for a poem or poems written by one of Zhu Xi’s teachers, Xu Chengsou. On seeing a diary kept by Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137-1181) while ill, Zhu Xi commented on how observant Lü was, then added, “At this point I will never be able to see Bogong again, which is deeply troubling, but with this document I can get a glimpse of what he could achieve through mental effort and reflection. In this way, my Bogong is not lost as he continues to teach me.”46 In other cases, he was shown letters by Liu Qingzhi 劉清之 (1134-1190), Zhang Shi, and Lü Zuqian, all men with whom he had had extensive contact but who died before him.47 Interestingly, Zhu Xi rarely seems to have been shown (or, perhaps, rarely wrote on) calligraphy by living men, even ones he had not seen in years. Sometimes a piece reminded Zhu Xi of someone in an indirect fashion. The best case here is Colophon 7 for a work by Wang Anshi. According to Zhu Xi, it brought up memories of his own father Zhu Song, who had loved Wang Anshi’s calligraphy. Zhu Xi cites a contemporary of his father who questioned his father’s taste in calligraphy, not on aesthetic grounds but on political ones— asking how he could like the work of both Su Shi and Wang Anshi as they were opposed politically. But Zhu Xi does not dwell on the issue, as looking at the calligraphy—the configuration of the strokes, as he puts it—reminded him of the pieces his father had collected, and he was overcome by the feeling that his father would have liked to have seen it. Zhu Xi’s memories were sometimes stirred by another person’s colophon already attached to a piece. For instance, when Zhu Xi was in his late sixties he was shown an essay on the Stone Drums for which Li Chuquan 李處權 (d. 1155) had written a colophon. The colophon which Zhu Xi added said nothing about the Stone Drums, focusing instead on his encounters with Li when in his late teens. “When I now gaze at this scroll, it is as though somehow I could see him again. When I count back the years and months, it is not yet forty years. Not only is the older generation almost completely gone, but I have hardly managed to see any of them [before their deaths], which makes me sigh.”48 Most of the men whose works Zhu Xi wrote colophons on had died before he was born, so he did not have personal memories of them. He wrote glow46 47 48

Zhu Xi ji 82.4212. Bogong was Lü Zuqian’s informal name. Zhu Xi ji 82.4252, 83.4290, Xu 3.5685. For Zhu Xi’s extensive contact with Zhang Shi and Lü Zuqian, see Tillman, Confucian Discourse. Zhu Xi ji Bie 7.5516.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

243

ingly of pieces in the hand of his predecessors in the Daoxue movement, including Cheng Yi, Hu Anguo 胡安國 (1074-1138), Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011-1077), Zhou Dunyi, Sima Guang, and Chen Guan. Colophon 3, above, for a letter from Cheng Yi is a good example. Similarly, a fragment of Sima Guang’s draft of the Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 elicits from Zhu Xi, “Alas, his desire to be true to his ruler and lay out for him the lessons of the past can be called incisive. Presuming to glance at this physical trace, I turn back repeatedly in respectful admiration.”49 Some cases were considerably more complicated. For example, in 1173 Zhu Xi visited the home of Liu Ping where he saw three letters by Hu Anguo. In his colophon Zhu Xi transcribes the letters, then puts them in context. He explains that the first two letters were dictated by Hu Anguo to his son who wrote them down, and that they were addressed to Liu Ping’s uncle the prefect of Linchuan, and refer to two of his brothers, one an official, the other not. The second letter, Zhu Xi explains, refers to Hu Anguo’s son, the prefect of Tongjiang, and his nephew, who was then a teacher. These first two letters had been passed down in the Liu family. The third letter Liu Ping had purchased. It was from Hu Anguo to Hu’s own kinsman, who was also related to Liu through his mother’s family. It was in Hu Anguo’s own hand, Zhu Xi averred. Zhu Xi clearly believed it was important to know the relationship between the letter writer, the recipient, and anyone mentioned in the letter. These letters Zhu Xi saw as worth keeping: “Mr. Hu was proper and serious, his movements measured and restrained. Those who read these [letters] can be encouraged by what he praises and chastened by what he warns against. That Liu Ping has been able to preserve them also says something about him.”50 In the cases of the letters by Cheng Yi and Hu Anguo, what they said was not the main reason they were preserved. In other cases, the subject of the writing was of some significance. Zhu Xi mentions in an 1194 colophon that he had arranged to have Liu Qingzhi’s copy of Shao Yong’s Admonitions to My Sons and Grandsons carved on stone at White Deer Grotto Academy. Now, though, he had come across a better copy in the collection of a Xiang 向 family. Zhu Xi was so moved by it that he borrowed it for several months, liking it so much that he “wouldn’t let it out of [his] hands.” He had this version also carved at the White Deer Grotto Academy, along with two poems by Shao Yong.51

49

50 51

Zhu Xi ji 83.4291. Others shared Zhu Xi’s interest in the early Daoxue thinkers’ calligraphy. One of Zhu Xi’s colophons is for a particularly persistent collector of letters by the Cheng brothers and Zhou Dunyi (Zhu Xi ji 84.4318-19). Zhu Xi ji 81.4167. Zhu Xi ji 83.4285.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

244

Ebrey

The content of an essay by Chen Guan (Colophon 8) was also part of what attracted Zhu Xi to a manuscript of it. Zhu Xi does not explicitly discuss the content of Chen Guan’s essay and in fact devotes more space to distinguishing among the rubbings of it based on close inspection of the calligraphy of each. Perhaps he considers it too well-known to need discussion.52 In Colophon 9, on the Cai Xiang calligraphy, Zhu Xi is aware that Cai is best known as a calligrapher, but he stresses that it is the filial piety expressed in this piece that makes it so valuable in his eyes. This was another case of a combination of admirable man and admirable words. We have much the same thing in Colophon 6, for Su Shi’s memorial on the need for relief during times of flood and drought. Approving what Su wrote, Zhu Xi labels him a good man (a man of ren 仁). Even though Zhu Xi seems to have enjoyed looking at calligraphy, he sometimes expresses ambivalence about the aesthetic value people put on fine handwriting.53 This may go back to his early practice of calligraphy, when he found it difficult to copy models the way he wanted to. Once, on viewing an old calligraphy, Zhu Xi commented: “I used to, in the past, love doing calligraphy, but when I took the brush and moved the ink, I was unable to catch even a single hair of resemblance [to the model I was using], so I lazily gave it up.”54 Another time Zhu Xi wrote that when he was around twenty he liked to read Zeng Gong’s 曾鞏 (1019-1083) works and tried to copy his style, but because of inadequate talent and effort, he couldn’t achieve the effects he wanted: “Now fifty years later I see this calligraphy by him. It is plain and solemn, calm and weighty, just like his prose.”55 Zhu Xi also reflected on his own problematic choice of models. For a piece by Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220), Zhu Xi wrote, When I was young, I studied this memorial. At the time Liu Gongfu 劉共 父 (1122-1178) was studying Yan [Zhenqing’s 颜真卿, 709-785] Dried Meat. I criticized what he was doing because it mixed ancient and modern characters. He said to me, “The person I study was a loyal subject of the Tang [dynasty]. The person you study was a usurper of the Han.” At the time I was at a loss for words and did not reply.56 52

53 54 55 56

For the essay itself, see Song wenjian 127.1689-90. On another occasion in 1164 Zhu Xi expressed great admiration of Chen Guan’s character after being shown letters between him and his older brother (Zhu Xi ji 81.4161). On Ouyang Xiu’s ambivalence, see Egan, The Problem of Beauty, 7-59. Zhu Xi ji 82.4217. Zhu Xi ji 84.4338. Zhu Xi ji 82.4217.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

245

In Colophon 7, Zhu Xi mentions that a friend of his father’s had expressed puzzlement that he could like the calligraphy of Wang Anshi. Zhu Xi acknowledged the quandary of liking the calligraphy of someone he did not entirely approve of, but shows no embarrassment at his family’s Wang Anshi collection, which he mentioned several times.57 Zhu Xi admired calligraphy above all for its author, but sometimes also for what the calligraphy itself conveyed of the author’s character, such as his discipline. This is evident in his colophon for a letter from Han Qi 韓琦 (1008-1075) to Ouyang Xiu. In the colophon Zhu Xi quotes Zhang Shi’s remark that all of Wang Anshi’s calligraphy seemed to have been done in great haste. By contrast, Han Qi was different, Zhu Xi claimed: “Even when writing to family juniors, he was always serious and careful,” and “he never did a single stroke in running or cursive script.” Because he was a calm and unflappable person, he never acted in a hurry or let small things irritate him.58 For the contrast between Wang Anshi’s and Han Qi’s calligraphy, see Figures 6.2 and 6.3. The person Zhu Xi praised the most for his calligraphy was Cai Xiang. In Colophon 9 above, Zhu Xi not only praises the content of a piece by Cai Xiang, but also the calligraphy and reports taking the effort to get it reproduced. Zhu Xi’s partiality toward calligraphy by Cai Xiang is also evident in Zhu Xi’s colophons for two other pieces by him.59

Engraving Calligraphy on Stone or Wood

Zhu Xi, in his colophons, discusses not only his thoughts and feelings on viewing a handwritten work, but also actions he decided to take—usually to get the work traced and engraved. Zhu Xi, like others in literati circles, regularly viewed calligraphy and other handwritten manuscripts in a private setting, which kept the audience small and gave an advantage to those with lots of connections (and consequently many invitations). Zhu Xi and likeminded contemporaries often thought that pieces of writing deserved a larger audience either because of their beauty or the sentiments they conveyed. If the words alone were what mattered, the simplest way to increase access to the piece was to have it 57

58 59

See Zhu Xi ji 83.4265, 83.4293. In another colophon Zhu Xi mentions having his father’s copies of Wang Anshi’s calligraphy. Zhu Xi also mentions his father’s collection of Wang Anshi’s calligraphy in a letter. See Zhu Xi ji 38.1707-08. Zhu Xi ji 84.4328-29. Zhu Xi ji 82.4252-53, 84.4337.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

246

Ebrey

Figure 6.2 Han Qi letter. Collection of the Guizhou Provincial Museum. After , last accessed January 1, 2017.

Figure 6.3 Wang Anshi letter. National Palace Museum, Taipei. After , last accessed January 1, 2017.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

247

printed, perhaps in a book that included other inspiring writings. If one wanted to make it possible for more people to see the handwriting of a piece, the normal course was to engrave a tracing copy on stone or wood so that rubbings could be made. The stones did not need to be free-standing stelae; they could be smaller stones set into a wall. Moreover, when the goal was to make rubbings, it was not necessary that the inscription be on stone—it was much less expensive to carve it into wood. Early in the dynasty, the government had prepared a set of rubbings of highly valued calligraphies in the palace collections that were then cut up to make booklets. Other similar copybooks were made later in the dynasty, as these were convenient for using as models for practicing calligraphy.60 Thus, carving into wood was also an established way to capture the calligraphic style of a piece.61 In Colophon 8 Zhu Xi praises the impact a carved stone replica could have on those who saw it: “it will continue to inspire and motivate the local population for a hundred generations.” He added, “People will be moved by the marvels of brushwork revealing his heart-andmind, the exceptionally fine carving, and the imposing appearance.” Several other colophons translated above refer to engraving a piece of writing. Colophon 3 for Cheng Yi’s letters refers to their being carved into stone at White Deer Grotto Academy; Colophon 4 on Chen Yuyi’s poems mentions Zhu Xi’s difficulties in finding a skilled craftsman who could carve the poems at another academy; Colophon 6 for Su Shi’s text mentions that it was carved at a government office; Colophon 8 on Chen Guan’s essay states that it was engraved at a government school; and Colophon 9 for Cai Xiang’s text states that the work was engraved in order to let it circulate widely. In all of these cases Zhu Xi himself was the one commissioning the work, but he was not alone in taking on this task. He often praised others for taking that step. He reported that Wang Kui 汪逵 (d. 1206) was getting Zhu Dunru’s 朱敦儒 (1081-1159) transcription of the Daode jing carved into stone “in order to share it with enthusiasts.”62 Zhu Xi seems to have thought that government schools and private academies were both enhanced by having facsimiles of the writings of important earlier teachers carved into stone there. The relatively long Colophon 8 on an essay by Chen Guan mentions that it was engraved in stone at a county school. As Zhu Xi points out, the essay was very popular and had been carved into 60 61

62

On these copybooks, see McNair, “The Engraved Model-Letters Compendia” and “En­­ graved Calligraphy in China.” Sometimes, however, references to carving into wood referred to carving printing blocks, which normally made no attempt to reproduce the calligraphy of the author, aiming instead at maximum legibility. Zhu Xi ji 84.4329.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

248

Ebrey

stone several other places as well. While serving at Nankang, Zhu Xi had an essay by Zhou Dunyi on lotus flowers carved into the wall of the shrine to Confucius at the government school.63 Besides hoping to inspire students, Zhu Xi sometimes tried to inspire civil and military officials by exposing them to texts engraved in stone. In 1180 Zhu Xi had a set of poems by a father and son engraved at the military temple in Nankang for both military and civil officials to see because “reading them makes people want to smash the enemy and purify the Central Plains.”64 The next year, as seen in Colophon 6 above, he had Su Shi’s writings on famine relief inscribed at the Stabilization Fund Bureau.

Conclusion

Like the letters contained in scholars’ collected works, the colophons contain­ ­ed in them can help us reconstruct literati cultural life and social networks.65 Colophons, like letters, are often written for friends and acquaintances, but whereas letters are usually for people some distance away, colophons are frequently done for someone present. Just as with letters, it can be difficult to identify all the people mentioned in a colophon, but in the case of colophons the topic at least is usually clear. Differences between colophons and letters as historical sources are also worth noting. Face-to-face interaction largely eliminated the need for letters, but not for colophons. Colophons were written with an expectation that they would be viewed by people unknown to the author, such as those invited to view the object on some later date, not always true of letters. What drew me to colophons was not so much their evidence of social interaction, but what they could teach us about visual culture in Song literati circles. As stressed in the Introduction to this volume, there was not a single visual culture in Middle Period China, but a variety of overlapping visual cultures, all subject to change over time and open to influence from the visual cultures of 63 64 65

Zhu Xi ji 81.4192. Zhu Xi ji 84.4358. Recently, there has been much attention to the use of letters for this purpose. Several excellent papers were given on letters at the Middle Period Conference, such as Lik Hang Tsui, “Bureaucratic Influences on Letter Writing Conventions in Song China,” and Beverly Bossler, “Patronage and Principle in Late Southern Song: Yao Mian’s Letters to Court Officials.” For later periods there are also notable efforts to use letters to reconstruct artists’ social relations. See, for example, Bai, “Calligraphy for Negotiating Everyday Life: The Case of Fu Shan (1607-1684).”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

249

other groups as well as new intellectual ideas, evolving power structures, new social institutions (such as academies), new technology, and the like. In the circles in which Zhu Xi traveled, handwritten documents we would consider objects of art and others we would consider historical documents do not seem to have been treated differently. Pulling out and showing either kind of handwritten document was a social and cultural act. It presented the owner as a man of discernment, able to recognize works that others would like to see. If the item was one that the family had had for decades, it showed that the owner came from a family whose literati credentials dated back at least equally long. Selecting pieces to show could be read as a political statement as well— as seen in those who questioned Zhu Xi’s interest in showing and looking at calligraphy by Wang Anshi. On the cultural side, looking with others at pieces of writing reinforced visual habits of close attention to brush strokes and practice in interpreting the meanings and emotions that those brush strokes conveyed. And it let the owner learn how others responded to the work, ­perhaps leading him to alter his own opinion. Ideas were shaped in these sessions. All members of the Song educated elite had many opportunities to collect writing by their contemporaries, above all the letters that they received. Acquiring the cultural and connoisseurial discrimination needed to recognize which pieces should be saved took time and talent but not much money. It helped of course if one’s family had been saving interesting pieces for generations—as many of those Zhu Xi visited had. Still, one did not have to have the most prized calligraphies—such as works by the Two Wangs or other famous early calligraphers that caused such excitement in the circles discussed by HuiWen Lu in her chapter. And there were literati like Zhu Xi who were relatively indifferent to the aesthetic value of works by the most famous calligraphers. When viewers looked at objects with writing on them, they would without any conscious effort read the words, giving them something to say or write even if they found the visual aspects unremarkable. The visual culture of calligraphy and manuscript viewing in Zhu Xi’s circle had its more public and more private sides. The objects Zhu Xi was shown were ink-on-paper works kept in private homes, viewed only by invited guests, seated at tables. Zhu Xi and other like-minded men of the time, however, thought that some of these writings were so exemplary that they should be made available to larger publics by carving them into wood or stone. NeoConfucian academies quickly became a place for inscribed stones, conveying not just men’s ideas but also the traces of their brushes. The reproductions of calligraphy were different in fundamental ways from the originals. Calligraphy carved into stone was no longer fleeting or ephemeral, but had a seeming

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

250

Ebrey

permanence and solidity. One could view the stone standing up, seeing the entire piece in a glance. Once rubbings were made and circulated, many people scattered across the country could view it, probably sitting down, in company or alone. What do we gain by bringing the concept of visual culture into our analysis of the social and cultural life of Southern Song literati? In the recent Cambridge History of China topical volume on the Song, there are several chapters that focus on the literati elite, but no references to the visual or material side of the culture in which they participated, not even their interest in antiquities or collecting of art or books.66 As this chapter has tried to demonstrate, material things, including visually captivating ones, played a not insignificant part in literati lives. Zhu Xi’s colophons help us understand this social world in which educated men found meaning and pleasure in showing others pieces of writing that they had carefully preserved. But it was not all pleasure. Owners also, at times, must have experienced disappointment when a guest wrote lukewarm comments. Similarly, those asked to write comments also sometimes felt put upon when forced to come up with something suitable to say. The proliferation of printed books in Song times may even have increased interest in seeing a text in the hand of its author.67 Zhu Xi usually emphasized the words of these pieces, but viewers would also have seen and been affected by the visuality and materiality of the ink-on-paper work or the reproduction of it through an engraved stone or rubbings of it. The growing presence of academies in literati life facilitated an expansion of the audience for handwritten documents and facsimiles of them.

References



Primary Sources

Binglü ji 栟櫚集, by Deng Su 鄧肅 (1091-1132). Siku quanshu ed. Li ji 禮記. Shisan jing zhushu ed. Taibei: Yiwen yinshu guan ed. Ouyang Xiu quanji 歐陽修全集, by Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072). Taipei: Shjie shuju, 1961. Rongzhai suibi 容齋隨筆, by Hong Mai 洪邁 (1123-1202). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1978. Song wenjian 宋文鑑, by Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137-1181). Taipei: Guoxue jiben congshu ed. 66 67

Chaffee and Twitchett, Cambridge History of China Vol. 5, Part 2. The value put on manuscripts in Song times is given extended discussion in Egan, “To Count Grains of Sand on the Ocean Floor.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

251

Su Shi wenji 蘇軾文集, by Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986. Zhu Xi ji 朱熹集, by Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200). Chengdu: Sichuan jiaoyu chubanshe, 1996. Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類, by Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986.



Secondary Sources

Bai, Qianshen, “Calligraphy for Negotiating Everyday Life: The Case of Fu Shan (16071684).” Asia Major Third Series 12.1 (1999), 67-126. Bossler, Beverly. “Patronage and Principle in Late Southern Song: Yao Mian’s Letters to Court Officials.” Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Middle Period China, June 2014. Chaffee, John W. and Denis Twitchett, Cambridge History of China Vol. 5, Part 2, Sung China, 960-1279. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Chen Rongjie 陳榮捷 [Wing-tsit Chan]. Zhuzi menren 朱子門人. Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1982. Chen Rongjie. Zhuzi xin tansuo 朱子新探索. Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1988. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2008. Egan, Ronald C. “Ou-yang Hsiu and Su Shih on Calligraphy.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 49.2 (1989), 365-419. DOI: 10.2307/2719258. Egan, Ronald C. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1994. Egan, Ronald C. The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in Northern Song Dynasty China. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006. Egan, Ronald C. “To Count Grains of Sand on the Ocean Floor: Changing Perceptions of Books and Learning in the Song Dynasty.” In Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print: China, 900-1400, edited by Lucille Chia and Hilde de Weerdt, 31-62. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Harrist, Robert E. Jr. “A Letter from Wang Hsi-chih and the Culture of Chinese Calligraphy.” In The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection, edited by Robert E. Harrist, Jr. and Wen C. Fong, 240-59. Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum, 1999. Hatch, George. “Tung-p’o t’i-pa.” In A Sung Bibliography, edited by Yves Hervouet, 264-68. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1978. Ledderose, Lothar. Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Chinese Calligraphy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. Lee, De-nin Deanna. The Night Banquet: A Chinese Scroll Through Time. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010. Legge, James, trans. Li Chi, Book of Rites. 2 vols. New York: University Books 1967 reprint of Oxford 1885 Sacred Books of the East ed.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

252

Ebrey

Lin Boting 林柏亭. Daguan: Beisong shuhua tezhan 大觀：北宋書畫特展. Taipei: National Palace Museum, 2006. Little, Stephen. “A ‘Cultural Biography’ of the Admonitions Scroll: The Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries.” In Gu Kaizhi and the Admonitions Scroll, edited by Shane McCausland, 219-48. London: British Museum Press, 2003. McNair, Amy. “The Engraved Model-Letters Compendia of the Song Dynasty.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 114.2 (1994), 209-25. DOI: 10.2307/605830. McNair, Amy. “Engraved Calligraphy in China: Recension and Reception.” Art Bulletin 77.1 (1995), 106-14. DOI: 10.1080/00043079.1995.10786624. McNair, Amy. The Upright Brush: Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy and Song Literati Politics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998. Shanghai tushuguan 上海圖書館, ed., Zhongguo congshu zonglu 中國叢書綜錄, 3 vol. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986. Sturman, Peter C. Mi Fu: Style and the Art of Calligraphy in Northern Song China. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992. Tsui, Lik Hang. “Bureaucratic Influences on Letter Writing Conventions in Song China.” Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Middle Period China, June 2014. Wang Yao-t’ing. “Beyond the Admonitions Scroll: A Study of its Mounting, Seals and Inscriptions.” In Gu Kaizhi and the Admonitions Scroll, edited by Shane McCausland, 192-218. London: British Museum Press, 2003. Zhongguo Jiade 中國嘉德, Baiqi jiapin 1994-2015: Zhongguo Jiade Tongxun 百期嘉品 19942015: 中國嘉德通訊, 12-13. Beijing: China Guardian Auction Co. Ltd., n.d.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Zhu Xi’s Colophons on Handwritten Documents

253

Part 4 Cross-Cultural Transfers

∵

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

254

Ebrey

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

255

Paintings of Birds by Basins

Chapter 7

Paintings of Birds by Basins Jie Liu Paintings of birds and flowers have occupied a prominent place in Chinese visual culture since the Tang dynasty (618-907), when floral images gradually became a central subject of paintings rather than merely the background for human figures.1 Bird-and-flower paintings of the early eighth century typically include flowers, birds, grass, and rocks arrayed on opposite sides of a central axis, with flowers and leaves distributed on opposite sides of the plant stems (see Figures 7.1 and 7.2). These compositions remained popular for centuries. Not all Tang bird-and-flower paintings follow this pattern, however. An intriguing departure is found on the walls of some late eighth and ninth century tombs: a basin filled with water surrounded by flowers and birds on both sides. These paintings depict ornamental plants, birds, and a basin made of precious materials, usually juxtaposed with Taihu 太湖 rocks. The theme first appeared in the Tang dynasty, flourished during the subsequent Five Dynasties (907-960), and continued into the Song period (960-1279). This essay examines the visual, cultural, and historical significance of the relatively unstudied pictorial imagery of birds by basins. Its sources are murals from two Tang tombs, extant scroll paintings, and literary references of several sorts. It argues that the bird-by-basin theme reflects elements of Persian visual culture introduced to China in the Tang period.

