ARTH 109 Quiz 2

The Gathering of Kings

• Kings from different cultures and kingdoms

  • Sassanian, khotan, goguryeo, srilanka 

• Came to chang’an to give king gfts

• Chang’an “Perpetual Peace”- Cpaital of tang dynasty

  • Most cosmopolitan and international center at the time

• Shows that people during the Tang empire were aware of and interacted with their neighbors

• Can also see how people dressed at that time in different cultures

Lady Guoguo’s Spring Outing

• She's riding horses with other women

• Hard to tell which one is Lady Guoguo because women were also able to wear men's clothing

  • Hu figurines during the Tang dynasty: Female figures are riding horses, playing polo, and wearing men’s robes

  • Showed increased power with women during this time

  • Can sometimes tell if the figure is wearing lipstick

• Show women have a different and higher social status than women in previous dynasties

Crystal lobed elliptical bowl

• Hejia Village Hoard (Tang Dynasty)

• Only object made from crystal, dating back to the Tang dynasty, very thin

• Similar to the Sassanian lobed elliptical bowl found in Iran

  • But this bowl does not have motifs 

• Also, a similar jade lobed bowl was found in Hejia village

  • This bowl has decorations, but they are different from Sassanian

Agate Horn Rhyton (shape of bull’s head)

• Hejia Village Hoard (Tang Dynasty)

• Drinking vessel in the shape of a bull’s head, drink from the side

• Dates back to 2nd century bce in Iran

• Also seen in Roman fresco painting, Sogdian art 

Gilt silver bowl with two lion patterns

• Hejia Village Hoard (Tang Dynasty)

• Technique similar to Sassanian metal work

• Similar designs to the Sogdian bowl (wine cup)

  • animal at the center, lobed pattern

12-lobed oblong cup of green glass

• Shoso-in collection in Japan

  • Emperor shomu and empress komyo 

  • Both Buddhists and established several monasteries

• Similar to crystal lobed bowl in Hejia village hoard (pattern originates from Iran)

Silver Incense Burner

• Shoso-in collection

• No matter how hard you shake this, the center remains stable and upright

• Smaller one found in Hejia village

• Found its way to Italy, became a valuable item, seen in european art in 16…

• Japan→ central asia→ europe

Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wencheng (china) and Princess Tritsun (nepal)

• Songtsen Gampo- 33rd Tsenpo of Yarliung Dynasty (tibetan king), introduced buddhism to Tibet, Tibetan scripts created during his time

• Princess Tristsun– literally translates to “princess princess” in tibetan

  • Didn’t know if she actually existed

• Princess Wencheng of China

  • Her history is well-recorded

  • Came from imperial family of the Tang, daughter of military official

  • Short marriage bc emperor died, she stayed in Tibet and died there

  • Credited with brining China goods and ideas to tibet, and the ppl really like her

The Demoness of Tibet

• When Princess Wencheng arrived in Tibet, she wanted to build buddhist monasteries, but it was hard because Tibet was on a demoness

  • Must have 12 monasteries across her body (joints, hands, feet, knees, etc) so she cannot move

  • Built one last monastery on her heart, Jokhang monastery

Jowo Shakyamuni, Jokhang

• The most famous and holiest image in Tibet

• Argued about where and when the sculpture was created

• Tibetans believed this was a true image of the Buddha Shakyamuni

  • This is problematic because we learned the earliest image was in the Great Stupa in India

  • So there is likely no image of the Buddha when he was alive (500 BCE)

• They believed it was blessed by teacher (historical Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni)

• Believed it was a gift from an Indian King

  • Because it’s impossible for this sculpture to have been made in 500 BCE

  • This sculpture is different from other 7th-century sculptures (chin protrudes more)

    • Similar to Buddha in the Mahabodhi Temple in India from the 11th to 12th century

    • This proves the jowo sculpture is not from the 7th century

• Tourists can no longer see this sculpture because Tibetans believe its so sacred

  • Temple only open for Buddhists and Tibetans in the morning

Paradise of the Medicine Buddha

• discovered in Library Cave (Dunhuang)

• 9th century

• Blank box at the center of the painting with 2 inscriptions

  • Chinese inscription

  • Tibetan inscription identified the deity and the painter, year of the dragon

    • The earliest name on a painting that has the name of a Tibetan monk

• Compare tibetan and chinese visual mode, and be able to tell why each one is different

(3 figures painting)

• Right bodhisattva (tibetan visual mode)