Two “Golden Basin and Pigeons” Paintings in Tang Tombs

In the tomb of Princess Tang’an 唐安公主 (dated to 784) in modern Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, a screen of birds and flowers was painted on the western 1 I would like to thank Freda Murck and Patricia Ebrey for taking time to revise this article, thank Shih-shan Susan Huang and Susan Valenstain for providing important information and scanning relevant books for me, and thank Li Xiaoxuan 李小旋 for preparing some of the references. For the gradual development of bird-and-flower painting into an independent genre, see Liu, Tangdai huaniao hua yanjiu. This essay is a further development of my discussion of the tomb of Princess Tang’an in that book, 174-81.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_009 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

256

Liu

Figure 7.1 Painting of birds and flowers, the High Tang, setting on the walls of M217 tomb in Astana, Turpan, height 150 cm, width 375 cm. After Luo and Liao, Gudai bihuamu, p. 132, fig. 30.

Figure 7.2 Painting of birds and flowers setting on the walls of the tomb of Wang Gongshu (died in 838) in Beijing, height 156 cm, width 290 cm. After Beijing haidian wenwu guanlisuo, “Beijingshi haidianqu balizhuang tangmu,” Plate 2.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

257

wall of the burial chamber (see Figures 7.3 and 7.4). In the center of the painting, a large black basin filled with water is decorated with a white floral medallion pattern.2 On the rim of the basin, four birds in various poses can be identified as ringdoves and orioles. Flanking the basin are two pigeons on the left and two pheasants on the right. Blossoming trees stand on either side, and their flowering branches connect across the top of the screen. In the upper right corner of the screen, two ducks are flying, while the upper left corner is damaged. Many small flowers are scattered in the empty spaces of the composition. The painting was executed in monochrome linear drawing, with some light coloration. The overall picture looks simple and elegant.3 In Anyang, Henan Province, a tomb belonging to Zhao Yigong 趙逸公 and his wife (dated 829) also has a painting of birds by a basin. On the rear wall of the burial chamber is a painting of three screens with birds and flowers (Figure 7.5). The middle screen is the largest. In the center of the painting, a basin containing water and petals is decorated with flower patterns. In front of the basin are three wild geese. Behind the basin is a cluster of green plantains. Swallows, orioles, butterflies, bees, and grasshoppers surround the basin.4 The two smaller screens to the left and right have a Taihu rock in the center. Magpies and parrots are in front of rocks, and flourishing plants grow behind. In both tombs, the basin-and-bird mural was painted on the wall behind the coffin platform, which corresponds to screens used behind platform couches in daily life. Both of the tomb wall paintings show typical characteristics of Tang dynasty bird-and-flower painting. Flowers, birds, grass, and rocks are arrayed on opposite sides of a central axis, with flowers and leaves distributed in a balanced way on opposite sides of the plant stems. The composition of both the picture and plants was established early in the seventh century (though at the beginning the center of the painting was not necessarily a bird or flower; see figures 7.6).5 Most of the elements in the two murals are fundamentally the same as earlier Tang dynasty bird-and-flower paintings. However, centrally-positioned basins surrounded by flowers and birds had not been painted before, making this theme an eighth-century innovation. 2 The original report says: “There is a round basin on a black seat with openwork.” Based on the basin in a bird-and-flower painting in the tomb of Zhao Yigong 趙逸公, this should be a black basin with a floral design. See Chen and Ma, “Xi’an Wangjiafen Tangdai Tang’an gongzhu mu,” 20. 3 Chen and Ma, “Xi’an Wangjiafen Tangdai Tang’an gongzhu mu,” 16-27. 4 Zhang and Wu, “Anyang Tangdai mushi bihua chutan,” 26-28; “Anyang chutu Tangmu bihua huaniao bufen de yishu jiazhi,” 42-44. 5 Liu, Tangdai huaniao hua yanjiu, 203-204.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

258

Liu

Figure 7.3 Painting of birds and basin in a garden setting on the walls of the tomb of Princess Tang’an (died in 784) in Xi’an, Shaanxi, height 210 cm, width 400 cm. After Chen and Ma, “Xi’an wangjiafen tangdai Tang’angongzhu mu,” fig. 12.

Figure 7.4 Line drawing of birds and basin painting in Figure 7.3. Drawn by Jie Liu.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

259

Figure 7.5 Line drawing of birds and basin in a garden setting on the walls of the tomb of Zhao Yigong (died in 829) in Anyang, Henan, height 108 cm, width 235 cm. Drawn by Jie Liu.

The floral decoration of these basins is noteworthy. Each basin has a black body with white floral decoration, a wide opening, and a ring foot. In addition, the basin painted in Zhao Yigong’s tomb has a petal-shaped rim with a beaded border. The decorative style resembles that of Sasanian or Sogdian gold-inlaid silver basins (called “Golden Decorated Silver Vessels” 金花银器) which were very popular in the Tang dynasty.6 If such a basin was placed outside for a long time, its silver body would turn black as a result of oxidation. But the goldinlaid floral medallion patterns would not react and would remain bright, exactly as the “white” patterns on the black basin portrayed in the murals.7 As I discuss in Tangdai huaniao hua yanjiu [Research on Tang bird-andflower painting], gold and silver wares from west and central Asia contributed to the rapid development of bird-and-flower painting in the Tang dynasty. The balanced composition of both the picture and plants were originally seen on 6 For the term, see for example, Jiu tang shu, vol.17, 528; Liu binke wenji, 12.7. On its popularity, see Qi, Tangdai jinyinqi yanjiu, 164-77, 94-393. 7 Many thanks to Xu Tao 徐濤 for pointing out that oxidizing action would make the silver basin with golden ornaments look like black basin with white décor.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

260

Liu

Figure 7.6 Rubbing of the sarcophagus of Princess Yongtai’s tomb (buried in 706) in Qianxian, Shaanxi Sarcophagus: height cm, width 280 cm, length 390 cm. Qianling Museum, Qianxian, Shaanxi. After Shanxisheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui, “Tang yongtai gongzhu mu fajue jianbao,” fig.63.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

261

Paintings of Birds by Basins

the gold and silver wares (see Figures 7.7 and 7.8), then were adapted to decorate the sarcophagus of royalty (see Figure 7.9). Interestingly, we also see it on the walls of the Tang tombs showing a gold and silver basin surrounded by birds and flowers.8 From the gold and silver wares to wall paintings, we see a transformation from a decorative, two-dimensional surface on the gold and silverware to a pictorial space with more depth. What is more, what the wall paintings have demonstrated is a brand new motif, that of a golden basin, transmediated from and inspired by the vessel design of the gold and silver ware itself.   In contrast to flower or bird centered paintings, ones centered on the basin make the exotic element stand out. Images that are “surrounded by flowers and birds” were widely employed in the Tang dynasty. People sit in front of screens painted with flowers and birds, wore clothes bird and flower patterns, and after their deaths might lie in a sarcophagus decorated with flower and bird line drawings. All of the paintings, patterns, and line drawings show stylistic influence from central and west Asia, with the result that the visual culture of the Tang was enriched by Persian or other distant western countries.

Literary References to “Golden Basin and Pigeon” Paintings

These basin-centered pictures found in tombs may well correspond to the theme “Golden Basin and Pigeon” (or “Jinpen boge tu” 金盆鵓鴿圖) that is recorded in Chinese painting histories.9 Numerous examples can be cited. For example, Guo Ruoxu 郭若虛 (fl. 1070-1075), in his discussion of “The Difference between the Styles of Huang [Quan 黃筌 (?-956)] and Xu [Xi 徐熙 (886-975)] 黃徐體異,” mentioned among the subjects they painted “Peach Blossom and Falcon,” “White Pheasant and Rabbit,” “Golden Basin and Pigeon,” and “Peacock, Tortoise, and Crane.”10 A later book, Painting Catalogue of the Xuanhe Period (Xuanhe Huapu 宣和 畫譜, preface dated 1120), lists a “Golden Basin and Peacock” (“Jinpen kongque tu” 金盆孔雀圖) by Bian Luan 邊鸞 (active 8th-9th century); three paintings titled “Bamboo, Rock, Golden Basin, and Pigeon” (“Zhushi jinpen boge tu” 竹石 金盆鵓鴿圖) and one “Agate Basin and Pigeon” (“Manao pen boge tu” 瑪瑙盆 鵓鴿圖) by Huang Quan; three paintings titled “Bamboo, Stone, Golden Basin, and Frolicking Pigeon” (“Zhushi jinpen xige tu” 竹石金盆戲鴿圖) by Huang 8 9 10

Han, Hai neiwai tangdai jinyinqi cuibian, line drawing 49. Li, Tangdai mushi bihua yanjiu, 384-85. Tuhua jianwen zhi 1.12-13.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

262

Liu

Figure 7.7 Gold and silver wares of the Tang dynasty before the middle eighth century. After Zhang and Qi, Gudai jinyinqi, fig. 19.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

263

Figure 7.8 Silver cup from central or west Asia, about eighth century, unearthed from Hejiacun cache of the Tang dynasty, Xi’an, Shaanxi, height 6.7 cm, diameter at lip 6.9-7.4 cm. Shaanxi lishi bowuguan. After Shanxi lishi bowuguan, Beijing daxue kaogu wenbo xueyuan, Beijing daxue zhendan gudai wenming yanjiu zhongxin, Hua wu datang chun, 84-85.

Figure 7.9 Line drawing of the sarcophagus of Prince Zhanghuai’s tomb (buried in 711) in Qianxian, Shaanxi. Drawn by Jie Liu. The sarcophagus: height 200 cm, width 300 cm, length 400 cm. Qianling Museum in Qianxian, Shaanxi.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

264

Liu

Jubao 黃居寶 (dates unclear), and by Huang Jucai 黃居寀 (active 933 and after) a “Lake Rock, Golden Basin, and Pigeon” (“Hushi jinpen boge tu” 湖石金盆鵓鴿 圖) and two paintings titled “Peony, Golden Basin, and Partridge” (“Mudan jinpen zhegu tu” 牡丹金盆鷓鴣圖).11 These entries confirm that the theme of “Basin and Bird” appeared in the Tang dynasty. Usually made of precious material, the basin could be made in part of gold or agate. The birds could be pigeons, peacocks, partridges, or other ornamental birds, but not birds of prey like hawks or eagles. Further evidence that the theme dates back to the Tang is a record that it was painted by Zhou Fang 周昉, who lived in the late eighth or early ninth century.12 By the Song dynasty, “Basin and Bird” pictures had become such an ordinary decorative theme in living quarters that some literati regarded it as vulgar. For example, Chen Yu 陳鬱 (1184-1275) wrote in his Cangyi huayu 藏一話腴: “In ancient times, King Gong of Lu, named Yu, decorated walls with pictures of ancient exemplars to remind himself to behave well. In contrast, how disgusting are those people who decorate their living quarters from top to bottom with pictures of pigeons bathing in golden basins, peacocks, and peonies?”13 Judging from textual sources, the most accomplished artist producing paintings on this theme was the tenth century painter Huang Quan. Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555-1636) believed that his work was superior to any earlier artist. Peng Dayi 彭大翼 (1552-1643), another Ming dynasty critic, also spoke highly of Huang Quan and said that later artists had not surpassed him: “Huang Quan painted ‘Golden Basin and Pigeon.’ His work is acknowledged as the definitive work in this field.”14 Most records of “Golden Basin and Pigeon” paintings refer to Huang Quan’s works. Besides the listing in the Northern Song work 11 12

13 14

Xuanhe huapu 15.166; 16.179, 184, 186; 17.202. In his inscription on “Sketch Album 寫生冊” by Shen Zhou 沈周 (1420-1509), Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555-1636) wrote: “Few artists can be good at both sketch and landscape except Huang Quan. In my collection, there is a ‘Book Proofreading’ painting in imitation of a painting by Li Sheng 李昇 (active ninth century) and a ‘Gold Plate and Pigeon’ painting in imitation of a painting by Zhou Fang. The imitations are even better than the originals. In this period, only Shen Zhou is as good an artist as Huang Quan” (see Huachanshi suibi 2. 30). Here the word “plate” is a transcription error for “basin”, a common mistake when copying. For example, the “Golden Plate and Pigeon” (“Jinpan boge” 金盤鵓鴿) in Shuzhong guangji 蜀中廣記 was “Golden Basin and Pigeon” (“Jinpen boge” 金盆鵓鴿) mentioned in Tuhua jianwen zhi 圖畫見聞志. Similarly, quite a few “golden plates” in Peiwenzhai shuhua pu 佩文齋書畫譜 should be “golden basins” as originally recorded in such texts as Xuanhe huapu, Hua shi, etc. Cangyi huayu 1.16. Shantang sikao 166.45.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

265

Xuanhe huapu, the Paintings Collected by the Southern Song Court (Song zhong­ xing guange chucang tuhua ji 宋中興館閣儲藏圖畫記) included a “Peony, Golden Plate, and Pigeon” painting.15 A Southern Song source recorded: “Li Hewen’s family collected many masterworks, including ‘Golden Basin and Pigeon’ by Huang Quan.”16 Wang regarded this work as a rare treasure that indicated that the collector had sophisticated taste. In the Ming dynasty, the list of property confiscated from Yan Song’s 嚴嵩 (1480-1567) estate included two “Pigeon Bathing in a Golden Basin” paintings by Huang Quan.17 In the early Qing (1644-1911), Yao Jiheng’s 姚際恒 (1647-1715) catalogue of paintings reports: Huang Quan’s “Pigeon Bathing in a Golden Basin” is a brightly colored painting. It has a golden basin beneath a peony, with pigeons bathing in it. The eleven pigeons all are represented vividly in various poses. The painting is wonderful! Note: Huizhu lu of Yang Tingxiu 楊廷秀 (1127-1206) recorded a ‘Golden Basin and Quail’ by Huang Quan collected by Li Wenhe. There are some reasons to guess that this painting is precisely that one.18 Because there is water in the basin, some sources refer to these paintings using titles such as “Pigeon Bathing in a Golden Basin,” and “Golden Basin and Frolicking Pigeon.” Yet the connoisseur Yao Jiheng was not even aware of the fact that “Pigeon Bathing in a Golden Basin” is the same as “Golden Basin and Pigeon.” That indicates that this theme, well-known in the Song dynasty, was no longer familiar by the Qing.19 In fact, there are quite a variety of titles for “Basin and Bird” genre paintings, including “Pigeon Bathing in a Golden Basin,” “Golden Basin and Frolicking Pigeon,” “Golden Basin and Pigeon,” and “Peony, Golden Basin, and Pigeon.” As we can see in the Tang tomb murals, flowers were one element in this genre from the beginning. Not surprisingly, people of the Tang dynasty loved peonies so much that they painted peonies exclusively in some “Basin and Bird” paintings. In the late Northern Song, Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107) wrote “Xue Shaopeng 薛紹 彭 (styled Daozu 道祖, twelfth century) drew a golden basin under flowers and pigeons beside the basin. He called it ‘Golden Basin and Pigeon.’ Could it be a 15 16 17 18 19

Song zhongxing guange chucang tuhua ji p.215. Huizhu lu 1.10. The writer of Huizhu lu should be Wang Mingqing 王明清(1127-ca.1215), see Wang, “Gengxin zhijian dushu ji”. Tianshui bingshan lu 1504. 225. Haogutang jiacang shuhuaji, 715. Moreover, Yao also made a mistake in citing Huizhu lu by confusing the characters for “pigeon” (boge 鵓鴿) and “quail dove” (chunge 鶉鴿).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

266

Liu

masterpiece? Ridiculous!”20 This demonstrates that in the Song flowers were also a part of “Golden Basin and Pigeon” paintings, but in this case Mi Fu thought the painter’s skill was so poor that his painting could not compare to more famous examples of the paintings. There is another reference to flowers in this type of painting in a poem by Su Zhou 蘇籀 (ca. 1091-1164), who mentioned that there were red flowers and rocks in Huang Quan’s “Screen of Golden Basin and Pigeon.”21 The poem also states that the flowers on the screen bloom at the end of the third month of spring. Since this is the same period when peonies blossom, it suggests that the flowers might be peonies. In the Yuan dynasty, two poems mention so-called “Peony and Pigeon” paintings that could have also been “Golden Basin and Pigeon” paintings.22 Both of the poems describe a scene of pigeons bathing or playing in a golden basin. One of the paintings was attributed to Zhao Chang 趙昌 of the Song dynasty, but the other painter’s name was lost. Pictures of “Peony and Pigeon” are mentioned in many books on painting, but it is impossible to know which were actually “Golden Basin and Pigeon” paintings, since they do not survive.23 Additionally, Hu Zhiyu 胡祗遹 (1227-1295) wrote a poem on a painting titled “Flower and Butterfly in Autumn.”24 According to his poem, there were birds, a golden basin, flowers, and butterflies in the painting. Later, in the Ming dynasty, Liu Xu 劉珝 (1426-1490) wrote a poem about a painting with pigeons bathing in a golden basin with one or more Taihu rocks and bamboo nearby.25 It is not clear whether this was an old painting or one recently done.

Extant Scroll Paintings

Surviving paintings on the theme of “golden basin and pigeons” are rare. One reason for their rarity may be the ornamental nature of the subject matter. During the Tang and Song dynasties, decorative subjects of this sort were 20 21 22

23

24 25

Hua shi 211. Shuangxi ji 1.6-7. For Zhu Derun’s 朱德潤 (1294-1365) “Poem of ‘Peony and Pigeon’ Painting,” see Yuan shi xuan, chuji 46.34. For Ke Jiusi’s 柯九思 (1290-1343), “Poem Inscribed on Zhao Chang’s ‘Peony and Pigeon’ Painting,” see Yuan shi xuan, sanji 5.28. For example, the imperial catalogue Xuanhe huapu recorded twenty-three “Peony and Pigeon” paintings, with seven of them painted by Huang Quan, eight by Huang Jucai, two by Xu Xi 徐熙 one by Xu Chongci 徐崇嗣 two by Zhao Chang, one by Yi Yuanji 易元吉 and two by Yue Shixuan 樂士宣 (all Northern Song). Zishan daquanji 7.45. Shicang lidai shixuan 443.4.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

267

commonly painted on walls, meaning that they were lost when the buildings were destroyed. In other cases, they were painted on screens, which are less portable and harder to preserve than scroll paintings.26 For example, historical documents mention that Huang Quan and his sons primarily produced scroll paintings, banners, screens, and murals. Making things worse, some collectors took their large collections of painted banners and screens into their tombs when they died, precisely because they were precious artworks.27 There are no texts that record painters after the Song dynasty producing any “Basin and Bird” paintings. However, three related paintings of the subject did survive. The first one, maybe the earliest, is “Golden Basin and Pigeon” (Figure 7.10) signed by Huang Quan in the collection of Wang Shijie 王世傑 (18911981).28 In this painting, peonies, a Taihu rock, a blossoming tree, and birds are the main elements. Though the patterned tree leaves and the coarse depiction of the Taihu rock rather point to a Ming dynasty date, the elements in this painting are so similar to the mural in the eighth century tomb of Princess Tang’an and the records of those Tang and Song paintings that this painting may be based on an earlier composition. The second is the “Golden Basin and Pigeon” (Figure 7.11) by the Xuande Emperor 宣宗 (r. 1425-1435) of the Ming. However, in contrast to the garden scenes depicted by Huang Quan, Zhao Chang, and other painters, in the emperor’s painting there are only pigeons and a golden basin, no rocks or plants. The third painting is “Pottery Basin and Pigeon” by Fu Zhongzheng 傅中正 (dates unknown) of the Qing dynasty (Figure 7.12). In this instance, the basin is a ceramic pot on a stand, very different from the basins of precious materials in earlier paintings.29 These paintings show a decline in the “Basin and Bird” genre, confirming what we see in collector’s records. To summarize, after the Song dynasty, “golden basin and pigeon” pictures were infrequently painted. By the Qing dynasty, the decline had reached the point that even connoisseurs misunderstood the title. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, although three paintings have been given similar titles, the imagery was unlike earlier paintings in two of them. These two paintings may have

26

27 28 29

In the Tang dynasty, paintings were often produced on walls and screens. When a painting was sold, the measure word was “screen.” By the late Tang dynasty, painted banners appear to be similar to hanging scroll paintings, which may be their origin. See Su, Zhang Yanyuan he Lidai minghua ji, 24; Yang, Zhongzhao cailan, 28-42; and Lidai minghua ji, 26. Shengchao minghua ping 1.121-22; 3.141-42. Wang S., Yizhentang shuhua 34. Zhongguo gudai shuhua tumu 8, Jin 1-28.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

268

Figure 7.10

Liu

“Golden Basin and Pigeon” signed by Huang Quan of Five dynasties, on silk, height 153.7 cm, width 91 cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei. After , last accessed February 12, 2017.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

269

Paintings of Birds by Basins

Figure 7.11

“Golden Basin and Pigeon,” by Zhu Zhanji (1398-1435), the Xuande Emperor of the Ming dynasty, painting on silk, height 86.2, width 47 cm. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. After , last accessed February 12, 2017.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

270

Liu

Figure 7.12 “Pottery Basin and Pigeon” by Fu Zhongzheng. Qing dynasty, painting on silk, height 157 cm, width 68.5 cm. Tianjinshi wenhuaju wenwuchu. After Zhongguo gudai shuhua tumu 8, Jin 1-28.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

271

been attempts to recreate images from textual descriptions of famous lost works.

Garden Pools in Context

Can the pictures of birds by basin pools be linked to developments in garden design? The term “basin pools” (penchi 盆池) originally appeared in the “Five Poems about Basin Pools” (“Penchi wu shou” 盆池五首) written by Han Yu 韓 愈 (768-824) in 810.30 In these poems, Han Yu described how he personally dug up the earth, positioned a pottery basin in the ground, and poured water into the basin. In his little pool, he raised some small fish and planted lotus roots. Attracted to the pool, frogs croaked through the night. Unidentified insects lived in the water. Next to the basin, bamboo was planted. This was in effect a micro-ecosystem. The poet was engrossed by the little pool and fascinated by the sound of rain there. It is clear from the poem, especially from the line “Don’t say that a basin pool is difficult to build” 莫道盆池作不成, that he was not the first to build a basin pool in his private garden. Qian Hui 錢徽 (755829), Han Yu, and Wang Jian 王建 (ca. 767-831) exchanged poems about a basin pool in Qian’s garden.31 Thereafter, many literati wrote poems extolling basin pools, including Yao He 姚合 (779 ～855), Du Mu 杜牧 (803-852), Pi Rixiu 皮日 休 (ca. 834-after 902), Qin Taoyu 秦韜玉 (ca. 882), Tang Yanqian 唐彥謙(?-893), Zhang Bin 張蠙 (ca. 901), Weng Chengzan 翁承贊 (859-932), Qi Ji 齊己 (ca. 863937), Wang Zhenbai 王貞白 (ca. 875-958), and He Ning 和凝 (898-955). The basin pools in those poems were located in imperial, private, and temple gardens, which gives an indication of how popular basin pools were from the ninth century on.32 These poems describe pools made with basins placed at carefully selected sites surrounded by trees, flowers, bamboo, and rocks. In the pool, aquatic plants such as lotus, sweet flag, and arrowhead as well as little fish were added. Then, frogs, dragonflies, and birds were attracted to live and play around the pool. Thus the spot becomes a small but complete little world, full of life.

30 31

32

QTS 343.3847. By comparing the official title of Qian Hui in these poems and his official career, the poems should be datable to 810-811. See Chi, “Han Yu ‘Fenghe Qian Qixiong caozhang benchi suozhi’ shi de xinian,” 57-58. For an example of a pool at an imperial garden, see QTS 735.8396; for a private garden, see QTS 614.7087; and for a temple garden, see QTS 300.3405.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

272

Liu

The full process can be seen in Zhang Bin’s poem, “Basin Pool.” In the first line of his poem, the term taohua (陶化, literally, clay transformation) has a double meaning. It conveys the ideas of transforming people in the way that clay is shaped into pottery, but it also indicates that the basin is a clay or porcelain pot (the word 陶化 can also point to the porcelainizing process). The line also suggests a possible source for the “Pottery Basin and Pigeon” painting of the Qing dynasty. However, in the Tang dynasty, most pottery basins were placed in the ground, not on a stand as in the Qing dynasty painting. Pottery basins were used because they were relatively waterproof, keeping the pool’s water from quickly seeping away. The second couplet describes how water was led into the pool past flowers under the dappled shadows of pine trees, pouring into the basin. Having flowing water made the basin pool more harmonious with the surroundings. The last two couplets give a grand narrative of the very small pool (“as another heaven laid in the ground”) and Zhang notes that after seeing the pool “every visitor dreams of broad mist-covered waters.” Here the poet adopts the rhetoric of “seeing the large within the small.”33 Poetry on basin pools usually includes such “large within small” expressions. For example, Han Yu tried to count how many stars were reflected in a basin pool, while Du Mu saw the basin pool as a sky, a mirror with clouds, and a moon on the ground.34 Pi Rixiu recalled rivers and dreamed about the clouds of a waterside city.35 Qi Ji said that although the pool was modest, it could contain many things, such as the moon, the whole sky, and the first light of morning.36 The poets associated basin pools with rivers, the moon, the sky, and even the whole world. Precisely because the basin pool was a little ecosystem, a small but complete sphere, and a micro-universe, it stimulated the poets’ imaginations. The notion of a micro-universe can be traced back to the Han dynasty. The expression, “a world in a pot” 壺中天地 appears already in the Hou Han shu 後 漢書.37 In Buddhism, too, there were similar concepts. The concept of “Mount Sumeru being contained in a mustard seed” 須彌藏芥子 was brought to China with the spread of Buddhism.38 Fine woodcarvings of divine mountains in the Tang dynasty also reflects similar ideas.39 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

QTS 702.8069. QTS 523.5988-89. QTS 614.7087. QTS 839.9472. Hou Han shu 82.2743. Weimojie suoshuo jing, T14.475.546. On this type of woodcarving, see Duyang zabian 2.5-7; Huang, Picturing the Ture Form, 106-107. There is interesting relationship between these idea and those miniatures versus

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

273

The enthusiasm of Tang dynasty literati for basin pools can also be linked to a more general love of water. The emperors Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi built huge pools in imperial gardens, and put stones or buildings that symbolized Penglai, Yingzhou, and other divine mountains in them, with big divine animals of stone.40 After Han, however, making divine mountains in gardens disappears from the historical record.41 Hills and pools in gardens instead seem like imitations of nature, and this persists through the rest of the history of gardens in China. Literati in the Tang dynasty loved water so much that they wrote many poems about pools, lakes, rivers, and streams. At the same time, the proportion of water in gardens increased.42 One example of this development is that the term “House with Pool” 池館 became a synonym for garden. For instance, the garden of Song Zhiwen 宋之問 was called a “House with Pool”(池館) in a poem by Du Fu 杜甫 (712-770).43 In addition, there is an abundance of literary and archaeological evidence which demonstrates that many Tang-era gardens were located by large bodies of water. Such gardens included Wang Wei’s 王維 (?-761) Wangchuan Villa 輞川別業,44 Bai Juyi’s 白居易 (772-846) Lushan Thatched Hut 廬山草堂 and Lüdaoli Garden 履道里園林,45 and Liu Zongyuan’s 柳宗元 (773-819) Yuxi Garden 愚溪,46 as well as Weiqu Manor 韋曲莊47 and

40 41

42 43 44

45

46 47

the gigantic in Tang dynasty. See Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection; Huang, Picturing the Ture Form, 84. Shi Ji 6.251; Shi Ji 12.482. In the Three Kingdoms Wei imperial garden Fanglinyuan (芳林苑), the hill Jingyang(景 陽山) besides the pool Tianyuan (天淵池) was small, made of earth, with common plants and animals on it. Wei Shu (in San Guo Zhi) 3.110. Xu and Wei, “Tang Song sijia yuanlin huanjing moshi bianqian yanjiu.” See Du Fu’s, “Guo Song Yuanwai zhiwen jiuzhuang,” in QTS 224.2394-95. In the Quan Tang Shi (QTS) alone there are more than sixty mentions of “house with pool” in titles or texts. For Wang Wei’s biography, see Jiu Tang shu, 190.5052. For two references to the garden by Wang, see “Wangchuan ji xu 輞川集序” and “Wangchuan jie 輞川集” in QTS 128.12991302; also see L. Zhang and Bao, “Shanshuihua yu Zhongguo gudian yuanlin—yi Wang Wei shanshuihua ji qi Wangchuan Bieye wei li,” 111-13. See Bai Juyi’s “Caotang ji 草堂记” in QTW 676.6900-01 and “Chi shang pian bing xu 池上 篇並序” in QTS 461.5249-50. See also Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Luo­ yang Tangcheng dui, “Luoyang Tang Dongdu Lüdaofang Bai Juyi guju fajue jianbao”; Xu and Wei, “Cong ‘Chi shang pian’ yu ‘Lushan Caotang ji’ kan Bai Juyi de zaoyuan sixiang”; and Mu et al., “Tang Dongdu Bai Juyi zhaiyuan yizhi ji zaoyuan tezheng yanjiu.” QTW 578.5846. QTW 241.2437.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

274

Liu

Figure 7.13

Pottery inkwell, the High Tang, unearthed from Zhongbaocun tomb of the Tang dynasty in Xi’an, Shaanxi, heigh 18 cm, width 17 cm. Shaanxi lishi bowuguan. After Wenwu 3(1961), front cover.

Yegong Garden Pond 鄴公園池48 mentioned in poems. In Bai Juyi’s Lüdaoli Garden a pond was the central feature. It was surrounded by bamboo, magpies, and strange rocks, as well as buildings such as a hall and pavilion. In the pond, there were water chestnuts, lotus plants, bridges, and miniature boats. This was almost like an enlarged basin pool. 48

QTW 225.2273-74.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

275

Many scholars have observed that gardens were man-made simulacra of the natural world.49 Although different in size, both gardens and basin pools are micro universes much like “a world in a pot.” From the Northern and Southern Dynasties (317-589) to the Tang dynasty, scholars often used the phrase “world in a pot” as a metaphor for gardens. During that period, potted landscapes also appeared. Although they did not fully mature in the Tang dynasty, they reveal an inclination to miniaturize nature.50 This can be seen in the ceramic model of a potted landscape excavated from a Tang tomb in Shaanxi (Figure 7.13).51 Within the history of gardens, the enthusiasm of mid-Tang literati for designing gardens, planting trees and flowers, making rockeries, rebuilding pools, and building basin pools marked the beginning of the literati garden which would flourish in the Song dynasty. Painting also became an increasingly popular practice for scholars. Wang Wei is a case in point. He was regarded as the first real literati artist because of his landscape paintings. The Wangchuan Villa that he designed was full of picturesque scenes and poetic allusions. To a degree, both landscape painting and gardens are miniatures of nature.

Persian Connections

It is notable that in the Tang tomb murals the golden basins have special features such as floral medallion patterns, beaded borders, and ring feet. These features were common in gold and silver wares from the Sasanian Empire and Sogdiana in the region of modern Iran.52 Silver basins with gold decoration, like those depicted in the tomb murals, were difficult to transport due to their size and weight. The ones that inspired the basins in the murals probably were made in China in Persian style. An example of such a basin is found in Famen Monastery 法門寺 (Figure 7.14). It was inscribed Zhexi (浙西, present Zhenjiang 鎮江, Zhejiang Province).53 Some porcelains imitating foreign gold and silver wares of the Tang to Song dynasties have also been found (Figure 7.15).54 49 50 51 52 53 54

Zhou, Zhongguo gudian yuanlin shi, 1. Stein, The World in Miniature, 5-113; Ledderose,“The Earthly Paradise.” Shaanxi sheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui, “Xi’an xijiao Zhongbaocun Tangmu qingli jianbao.” Qi, Tangdai jinyinqi yanjiu, 164-77, 94-393. Shaanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo, ed., Famensi kaogu fajue baogao 1.138, Figure 74-44, Plate 87:1-2. Rawson, “Zhongguo yinqi he ciqi de guanxi.” Yuan, “Tangsong zhi ji taoci gongyi dui jin­ shuqi de jiejian.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

276

Liu

Figure 7.14

Zhexi silver bowl, the High Tang, unearthed from Famensi temple site of the Tang dynasty in Fufeng, Shaanxi. Collection in Famensi Museum, height 14.5 cm, diameter at lip 46 cm. After Shaanxisheng kaogu yanjiusuo et al. eds. Famensi kaogu fajue baogao, Plate 87:1.

A porcelain basin in this style made in Tang China has been found as far away as Egypt.55 What is most noteworthy is that an artifact with such an obvious foreign style took pride of place at the center of the little microcosm in the paintings discussed here. This is the greatest difference between the “Golden Basin and Birds” paintings and the mountain-centered potted landscapes with little or no water, though they both are Tang “micro universes.” Persian and other western influences should be considered in this context.

55

“This sherd is from the section of the Fostat excavation where the earliest finds of Islamic art were made. It is very close in type to the well-known dish from Samarra, which is datable to the 9th century… This type is also known in glazed pottery, glass and silver from Tang … and has been considered as one of the typical examples of Near Eastern influence upon Tang art.” See Gyllensvard, “Recent Finds of Chinese Ceramics at Fostat—I,” 105, figure 40, plate 12.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

Figure 7.15

277

Porcelain bowl with gilding medallion patterns, the High Tang, unearthed from Famensi temple site of the Tang dynasty in Fufeng, Shaanxi. Collection of Famensi Museum, height 8.2 cm, diameter at lip 23.7 cm. After Shaanxisheng kaogu yanjiusuo et al. eds. Famensi kaogu fajue baogao, Plate 197:2.

The Sasanian Empire was conquered by the Islamic Abbasid caliphate in 651, well before the murals in Princess Tang’an’s tomb were painted in 784.56 The eighth century is also the period when the Sogdians converted to Islam.57 Islamic gardens inherited and appropriated characteristics of Persian gardens, forming a new Persian-Islamic garden system.58 A courtyard with a pool at its center was an essential feature of the new gardens. Because of the hot, dry climate of the Persian and Arabian regions, water is seen as giving, protecting, and purifying life in Islamic scripture.59 Muslim culture combined the idea of a Persian garden with an imagined Islamic paradise to form the new garden system. In courtyards, flowers and trees were strictly symmetrical; paths and 56 57 58 59

Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 87; Nissen and Heine, From Mesopotamia to Iraq, 133; Kort, Central Asian Republics, 23. Litvinsky, ed., History of Civilizations of Central Asia 3, 199; and Jiang, Dunhuang Tulufan wenshu yu sichouzhilu, 263. Sackville-West, “Persian Gardens,” 259-91; Harigaya, Xifang zaoyuan bianqian shi, 64-68; Z. Li and Zhu, Xifang yuanlin, 40-44; and Chen Z., Waiguo zaoyuan yishu, 231-37. “By means of water I give life to everything.” See Koran, chapter 21, 241.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

278

Liu

channels extended from the pool in the center to form a cross. Along the wall, tall trees provided shade and ensured privacy. The scenes on some carpets and Persian miniatures of later periods are believed to represent images recreated from much older carpets.60 Elements such as the central pool, a tall tree at the edge of the scene, and the arrangement of figures on both sides can also be seen in the wall murals of Princess Tang’an’s tomb. These similarities, along with the Persian-style basin, suggest that Tang basin pools had absorbed some ideas of Persian origin. Furthermore, the connections between this kind of garden and an imagined paradise helps explain the appearance of related images in tombs. At the same time, auspicious meanings related to water from other cultures probably also contributed to Tang garden design. For example, the modern scholar Chen Yunru observes that the depiction of two trees connecting across the top of the painting in Princess Tang’an’s tomb may have been the result of foreign influence and compares the image with a Buddhist painting.61 This is a constructive and illuminating insight because the concept of a “pool” has an equally significant role in Buddhist culture. In the Tang, when Pure Land Buddhism flourished, people probably assumed a relationship between pools with lotuses and the lotus pool of the Western Paradise. Golden lotuses and pools of seven gems 七寶池 also frequently appear in descriptions of the Western Paradise.62 During this period, plants were often grown in small pools or basins in a courtyard, and the lotus was the most popular choice of plant. In addition, the mention of precious materials in these descriptions provides a plausible explanation for the type of basins portrayed in the tomb murals. The water basins in all of the “Basin and Bird” paintings were very likely made of precious materials such as gold and agate (seen as a kind of gem in China). In a painting, the precious materials of these basins must enhance the image greatly, making the painting visually more attractive and the subject more suitable for painting. Such luxuries accorded with the taste of the Tang and the Five Dynasties Western Shu royal courts. The painters of Western Shu 60 61 62

Harigaya, Xifang zaoyuan bianqian shi, 67, Figure 1; Khansari et al., The Persian Garden, back cover. Y. Chen, “Ba zhi shiyi shiji de huaniao hua zhi bian,” 343-84, Figure 13. “When he is to leave his present life, Amitabha, Avalokitesvara, and Manjusri Bodhisattva will come... He will see himself sitting on a golden lotus. The lotus will close as he sits in it... He will be born in a pool of seven gems. After one day and one night, the lotus will bloom. He will meet Buddha in seven days.” 彼行者命欲終時。阿彌陀佛及觀世音並 大勢至……即自見身坐金蓮花。坐已華合……後即得往生七寶池中。一日一夜 蓮花乃開。七日之中乃得見佛. See Fo shuo guan wuliangshou fo jing, T12.365.345.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

279

excelled at decorating palace buildings with flowers and trees.63 This subject matter indirectly contributed to the opulent style of Huang Quan and his sons, who were painters of the Western Shu court. After the Tang dynasty, interest in foreign gold and silver objects faded. Persian-style silver basins with gold decoration also disappeared. The court of the Western Shu may have been the last place to ostentatiously display a golden basin. Without the golden basin, “Basin and Bird” paintings were less ornamental and lost both their beautiful appearance and the implication of paradise associated with the garden space. Consequently, when the Xuande Emperor of the Ming painted “Golden Basin and Pigeon,” he only painted pigeons and a locally-made basin and felt no need to paint flowers or other background elements. In the Qing dynasty, the basin became unremarkable pottery ware. As mentioned above, most of the basin pools in private gardens were made of pottery. Their ubiquity might be the reason that these basins were not painted in the Tang and Song dynasties. However, pottery basins were used continuously into the late imperial period and became conventional elements in private gardens. The Qing dynasty “Pottery Basin and Pigeon” painting may record something that was a common sight in contemporary gardens.

Conclusion

Garden design is as much a part of visual and material culture as paintings. The original model of the “Golden Basin and Bird” was the basin pool in Tang gardens. The little pool created a small but independent world surrounded by plants, flowers, stones, birds, insects, and frogs, a type of small micro-universe. The basin pool appeared first in imperial gardens and featured Persian-style golden basins, probably influenced by Islamic garden theory, which put a pool in the center of the garden. Given the identification of water with paradise in Persian garden design, coupled with the relationship between pools made of precious materials and regaining life in Buddhist scriptures, it is likely that the golden basin scene was depicted in Tang royal tombs to bring blessings to the dead. Basin pools came into private gardens no later than the early ninth century, and were widely favored by literati who extolled them in their poems. These poems express the poet’s fascination with “the large within the small.” Tang literati also built basin pools in the gardens they designed themselves. 63

Yizhou minghua lu 2.29.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

280

Liu

What accounts for the eventual decline of the “bird and basin” theme? Visual culture is not fixed in time, but changes along with changes in other elements of culture. Bird-and-basin painting developed rapidly after the mid-Tang and flourished as one type of bird-and-flower painting into the Song, if a rather conservative one. But, with the fading of interest in foreign gold and silver objects, such paintings gradually become rare. The florescence and decline of the “Golden Basin and Pigeon” theme can be seen as an example of the “TangSong transition” in painting history. However, the literary images based on garden pools as well as actual pottery basins placed in private gardens persisted into modern times.

References



Bibliographic Abbreviations

HSCS

QTS QTW SKQS T



Huashi congshu 畫史叢書, edited by Yu Anlan 于安瀾. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1963. Quan Tang shi 全唐詩, edited by Peng Dingqui 彭定求 (1645-1719) et al., Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1960. Quan Tang wen 全唐文, edited by Dong Hao 董誥 (1740-1818) et al. Zhonghua shuju, 1983. Yingyin wenyuange siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書. Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新修大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順 次郎. Tokyo: Issaikyō Kankōkai, 1924-1932. Digital edition by the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Texts Association (CBETA), .

Primary Sources

Cangyi huayu 藏一話腴, by Chen Yu 陳鬱 (1184-1275). In SKQS 865.537-572. Duyang zabian 杜陽雜編, by Su E 蘇鶚 (Tang dynasty). In SKQS 1042.597-624. Fo shuo guan wuliangshou fo jing 佛說觀無量壽佛經, translated by Saṃghavarman 康 僧鎧 (ca. 252). In T12.365. Haogutang jiacang shuhuaji 好古堂家藏書畫記, by Yao Jiheng 姚際恒 (1647-1715). In Zhongguo shuhua quanshu 18, edited by Lu Fusheng 盧輔聖 et al., 712-37. Shanghai: Shanghai shuhua chubanshe, 1994. Hou han shu 後漢書, edited by Fan Ye 范曄 (398-445). Beijing: Zhonghua shuji, 1965. Hua shi 畫史, by Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107). In In Huapin congshu 畫品叢書, edited by Yu Anlan 于安瀾. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1982. Huachanshi suibi 画禅室随笔, by Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555-1636). Shanghai: Guangzhi shuju, ca. 1920.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

281

Huizhu lu 揮麈錄, by Wang Mingqing 王明清 (1127-ca. 1215). In SKQS 1038.363-617. Jiu Tang shu 舊唐書, edited by Liu Xu 劉昫 (887-946). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975. Koran, translated by Ma Jian 馬堅. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1996. Lidai minghua ji 歷代名畫記, by Zhang Yanyuan 張彥遠 (815-907). In HSCS 1. Liu binke wenji 劉賓客文集, by Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫 (722-842). In SKQS 1077.323-594. Shantang sikao 山堂肆考, by Peng Dayi 彭大翼 (1552-1643). In SKQS 974-vol.978. Shengchao minghua ping 聖朝名畫評, by Liu Daochun 劉道醇 (fl. 11th century). In Huapin congshu 畫品叢書, edited by Yu Anlan 于安瀾. Shanghai: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe, 1982. Shicang lidai shi xuan 石倉歷代詩選, by Cao Xuequan 曹學佺 (1574-1646). In SKQS 1387-1394. Shi ji 史記, by Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145-90 BC), Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959. Shuangxi ji 雙溪集, by Su Zhou 蘇籀 (ca. 1091-1164). In SKQS 1136.121-282. Song zhongxin guange chucang tuhua ji 宋中興館閣儲藏圖畫記, by 楊王休 (1135-1200). In Meishu congshu 美术叢书 35.4, Series 5, 203-52. Tianshui bingshan lu 天水冰山錄, by Wu Yunjia 吳允嘉 (Qing). In Congshu jicheng chubian 1502-1504. Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1937. Tuhua jianwen zhi 圖畫見聞志, by Guo Ruoxu 郭若虛 (fl. 1070-1075). In HSCS 1. Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所說經, translated by Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什(344 －413). In T14.475. Wei Shu 魏書, by Chen Shou 陳壽 (233-297). In San Guo Zhi 三國志. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959. Xuanhe huapu 宣和畫譜. In HSCS 2. Yizhou minghua lu 益州名畫錄, by Huang Xiufu 黃休復 (fl. 10th-11th centuries). In HSCS 4. Yuan shi xuan 元詩選, edited by Gu Sili 顧嗣立 (1665-1722). In SKQS 1468-1471. Zishan daquanji 紫山大全集, by Hu Zhiyu 胡祗遹 (1227-1295). In SKQS 1196.