  • rectangular “U” shape

  • Dynamic position with a small waist

  • Seagull eye shape

  • body more exposed

• Left bodhisattva (Chinese visual mode)

  • circular halo

  • body more covered by Chinese style clothing,

  • posture more upright and centered

Xi’an Stele (Jingjiao/Nestorian Stele)

• erected by Jingjing, Syriac name was Adam

• records history of the Christian community in Tang China, contains both Chinese and Syriac inscriptions (localization and foreign identity)

• a cross (Christianity), clouds, and a lotus (Buddhist motif)

  • Typically see a Buddha above a lotus base, but here we see a the cross

    • Eastern cross, pearl shape in the middle, more centered

  • Christian symbolism expressed through Daoist and Buddhist visual language

• Manichaeism: absorbed elements from Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism (?)

• 781 CE

Emperor Taizong of tang receiving the Tibetan Envoy

• likely Song Dynasty

• Person in a patterned robe is Tibetan

  • Came to court to ask for marriage, (later married Princess Wencheng)

  • He doesn’t look like other common Tibetans, according to Dunhuang pieces, Tibetans wore more flowy, v-neck robes without patterns

  • Pattern of the robe in the painting

    • Roundel with animal in the center, beaded jewel pattern

    • Similar to clothing of the ambassadors from Iranian states

  • Artist may have been confused and just painted him as a central asian

    • Important to note how it is important to be critical because not every figure may be depicted accurately

Gold artifact from Xuewei Tomb No.1

• Pro-Tibetan Tuyuhun tomb located in Dulan/Eastern Tibet

  • Tuyuhun kingdom split, some stayed under rule of tibetan, others went to Tang China

• Parithian Shot: Running away on horse, turn around shoot them

• This tactic was made popular by Parthians

• Earliest parthian shot artifact is found in Iran

• Also seen in Korean art

• In Japan, the parthian shot was put in a roundel (Horyu-ji Collection 6-7th century)

Seal excavated from Xuewei Tomb No. 1

• 8th century

• “Seal of the King of Achai The Nephew” in Tibetan

• King Achai, king of Tuyuhun under tibetan kingdom?

• Mother was Tibetan princess,

• pro-tibetan Tuyuhun

“funerary mask” of Murong Zhi

• found in tomb of Murong Zhi (7-8 century)

  • Pro-Tang Tuyuhun

  • Grandson of the last ruler of the independent Tuyuhun kingdom

  • Mother was the princess of the Tang Empire + he served as a Tang general

• mouth piece and nose

• Piece of silk covering his face with paintings on his face (on the silk)

• Seeds, agate, and glass beads to draw out facial features on the silk

• Chinese and Tibetan people have gold funerary mask

  • Tibetan people seem closer to nomadic people in the North

• Family commissioned for a new tomb back in tuyuhun, to return home

  • They always went back to their cultural root and where they were born

• Funerary mask seem to be shared practice with tuyuhun people

Identify these people

1st Khitan (based on hairstyle), 2nd korean, 3rd tibetan, 4th central asian (based on the pattern of the robe)

Gilded Silver Crown of Princess of Chen’s Husband

• Khitan Liao Dynasty, 10-11th century

• Daoist Deity is depicted in the crown, we know it's Daoist because it has a beard (don’t see beards with Buddhism)

• doesn’t have leaves like the Afghan, three Yan, and Korean crowns

Gold Masks of Princess of Chen and Husband

• The masks are supposed to reflect what they truly look like

• Wearing a mask is a common funerary tradition in Liao/Khitan dynasty

• The maskes were attached to a suit mad with metal wire

  • Unique to Khitans funerary traditions

    • When a wealthy person dies, they remove the stomach and intestines, fill them with herbs, salt, etc, sew them back together, drain fat and blood, and create a mask and metal wire suit

    • Wire suit was often copper, for the princess of Chen and her husband, they used silver

    • No other group uses a wire suit

Wooden Dharani Coffin of Zhang Wenzao and his wife

• Khitan Liao, excavted in inner-Mongola

• Tomb of Zhang Wenzao and his wife

  • Ethnically Han (Han under the Liao)

• Chinese and Sanskrit text

  • Buddhist spells (Dharani) are used for protection, purification, and the accumulation of merit

• Ashes of the tomb owner and wife, placed inside life-size straw mannequin 

  • True face mannequin

    • Painted wooden mannequin dressed in textiles with features, remnants of fabrics

    • Realistic depiction of the tomb owner’s face→ “true face”