Secondary Sources

Chen Anli 陳安利 and Ma Yongzhong 馬永鐘. “Xi’an Wangjiafen Tangdai Tang’an gongzhu mu” 西安王家墳唐代唐安公主墓. Wenwu 9 (1991), 16-27. Chen Yunru 陳韻如. “Ba zhi shiyi shiji de huaniao hua zhi bian” 八至十一世紀的花鳥 畫之變. In Yishushi zhong de Han Jin yu Tang Song zhi bian 藝術史中的漢晉與唐宋 之變, edited by Shi Shouqian 石守謙 and Yan Quanying 顏娟英, 343-84. Taiwan: Shitou chuban gufen youxian gongsi, 2014. Chen Zhihua 陳志華. Waiguo zaoyuan yishu 外國造園藝術. Zhengzhou: Henan kexue jishu chubanshe, 2001. Chi Naipeng 遲乃鵬. “Han Yu ‘Fenghe Qian Qixiong caozhang penchi suozhi’ shi de xinian” 韓愈《奉和錢七兄曹長盆池所植》詩的系年. Chengdu shizhuan xuebao 1 (1986), 57-58.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

282

Liu

Gyllensvard, Bo. “Recent Finds of Chinese Ceramics at Fostat—I.” The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 45 (1973), 91-118. Han Wei 韓偉, ed. Hai neiwai Tangdai jinyinqi cuibian 海內外唐代金銀器萃編, Xi’an: Sanqin chubanshe, 1999. Harigaya, Shōkichi 針ケ谷鐘吉. Xifang zaoyuan bianqian shi—cong yidianyuan dao tianran gongyuan 西方造園變遷史——從伊甸園到天然公園. Translated by Zou Hongcan 鄒洪燦. Beijing: Zhongguo jianzhu gongye chubanshe, 1991. Hourani, Albert Habib. A History of the Arab Peoples, New York: Warner Books. 1991. Huang, Shih-shan Suan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2012. Jiang Boqin 姜伯勤. Dunhuang Tulufan wenshu yu sichou zhi lu 敦煌吐鲁番文书与丝绸 之路. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1994. Khansari, Mehdi, M. Reza Moghtader, and Minouch Yavari. The Persian Garden: Echoes of Paradise. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers, 1998. Kort, Michael. Central Asian Republics. Infobase Publishing, 2004. Ledderose, Lothar. “The Earthly Paradise: Religious Elements in Chinese Landscape Art.” In Theories of the Arts in China, edited by Susan Bush and Christian Murck, 165-83. Princeton University Press, 1983. Litvinsky, B.A. et al., eds. History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999. Liu Jie 劉婕. Tangdai huaniao hua yanjiu 唐代花鳥畫研究. Beijing: Wenhua yishu chubanshe, 2013. Li Xingming 李星明. Tangdai mushi bihua yanjiu 唐代墓室壁畫研究. Xi’an: Shaanxi renmin meishu chubanshe, 2005. Li Zhiruo 酈芷若 and Zhu Jianning 朱建寧. Xifang yuanlin 西方園林. Zhengzhou: Henan kexue jishu chubanshe, 2001. Luo Shiping 羅世平and Liao Yang 廖旸. Gudai bihuamu 古代壁畫墓, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2005. Mu Peng 慕鵬, Ma Yisha 馬依莎, and Li Defang 李德方. “Tang Dongdu Bai Juyi zhaiyuan yizhi ji zaoyuan tezheng yanjiu” 唐東都白居易宅園遺址及造園特徵研究. Huanghe keji daxue xuebao 14.4 (July 2012), 31-33. Nissen, Hans J. and Peter Heine. From Mesopotamia to Iraq. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009. Qi Dongfang 齊東方. Tangdai jinyinqi yanjiu 唐代金銀器研究. Beijing: Zhongguo shehuikexue chubanshe, 1999. Rawson, Jessica (Jiexika Louosen 杰西卡·罗森). “Zhongguo yinqi he ciqi de guanxi (xiyuan 600-1400 nian)—yishu he gongyi fangmian de ruogan wenti” 中國銀器和瓷器 的關係（西元 600-1400 年）——藝術和工藝方面的若干問題， translated by Lü Chenglong 呂成龍. Gugong bowuyuan yuankan 4 (1986), 32-36. Sackville-West, Vita. “Persian Gardens.” In The Legacy of Persia, edited by A.J. Arberry, 259-91. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1953.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Paintings of Birds by Basins

283

Shaanxi sheng kaogu yanjiusuo 陝西省考古研究所, ed. Famensi kaogu fajue baogao 法 門寺考古發掘報告, 2 vols. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2007. Shaanxi sheng wenwu guanli weiyuanhui 陝西省文物管理委員會. “Xi’an xijiao Zhongbaocun Tangmu qingli jianbao” 西安西郊中堡村唐墓清理簡報. Kaogu 3 (1960), 34-38. Stein, Rolf A. The World in Miniature: Container Gardens and Dwellings in Far Eastern Religious Thought. Standford University Press, 1990. Stewart, Susan, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection, Durham: Duke University Press, 1993. Su Bai 宿白. Zhang Yanyuan he Lidai minghua ji 張彥遠和《歷代名畫記》. Beijing: Wenwu chubashe, 2008. Wang Guowei 王國維. “Gengxin zhijian dushu ji” 庚辛之間讀書記. In Wang Guowei yi shu 王國維遺書. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1983. Wang Shijie 王世傑. Yizhentang shuhua 藝珍堂書畫. Tokyo: Nigensha, 1979. Xu Weibo 徐維波, Wei Feng 韋峰. “Cong ‘Chi shang pian’ yu ‘Lushan Caotang ji’ kan Bai Juyi de zaoyuan sixiang” 從《池上篇》與《廬山草堂記》看白居易的造園思想. Nanfang jianzhu 2 (2003), 82-84. Xu Weibo 徐維波 and Wei Fong 韋峰. “Tang Song sijia yuanlin huanjing moshi bianqian yanjiu” 唐宋私家園林環境模式變遷研究. Jianzhushi 4 (2009), 77-84. Yang Zhishui 揚之水. Zhongzhao cailan—Gu mingwu xunwei 終朝采藍—— 古名物尋 微. Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi Sanlian shudian, 2008. Yuan Quan 袁泉. “Tangsong zhi ji taoci gongyi dui jinshuqi de jiejian,” 唐宋之際陶瓷工 藝對金屬器的借鑒. Huaxia Kaogu 4 (2008), 115-29. Zhang Daosen 張道森 and Wu Weiqiang 吳偉強. “Anyang chutu Tangmu bihua huaniao bufen de yishu jiazhi” 安陽出土唐墓壁畫花鳥部份的藝術價值. Anyang shifan xueyuan xuebao 6 (2001), 42-44. Zhang Daosen 張道森 and Wu Weiqiang 吳偉強. “Anyang Tangdai mushi bihua chutan” 安陽唐代墓室壁畫初探. Meishu yanjiu 2 (2001), 26-28. Zhang Jing 張靜, Qi Dongfang 齊東方. Gudai jinyinqi yanjiu 古代金銀器研究. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2008. Zhang Lan 張蘭 and Bao Zhiyi 包志毅. “Shanshuihua yu Zhongguo gudian yuanlin—yi Wang Wei shanshuihua ji qi Wangchuan Bieye wei li” 山水畫與中國古典園林—— 以 王維山水畫及其輞川別業為例. Huazhong jianzhu 23 (July 2005), 111-13. Zhongguo gudai shuhua jiandingzu 中國古代書畫鑑定組, Zhongguo gudai shuhua tumu 中國古代書畫圖目. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1986. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan kaogu yanjiusuo Luoyang Tangcheng dui 中國社會科學 院考古研究所洛陽唐城隊. “Luoyang Tang Dongdu Lüdaofang Bai Juyi guju fajue jian­ bao” 洛陽唐東都履道坊白居易故居發掘簡報. Kaogu 8 (1994), 692-701. Zhou Weiquan 周維權. Zhongguo gudian yuanlin shi 中國古典園林史. Beijing: Qinghua daxue chubanshe, 1990.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

284

Li

Chapter 8 Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

Chinese Objects Recovered from Sutra Mounds in Japan, 1000-1300 Yiwen Li In 1175, two Japanese Buddhists carved their prayer on a sunflower-shaped Chinese mirror. They then re-purposed that mirror as the lid of a sutra container, and buried it in a sutra mound in modern Miyazaki 宮崎 Prefecture on the island of Kyushu 九州, Japan, as part of an offering in anticipation of the coming of the Final Dharma (末法 Ch. mofa; J. mappō).1 According to the inscription on the mirror, they were praying for a peaceful life.2 A stamp on the mirror gives the name and location of the workshop that manufactured it— “the bronze mirror was made by the fifteenth son of the Shi 石 family in Huzhou 湖州.”3 Huzhou mirrors were not the only Chinese objects that ended up in sutra mounds on the Japanese archipelago: porcelain boxes, porcelain sutra containers, and ceramic outer containers made on the continent have also been excavated from sutra mounds in Kyushu, Shikoku 四国, and southern Honshu 本州 islands. The Miyazaki Prefecture finds fit into the prevailing understanding of the trade between Song dynasty China and Japan: the Chinese-made goods traveled along the well-documented sea route between Ningbo 寧波 (known in the Song as Mingzhou 明州), also in Zhejiang 浙江 province, and Hakata 博多 (modern Fukuoka 福岡), on Kyushu. Other goods of Chinese manufacture, or karamono (唐物, Ch. tangwu, literally, “Tang goods”), excavated from sutra burial mounds moved along undocumented routes from northern China, possibly through the Korean peninsula, and suggest a larger picture of East Asian trade than previously understood. Building sutra mounds was a popular way to prepare for the Final Dharma in the Japanese archipelago, particularly between the eleventh and thirteenth 1 This research was supported by a fellowship from the Japan Foundation. I sincerely thank Youn-mi Kim, Valerie Hansen, Shih-shan Susan Huang, Patricia Ebrey, Tsubasa Nakamura, and Mark Baker for their valuable suggestions. Chang, 7-14 shiji zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 167. 2 Kyōzuka ibun, 153. 3 Chang, 7-14 shiji zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 167. Huzhou was a prefecture south of Lake Tai in modern Zhejiang province, 150 km west of Shanghai.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi Patricia 10.1163/9789004349377_010 Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

285

centuries. But the situation was completely different for its continental neighbor: no sutra mounds have yet been found in China, nor are any recorded in any extant texts. Why did the Japanese bury Chinese objects when they built sutra mounds? Is there anything special about them? What can we learn from this activity of burying such objects in sutra mounds? Attempting to answer these questions brings to the fore the material aspect of the visual and material cultures in Middle Period China and beyond. By investigating the distribution and function of Chinese objects recovered from sutra mounds in Japan, this study sheds light on the Japanese reception of Chinese objects, the influence of China on Japan, and the undocumented but very real maritime networks spanning East Asia In this essay the word “China” does not refer to only the Song dynasty (9601276). It also includes the Liao dynasty (907-1125)—a dynasty established by the nomadic Kitan people that was the Song’s northern rival. The devoutly Buddhist ruling class of the Liao believed in the Final Dharma, as did their contemporary Japanese neighbors. The similarities between Japan and the Liao provide fertile ground for comparison and help illuminate Japanese prepa­rations for the Final Dharma. This chapter also shows that the interaction between the Liao and Japan was much more extensive than previously believed.4

Building Sutra Mounds: The Characteristics of the Preparation for the Final Dharma in Japan

Japanese devotees believed that the Dharma, the Buddha’s teaching, would pass through successive stages of degeneration: the True Dharma, the Sem­ blance Dharma, and the Final Dharma. During the True Dharma, the Buddha’s teachings and practices are available and enlightenment is achievable, while during the Semblance Dharma the teachings and practices are maintained but humanity’s spiritual capacity has seriously diminished. When the Final Dharma comes, proper practices will disappear; only the teachings remain, but they are doomed to vanish soon. The world will then slip into the Dark Age, when the capacity for enlightenment becomes extremely low, and the world

4 Recently scholars have started to pay more attention to Liao-Japanese relations. See Yiengpruksawan, Hiraizumi; Kamikawa, Nihon chūsei Bukkyō shiryōron; and Kim, “The Secret Link.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

286

Li

will continue to decline for some ten thousand years.5 To counter this, Japanese Buddhists buried sutras underground to preserve the teachings until the arrival of the next Buddha, Maitreya (彌勒, Ch. Mile; J. Miroku), in the distant future.6 Buddhists in different places disagreed about the timing of the Final Dharma. Most Japanese seem to have accepted that the Final Dharma would come in 1052. Under the entry of the first month of that year, the Fusō ryakuki (A Brief History of Japan) records: “[we] stepped into the Final Dharma this year.”7 In China this had happened earlier, as the Buddhist persecution in the sixth century prompted Chinese Buddhists in the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618906) dynasties to believe that they were living in the stage of the Final Dharma.8 In order to prepare for the Final Dharma, Japanese devotees built sutra mounds all over the country, with the exception of Hokkaido.9 In these mounds, they buried sutras together with donated objects in the hope of preserving them through the Dark Age. They always placed the sutras in sutra containers, many of which had outer cases, to protect them. At some sites, they sealed the pit with stones and charcoal, which succeeded in keeping some texts intact for a thousand years (Figures 8.1 and 8.2).10 As far as we know, the first person who buried sutras underground in Japan was Fujiwara no Michinaga 藤原道長 (966-1027) —a grand councilor from the prestigious Fujiwara clan, second only to the imperial lineage.11 He placed fifteen sutra scrolls in a gilded bronze sutra container and buried them on Kinpusen Mountain 金峯山 near today’s Nara in 1007 (See Figure 8.3). The sutra container, which is now a national treasure in Japan, bears the longest inscription that has so far been found on any sutra container. In the inscription, Michinaga mentions that he hand-copied all the sutras himself, and he explains his reason for donating various kinds of sutras. For example, by copying and donating the Amida sutra, he hopes that when the final moment of death comes, his body and his spirit will not scatter but be reborn in the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha. Michinaga does not mention the Final Dharma explicitly in the inscription, but the explanation for burying the 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Moerman, “The Archeology of Anxiety,” 246. Moerman, “The Archeology of Anxiety,” 245. Fusō ryakuki 292. Moerman, “The Archeology of Anxiety,” 247. See Moerman, “The Archeology of Anxiety,” 254. Also see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 122. Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 154; Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Mirai e no okurimono, 126-39. Hosaka, Kyōzuka ronkō, 9.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

287

Figure 8.1 Sutra containers inside an outer container. After Seki Hideo, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, plate 20.

Figure 8.2 Sutras removed from a sutra container. After Seki Hideo, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, plate 38.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

288

Li

Figure 8.3 Fujiwara no Michinaga’s gilded bronze sutra container, with inscription on the surface. Height: 36.4 cm; diameter: 15.3 cm. Kinpu shrine. After Kyōto kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Fujiwara no Michinaga, 110.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

289

Maitreya sutra indicates his belief in the Final Dharma. Michinaga writes that when the Maitreya Buddha arrives, he hopes that he can see the Buddha from the Western Paradise, and that at that time “the sutras that are buried here will surge out of the underground naturally.”12 Michinaga’s inscription shares certain elements with other inscriptions recovered from sutra mounds. These inscriptions are prayers connected with the Final Dharma. Seki Hideo divides the inscriptions retrieved from sutra mounds into two categories. The inscriptions in the first category pray only for longevity or attaining enlightenment but do not explicitly mention the Final Dharma. The inscriptions in the other category, however, include words related to Maitreya, such as “meeting the Master Jison [Maitreya] when he arrives in this world” 遇慈尊之出世.13 Even Michinaga also had some purely secular wishes that he did not mention in his long inscription. When Michinaga was on his trip to Kinpusen Mountain, his household was going through a crisis: his daughter Fujiwara no Shōshi 藤原彰子 (988-1074), who was also Emperor Ichijō’s 一条 (r. 986-1011) empress, had not yet given birth to a child. Since the flourishing of the Fujiwara clan was based on intermarriage with the imperial clan and the consequent maternal relationship to the next emperor, failing to produce a child could jeopardize the established status of the house. Therefore, on the very day he made his way to the sutra burial site, Michinaga first visited a shrine worshiping the Child Protector Komori Sanshō 小守三所.14 Fortunately, at the beginning of the next year, Michinaga’s daughter became pregnant and gave birth to the future Emperor Go-Ichijō 後一条 (r. 1016-1036).15 The prompt fulfillment of Michinaga’s wish contributed to the popularity of sutra mounds among the upper aristocracy. In turn, the practice of making sutra mounds then spread from aristocrats to temples, since Michinaga was accompanied by several prominent Buddhists on his Kinpusen trip. Other inscriptions also fall into the first category, with prayers for a long lifespan, recovery from disease, salvation after death, or attaining enlightenment. For example, the inscription on the Miyazaki Prefecture mirror from 1175 reads: “Donated one mirror. The persons who make the donation are Monk Kyōshū 経秀 and the oldest son of the Fujiwara [family]. [We pray to] disperse disasters, extend our lifespan, and increase fortune and longevity. May every 12 13 14 15

Kyōto kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Fujiwara no Michinaga, 17. Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, 32. Midō kanpakuki 329. Midō kanpakuki 337.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

290

Li

house enjoy peace, and may disease and suffering vanish.”16 In another inscription carved on a bronze sutra container from Fukuoka in 1136, someone named Li Taizi 李太子 (probably Chinese, judging from his name) buried sutras for the rebirth of his mother, who was a Buddhist.17 The diversity of the forms of sutra mounds and the accompanying objects indicates that both rich and poor buried sutras. While some sutra mounds are full of delicate objects, some devotees could barely afford a sutra container made of bamboo or wood.18 Since the coming of the Final Dharma would make it difficult to attain enlightenment, it is plausible that people not only sought to preserve sutras but also made donations to the Buddha. Through such acts they hoped to achieve multiple goals, including obtaining peace in this life and rebirth in the next. Devotees buried sutras in mounds along with various objects, of which mirrors, coins, knives, and images of the Buddha were the most common. Most of the objects were, of course, made in Japan, but a considerable number of Chinese-made mirrors, coins, and porcelain containers have also been excavated. Figure 8.4 shows a typical set of objects from a sutra mound in Fukuoka Prefecture, including a bronze sutra container, a knife (both made in Japan), a porcelain container, a bronze mirror, and a ceramic outer container (all made in China). This essay focuses mainly on the objects produced in China. The Japanese practice of building sutra mounds started in the eleventh century and lasted until at least the second half of the nineteenth century. Map 8.1 shows the distribution of sutra mounds between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, the time when sutra mounds were most common. A sur­prisingly large proportion of them were concentrated in northern Kyushu, as shown in the upper left side of the map. Chijiwa Minoru has conducted a survey on the building dates of sutra mounds, showing Kyushu’s crucial role. According to Chijiwa survey, almost all of the sutra mounds were made between 1060 and 1140 were in Kyushu.19 This suggests that the practice of building sutra mounds began in Kyushu and then spread to other places. Even in the Kinai 畿内 region around Kyoto, where Fujiwara no Michinaga erected the first sutra mound in 1007, the practice did not quickly catch on, as the early sutra mounds there come at intervals of several decades. Building sutra mounds did not become popular in the Kinai region until the 1150s, at least 50 years later than in Kyushu. 16 17 18 19

Kyōzuka ibun 153. Kyōzuka ibun 65. See Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, plate 7. Chijiwa, “Hachiman shinkō to kyōzuka no hassei,” 433.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

291

Figure 8.4 A sutra container with its outer container and donated objects. Collection of the Kyushu historical museum. After Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Mirai e no okurimono, 180.

Map 8.1 The distribution of sutra mounds in Japan (11-13th century). Source: Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono ibutsu, 80.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

292

Li

The prevalence of sutra mounds in northern Kyushu must have been connected to the trade with China. During the period from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, northern Kyushu was the “gateway to Japan.”20 Boats coming from China arrived in Hakata first and reported to the local headquarters Dazaifu 太宰府 there. Furthermore, the bronze sutra container in Fig 8.4 was produced in Japan, but the innerside of its bottom part carries an ink mark reads “Xu Gong” 徐工.21 This type of ink mark frequently appears on porcelains transported by the Song merchants, and the ink mark here suggests the direct participation of the Song merchants in transporting and distributing the objects—including objects not produced in China—that were important in building sutra mounds.22

Go Overseas, Become Sacred: The Transformation of the Original Function of Chinese Objects

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Kyushu and the Kinai region had the largest number of Chinese objects, but these objects gradually spread over the whole archipelago. The changing uses of these Chinese objects give us some clues to how Japanese saw the objects that had been carried across the sea. Some Chinese objects took on entirely new function, while others saw greater ritual use. Chinese ceramic jars assumed dramatically new uses. Quite a few jars have been excavated from sutra mounds, and they were often used as outer containers to hold sutra containers (usually made of bronze) inside (see Figure 8.4 above). These jars have four small handles around the shoulder part, and are known in Chinese as sixi guan 四繫罐, literally “four tie jars.” They could be hung from walls or ceilings by tying ropes to the handles, and they were ordinary utensils in China, but apparently they could not be hung in the same way underground. Sometimes even the appearance of some jars was modified as well to adjust to their new function. The art historian Xie Mingliang points out that the glaze on the shoulder part of one jar was intentionally erased, so that the rest of glaze formed a picture of distant mountains, creating a chilly and silent atmosphere that suited the purpose of the sutra burials (Figure 8.5).23 20 21 22 23

Batten, Gateway to Japan. Nara kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Seichi Ninpō, 30. Nara kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Seichi Ninpō, 279. Xie, Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi, 73.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

Figure 8.5 Outer container whose exterior has been changed. After Xie, Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi, 73.

293

Figure 8.6 Outer container whose exterior has been changed. Height: 36.2 cm. Umi Hachimangū shrine. After Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Mirai e no okurimono, 162.

This practice was not unique. The Kyushu National Museum contains another jar whose surface has been carved (Figure 8.6).24 Among all the Chinese objects found in sutra mounds, next to copper coins, porcelain boxes are the most common. Those small porcelain boxes usually contained cosmetics in China, but in Japan they held glass beads. For example, a porcelain box from a site in Mount Asama 朝熊山 contains twenty-eight glass beads (Figure 8.7). Glass beads were also found in a small porcelain jar from Mount Wakayama 和歌山. Xie Mingliang suggests that this may be a substitute for donating jewel beads to the Buddha—an activity that Buddhists were very keen to perform.25 Bronze mirrors are the most important object that took on new purposes in Japanese sutra mounds. Their original and primary function was for daily life: many paintings and tomb murals show women using mirrors in front of their dressing tables. The Baisha 白沙 Song tomb in Henan 河南 province has a 24 25

Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Mirai e no okurimono, 163. Xie, Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi, 74.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

294

Li

Figure 8.7 Cosmetic box repurposed to hold Buddhist relics in the form of glass beads. After Xie, Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi, 74.

mural picturing a woman looking at herself in a mirror and putting on hair accessories.26 Bronze mirrors, as an everyday item, are often excavated from tombs in China. Scholars have not yet reached full agreement on the function of the mirrors in tombs, but the prevailing view is that while some mirrors were intended to protect the occupants from evil spirits, others were just objects that the occupants used in their lifetimes. The Chinese bronze mirrors from the sutra mounds are mostly mirrors made in the Grand Canal town of Huzhou—one type produced in bulk and widely used throughout China. In China, most of the Huzhou mirrors have been excavated from tombs, especially tombs of women or married couples. For example, a Huzhou mirror was found in the tomb belonging to a Lady Wu in the Song, whose father was the provincial military governor in Fujian. The mirror was placed in a delicate lacquer box in the same sunflower shape as the mirror.27 Such mirrors probably were used by the occupants in life and became mortuary objects after death. Especially in Lady Wu’s case, since the mirror was sealed in a box and therefore could not reflect light, it could not have been there for the purpose of exposing evil spirits. It was simply a mortuary object. The Huzhou mirrors in Japan, however, were buried in sutra mounds with no human occupants.28 They were put there not to mimic real-world use, but for their religious implications. Some mirrors were supposed to protect the 26 27 28

See Su, Baisha Song mu, 26-28 and plate 27. Wang, Zhejiang chutu tongjing, 16. There is only one single instance in which a Huzhou mirror was found in a tomb in Japan; the mirror was placed in a box near the head of the occupant, and this tomb was in Hakata. (See Chang, 7-14 shiji Zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 152.) Celadons from the Longquan 龍泉 kilns were excavated from the same tomb. It is possible that the occupant was actually Chinese—perhaps a merchant living in Hakata who followed the Chinese funerary tradition.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

295

sutras, and were duly placed very close to them, or were even incorporated to part of the sutra container, while other mirrors were included as donations to the Buddha and scattered in the mounds relatively far away from the sutras.29 Sometimes the donors even modified Huzhou mirrors before they buried them underground. Some Huzhou mirrors were found with images of the Buddha on them,30 and since the images are on the reflective side of the mirrors, these mirrors lost their practical function but became the objects of veneration. When the Japanese monk Chōnen 奝然 (938-1016) returned to Japan from China in 987, he brought back a wooden Shakyamuni sculpture. In 1954, a list of donors and their donations was found in the abdomen of this sculpture. On that list, three Chinese Buddhists donated mirrors which were also present in the abdomen.31 These mirrors are usually thought to represent “the Buddha’s internal organs.”32 One mirror has a Kannon Bodhisattva image on it (See Figure 8.8), and it is one of the earliest examples of a mirror with Buddha image found in Japan.33 As Chōnen’s case suggests, although burying modified mirrors with sutras was a unique practice that we only found in Japan, the connection between mirrors and Buddhism—and other kinds of religious ceremonies such as Daoist and funeral ceremonies—is well-attested across East Asia.34 For example, mirrors are among the twenty-one kinds of donations in the ceremony of assembly on the concept of Prajñāpāramitā, and they figure among the common donations to the Buddha.35 In the Digong Hall 地宫 of the Leifeng 雷峰 Pagoda in Hangzhou 杭州, archaeologists excavated ten bronze mirrors.36 Huzhou mirrors always bore stamps with the name of the manufacturer on the face. For example, the most common inscription is “an authentic mirror made by the second uncle Nian of the Shi family” (Huzhou zhen Shijia Nian Ershu zhaozi 湖州真石家念二叔照子; See Figure 8.9)—among 182 mirrors, fifty-one (28%) have this inscription. The Shi family was the most famous mirror manufacturer: besides Nian Ershu, the name of Shi Shiwu lang (石十五郎, 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Muraki, “Kyōzuka ni mainausareru kagami,” 117-48. Muraki, “Kyōzuka ni mainausareru kagami,” 131-34 ; Chang, 7-14 shiji Zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 161. Oku, “Seiryōji Shakanyorai zō,” 44-45; Hao, Diaoran yu Song chu de zhongri fofa jiaoliu, 18182. Oku, “Seiryōji Shakanyorai zō,” 45-49; Liu, Jing yu Zhongguo chuantong wenhua, 208. Muraki, “Kyōzuka ni mainausareru kagami,” 131. For Daoist uses of mirrors, see Huang, Picturing the True Form, 221-29. Liu, Jing yu Zhongguo chuantong wenhua, 203. Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusu, Leifengta yizhi, 157.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

296

Li

Figure 8.8 A bronze mirror with the image of Kannon Bodhisattva on it. Seiryōji monastery. After Oku, “Seiryōji Shakanyorai zō,” plate 22.

Figure 8.9 Huzhou mirror excavated from China. After Wang, Zhejiang chutu tongjing, plate 165.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

297

the fifteenth son of the Shi family) and Shi Shi lang (石十郎, the tenth son of the Shi family) also appear frequently. Sometimes the inscription only says “Huzhou Shi jia qingtong zhaozi” 湖州石家青銅照子 or “Huzhou zhenzheng Shi jia qingtong zhaozi” 湖州真正石家青銅照子. The common use of “zhen” or “zhenzheng,” meaning “authentic,” in the stamps implies the existence of numerous workshops in Huzhou and the fierce competition among them. The stamps serve as an important clue to compare the mirrors found in China with those in Japan. Mirrors excavated from tombs in China bear exactly the same stamp as mirrors from sutra mounds in Japan, indicating that they were from the same workshop.37 According to Wang Shilun, the stamps on Huzhou mirrors display forty-one different kinds of inscriptions, twenty-nine of which appear on mirrors excavated in Japan. Only three kinds of inscriptions were found both in China and in Japan while twenty-six kinds have only appeared in Japan. Based on Wang’s survey, Chang Lan surmises that if Wang’s statistics are reliable, then there must have been some workshops producing mirrors exclusively for overseas markets.38 However, in the absence of more convincing discoveries, the evidence of bronze workshops producing exclusively for overseas trade is inconclusive. First, Wang’s statistics are incomplete. Wang did the investigation more than four decades ago, when the Japanese had excavated many more sites than the Chinese. Second, and more importantly, the discrepancy reveals the different uses of mirrors in China and Japan. Since the mirrors were used by consumers in China, few survive nearly a millennium later. Thus the high survival rate of Huzhou mirrors in Japan confirms their special status there—they were not consumed but buried as ritual offerings.

Made in China: Japanese Reception of Chinese Objects

Why did the Japanese devotees choose Chinese objects for sutra burial? According to the inscriptions, when Japanese buried objects in sutra mounds, they paid close attention to the manufacturers. On Fujiwara no Michinaga’s delicate, gilded sutra container, the name of the manufacturer, “Tomonobusuke” 伴延助 was carved right at the bottom.39 The same workshop probably also produced the gilded bronze lantern at the top of Michinaga’s sutra mound. 37 38 39

For example, see Wang, Zhejiang chutu tongjing, plate 165, and Chang, 7-14 shiji Zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 353. Chang, 7-14 shiji Zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 158. Kyōto kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Fujiwara no Michinaga, 11.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

298

Li

An inscription on a bronze sutra container excavated from Osaka lists fourteen Buddhists’ names, followed by the date. But right after the date, it gives another monk’s name—he was probably the one who initiated the whole ­project. Next to his name was written: “Artisan of bronze Mononobe Tadatoshi” 銅細工 物部忠俊.40 In another inscription, the donor recorded his wish to donate this particular sutra container, and after the date, again, both the donor’s name and the manufacturer’s name were carved.41 Similarly, the artisan Fujiwara no Morimichi’s name appears on at least four extant sutra containers, and his contemporaries greatly appreciated his work.42 All of these examples show that the identity of the manufacturer mattered to the donors. The more prestigious the manufacturer, the more merit accrued to the donor. Since Japanese devotees barely knew anything about the Chinese manufacturers, why did they bury imported objects from China with great respect? Japanese devotees treated Song and Liao China in general as a single manufacturer, whose products were especially powerful. There is no sutra mound in Japan that contains only Chinese objects, but many sutra mounds have only Japanese objects. The mounds with Huzhou mirrors always include Japanese mirrors, too, and more of them than Chinese-made mirrors. Those who had access to Chinese objects could also easily obtain Japanese objects. These devotees believed that they could build sutra mounds with only Japanese goods, but Chinese manufactured items brought extra ritual power. The special ritual power of Chinese objects derived from the origin of the sutra burial. The inscriptions often refer to Nyohōkyō 如法経, literally “sutras [prepared] in accordance with the Dharma.” These were sutras written and worshipped following certain procedures, most of which are specified in the Lotus Sutra. The Nyohōkyō preparation of texts originated in Sui and Tang China. As early as the eighth century, Nyohōkyō sutras appeared in Japan, and the Japanese monk-pilgrim Ennin 円仁 (794-864) completed all the ritual preparations to make a set of Nyohōkyō sutras at Mount Hiei 比叡山 outside of Kyoto between 824 and 833. Ennin did not bury the sutras, but stored them in a miniature pagoda placed in a hall.43 Thanks to his detailed and informative diary, The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (Nittō guhō junrei kōki 入唐求法巡禮行記), Ennin was famous throughout Japan for his trip to Tang China;44 in addition, Ennin’s 40 41 42 43 44

Kyōzuka ibun, 66. Kyōzuka ibun, 145. Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, 52-53. Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, 34. See Hansen, “The Devotional Use of Buddhist Art in Ennin’s Diary.”

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

299

mentor Saichō 最澄 (767-882) also went to China in 804, and his teaching was deeply influenced by what he learned there.45 Furthermore, there is no doubt that the Chinese origin of Nyohōkyō added to the importance of Chinese elements in sutra burial. However, in 1031, 167 years after Ennin’s death, and twenty-one years before the anticipated start of the Final Dharma, Fujiwara no Shōshi sponsored the building of a bronze pagoda at Mount Hiei, placed Ennin’s sutras inside, and buried them. Thus a connection between Ennin and sutra burial was established which contemporaries readily accepted. Archeologists excavated some sutras that had been buried in Wakayama Prefecture in 1158, whose colophon explained: “expecting the arrival of the Maitreya Buddha, fulfilling the wish of the Master Jikaku 慈覚大師 [Ennin].”46 Based on his diary, before his trip to Kinpusen Mountain, Fujiwara no Michinaga also followed Ennin’s example and conducted all the necessary procedures to make Nyohōkyō sutras, which he later placed in that gilded bronze sutra container.

Reflecting Networks over the Sea: East Asian Maritime World Seen from Sutra Mounds

The distribution of Chinese objects followed several important trade routes: the route connecting Kyushu and the Kansai region was the most crucial and presumably the busiest one—many objects traveled across the Inland Sea, as is shown by the many Chinese objects found in almost every prefecture of Shikoku.47 Shizuoka 静岡 Prefecture and Mie 三重 Prefecture along the southeast coast of Honshu have also produced many Chinese objects, indicating the extension of sea routes there.48 However, the farther northeast one goes, the fewer Chinese objects one finds. The Chinese objects in sutra mounds confirm that the best-documented trade route between China and Japan connected Ningbo in southeast China to Hakata in northern Kyushu.49 Among the mirrors from China, Huzhou mirrors occupy the largest share, which is not surprising given that Huzhou produced 45 46 47 48 49

See Borgen, “The Japanese Mission to China, 801-806.” Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, 29-30, 34-35. Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 767-76. Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 715-19,722-26. For the Ningbo-Hakata route, see Nakajima and Itō ed., Ninpō to Hakata; and Ningbo hai­ shang sichouzhilu shenbao shijiewenhuayichan bangongshi et al., eds., Ningbo yu hai­ shang sichouzhilu.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

300

Li

the largest number of bronze mirrors in China between the eleventh and twelfth centuries.50 In Chinese local gazetteers, “mirrors” sometimes appear in the section of “local products (土產).” The Ming Huzhou gazetteer from the Chenghua reign period (1465-1487) records: “The artisans in the prefectural capital know how to make the best bronze mirrors. Everyone calls these mirrors ‘Huzhou mirrors.’”51 Huzhou mirrors have also been found in many provinces in China, indicating their popularity in the domestic market. Given the high production and popularity of Huzhou mirrors, it stands to reason that many of them were excavated in Japan. The high proportion of these mirrors was due to Huzhou’s proximity to Ningbo—the most important Sino-Japanese trade port on the continent.52 Raozhou 饒州 (modern Poyang 鄱陽, Jiangxi Province) produced the second largest number of mirrors in the Song, but no Raozhou mirrors have yet been found in Japan.53 On the contrary, mirrors from Wuzhou 婺州 (modern Jinhua 金華, Zhejiang Province) and Ningbo have appeared in Japan. Neither city was famous for manufacturing mirrors, but they were close to the trade port. However, there are only a very few of these mirrors, and they were not buried in sutra mounds.54 Thus, in addition to the production itself, the ease of transportation from a manufacturer to the trade port also played a crucial role: The relatively long distance and inconvenient transportation between Raozhou and Ningbo restricted the number of Raozhou mirrors exported to Japan, while Huzhou mirrors circulated in the archipelago due to the proximity of Huzhou workshops to Ningbo. Intriguingly, besides being a famous site of bronze mirror production, Huzhou was also the place that printed the Buddhist Tripitaka in the Song dynasty.55 Some of the Huzhou-printed Tripitaka sets that were brought to Japan survive today. Ono Genmyō points out that the Huzhou Tripitaka has two editions: the Huzhou Sixi Yuanjue Zen Temple 湖州思溪圓覺禪院 edition and the Huzhou Sixi Fabao Zifu Temple 湖州思溪法寶資福寺 edition,56 which 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Chen, “Songdai tongjing jianlun,” 97-100. Huzhou fuzhi (Chenghua), 8.87. Trade connections between Ningbo and Japan also figure in Bloom’s chapter in this volume. Chen, “Songdai tongjing jianlun,” 100-01; Chang, 7-14 shiji zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kao­ guxue yanjiu, 159. Chang, 7-14 shiji zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu, 159. See Chia, “The Life and Afterlife of Qisha Canon,” 182; and Wu et al., “The Birth of the First Printed Canon,” 171. Ono Genmyō, “Sōdai shōkei enkaku zenyin kyūdō hōhō shifukuji shinchū nidaizōkyō zakkō,” 23.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

301

may actually be from the same temple that underwent a name change. An entry in the Huzhou gazetteer states “Fabao Zen temple is near the Sixi stream, 30 li south to the [Guian] county….Its former name is Yuanjue Zen temple, and it was later changed to the current name Fabao.”57 According to Ono, the set of Tripitaka texts preserved in the Chūsonji Temple in Hiraizumi in northeast Honshu, although labeled from Mingzhou (Ningbo) Jixiang Temple 明州吉祥 院, is actually a combination of the Fuzhou 福州 (modern Fuzhou in Fujian province) and Huzhou Tripitaka. The devotees’ notes indicate that Buddhists who lived near Ningbo acquired the Huzhou Tripitaka and donated it to the Ningbo Jixiang Temple. These printed Buddhist canons underline links among Ningbo, Huzhou, and Japan. Furthermore, the prestigious monasteries in the lower Yangzi Delta formed a cluster of pilgrimage sites that attracted Japanese Buddhists to travel among Ningbo, Huzhou, and sometimes Hangzhou as well. For example, Muhon Kakushin 無本覺心 (1207-1298) departed from Hakata on a Song merchant ship as many Japanese monks did during that period. He landed at Ningbo, visited the Jingshan monastery 徑山寺 in Hangzhou in 1249, and stayed there until the next year, when he left for Mt. Daochang 道場山 in Huzhou. After the visit to Mt. Daochang, he spent three years at the Asoka monastery in Ningbo, from where, he paid pilgrimage to Mt. Tiantai 天台山 in Taizhou 台州.58 Muhon’s pilgrimage journey lasted six years and well illustrated the fully established networks connecting Chinese Buddhist sacred sites in Ningbo, Huzhou, Hangzhou, Taizhou, and further away, Japan. Just as Japanese Buddhists took merchant ships to cross the sea, it is only natural that these pilgrimage networks also served as part of the trade networks. (See Map 8.2) Do the excavated objects merely confirm the use of the well-recorded Ningbo-Hakata trade route, or do they challenge the textual records in any way? There is evidence which complicates our understanding of the Sino-Japanese trade in this period. Of all the Chinese objects recovered from sutra mounds, one group stands distinct from the others. The porcelain sutra containers and ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers presented in archaeological reports profoundly differ from other objects. Although believed to be of Chinese manufacture, they have not yet been found anywhere in Song China. Consequently scholars have not yet standardized the terms for these kinds of sutra containers. The terms appearing in archaeological reports and relevant articles include “ceramic pot-shaped sutra container” 陶制壺形 経筒, “cera­mic-pot-shaped 57 58

Huzhou fuzhi (Chenghua) 12.139. Nishio, Chūsei zensō no bokuseki to Nitchū kōryū, 61.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

302

Li

Map 8.2

Important places in Sino-Japanese relations, 10-12th century.

sutra container” 陶壺形 経筒, “whiteware sutra container”白磁 経筒, and “celadon sutra container” 青磁 経筒. Since not all publications are illustrated, it is difficult to know to which type of sutra container the author is referring. It seems that there are two major types: One is normally referred to as a “ceramic pot-shaped sutra container,” is glazed brown, and occurs in relatively large numbers (Figure 8.10). The sutra containers of the other type are finer and much rarer, and are generally called “whiteware sutra con­tain­ers,”(Figure 8.11) but sometimes “ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers” as well, which is confusing. This essay will treat the two types separately. For one, the porcelain sutra containers and ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers look different. More importantly, one type is whiteware, while the other type has a brown glaze. A gilded-silver tablet container (Figure 8.12) used at drinking games in the Tang dynasty (618-907) has a similar shape to the Figure 8.11 porcelain sutra container. This tablet container carries an inscription of “lunyu yuzhu” (The Analects Jade Candle 論語玉燭), and the tablets inside bear excerpts from The Analects and descriptions of activities for drinking games.59 So it is likely that the design of this tablet container imitates the shape of a candle, but whether or not the tablet container has any influence on the design of the porcelain sutra container is not clear yet.

59

See Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji bianji weiyuanhui ed., Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji 2.43.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

303

Figure 8.10 Ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers excavated from Shiōjiyama, Japan. Height 29.2 cm. Collection of the Umi Hachimangū shrine. After Seki, Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu, plate 6.

Figure 8.11 Porcelain sutra container excavated from Shiōjiyama, Japan. Height: 34.5 cm. Collection of the Kyushu National Museum. After Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan, Mirai e no okurimono, 169.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

304

Figure 8.12

Li

Gilded-silver tablet container. Height: 34.2 cm. After Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji, Vol. 2, 43.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

305

In his Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu (Sutra Mounds and Objects Found in Them), Seki Hideo only mentions “ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers,” but he differentiates these two groups in his comprehensive survey of over a thousand sutra mounds in Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai (Multiple Aspects of Sutra Mounds and Their Spread). In this survey he records only three porcelain sutra containers: one in Shiōjiyama, Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu, one in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku, and one in Fukui Prefecture, on the west coast of Honshu.60 The porcelain sutra containers from Shiōjiyama 四王寺山 (Figure 8.11) and Ehime 愛媛 Prefecture were both found with many other Chinese objects. The Shiōjiyama sutra mound site is comprised of nine sutra mounds. The porcelain sutra container recorded by Seki was found in sutra mound No. 9, together with six bronze sutra containers, two ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers, one small white porcelain pot, five pieces of white porcelain box fragments, and two knife blades. The whole site is rich in Chinese objects—other sutra mounds produced two Chinese porcelain boxes, three ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers, and two pots used as relic containers. According to the inscriptions on three bronze sutra containers, these sutra mounds were built in the late 1110s or early 1120s.61 The porcelain sutra containers suggest a bigger trade circle connecting Japanese ports to China that included the Kitan Liao in addition to the Song 60

61

For the Fukuoka container, see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 781. The porcelain sutra container from Fukuoka also draws D.Max Moerman’s attention: he mentions this in his article and points out that porcelain sutra containers have not yet been found in China. See Moerman, “The Archeology of Anxiety,” 257. For the Matsuyama container, see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 771. For the Fukui container, see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 706. One more example can show that scholars name these containers in different ways. Hosaka Saburo mentions that two porcelain sutra containers instead of one were excavated from the site in Fukuoka-Shiōjiyama sutra mounds near Dazaifu (see Hosaka, Kyōzuka ronkō, 280-81). However, Seki’s survey records that the Shiōjiyama site included not only a porcelain sutra container but also several ceramic pot-shaped sutra containers, so it is very likely that Hosaka and Seki just name the same object differently. The date is consistent with Hosaka Saburo’s assumed production date of the porcelain sutra container (see Hosaka, Kyōzuka ronkō, 280). In addition, the porcelain sutra container from Ehime Prefecture was excavated with two Huzhou mirrors, two Japanese bronze mirrors, and one blade (see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 771). The Fukui example came to light with two Japanese bronze mirrors and one blade, but a nearby sutra mound contained one porcelain box and one ceramic container from China (see Seki, Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai, 706).

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

306

Li

port of Ningbo.62 Although all written sources from the time and much modern archeological work focuses on the Ningbo-Hakata route, in fact, goods from the continent may have traveled along other routes as well. One of the most intriguing aspects of the Chinese-made porcelain sutra containers is that, as mentioned earlier, Song Buddhists believed that the Final Dharma had come long before 1052. Furthermore, although mirrors and cosmetic containers were everyday items in China, the porcelain sutra containers were not. Why, then, did Song artisans make objects that could not be sold in the domestic market? Customized production for overseas markets is a possible explanation, but another explanation is more likely. Buddhists in the Liao, like Japanese devotees, also believed that 1052 was the start of the Final Dharma. However, instead of burying sutras underground, they erected magnificent pagodas. Inscriptions from the deposit of Yan­chang­ sita Pagoda 延昌寺塔 (Modern Chaoyang North Pagoda 朝陽北塔, in modern Chaoyang, Liaoning Province) clearly show that the purpose of building the pagoda was to prepare for the coming of the Final Dharma. An inscription at the top of the pagoda reads: “At noon on the eighth day of the fourth month in the twelfth year of the Chongxi period (1043) of the Great Kitan, [they were] reburied. In eight years the Semblance Dharma will become the Final Dharma, so [we] place this record.”63 Hsueh-man Shen points out that “in fear that the deposit would not be recognized when the mofa came, people set up this stone to assure the existence and eternal survival of this deposit.”64 In 1049, five years after the building of the North Pagoda and three years before the anticipated arrival of the Final Dharma, another pagoda was erected for the storage of sutras. The seven story White Pagoda in modern Qingzhou 慶州, Inner Mon­ golia contains a five-room deposit inside its pinnacle. One hundred and nine wooden pagoda-shaped containers formed the core of the deposit—each of them holding a scroll of sutra scriptures or dharani incantations inside, just like those Japanese sutra containers (Figure 8.13).65 The White Pagoda deposit was made for Empress Dowager Zhangsheng 章 聖 (r. 1031-1034), Emperor Shengzong’s 聖宗 (r. 982-1031) empress, and under supervision of Monk Yungui 蘊珪; the deposits in North Pagoda were stored 62

63 64 65

Scholars concur that no similar sutra containers have been found in China, and Xie Ming­ liang suggests that the porcelain sutra containers may have been made in Song China expressly for the Japanese market (see Xie, Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi, 75). Chaoyang beita kaoku kancha dui, “Liaoning Chaoyang beita tiangong digong qingli jianbao”, 14. Shen, “Realizing the Buddha’s ‘Dharma’ Body during the Mofa Period,” 266. Shen, “Realizing the Buddha’s ‘Dharma’ Body during the Mofa Period,” 269.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

307

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

Figure 8.13 Wooden sutra containers from the deposit in the White Pagoda. After De, Zhang, and Han, “Neimenggu Balinyouqi Qingzhou baita faxian Liaodai fojiao wenwu”, 7.

under the supervision of the same monk. This connection implies a close relationship between the royal house and the building of these deposits, and, as Hsueh-man Shen suggests, the deposits were probably part of the imperial endeavor to prepare for the coming of the Final Dharma.66 Aristocrats in both the Liao and Japanese realms wanted to preserve Buddhist teachings in the face of the Final Dharma. The North Pagoda inscription articulates that the coming of the Final Dharma was the very reason for the deposit. Although the Liao pagodas preserve many more sutras than the Japanese sutra mounds, the sutras kept in the deposit in the White Pagoda, especially the dharani incantations, are not the most important canonical texts.67 Thus, similar to the sutra burials in Japan, preserving the sutras through the Dark Age was not the ultimate goal of the Kitan aristocrats, either. Given that both Japanese and Liao Buddhists hoped to prepare for the Final Dharma, is there any possibility that the Japanese buried the same objects in sutra mounds that the Liao placed in pagodas? Some of the 109 wooden pagoda miniatures found in the pinnacle of the White Pagoda have shapes similar to the porcelain sutra containers found in Japan. Since the Kitan wooden pagoda miniatures contain sutra scriptures or dharani inside, they also function as sutra containers. Although no porcelain sutra containers identical to those found in Japan have yet been excavated in Liao territory, other Liao objects are similar. Two Miyan (密檐, lit. “dense-eaved”)-pagoda-shaped white porcelain bottles made in Liao make the connection more plausible (Figures 8.14 and 8.15). They are not labeled as sutra containers now, but since they were hollow inside, they could easily have served as such. More importantly, they are very similar to a 66 67

Shen, “Realizing the Buddha’s ‘Dharma’ Body during the Mofa Period,” 269. Youn-mi Kim, private conversation, September 2013.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

308

Li

Figure 8.14 Liao porcelain container possibly a sutra container. Height: 48.5 cm. After Tie, Song Liao taoci jianding shang, 47.

wooden Miyan-pagoda-shaped sutra container from the White Pagoda (Figure 8.16). Additionally, the metal sutra container from the North Pagoda (Figure 8.17) and the wooden sutra container from the White Pagoda (Figure 8.18) have a similar shape to the porcelain sutra container from Japan (Figure 8.11). Since Liao artisans made the Miyan-pagoda-shaped containers in both wooden and porcelain and non-eave-pagoda-shaped sutra containers in wood and metal, we can speculate that the Liao probably also made the other non-eave-pagodashaped porcelain containers. Furthermore, the porcelain sutra container is whiteware, which is another link between Japan and the Kitan Liao. Ono Yoshihiro has already demonstrated the Japanese aristocrats’ change in taste from celadon to whiteware

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

Figure 8.15

Liao porcelain container possibly a sutra container. After Li, Liaodai taoci jianding yu jianshang, plate 45.