      • Can see details of the ear, eyes, wrinkles, and nose

    • Several individual parts of the mannequin (hands, joints, feet)

    • There is a small opening that can be removed to put the ashes in the mannequin (usually in the chest section)

    • Why True Face: Buddhist- cremation, Han- Funerary tradition to, maintain the wholeness of the body, Subject of Khitan- has a quest for the true face depiction

    • Why is the true face mannequin movable: Prayer, protestation, and meditation are important positions

      • It is likely that the mannequins were positioned in meditation positions in the tomb, thats why the joints had to be movable

Buddha Vairochana

• Khitan Liao dynasty, 11th century

• significant Buddha, especially in esoteric buddhism

  • rapid enlightenment in this life

• Compared to Tang Empire Buddha Shakyamuni

  • Tang sculpture is dressed more modestly, body exposed more masculine

  • Liao one has a necklace and long robe (Han aesthetics), hand position is different 

• Crown had a Buddha on it

• Vairochana in Sanskrit means shining, illuminator

Sancai Pottery Arhats

• Khitan Liao dynasty, 11th century

• sancai = 3 color glaze

  • Low temperature to fire this, earthenware not ceramic

  • Amber, green, white (sometimes black and blue)

  • Colors achieved by mixing metal oxides with lead glaze (chemically created)

    • The cobalt blue came to China through the Sogdians

    • The liao pieces did not have blue, which indicates trade with central asia and east asia were no longer strong/active

• 11th century

• Faces are very realistic

  • Similar for quest for realism with Liao funeral rituals (masks)

Pingzuo

• Khitan Liao Dynasty

• Guanyin Hall at Dule Monastery

  • 23 m in height, actually really tall

  • One colossal bodhisattva sculpture

• Mezanine level built between every two stories to keep tall buildings stable

Yingxian Timber Pagoda

• Khitan Liao Dynasty

• 67 m, very tall, still the highest building in the county since 1154

• Built by Khitans, associated building with Buddhas relics

• 4 pingzuo levels

• Fifth floor: 3-dimensional mandala

  • One buddha at center (Vairocana Buddha), accompanied 8 boddisattvas 

weeping buddha head

• Tangut Empire, 12th century, excavated from Hongfu Stupa

• Was it intentional design, or was the glaze not fired currently?

  • Likely was intentional, because several other Buddha sculptures were found with this weeping look

• No other buddhas were depicted like this in all of Asia

Acala

• Tangut Empire, excavated from Khara Khoto

• several hands, human heads, drinking blood

• cotton- preferred surface in South Asia

• esoteric- accelerated enlightenment in a single lifetime rather than multiple, teachings held to be beyond understadings of ordinary persons

• Green Tara: uses Register Composition (popular in South asian and Tibet)

  • Main deity in the center, surrounded by figures in well organized composition, usually symmetrical, full view

  • Similar to Acala

• Bodhisattva Wenshu on the Elephant: uses Floating Composition (Han Chinese Influence)

  • Han styles clothing, non-esoteric, uses silk (preffered surface in China)

Amitabha Buddha welcoming the souls of devotees into Western Pure Land

• Tangut Kingdom, Khara Khoto

• Non-esoteric bc people are floating around, no figures have multiple hands or heads

• 2 bodhisattvas both have little baby who will jump on lotus

• Devotee is the Tangut male in bottom left corner

  • Smoke coming off his head→ this turns him into small baby→ baby will jump onto lotus flower→ from there baby will go up to pure land in the west

• This image was also discovered in Japan

  • Difference between these two pieces: the figures are facing different directions 

    • Japan facing our right, Tangut facing our left 

      • Poses directional questions

• Also discovered in Korea

  • These bodhisattvas are facing same direction of Tangut

  • Tangut painting (11-12th century), Korean and Japanese (13-14th century)

    • No paintings like this were found in Song Dynasty China

Vimalakirti Sutra

• Tangut Empire

• movable-type print on paper

• Clay

• Haimu Cave, Wuwei

The Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union

• Tangut empire

• movable-type printing

• wood

• Baisigou square Pagoda

True face mannequin

• Painted wooden mannequin dressed in textiles with features, remnants of fabrics

• Realistic depiction of the tomb owner’s face→ “true face”

  • Can see details of the ear, eyes, wrinkles, and nose

• Several individual parts of the mannequin (hands, joints, feet)

• There is a small opening that can be removed to put the ashes in the mannequin (usually in the chest section)