Figure 8.16

Wooden sutra container from the White Pagoda. Height: 28.5 cm; diameter of base: 8 cm. Collection of the Museum of Balin Right Banner. After Shi, Wenwu zai qianqiu, 219.

309

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

310

Li

during the early eleventh century. He quotes a survey of the excavation of a foreign guest house (kōrokan 鴻臚館) in modern Fukuoka and points out that in the first half of the eleventh century, imported Chinese porcelains showed a shift from Yue 越 celadon to whiteware.68 Whiteware porcelain was particularly important to Japanese during the Final Dharma stage. One inscription from 1174 reads: “To be reborn in a peaceful and joyful land, [we] make offerings and build [text partly missing]…with whiteware porcelain.”69 In Tang and Song China, the general pattern of porcelain production is often summarized as “celadon in the south, whiteware in the north (nan qing bei bai 南青北白).”70 The Ding 定 kilns in modern Hebei province produced the best whiteware porcelain objects in the Northern Song. The Liao preferred the white porcelain over celadon, and many kilns in the Liao copied the Ding whiteware.71 Pending more detailed information from archaeologists and ceramic specialists about porcelain sutra containers excavated in Japan, we should keep an open mind about their origins. Yue kilns in southeast China may be the answer, but the absence of whiteware finds from southeast China suggests that it is not the only possibility. Bringing the Liao into the picture not only solves the puzzle but also hints at a larger East Asian maritime world than previously thought. If Liao kilns indeed produced the porcelain sutra containers, how did the containers make their way to Japan? The Korean peninsula must have played a crucial role. Records on the direct interaction between the Liao and the Japanese archipelago are very rare, partly because the Japanese court forbade private trade with the Liao, and partly because of the limited extant textual records from the Liao. The one documented case of direct contact between Japan and the Liao illustrates its limited nature. In 1091, with the help of Dazaifu governor Fujiwara no Korefusa 藤原伊房 (1030-1096) and the Tsushima governor Fujiwara no Atsusuke 藤原敦輔, the Chinese merchant Long Kun 隆琨 and Japanese monk Myōhan 明範 traveled to the Liao and traded Japanese-made weapons for Liao silver. Long Kun and Myōhan returned the next year, but their unauthorized trade was later discovered. Atsusuke was demoted in 1094 due to this incident.72 68 69 70 71 72

Ono, “Ao kara shiro e,” 244. Kyōzuka ibun, 143. Another partly-missing inscription from the same site also emphasizes the use of whiteware porcelain (Kyōzuka ibun, 149). Huang, “Songdai qingbai ci de qiyuan beijing chutan,” 81. Zhang and Yin, “Liaodai baici bianxi,” 22. Yokouchi, “Kōfukuji Enken to Dazaifu bōeki,” 2.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

Figure 8.17 Metal sutra container from the North Pagoda. Height: 39 cm. After Liaoning sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiu­ suo and Chaoyang shi beita bowuguan ed., Chaoyang Bei Ta, plate 41.

311

Figure 8.18 Wooden sutra container from the White Pagoda. Height: 30 cm; diameter of base: 8.4 cm. Collection of the Museum of Balin Right Banner. After Shi, Wenwu zai qianqiu, 218.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

312

Li

After this, direct exchanges between Japan and the Liao disappear from textual records. The exchanges between the Liao and the Korean peninsula, however, have left more traces. Youngsook Pak’s article on Liao-Goryeo relations in the tenth and eleventh centuries documents their frequent exchanges and important impact on Buddhist culture. For example, the Liao sent the first set of the Liao Tripitaka to the Goryeo court in 1063 to celebrate King Munjong’s 文宗 (10191083) forty-fourth birthday, and sent another set a decade later.73 In addition, a mural in the Liao official Zhang Shiqing’s 張世卿 tomb in Xuanhua 宣化 (modern Hebei province) displays a rectangular sutra box identical to a Goryeo lacquer box, suggesting that Goryeo products such as lacquer boxes circulated and were valued in Liao society.74 The relationship between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula was tense during the Nara (710-794) and early Heian (794-1185) periods, but improved in the late eleventh century. In 1080, one Dazaifu merchant brought gifts from Goryeo to the court together with an official letter requesting a skilled Japanese doctor to help to diagnose King Munjong’s illness. The court discussed this appeal seriously, and although it eventually decided not to send anyone, this episode indicates a gradual improvement in Goryeo-Japanese relations and the on-going private trade between the two places.75 In addition, Kōsan-ji Temple 高山寺 and Tō-ji Temple 東寺 in Kyoto both preserve some sutras produced in the Liao, and the postscript (okugaki 奥書) recorded that in 1105 Fujiwara no Suenaka requested that Ninna-ji Temple 仁 和寺 send envoys to Goryeo and bring back sutras.76 Given that this happened after the Myōhan and Korefusa incident discussed above, it is likely that people who desired Liao products became more cautious and used Goryeo as an intermediary.

Conclusion

Material objects have much to tell us. When examined closely, they often can provide information about the ways they were made, used, modified, handled, even, sometimes, how they were disposed of, all relevant to our understanding 73 74 75 76

Pak, “Koryo and Liao Relations in the Tenth-Eleventh Centuries,” 74. Pak, “Koryo and Liao Relations in the Tenth-Eleventh Centuries,” 88. Mori, Shintei Nissō bōeki no kenkyū, 210-11. Yokouchi, “Kōfukuji Enken to Dazaifu bōeki,” 1.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

313

of the material culture of those making and using them. This is especially valuable when textual sources are silent on the objects and their uses. As seen in this essay, the Chinese objects contained in Japanese sutra mounds have much to teach us about maritime East Asia, forcing us to recognize the existence of routes subsidiary to the well-documented Ningbo-Hakata one. Evidently, despite the bans and criticisms in textual records, objects managed to travel beyond known routes, presumably because merchants responded to demands for them and saw a chance to make a profit. The mirrors and jars provide evidence of middle-period China more actively engaged in economic, cultural, and religious exchanges with other regions than the texts show. Besides the insight this provides into the workings of East Asian maritime trade, the Chinese objects found in Japanese sutra mounds also help us think about the material and visual cultures of their makers and users. When Chinese artisans crafted bronze mirrors or cosmetic boxes, they did not necessarily envision religious uses for their products. But they did know that putting the words “Huzhou” on the mirror increased the demand for it. Merchants involved in the trade between Song, Liao, Korea, and Japan knew that these labels were favored, but may not have known all the uses people made of the mirrors. Japanese Buddhists endowed these utilitarian objects with new religious meanings. When the Chinese objects landed at Japanese ports, they meanwhile entered a new social and cultural context, where their values were determined not only by their Chinese makers’ fame and craftsmanship but also by Japanese consumers’ perception of China. In the middle period, transported objects provided an important way for people to imagine a foreign land, and their imagination in return affected how the consumers treated the imported objects. These material objects, which bore both the craftsmen’s signatures and marks left by consumers, reveal to us the unwritten interactions and exchanges among different groups of people from different regions, and therefore illuminate many previously obscured aspects of middle period material cultures.

References



Primary Sources

Fusō ryakuki 扶桑略記, by Kōen 皇円. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 1965. Kyōzuka ibun 経塚遺文, edited by Seki Hideo 関秀夫. Tokyo: Tokyodō, 1985. Midō kanpakuki 御堂関白記, by Fujiwara no Michinaga 藤原道長 (966-1027). Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1952.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

314

Li

Nittō guhō junrei kōki 入唐求法巡礼行記, by Ennin 円仁 (793-864). Tokyo: Chūō kōlonsha, 1990. Huzhou fuzhi (Chenghua) 湖州府志 (成化), edited by Chen Qi 陳頎 and Lao Yue 勞鉞 (?-1476). Beijing: Shumu wenxian chubanshe, 1991.



Secondary Sources

Batten, Bruce L. Gateway to Japan: Hakata in War and Peace, 500-1300. Honolulu: Univeristy of Hawai’i Press, 2006. Borgen, Robert. “The Japanese Mission to China, 801-806.” Monumenta Nipponica 37 (1982), 1-28. Chaoyang beita kaogu kancha dui 朝陽北塔考古勘察隊. “Liaoning Chaoyang beita tiangong digong qingli jianbao” 遼寧朝陽北塔天宮地宮清理簡報. Wenwu 435 (1992), 1-28. Chang Lan 萇嵐. 7-14 shiji Zhongri wenhua jiaoliu de kaoguxue yanjiu 7-14 世紀中日文 化交流的考古學研究. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 2001. Chen Boquan 陳柏泉. “Songdai tongjing jianlun” 宋代銅鏡簡論. Kaogu yu wenwu 28 (1985), 97-100. Chia, Lucille. “The Life and Afterlife of Qisha Canon (Qishazang 磧砂藏).” In Spreading Buddha’s Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, edited by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia, 181-218. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Chijiwa, Minoru 千々和実. “Hachiman shinkō to kyōzuka no hassei” 八幡信仰と経塚 の発生. In Funbō to Kyōzuka 墳墓と経塚, edited by Saitō Tadashi 斉藤忠, 426-45. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 1987. De Xin 德新, Zhang Hanjun 張漢君, and Han Renxin 韓仁信. “Neimenggu Balinyouqi Qingzhou baita faxian Liaodai fojiao wenwu” 內蒙古巴林右旗慶州白塔發現遼代佛 教文物. Wenwu 463 (1994), 4-33. Hansen, Valerie. “The Devotional Use of Buddhist Art in Ennin’s Diary.” Orientations 45.3 (2014), 76-82. Hao Xiangman 郝祥滿. Diaoran yu Song chu de Zhongri fofa jiaoliu 奝然與宋初的中日 佛法交流. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2012. Hosaka, Saburo 保坂三郎. Kyōzuka ronkō 経塚論考. Tokyo: Chuo koron bijutsu, 1971. Huang, Shih-shan Susan. Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012. Huang Yijun 黃義軍. “Songdai qingbai ci de qiyuan beijing chutan” 宋代青白瓷的起源 背景初探. Kaogu yu wenwu 152 (2006), 81-88. Kamikawa, Michio 上川通夫. Nihon chūsei Bukkyō shiryōron 日本中世佛教史料論. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 2008; Kim, Youn-mi. “The Secret Link: Tracing Liao in Japanese Shingon Ritual.” Journal of Song-Yuan Studies 43 (2013), 117-170.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

315

Kyōto kokuritsu hakubutsukan 京都国立博物館. Fujiwara no Michinaga: Kiwameta eiga negatta jyōdo: Kinpusen maikyo issennen kinen tokubetsu tenranka 藤原道長: 極めた 栄華・願った浄土: 金峯山埋経一千年記念特別展覧会. Kyoto: Kyoto kokuritsu hakubutsukan, 2007. Kyūshū kokuritsu hakubutsukan 九州国立博物館. Mirai e no okurimono: Chūgoku Taizan sekkyō to jōdokyō bijutsu 未来への贈り物：中国泰山石経と浄土教美術. Tokyo: Yomiuri shinbun seibu honsha, 2007. Li Hongjun 李紅軍. Liaodai taoci jianding yu jianshang 遼代陶瓷鑑定與鑒賞. Nanchang: Jiangxi meishu chubanshe, 2003. Liaoning sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 遼寧省文物考古研究所 and Chaoyang shi beita bowuguan 朝陽市北塔博物館, ed. Chaoyang Bei Ta: Kaogu fajue yu weixiu gongcheng baogao 朝陽北塔：考古發掘與維修工程報告. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2007. Lin Shimin 林士民. “Zhejiang Ningbo Tianfengta digong fajue baogao” 浙江寧波天封 塔地宫發掘掘報告. Wenwu 421 (1991), 1-27, 96. Liu Yi 刘艺. Jing yu Zhongguo chuantong wenhua 镜与中国传统文化. Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 2004. Moerman, D. Max. “The Archeology of Anxiety: An Underground History of Heian Religion.” In Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, edited by Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacies Matsumoto, 245-71. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. Mori, Katsumi 森克己. Shintei Nissō bōeki no kenkyū 新訂日宋貿易の研究. Tokyo: Bensei shuppan, 2008. Muraki, Jirō 村木二郎. “Kyōzuka ni mainausareru kagami” 経塚に埋納される鏡. In Kagami ni utsushidasareta higashi ajia to nihon 鏡にうつしだされた東アジアと日 本, edited by Kubo Tomoyasu 久保智康 and Nishikawa Toshikatsu 西川寿勝, 117-48. Kyoto: Mineruva shobo, 2003. Nakajima, Gakushō 中島楽章 and Itō Kōji 伊藤幸司 ed. Ninpō to Hakata 寧波と博多. Tokyo: Kyūko shoin, 2013. Nara kokuritsu hakubutsukan 奈良国立博物館. Seichi Ninpō: Nihon bukkyō 1300-nen no genryū: subete wa koko kara yatte kita  聖地寧波:  日本仏教1300 年の源流:  すべて はここからやって来た. Nara: Nara kokuritsu hakubutsukan, 2009. Ningbo haishang sichouzhilu shenbao shijiewenhuayichan bangongshi 寧波海上絲綢 之路申報世界文化遺產辦公室, Ningbo shi wenwu baohu guanlisuo 寧波市文物保 護管理所, and Ningbo shi wenwu kaoku yanjiusuo 寧波市文物考古研究所, eds. Ningbo yu haishang sichouzhilu 寧波與海上絲綢之路. Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2006. Nishio, Kenryū  西尾賢隆. Chūsei zensō no bokuseki to Nitchū kōryū 中世禅僧の墨蹟と 日中交流. Tokyo: Yoshikawa kōbunkan, 2011. Oku, Kakeo 奥健夫. “Seiryōji Shakanyorai zō” 清涼寺釈迦如来像. Nihon no bijutsu 513 (2009), 1-80.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

316

Li

Ono, Genmyo 小野玄妙. “Sōdai shōkei enkaku zenyin kyūdō hōhō shifukuji shinchū nidaizōkyō zakkō” 宋代思溪圓覺禪院及同法寶資福寺新雕二大藏經雜考. Nikka bukkyō kenkyūkai nenbō 3 (1938), 10-69. Ono, Yoshihiro 尾野善裕. “Ao kara shiro e—Michinaga jidai no chōgoku tōji yunyū” 青 から白へ—— 道長時代の中国陶磁輸入. In Fujiwara no Michinaga: Kiwameta eiga negatta jyōdo: Kinpusen maikyo issennen kinen tokubetsu tenranka 藤原道長 : 極め た栄華・願った浄土, edited by Kyōto kokuritsu hakubutsukan, 243-44. Pak, Youngsook. “Koryo (918-1392) and Liao (907-1125) Relations in the Tenth-Eleventh Centuries: Impact on Buddhist Culture.” In Tenth-century China and Beyond: Art and Visual Culture in a Multi-centered Age, edited by Wu Hung, 70-99. Chicago: The Center for the Art of East Asia, University of Chicago, 2012. Seki, Hideo 関秀夫. Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai 経塚の諸相とその展開. Tokyo: Yūzankaku, 1990. Seki, Hideo 関秀夫. Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu 経塚とその遺物. Tokyo: Shibundō, 1990. Shen, Hsueh-man. “Realizing the Buddha’s “Dharma” Body during the Mofa Period: A Study of Liao Buddhist Relic Deposits.” Artibus Asiae 61 (2001), 263-303. Shen, Hsueh-man ed. Gilded Splendor: Treasures of China’s Liao Empire (907-1125). New York: Asia Society, 2006. Shi Yang 石陽 ed. Wenwu zai qianqiu—balinyouqi bowuguan wenwu jingpin huicui 文物 載千秋——巴林右旗博物館文物精品薈萃. Hohhot: Neimenggu renmin chubanshe, 2012. Su Bai 宿白. Baisha Songmu 白沙宋墓. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1957. Tie Yuan 鐵源. Song Liao taoci jianding (shang) 宋遼陶瓷鑑定 (上). Beijing: Hualing chubanshe, 2001. Wang Shilun 王士倫. Zhejiang chutu tongjing 浙江出土銅鏡. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1987. Wu, Jiang, Lucille Chia, and Chen Zhichao. “The Birth of the First Printed Canon: The Kaibao Edition and Its Impact.” In Spreading Buddha’s Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, edited by Jiang Wu and Lucille Chia, 145-80. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. Xie Mingliang 謝明良. Maoyi taoci yu wenhua shi 貿易陶瓷與文化史. Taipei: Yunchun wenhua, 2005. Yiengpruksawan, Mimi Hall. Hiraizumi: Buddhist Art and Regional Politics in Twelfthcentury Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 1998. Yokouchi, Hiroto 横内裕人. “Kōfukuji Enken to Dazaifu bōeki” 興福寺円憲と大宰府貿 易. Presented at Dokushikai Daikai, Kyoto University, 2014. Zhang Guilian 張桂蓮and Yin Hong 尹虹. “Liaodai baici bianxi” 遼代白瓷辨析. Shoucang jia 44 (2000), 22-25. Zhejiang sheng wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江省文物考古研究所. Leifengta yizhi 雷峰 塔遺址. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2005.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Chinese Objects from Sutra Mounds in Japan

317

Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji bianji weiyuanhui 中國金銀玻璃珐琅器全集編輯 委員會 ed. Zhongguo jinyin boli falangqi quanji, Vol. 2. 中國金銀玻璃珐琅器全集 2. Shijiazhuang: Hebei meishu chubanshe, 2004.

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

318



Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Index Index

319

Index Abbasid caliphate 277 Abe, Stanley 8 academies 16, 228, 231, 243, 247, 249, 250 and painting 130n31, 164, 165, 178 Admonitions to My Sons and Grandsons (Shao Yong) 243 albums 67, 142n66, 212 of Ten Views 15, 153, 162n32, 163, 164–181, 182, 184 An Shifeng 206 Analects (Lunyu) 230n11, 302 Annam (Vietnam) 4 antiquities collection 3, 7, 11, 21, 200, 250 See also connoisseurship archaeological evidence 2, 7, 10, 20, 21 and bird-and-basin paintings 263, 273, 276, 277 and calligraphy 15, 206, 207, 209, 221–222 and sutra mounds 299, 301, 306, 310 See also Dunhuang; tombs architecture 8, 9 in paintings 96, 102, 120, 155 stage 120, 132, 133 in tombs 41–43, 55, 71, 72, 74 See also pagodas; temples Arhat Offering (scroll painting; Zhou Jichang) 86–97, 100, 102, 103, 105 Arhat Offering (luohan gong) ritual 83, 85, 93–94, 103–104 arhats 12–13, 84–86, 92, 93 art history 1, 5–8, 11, 13, 226 Art of the Yellow Springs: Understanding Chinese Tombs (Wu Hung) 10–11 artisans and sketchbooks 67, 68, 71 and sutra containers 313 and tomb construction 42, 52, 58, 63, 64, 67, 70n61, 72, 74–75 workshops of 9–10, 12, 13, 19, 48, 71n63, 313 Astana (Turpan) tomb 256 audiences for colophons 19, 236, 245, 250 illiterate 15, 19, 119, 135, 140, 147 for theater 14–15, 133, 135, 146, 147

Auspicious Omens for Dynastic Revival (Zhongxing ruiying tu; scroll; Xiao Zhao) 126–127 “Autumn Moon above the Placid Lake” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 14, 154, 155, 159, 169, 172 Avalokitśvara 95n28, 278n62 Bai Juyi 273, 274 Bai Pu 124n22, 132n36 Baisha tomb (Yuxian, Henan) 73n67, 293–294 Bao Shichen 206 Bao Tingbo 199 Baotan 95n25 Barbieri-Low, Anthony 41, 42 Bare Willows and Distant Mountains (painting; Ma Yuan) 164n39 Barnhart, Richard 165n43 basin pools (penchi) 271–275, 278, 279–280 See also bird-by-basin paintings Beiyuancun tomb (Songxian) 67 “Bells Ringing in the Rain” (Yulinling; song; Liu Yong) 120 Bi Liangshi 215 Bian Luan 261 Biography of Yingying (Yingying zhuan; Yuan Zhen) 116n3, 121n15 bird-and-flower paintings 3, 17, 255, 256, 257, 259, 280 bird-by-basin paintings 255–283 and garden pools 271–275 “golden basin and pigeon” type 255–266, 267, 272, 280 literary references to 261–266, 267, 272 Persian influence on 255, 261, 275–279 and pottery 275–277 on scrolls 266–271 in tombs 255–261, 275, 278 Blanchard, Lara 133n40 Bloom, Phillip 12–13, 18, 19, 20, 70n60, 72, 126n23 Boating by a Willow Bank (fan painting) 164n39 Bol, Peter 1

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004349377_011 Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

320 Broken Mirror Restored (Pojing chongyuan) 132 Buddha Chinese images of 290, 295, 296 Maitreya 286, 289, 299 Buddhism 2, 7–9 arhats in 12–13, 84–86, 92, 93 and bird-and-basin paintings 272, 279 Chan 181n54 and cross-cultural contact 17–18, 305–306, 312, 313 and Final Dharma 285–286 in Japan 284–317 Liao 285, 298, 305–310, 312, 313 and mirrors 295–296 Pure Land 278 rituals of 13, 18, 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 93–94, 97–101, 103–104, 105 and theatrical images 131, 132 Tripitaka of 300–301, 312 Buddhist paintings 12–13, 82–111 arhats in 86–97, 100, 102, 103, 105 and bird-and-basin paintings 278 clouds in 94–95, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106 Indian 126n23 and tombs 67, 72 and visual culture 96–97, 106 Water-Land ritual in 89, 90, 97–101, 103, 104, 105 women in 102, 103 Bush, Susan 129 “Butterflies Love Flowers” (Dielianhua; song) 118, 119, 120 Butterfly Dream of the Elder Zhuang Zhou on a Pillow (Lao Zhuang Zhou yizhen hudie meng; play) 137n48 Cahill, James 156, 164 Cai Songnian 120 Cai Wenji, Lady 142n66 Cai Xiang (Cai Duanming) 235, 237, 239, 244, 245, 247 Cai Yuanding 238 calligraphy archaeological evidence for 15, 206, 207, 209, 221–222 authenticity of 15, 193–194, 200–206, 210, 213–215, 218–222

Index

and colophons 15, 193, 215, 226, 227, 231–233, 235, 239–242 and connoisseurship 193, 210, 212, 222 engraving of 218, 249–250 of Epitaph for My Nursemaid 19, 203–204, 209–210, 219, 222 free-hand copies of 215, 216, 218 Jiang Kui on 218–219 of Lantingxu 16, 21, 213, 217–218, 219 models for 21, 204, 212, 247 printed 193, 212 and rearrangement of characters 209–210 rubbings of 21, 193–225, 250 tracing copies of 211–212, 215, 218 and visual culture 193, 222 and Zhu Xi 228, 240, 244–245 Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Playful Goose (Xihong tang fatie; Dong Qichang) 204, 205 Calligraphy Compendium of the Hall of the Three Treasures (Sanxi tang fatie) 204, 205 Cambridge History of China 250 Cangyi huayu (Chen Yu) 264 Cao Cao 244 Cao Jian 231 Cao Zhi 124 Celestial Master Zhang Judging Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon (Zhang tianshi duan feng hua xue yue; play; Wu Changling) 136 central Asia 259, 261, 263, 275, 277 See also Persia ceramics 3, 128, 310 and bird-by-basin paintings 275–277 Cizhou-ware 116–117, 123, 135, 136, 140–146 See also pillows, painted ceramic; sutra containers; vessels, ceramic Chan, Wing-tsit 228n9 Chang Lan 297 Chen Conglong 199 Chen Guan (Chen Liaoweng) 234, 243, 244, 247 Chen Jianzhai (Chen Yuyi) 231, 247 Chen Ke 239 Chen Li 160

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Index Chen Qi 157n22 Chen Qingbo 163 Chen Tingjing 204n18 Chen Yu 264 Chen Yuan 135n43 Chen Yunping 157 Chen Yunru 278 Cheng Yi 231, 233, 238, 243, 247 Chijiwa Minoru 290 cities 21, 152, 182 Chōnen (monk) 295 Chongshan Monastery (Shanxi) 67, 68n52 Chūsonji Temple (Hiraizumi) 301 class, social middle 20, 73–74, 75 and sightseeing 156 and theatrical pictures 20, 115, 116, 120, 147 and visual culture 6 See also literati Clear Summer among the Lotus (painting; Xia Gui) 181 Clunas, Craig 6, 68n52 coins 73n67, 197, 207n4, 290, 293 colophons 15–16, 19–21, 226–252 audiences for 19, 236, 245, 250 on autographs 226, 228 on books 227, 250 and calligraphy 15, 193, 215, 226, 227, 231–233, 235, 239–242 collections of 227–229, 241 content of 227, 241–245 copying of 240–241 engraving of 231, 232, 234, 243, 245–248, 249–250 on Epitaph for My Nursemaid 194–197, 198, 199, 202, 204, 206 on essays 226, 228, 238, 239, 242, 244, 247 examples of 230–236 and filial piety 235, 239, 244 on letters 227, 238, 243, 245 on memorials 227, 238, 244 and performance 16, 236 on poems 227, 231, 237, 239, 241, 242, 247 and rubbings 214, 227, 228, 244, 247 on scroll paintings 116–117 and social practices 226, 236–241, 250 and visual culture 226, 228, 248–250

321 Colophons of the Retired Scholar Liuyi (Ouyang Xiu) 213 Conference on Middle Period China 800-1400 (2014), vii 1, 248n65 Confucianism 3, 8n26, 230n11, 234, 248, 249, 302 See also neo-Confucianism connoisseurship 7, 15, 200, 249, 267 and calligraphy 193, 210, 212, 222, 239 and Lantingxu 213, 214–215, 219 Copp, Paul 7 Daitokuji (Kyoto, Japan) 84, 87–91 Dali kingdom (Bai) 4 Damisch, Hubert 96n29 Daode jing 247 Daoism 20, 83, 124, 181n54, 295 Quanzhen 10n33, 116, 135–140, 141, 147 theater of 14, 116, 135–140 and visual culture 7, 9–10 Daoxue movement 243, 248, 249. See also Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi Dazu rock carvings (Sichuan) 8–9 Deng, Fei 12, 13, 17, 19 Deng Wenyuan 199 Deng Zhihong (Deng Su) 233 Dengfeng tombs (Henan) 69–70 Despeux, Catherine 10 dharani incantations 7, 306, 307 Digong Hall (Leifeng Pagoda; Hangzhou) 295 Ding porcelain 310 Dong family tomb (Houma) 60 Dong Qichang 199, 204, 264 Dong Yong 124, 125, 145 Dongtian qingluji (Zhao Xihu) 200 Dragon King (longwang) 103, 144, 155 “Dream of Gaotang” (Gaotang meng) 122, 127 Dream of the Yellow Millet (play; Ma Zhiyuan) 137, 140 “Dream of the Yellow Millet” (“Dream of Handan”) 137, 138, 140, 141 dreams 115–150 and Daoism 20, 136–137 imagery of 125–126, 142 in pictorial art 14, 18, 115, 116–121, 127, 130, 138, 146

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

322 dreams (cont.) on pillows 116–117, 119, 122–123, 140–146 spirits in 121–130, 135–140 and theater 115, 130–140 of Zhuangzi’s butterfly 136–137 Dried Meat (calligraphy; Yan Zhenqing) 244 Du Fu 273 Du Mu 271, 272 Du Yi 207 Duan, Xiaolin 13–14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 51n16 Dunhuang (Gansu) 7, 8, 9, 67 Mogao Caves at 9n27, 95n28 Ebrey, Patricia 1, 6, 7, 15, 16, 18, 19, 222 economy, Chinese 3, 6, 72, 74 See also trade Egan, Ronald 152 Egginton, William 133n39 Egypt 276 Eight Immortals 14, 139–140 Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea (baxian duhai; wood panel) 139, 140 Eight Views 154, 158, 162 of Beijing 160n28 of Ōmi 183n61 of Xiao and Xiang Rivers 153, 158n24, 160, 165, 183n61 of Yanjing 160 Emperor Minghuang Visits the Moon Palace (Tang Minghuang you yuegong; play; Bai Pu) 125n22 empiricism vs. occultism 82, 86, 96, 97, 101, 105–106 Enlightenment from the Dream of the Yellow Millet on the Road to Handan (Handan dao xingwu huangliang meng; play; Ma Zhiyuan) 137, 140 Ennin (monk) 298–299 Epitaph for My Nursemaid (Baomuzhi; Wang Xianzhi) 19, 193, 194–200 authenticity of 15, 194, 200–206, 210, 219–222 Beijing scroll of 199, 200, 202, 204n18 calligraphy of 19, 203–204, 209–210, 219, 222 colophons on 194–197, 198, 199, 202, 204, 206 Freer scroll of 196, 199, 201, 202, 204

Index physical characteristics of 206–211 rubbings of 196, 198–199, 219 epitaphs on bricks 193–195, 197, 204, 206–207, 210 examples of 206–208 rubbings of 196, 198–199, 201, 207, 219 by Su Shi 201, 209, 210 and visual culture 19 Essay on Yue Yi (Yue Yi lun; Wang Xizhi) 203, 220, 221 essays colophons on 226, 228, 238, 239, 242, 244, 247 engraving of 247–248 ethnicity 4, 5, 6, 19–20 Eulogy for Burying the Crane (Yihe ming; engraving) 221 Europe 132n38, 133 “Evening Bell from Nanping Hill” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 159, 164n39, 177, 178 Examinations of the Origins and Developments of Lantingxu (Jiang Kui) 218 Examining Lan (Kao Lan; Wang Bai) 217 Famen Monastery (Fufeng) 275, 276, 277 fan paintings 163, 164n39 Fang Daofu (Fang Yuancai) 231, 238 Fang Deshun 238 Fang Shilong 238 Fangyu shenglan (Zhu Mu) 154 Feng Junjie 141n61 Feng Zizhen 199 filial piety and colophons 235, 239, 244 in tomb paintings 41n1, 43, 60n40, 64, 65, 67, 69, 71 Final Dharma (mofa; mappō) 284, 285–292, 299, 306, 307, 310 Five Dynasties 255, 278–279 Five Hundred Arhats (Wubai luohan; paintings) 84–86, 85, 93 folk art 18, 20 Formulary of the Correct Sounds of an Era of Peace (Taihe Zhengyin pu; Zhu Quan) 137 Fraser, Sarah 9 frontispieces 72, 105

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

323

Index Fu Shen 206n22 Fu Zhongzheng 267, 270 Fujiwara no Atsusuke 310 Fujiwara no Korefusa 310, 312 Fujiwara no Michinaga 286, 288–290, 297, 299 Fujiwara no Morimichi 298 Fujiwara no Shōshi 289, 299 Fujiwara no Suenaka 312 funerary practices 21, 74nn70–71, 75, 227–228, 295 See also tombs Fusō ryakuki (A Brief History of Japan) 286 Gao Deng 238 Gao Sisun 217n51 Gaocun tomb (Dengfeng, Henan) 69 Gaozong, Emperor 127, 160, 216 gardens in paintings 172, 279–280 Persian-Islamic 277–278 pools in 271–278, 279 site names in 156–157 as “world in a pot,” 272–273, 275, 279 gazetteers, local 160–161, 183 geography, cultural 19, 63, 152, 160n28, 162 Gesterkamp, Lennert 9 ghosts and spirits female 116, 122–124, 125, 135–136, 142 hungry (egui) 99–100 in pictorial art 121–130, 144 in Quanzhen deliverance plays 135–140 in ritual paintings 98–101, 105 in theater imagery 115, 147 See also empiricism vs. occultism glass beads 293, 294 Go-Ichijō, Emperor 289 Golden Light Repentance Ritual (jinguangming chanfa) 83 Gong, King of Lu 264 Goryeo 120, 302, 312 See also Korea Gu Kaizhi 124 Guanlinmiao tomb (Luoyang) 42–43, 44, 45, 48–52, 56 Guanxiu (monk) 85 Guanyin (Kannon) 7, 295, 296 Gubozui tomb (Yingyang, Henan) 64, 65, 66

Guo Ruoxu 261 Guo Tianxi 199 Hakata (Fukuoka; Japan) 284, 292, 299, 301, 306, 313 Han dynasty 68n56, 272, 273 Han Qi 245, 246 Han Tuozhou 198 Han Wudi (emperor) 273 Han Yu 235, 271, 272 Hangzhou 154, 156, 165, 184, 301, 302 See also West Lake Harrist, Robert 157 Hawkes, David 138, 139n56 He Ning 271 He Wei 117n5 “Heavenly Fairy” (Tianxianzi; song; Zhang Xian) 120 Hegel, Robert 7 Heishangou tomb (Dengfeng, Henan) 69 Hejiacun cache (Xi’an) 263 Henan tombs 42, 53–56, 58, 59, 61, 63–70, 73n67, 74n73, 293–294 See also Luoyang; Wenxian tomb; Yanshi tomb Hong, Jeehee 11, 45n9, 48, 115n2 Hong Mai 82–83 Hosaka Saburo 305n60 Hou Han shu 272 Houcun tomb (Xiangfen, Shanxi) 63n43 Houma tombs (Shanxi) 60, 62, 64 Howard, Angela 8 Hu Anguo 243 Hu Zhiyu 266 Huairen (monk) 210n30 Huang, Amy 164n38 Huang Dongshi 234 Huang Gan 235 Huang Huyin 235–236 Huang Jubao 261, 263 Huang Jucai 264, 266n23 Huang Nan (Huang Dacai) 235–236, 238 Huang Quan 261, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 279 Huang Shang 93, 94, 104 Huang, Shih-shan Susan 10, 139, 162n32 Huang Tingjian 20, 213, 227, 239, 241 Huianyuan temple (Mingzhou) 85 Huizhu lu (Yang Tingxiu) 265

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

324 Huizong, Emperor 7, 162n32 Huzhou mirrors 294–295, 297–300, 302, 305n61, 313 I Lo-fen 160 Ichijō, Emperor 289 Ide Seinosuke 98 illustrations, woodblock 18, 124, 126n23, 134n42, 135 of dreams 127, 128–129 theatrical 116, 120, 121, 131–132 incense in paintings 88, 94, 96, 101, 102 in ritual 18, 85, 86, 94–96, 99, 101, 102, 104 India 126n23 inkstones 194–195, 197, 198, 200, 227 Investigation of the Character Components in Lantingxu (Jiang Kui) 218 Investigations of Lanting (Lanting kao; Sang Shichang) 210, 217 Investiture of the Gods (Fengshenbang) 127n24, 128 Islam 277–279 Japan 7, 128n26 Chinese objects in 284–317 Chinese trade with 284, 285, 292, 305–306, 313 and cross-cultural contact 4, 17–18 Korean trade with 284, 313 Liao trade with 285, 299–312, 313 Ten Views in 183 use of Chinese objects in 17–18, 292–297, 313 Jia Zhongming 120n13 Jiang Kui 194–195, 197–199, 202, 210, 211, 217–222 Jin dynasty (Jurchen) 1, 4 popular culture in 130–131 and Ten Views 156, 160, 163 theatrical pictures in 115–150 tombs of 2, 20, 41–81 See also Jurchen Jing, Anning 9, 10n33 Jishan tombs (Shanxi) 60, 61, 64 Jiuliugou tomb (Yanshi) 43–44, 45, 48, 51 Jōjin (monk) 93, 94 Jurchens 19, 20, 154, 214

Index

See also Jin dynasty

Kang Weizhang 215 Kang Youwei 206 Kannon Bodhisattva (Guanyin) 7, 295, 296 karamono (tangwu; Tang goods) 284 Katz, Paul 7, 9, 139 Ke Jiusi 266n22 Kenji Kajiya 128n26 Khara Koto documents 2 Kieschnick, John 7 Kinai district (Japan) 290, 291, 292 King Wu Rebels Against King Zhou (Pinghua Wuwang fa Zhou) 127 “King Zhou’s Dream Encounter with the Jade Maiden” (illustration) 128 Kitans 4, 11, 19 See also Liao dynasty knives 290, 305n61 Korea 4, 5, 7 Japanese trade with 284, 313 and Liao-Japanese trade 310, 312 Ten Views in 183 Kōsan-ji (temple; Kyoto) 312 Kuhn Dieter 11 Kyōshū (monk) 289 Kyōzuka no shosō to sono tenkai (Multiple Aspects of Sutra Mounds and Their Spread; Seki Hideo) 305 Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu (Sutra Mounds and Objects Found in Them; Seki Hideo) 305 Kyushu (Japan) 299 sutra mounds in 17, 284, 290–292, 293, 305 Lacan, Jacques 182n60 Landscape Painting of the Four Seasons (painting; Liu Songnian) 181 landscape paintings 3, 7, 19, 96 and nature 152–154, 156, 178, 181, 182, 183, 275 and sightseeing 14–15, 184 and Ten Views 154, 162–182, 183 Lantingxu (Orchid Pavilion Preface; Wang Xizhi) 15–16, 21, 193–225 authenticity of 213, 214–215, 218 and colophons 240

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Index

copies of 211–217 Dingwu version of 202–204, 209–211, 213–214, 216–217, 221 and Epitaph for my Nursemaid 194–206, 209–211 Ledderose, Lothar 16, 71, 72n65 Lee, Hui-Shu 165, 181 Lee, Sonya 8 Leifeng Pagoda (West Lake, Hangzhou) 151–152, 154–155, 158–159, 167, 168, 181, 184, 295 letters 19, 226, 227, 238, 243, 245, 248, 249 Li Chuquan 242 Li Gonglin 172 Li Hewen 265 Li Jianzhong (Xitai) 240 Li Jie 53, 55 Li Liufang 162n32 Li Lü 207 Li Qingquan 11, 68, 142 Li Sheng 264n12 Li Song 172, 178 Li Taizi 290 Li Wai-yee 123n19, 124n20 Li Wenwei 120 Li Yiru 194–200, 204 Li Yiwen 17, 18, 19 Li Zhiyi 213 Liang Kai 100n42 Liangcha tomb (Pingshan, Hebei) 59 Liao Ben 48n13, 51n16, 132n37 Liao dynasty (Kitan) 1, 2, 4 and Buddhism 285, 298, 305–310, 312, 313 Japanese trade with 285, 299–312, 313 tombs of 68n54, 70n61, 312 See also Kitans Liaohong (monk) 195, 198 Liji 233n17 Lin, Sheng-chih 10n33 Lin Tinggui 85 Lin Wei-cheng 9, 55n27, 72 “Listening to the Orioles by the Willow Ripples” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 157, 159, 164n39, 165, 166 literati 3, 19–21 and basin pools 279–280 and bird-and-basin paintings 264, 271 and calligraphy 15, 19, 193–194, 221–222

325 and colophons 15, 16, 199, 226–252 and garden pools 271, 273, 275, 279 and Lantingxu 210–211, 214 Southern Song 158n23, 159–160 and theater 14, 119n9, 120, 122, 135n43, 140 visual culture of 8, 12, 226, 228, 248–250 and West Lake 151, 156, 157, 178 Yuan 119n9, 154n13 See also class, social literature 1, 12–15 and bird-by-basin paintings 255, 261–266, 267, 272 and colophons 211, 226, 233n17 dreams in 125–127 illustrations for 21, 134n42 romantic 120, 127, 129, 146, 147 and song lyrics 3, 122 and theatrical pictures 115, 116, 127, 146, 147 and visual culture 12, 13–14, 18, 146 and West Lake 14–15, 152, 157, 158, 181 See also poetry; texts Little, Stephen 9 Liu Baowen 231 Liu Chen 142, 143 Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao Strayed into the Land of Peach Blossoms (Liu Chen Ruan Zhao wu ru taoyuan; play) 144 Liu Gongfu 244 Liu Guandao 137n48 Liu Guanwen 231 Liu Jie 16–17, 18 Liu Kezhuang 227n4 Liu Ping 237, 243 Liu Qingzhi 242, 243 Liu Shufen 94 Liu Songnian 162, 181 Liu Xu 266 Liu Yi 144–145 Liu Yi Delivers the Letter at the Dongting Lake (Dongtinghu Liu Yi chuanshu; play; Shang Zhongxian) 144 Liu Yong 120 Liu Yuan 14, 116–117, 127, 129–132, 134, 140, 142n66, 144 Liu Zai 207, 209 Liu Zhiyuan 131n34 Liu Zihui 236

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

326 Liu Zongyuan 273 Lizong, Emperor 215 Loehr, Max 181 Long Kun 310 Longmen Buddhist cave temples 8 Longquan kilns 294n28 Longshan Grotto (Shanxi) 10n33 “Lotus Breeze at Qu Winery” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 157, 159, 164n39, 170, 172, 178n51 Lou Yao 199, 210, 214 Louis, François 11 Lu, Hui-wen 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 249 Lü Dalin 11 Lü Dongbin 137 Lü Dongbin Gets Drunk Thrice at the Yueyang Tower (Lü Dongbin san zui Yueyanglou; play; Ma Zhiyuan) 140 Lu Hong 172 Lu Xun 151, 152, 183, 184 Lü Zuqian 242 Luoyang (Henan) 4, 124, 130n30, 233 tombs in 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 55, 57, 64 Ma Danyang Leads Crazy Butcher Ren to Enlightenment Thrice (Ma Danyang sandu Renfengzi; play; Ma Zhiyuan) 140 Ma Lin 98n31, 163 Ma Yu 139 Ma Yuan 97n31, 164 Ma Zhiyuan 137, 140 Macun tombs (Shanxi) 55n25, 134n41 Maeda, Robert 48 Maitreya Buddha 286, 289, 299 “Man-mode of Shi Prefecture” (Shizhouman; song; Cai Songnian) 120 Mao Jin 227n4 maps 6, 10, 14 modern tourist 184 of sutra mounds 290–291, 301–302 of Ten Views 20–21, 153, 160–162, 182 maritime 2, 4, 5, 17, 21, 156, 285, 299, 310, 313 material culture 1, 5–7, 11–13, 18–21 and bird-and-basin paintings 17, 279 and calligraphy 15, 16, 193, 222 and colophons 226, 239, 250 and sutra mounds 285, 312–313

Index

and Ten Views 152, 153, 183 and theatrical pictures 116 of tomb construction 42, 52, 75 See also mirrors, musical instruments, pillows, temples, tombs, architecture McNair, Amy 8, 16 Medley of Liu Zhiyuan’s Story (Liu Zhiyuan zhugongdiao) 131 Medley of Master Dong’s Western Chamber Romance (Dong xieyuan xixiang zhugongdiao) 116n3, 121n15 Medley of Memoirs of the Tianbao Era (Tianbao yishi zhugongdiao; Wang Bocheng) 124n22 memorials 227, 238, 244, 248 Mencius 230n11 Meng Sihui 9 Mi Fu 239, 265–266 Ming dynasty 10, 300 bird-and-basin paintings in 264–267, 269, 279 epitaphs in 204, 206 theater in 137, 147 and West Lake 158n23, 162n32, 164n38 Minghuang, Emperor 124, 125, 126 mirrors and Buddhism 295–296 Huzhou 294–295, 297–300, 302, 305n61, 313 in Japan 284, 289, 290, 293–297, 298, 306 spirit encounters on 124–125, 126 in sutra mounds 289, 293–295, 297 theatrical pictures on 116, 145 in tombs 124, 294–295, 297 workshop stamps on 295, 297 Missives of Love Exchanged on Horseback and Over the Garden Wall (Qiangtou mashang) 132 Miyazaki Prefecture (Japan) 284, 289 Moerman, D. Max 305n60 Mongols 4, 5, 19 See also Yuan dynasty monks 84, 92, 93–94, 104, 106 Mononobe Tadatoshi 298 Mountain Villa (painting; Li Gonglin) 172, 173 Muhon Kakushin 301 multi-culturalism 2–5, 8, 16–17

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

327

Index Munjong, King (Goryeo) 312 Muqi (monk) 165, 167 murals in temples 58, 67, 72, 105, 116, 138 theater imagery in 116, 138, 142, 146 in tombs 17, 67, 72, 265 See also tomb decor musical instruments 116, 118, 122, 133n40, 227 musical performances 45, 46, 48n12, 51, 63n43, 94 See also songs Myōhan (monk) 310, 312 Nan Shangren 232 neo-Confucianism 243, 248, 249. See also Confucianism, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi Ningbo (Mingzhou) 4, 18, 72 Japanese trade with 284, 299, 300–302, 306, 313 North Pagoda (Yanchangsita Pagoda; Chaoyang) 306, 307, 308, 311 Northern and Southern dynasties 275 Northern Song dynasty 20, 157 tombs of 41–81 Nymph of the Luo River (Luoshen fu; painting handscroll; Gu Kaizhi) 124 Nymph of the Luo River (Luoshen; calligraphy; Wang Xianzhi) 203 occultism vs. empiricism 82–83, 96–97 “On the Teacher” (Han Yu) 235 Ono Genmyō 300–301 Ono Yoshihiro 308 oral transmission 68n55, 71n63 Orchid Pavilion Preface. See Lantingxu Ouyang Guorui 230 Ouyang Xiu 20, 213, 227–229, 237, 238, 245 pagodas 306–309, 311 See also Leifeng Pagoda Painting Catalogue of the Xuanhe Period (Xuanhe Huapu) 261, 265, 266 n23 paintings academy 130n31, 164, 165, 178 amateur literati 3 architecture in 96, 102, 120, 273 colophons on 227



color in 98–101, 105 composition of 86, 92–93, 96, 97, 101, 105, 134 court 14, 51n16, 140, 162, 165 descent (jianglin tu) 92 dreams in 14, 18, 115, 116–121, 127, 130, 146 vs. everyday objects 140–141 fan 163, 164n39 figural suture in 105, 106 gardens in 172, 279–280 German Romantic 105n49 incense in 88, 94, 96, 101, 102 intrapictorial 92–93, 102 Japanese 134n42 miniature 68 modular motifs in 72 and performance 13 and poetry 85, 131, 162, 172 portable 116 ritual 13, 18, 19, 85–86, 97–101, 105 screen 131, 255, 257, 266, 267 of Ten Views 19, 152, 153, 154, 162–182, 183 theatrical imagery in 18, 115–150 and visual culture 19–20 women in 69, 102, 103, 116, 122n17, 123–124, 125, 142, 143 See also bird-and-flower paintings; bird-by-basin paintings; Buddhist paintings; landscape paintings; murals; scroll paintings; tomb decor Paintings Collected by the Southern Song Court (Song zhongxing guange chucang tuhua ji) 265 Pak, Youngsook 312 Pelliot, Paul 95n28 Peng Dayi 264 Persia 4, 5, 17, 255, 261, 275–279 Peters, Julie 132n38 Pi Rixiu 271, 272 Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China (Clunas) 6 pilgrimage sites 9, 298, 301 pillows, painted ceramic 14, 17, 18, 21 Cizhou-ware 123, 135, 136, 140–146 dreams on 122–123 Sima You’s Dream on 116–117, 119 theatrical pictures on 115, 116, 135, 136 Pingmo tomb (Dengfeng, Henan) 69

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

328

Index

Pingshan tomb (Hebei) 58 plays. See theater poetry colophons on 226, 227, 231, 237, 239, 241, 242, 247 engraving of 243, 248 and Epitaph for My Nursemaid 199, 210 and Lantingxu 211 and paintings 85, 131, 162, 172 and pools 271, 272, 273 and Ten Views 153, 154, 156–158, 182, 183 and theatrical imagery 131, 141 and visual culture 18, 19 See also titles, poetic popular culture 14, 116, 120, 130–131, 147 Powers, Martin 41, 181 Preface to the Buddhist Teachings (Shengjiao xu; Taizong) 209n30 printing 3, 20–21, 131n34, 146, 212, 250, 300–301 prints, woodblock 51, 72, 134n42, 158n23, 193, 212 theatrical images in 116, 120, 121, 131–132, 141, 146 See also illustrations, woodblock Qi Ji 271, 272 Qian Hui 271 Qianlong Emperor 199, 204, 206 Qin Shihuang 273 Qin Taoyu 271 Qing dynasty 265, 267, 270, 272, 279 Qingxiang, King of Chu 122 Qinzong, Emperor 127 Qiu Yuan 199 Quanzhen Daoism 10n33, 116, 141, 147 deliverance plays in 135–140 Raozhou (Poyang, Jiangxi) 300 Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law (Nittō guhō junrei kōki; Ennin) 298–299 Reflecting Scenery Altar (painting; Lu Hong) 174 regionalism 3, 12–14, 15, 19–20, 52 Register of Ghosts (Lu gui bu) 120n13, 137 religion. See ghosts and spirits, Daoism, Buddhism, rituals

“Remnant Snow on Broken Bridge” (Ten Views) 154, 155, 159 Retreat of the Yellow Register (huanglu zhai) 83 Rhapsody of Gaotang (Gaotang fu; poem; Song Yu) 122 Rhapsody of Nüshen (Song Yu) 122n17 rituals Arhat Offering 83, 85, 93–94, 103–104 Buddhist 13, 18, 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 93–94, 97–101, 103–104, 105 clouds in 94–95 incense in 18, 85, 86, 94–96, 99, 101, 102, 104 manuals for 18, 95, 99n37, 104 and painting 13, 18, 19, 85–86, 97–101, 105 transformation in 96–97, 98, 101 visual culture of 19, 21, 83–84 visualization in 82–111 Water-Land Retreat 83, 85, 86, 104 romance in literature 120, 127, 129, 146, 147 with spirits 121–130 and theatrical pictures 14, 20, 115–116, 120, 125, 131, 135, 142, 146, 147 Romance of the West Chamber (Xixiangji; play; Wang Shifu) 115, 120, 121, 128, 129, 145, 146n72 Ruan Zhao 142, 143 rubbings of calligraphy 21, 193–225, 250 collection of 222 and colophons 214, 227, 228, 244, 247 of Epitaph for My Nursemaid 15, 196, 198–199, 219 of epitaphs 201, 207, 219 of Lantingxu 15–16, 21, 213–217 manufacture of 212–213 of tomb reliefs 44, 46, 51 Saichō (monk) 299 Sail Returning from Distant Shore (painting; Muqi) 167 Śākyamuni’s Descent (painting; Liang Kai) 100n42 Sang Hongyang 233n17 Sang Shichang 210 Santang Wang 130n30

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Index Sasanian Empire 259, 275, 277 See also Persia scroll paintings bird-and-basin 266–271 colophons on 116–117 vs. everyday objects 124–125 ritual 83–97, 100, 102, 103, 105 of Ten Views 163, 172 of theatrical stories 14, 115, 116–121, 130, 142–143, 146, 147 See also paintings sculpture, relief cave temples 8, 10n33 modular motifs in 72 and molds 48, 60, 63, 64 pigments on 51 and theater imagery 146 in tombs 42–52, 55–57, 60, 61, 63, 64 Seki Hideo 289, 305 Shang Yang 233n17 Shang Zhongxian 144 Shanxi Daoism in 9, 135, 138, 139, 140 theater in 14, 130–135, 139, 140, 141, 146, 147 tombs in 19, 55n25, 60–64, 134n41 Shao Yong 243 Shen, Hsueh-man 11, 306, 307 Shen Kui 215 Shen Zhou 264n12 Shengzong, Emperor (Liao) 306 Shenlong Lanting 212 Shi Junbao 119n11 Shiōjiyama sutra mound site (Fukuoka) 305 Shiwen leiju (Zhu Mu) 209 Shun (sage-king) 64, 65 Sicun tomb (Yingyang, Henan) 64, 65, 66, 67 sightseeing and class 15, 156 maps for 160–162 modern 184 and Ten Views 152, 156, 157–159, 160, 178, 182 Silk Road 4, 5, 17 Sima Guang 117, 157, 233, 238, 243 Sima Xiangru 132n36 Sima You 117, 121, 123

329 Sima You’s Dream of Su Xiaoxiao (handscroll; Liu Yuan) 14, 115, 116–121, 130, 146 sketchbooks (fenben) 67–68, 71, 72 Sogdiana 4, 259, 275, 277 Song Di 153n9 Song dynasty 1–4 bird-and-basin paintings in 264–267, 275, 279, 280 Japanese trade with 284, 285, 292, 305–306, 313 Northern 20, 41–81, 157 products of 298, 300, 310 Ten Views in 152, 155 theater in 120, 122, 124n21, 142n67 See also Southern Song dynasty “Song of Golden Threads” (Huangjinlü; song) 115, 118, 119, 120 “Song of Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers” (Nichang yuyi qu) 124 Song Silang tomb (Xin’an, Henan) 53–55, 56, 58, 59, 63, 69 Song Yu 122 Song Zhiwen 273 Songcun tomb (Xin’an, Henan) 61, 69, 70 songs 3, 115, 118–120, 122, 124, 141 Southern Song dynasty 126, 265 Buddhist painting in 19, 72, 82–111 literati of 15, 20, 156, 158n23, 159–160, 193–252 Ten Views in 15, 20, 151–152, 183–184 Spiritual Master Sa Judges the Spirit of Flowering Peach at Night (Sa zhenren ye duan bi taohua; play) 136n47 “Spring Dawn at Su Dike” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 157, 158n23, 159, 167, 172, 175, 178, 179 Steinhardt, Nancy 11 Stories of the Daoist Recluse ChenTuan at Mount Xihua (Xihua shan Chen Tuan gaowo; play; Ma Zhiyuan) 140 Story of Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess 144 “Student Zhang’s Dream of Yingying in an Inn at Caoqiao” (illustration) 129 Su Pinjun (Su Xiang) 232 Su Shi 210, 233, 248 calligraphy of 239, 242 and colophons 20, 227, 228n7, 232, 237, 240, 241, 244, 247 epitaphs by 201, 209

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

330 Su Song 227n4 Su Xiaoxiao 117, 122 Su Xiaoxiao’s Moon Night Dream at the Qiantang River (Su Xiaoxiao yueye Qiantang meng; play) 120, 121 Su Zhe 200 Su Zhou 266 Sui dynasty 286, 298 Sun Buer 139 “Sunset on Leifeng Pagoda” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 158, 159, 168 Supplementary Investigations of Lanting (Lanting xukao; Yu Song) 217 Supplements to the Essay on Calligraphy (Jiang Kui) 218 sutra containers 17 bronze 286, 288, 290, 292, 297, 299, 305 ceramic 287, 290, 291, 301–302, 303, 305–308 and Goryeo 312 inscriptions on 286, 288, 289–290, 297–298 Liao 308 manufacturers of 297–298, 313 metal 311 and mirrors 284, 294–295 terms for 301–302 whiteware 302, 308, 310 wooden/bamboo 290, 307, 308, 309, 311 sutra mounds 17, 284–317 distribution of 290–292 and Final Dharma 285–292 maps of 290–291, 301–302 and material culture 285, 312–313 mirrors in 293–295, 297 objects in 297–299 and trade 292–297, 299–312, 313 sutras 105, 126n23, 286, 298 Nyohōkyō preparation of 298–299 Taihu rocks 255, 257, 266, 267 Taizhou 301, 302 Taizong, Emperor 210n30, 211 Talented and Lustful Wang Huan at the Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers (Cheng fengliu Wang Huan Baihuating; play) 119n10 Tang dynasty 120, 125, 310

Index

and bird-and-basin paintings 264, 265, 267, 278–279 Buddhism in 286, 298 gardens in 272–273, 275, 278 Ten Views in 152, 156–157 tombs from 2, 73–74, 255–261 trade in 4, 17 Tang Yanqian 271 Tang’an, Princess, tomb of (Xi’an) 255, 258, 267, 277, 278 Tangdai huaniao hua yanjiu (Research on bird-and-flower painting; Jie Lu) 259 Tanguts 1, 2, 4, 5 Tangzhuang M2 tomb (Dengfeng, Henan) 69 Tao Zongyi 215 Taoism and the Art of China (Little) 9 Teiser, Stephen 7 temples 3, 8, 85, 301, 306-9, 311, 312 murals in 58, 67, 72, 105, 116, 138 theater in 116, 133, 135 Ten Images of My Grass Hut (paintings; Lu Hong) 172 Ten Views of West Lake 13, 14–15, 151–189 in Japan 183 maps of 20–21, 153, 160–162, 182 origins of 154–156 paintings of 19, 152, 153, 154, 162–182, 183 in poetry 153, 154, 156–158, 182, 183 seasons in 153–155, 159, 162, 181, 182 and sightseeing 15, 152, 156, 157–159, 160–162, 178, 182, 184 time in 152–154, 155, 159, 181–182 Ten Views of West Lake (album; Ye Xiaoyan) 15, 164–181 texts 18, 21 acquisition of 238 colophons on 226–252 Daoist 10 and Ten Views 153, 162n32, 182, 183 viewing of 226, 228, 229, 236–241, 249 theater 13, 18, 21 actors in 133–134 audiences for 14–15, 133, 135, 146, 147 and class 20, 115, 116, 120, 147 Daoist 14, 116, 135–140 daqu 130, 131 and literati 14, 119n9, 120, 122, 135n43, 140

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

331

Index

makeup in 133–134 Ming 137, 147 outdoor stages for 116, 132, 133 puppet 141n64 in rural villages 14, 130, 131n33, 133, 135, 141, 146, 147 in Shanxi 14, 130–135, 139, 140, 146, 147 in temples 116, 133, 135 in urban areas 130, 131n33, 133, 135, 141, 146, 147 women in 133n40, 134 zaju 119, 120, 130–131, 132, 134n41, 135, 137, 138, 141n64 zhugongdiao 130–131, 135 theatrical images 115–150 and literature 115, 116, 127, 146, 147 on pillows 140–146 in prints 116, 120, 121, 131–132, 141, 146 and romance 14, 20, 115–116, 120, 125, 130, 131, 135, 142, 146, 147 in tomb decor 41n1, 42–45, 48n12, 51, 60–62, 115n2, 134n41 Thousand Character Essay 239 “Three Stupas and the Reflecting Moon” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 157, 159, 176, 178 Tibetans 4, 5 titles, poetic 14, 21, 162, 183–184 for scenery 154, 156–157 for Ten Views 153, 155, 156–158, 182 Tō-ji (temple; Kyoto) 312 tomb decor 3, 41–81 architectural elements in 41–43, 55, 71, 74 artisans of 42, 52, 58, 63, 64, 67, 70n61, 72, 74–75 banquets in 41n1, 69, 71 bird-by-basin paintings in 255–261, 275, 278 Buddhist paintings in 67, 72 color in 58, 60 figurines in 73 kitchen scenes in 42, 45, 47, 50 murals in 17, 67, 72, 265 musical performances in 45, 46, 48n12, 51, 63n43 relief sculpture in 42–52, 51n16, 55–57, 60, 61, 63, 64



theatrical images in 41n1, 42–45, 48n12, 51, 60–62, 115n2, 134n41 tombs 10–11, 12, 17 archaeology of 10, 41–42, 43, 73 brick 41–81 construction of 42, 52–64, 67, 70n61, 72, 74–75 government restrictions on 73–74 Jin 2, 20, 41–81 material culture of 42, 52, 75 mirrors in 124, 294–295, 297 modular design of 42, 64–72, 75 in north China 19–20 pillows in 142 Tang 2, 73–74, 255–261 topophilia 152, 156 trade Chinese-Japanese 284, 292, 299, 306 cross-cultural 4, 16–17, 313 Liao-Japanese 299–312, 313 maritime 2, 4, 17, 21, 285 and pilgrimage sites 301 and sutra mounds 299–312, 313 and visual culture 6 Travelers at Dusk 164n39 Tseng, Lillian 41 Tuan, Yi-fu 152, 156 Turks 4 Twelve Views of Landscape (paintings; Xia Gui) 165, 167 “Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 159, 178, 180 Uighurs 4, 5 urban areas 21, 152, 182 theater in 130, 131n33, 133, 135, 141, 146, 147 Verellen, Franciscus 10 vessels and bird-and-basin paintings 259, 261, 264, 275–277, 278, 279 bronze 227, 286, 288, 290, 292, 297, 299, 305 celadon 294n28, 302, 308, 310 ceramic 275–277, 284, 287, 290–293, 301–302, 303, 305–310

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

332 vessels (cont.) colophons on 227 gold and silver 259, 261–264, 275, 278–280, 302, 304 in Japan 284, 292–293 Liao 307–308, 309 as sutra containers 286–288, 290–292, 297, 299, 301–302, 303, 305–308, 310 as tablet containers 302, 304 trade in 284, 292, 299–312, 306, 313 whiteware 302, 308, 310 Visit to the Palace (painting; Zhou Jichang) 91, 101–105, 106 visual culture 5–11, 12, 18–21 and bird-by-basin paintings 255, 261, 279–280 in Buddhist painting 96–97, 106 of calligraphy 193, 222 of everyday objects 125 of literati 226, 228, 248–250 modern 184 Persian 255, 261 of ritual 19, 83–84, 85, 96, 106 and sutra mounds 285, 313 and Ten Views 14, 15, 20, 152–153, 162–164, 182–184 of theater 14, 115–116, 120, 125, 146–147 of tombs 42, 52, 72, 75 and written words 14, 146, 193, 222, 226, 228, 248–250 visualization 6, 12, 19, 82–111 and incense 18, 86, 95–96, 101–102 of nature 153 in ritual paintings 86, 92, 97–101, 104 Wan, Maggie 10 Wang Anshi 233, 242, 245, 246, 249 Wang Bai 214, 217 Wang Bocheng 124n22 Wang Danhu 207, 208 Wang, Eugene 8, 152 Wang Gongshu, tomb of (Beijing) 256 Wang Guowei 45n8 Wang Houzhi 215, 228n6, 237, 240n43 Wang Ji 131 Wang Jian 271 Wang Jianzhi 207, 208 Wang Kui 247

Index Wang Liangqi 216n49 Wang Mingqing 265n16 Wang Minzhi 207 Wang Shifu 121 Wang Shijie 267 Wang Shilun 297 Wang Shizhen 206 Wang Shucun 68n55 Wang Wei 157, 172, 273, 275 Wang Wenjian 141n63 Wang Xianzhi 15–16, 19, 193, 194–200, 222 calligraphy of 209–210 Wang Xizhi 15–16, 19, 193–225, 240n43 calligraphy of 209–210, 217, 219–221 Wang Zhe 135, 139 Wang Zhenbai 271 “Watching Fish at Flower Cove” (Ten Views; Ye Xiaoyan) 154, 155, 157, 159, 171, 172, 178 Water-Land Retreat (painting; Zhou Jichang) 89, 90, 97–101, 103, 104, 105 Water-Land Retreat (shuilu zhai) ritual 83, 85, 86, 104 Wei Liaoweng 227n4 Weng Chengzan 271 Wenxian tomb (Henan) 42, 45–46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 64 West Lake (Hangzhou) 14–15, 20, 21, 183 See also Ten Views of West Lake West Lake (painting; Li Song) 172, 174, 178 Western Paradise 278, 286, 289 Western Shu 278–279 White Deer Grotto Academy 231, 243, 247 White Pagoda (Qingzhou, Inner Mongolia) 306, 307, 308, 309, 311 Whitfield, Roderick 146 Wind and Moon, A Medley of the Purple Cloud Pavilion (Zhugongdiao fengyue ziyunting; play; Shi Junbao) 119n11 women dreams about 121–130 education of 204 fairy 116, 122n17, 123–124, 125, 142, 143 in paintings 69, 102, 103, 116, 122n17, 123–124, 125, 142, 143 in theater 133n40, 134 in tomb decor 45, 47, 50, 69 Wong, Dorothy 8

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

Index woyou (travel while lying at ease) 152 Wu, Lady, tomb of 294 Wu Changling 136 Wu Hung 10, 41 Wu Zimu 158, 162, 181, 182 Xi Xia kingdom (Tangut) 1, 2, 4, 5 Xia Gui 163, 164, 165, 167 Xiang Yuanbian 204n18 Xiangru Pursuing a Female Phoenix (Xiangru qiuhuang) 131–132 Xianyu Shu 199 Xiao Zhao 126–127 Xiazhuanghe tomb (Dengfeng, Henan) 69 Xie Dongqing 239 Xie Kejia 238 Xie Mingliang 292, 293, 306n62 Xing Yitian 68n56 Xinjiang tombs (Shanxi) 64 Xu Chengsou (Xu Cun) 230, 242 Xu Chongci 266n23 Xu Shouhe 199 Xu Xi 261, 266n23 Xuande Emperor (Zhu Zhanji; Ming) 267, 269, 279 Xuanhe huapu (Painting Ctalogue of the Xuan Period) 261, 265, 266n23 Xuanhua tombs (Liao; Hebei) 68n54, 70n61, 312 Xue Shaopeng (Daozu) 265 Yan Qian 207 Yan Song 265 Yan Zhenqing 244 Yang Boqi 230 Yang Tingxiu 265 Yang Xiong 233n17 Yanshi tomb (Henan) 42, 43, 44, 48 Yao Dajuin 125, 134n42 Yao He 271 Yao Jiheng 265 Yao Shuyi 137 Yaozhui ji (Zhu Rixin) 200 Ye Shaoweng 198 Ye Xiaoyan 15, 164–181 Yi Yuanji 266n23 Yichuan tomb (Luoyang) 55, 57 Yijian zhi (Hong Mai) 82

333 Yingzao fashi (Li Jie) 53, 55 Yishao (monk) 85 Yonglegong (Palace of Eternal Joy; Shanxi) 9, 135, 138, 139, 140 Yongtai, Princess, tomb of (Qianxian) 260 You Mao (Yanzhi) 240 You Si 215–216 Yü, Chün-fang 7 Yu He 199 Yu Song 217 Yuan dynasty 1–5, 156, 266 literati of 119n9, 154n13 theatrical pictures in 115–150 Yuan Zhen 116n3, 121n15 Yue kilns 310 Yue Shixuan 266n23 Yungui (monk) 306 Zeng Gong 244 Zeng Pan 217 Zengzi 64, 66 Zha Qichang 151 Zhang, Celestial Master 135–136 Zhang Bin 271, 272 Zhang, Fan Jeremy 13–14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 Zhang Ju 157 Zhang Jun 238 Zhang Lei 117n5 Zhang Ming 119n9 Zhang Peng 58, 68n55 Zhang Shi (Zhang Jingfu) 231, 234, 237, 238, 242, 245 Zhang Shiqing 312 Zhang Xian 120 Zhang Xiaoxiang 241 Zhang Yu 142n66, 199 Zhang Ziying 142n65 Zhanghuai, Prince, tomb of (Qianxian) 263 Zhangsheng, Empress Dowager (Liao) 306 Zhao Bian 238 Zhao Cangyun 142, 143 Zhao Cangyun, Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao Entering the Tiantai Mountains (handscroll; Zhao Cangyun) 142–143 Zhao Chang 266, 266n23, 267 Zhao Mengfu 199, 206, 214, 218nn53–56 Zhao Xigu 162 Zhao Xihu 200

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)

334 Zhao Yanwei 202 Zhao Ye 240n43 Zhao Yigong, tomb of (Anyang) 257, 259 Zhao Zun 238 Zheng Xu tomb (Qixian, Henan) 74n73 Zhexi silver bowl (Famensi temple; Fufeng) 275, 276 Zhipan (Tiantai master) 99n37 Zhong Liquan 137 Zhong You 240 Zhongbaocun tomb (Xi’an) 274 Zhou Bida 199 Zhou Dunyi 238, 243, 248 Zhou Fang 264, 264n12 Zhou Jichang 85, 97 Zhou Mi 157, 158, 163, 199

Index Zhu Derun 266n22 Zhu Dunru 160, 247 Zhu Mu 154, 158, 209 Zhu Qiaonian 233n17 Zhu Quan 137 Zhu Rixin 200 Zhu Song 233, 242 Zhu Xi 16, 19, 20, 226–252 and calligraphy 222, 228, 240, 244–245 Zhu Yizun 204n18 Zhu Yu 228n8 Zhuangzi (Zhuang Zhou) 136–137 Zhuhong (Tiantai master) 99n37 Zhuo Wenjun 132n36 Zizhi tongjian (Sima Guang) 243 Zong Bing 152

Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Susan Shih-shan Huang - 978-90-04-34937-7 Downloaded from Brill.com04/09/2020 03:08:15AM via The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)