DOCSLIB.ORG

1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, Title, Date, Size, Country of Origin, Period/Style)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, Title, Date, Size, Country of Origin, Period/Style) 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 193. TERRA COTTA WARRIORS FROM MAUSOLEUM Painted Terra Cotta OF 1ST QIN EMPEROR OF CHINA c. 221-209 BCE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 194. FUNERAL BANNER OF LADY DAI (XIN ZHUI) Painted Silk Han Dynasty, China c. 180 BCE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: Funeral Banner of Lady Dai Western Han dynasty, 168 B.C. Hunan Provincial Museum, Changsha see also: line drawing of the silk banner Lady Dai's painted silk banner is a precious window into Han-dynasty legends and funeral practice; it was carried in front of the funeral procession, then draped upon her coffin. Banners like this were employed to attract the spirit of the deceased to its tomb, where it could be properly started on its afterlife journey instead of remaining on earth to bother the living. The banner's design1 is divided vertically into Yin (left), Mixture (center), and Yang (right); and horizontally into the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. The banner describes Lady Dai's journey to heaven; it is decorated with grave goods, spirits, legends, and symbols of immortality associated withXiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West. Heaven • Left side (yin): the crescent moon with Toad and Jade Rabbit; Chang'e just below the crescent; and a dragon2 rampant above the clouds. • Center top, Xiwangmu with human body and dragon tail3, flanked by fivecranes; below, two more cranes partake from a Cup of Immortality that is supported on a tasseled bell and pulled aloft by two horseriders. Just below, a pair of felines4 and a pair of seated officials are guarding the heavenly gates. • Right side (yang): the Sun Crow, a dragon, and the Ten Suns. Earth: Farewell scene • Slouching on a marble or limestone platform, Lady Dai (or more properly, herhun soul) begins her journey to heaven. She carries her long cane (its original was found in her tomb), and is accompanied by mourner-attendants who bid her farewell and start her off upon her journey. • A canopy far above her head, upon which rests a pair of phoenixes, is supported by an owl. The entrance to the platform is flanked by another pair of guardian felines4. The sides of the design are filled by the heads of two large dragons whose bodies extend all the way down to the bottom of the banner. Earth: Boundary between life and afterlife • Separating the farewell (above) and feasting (below) scenes, the dragons' bodies are knotted through a bi. In their passage through the bi, the body of each dragon crosses to the opposite side from which it started, i.e., exchanging yin and yang. Earth: Lady Dai's funeral feast • An elaborate tassel, that spreads across the whole width of the banner, is suspended from the bi. A pair of birds, with human heads, perches above its spreading sides. • The space below the tassel is the locus of Lady Dai's funeral feast with her coffin, bronze vessels for food and drink, celebrants, grave goods5, etc. Above the feast there is an angled chime stone that is suspended, like the large tassel, from the central bi. Underworld6 • A kneeling telamon holds up the floor of the earth. He is flanked by dragon-turtles on which small birds are perched7. • Below the telemon are a pair of intertwined fish with long bodies that are flanked by rampant tomb guardians. • The underworld scene is framed on either side by the tails of those dragons whose heads appeared first in the upper scene of the Farewell, thus uniting the foundation of reality with its earthly extensions. To summarize, Lady Dai's banner situates her journey to heaven in a rich context of funeral objects, customs, and legends. Its dynamic sense of left-right symmetry, and especially the paired dragon bodies that cross through the center of the bi, expresses the richness of yin/yang duality in early Chinese thought. 1A 3x3 ("Tic-Tac-Toe") organization of visual space that is found, as well, in other ancient cultures. The actual contents of the space are, of course, culture-dependent. 2Often, although not here, the dragon is a prototypical yin animal and symbol of the emperor. On this banner, though, it operates as a powerful creature and conduit of Daoist energy. 3Snake or dragon tails symbolize an Immortal. 4These are guardian animals; probably leopards, possibly tianlu, although the latter are usually described as winged lions. The felines who guard the tomb are horizontal, while the felines who guard the Heavenly Gates are vertical - a deft artistic touch. 5 Such precious objects as bi, bells, jade, chimes, etc. are found in quantity in early Chinese burials. 6In China, the underworld has three connotations. The first is cosmological, as the foundation of all that exists. The second is the world of the deceased in their tombs, where they can enjoy feasting and entertainment in the afterlife. The third, which of course does not apply to Lady Dai, is the Hell Realm with its fierce gods and punishments. 7The perching bird is a motif from the natural world that is also found on many bronzes. 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 195. LONGMEN CAVES Limestone Luoyang, China Tang Dynasty 493-1127 CE 3 images: Exterior, Details of Buddha and Bodhisattvas 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 196. GOLD AND JADE CROWN Metalwork Three Kingdoms Period Silla Kingdom, Korea 5th to 6th century CE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist, title, date, size, country 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making of origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 201. FAN KUAN- TRAVELERS AMONG MOUNTAINS Ink and colors on silk AND STREAMS Northern Song Period C.1000 CE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist,title, date, size, country of 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 204. The David Vases White Porcelain with cobalt-blue underglaze Yuan Dynasty, China 1351 CE 4. CONTENT: (subject & genre: iconography, 5. ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED symbolism, the story) FUNCTION OF THE WORK: (Overlap to #6) 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. ARTIST: (Biographical information, training, style/ 2. STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS: (use of design 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES: (art making period, where lived/ created art, influences) elements/ principles: color, shape, value, texture, processes) line, space; balance, contrast, emphasis, IMPERIAL BUREAU OF PAINTING movement, etc.) Hanging scroll (ink and color on silk) 4. TITLE(S) OF MAJOR WORK(S): 5. TITLE/ FORM/ ORIGINAL CONTEXT/ SITE/ INTENDED FUNCTION OF FOCUS WORK (IMAGE IN CENTER): (Overlap to #6) 205. Portrait of Sin Sukju (1417-1475), 15th century CE 6. INTENDED PURPOSE & MOTIVATION (why was it 7. INNOVATION/ CHANGE(S): 8. THEME(S): made?); PATRON/AUDIENCE (who was it made for?); ARTIST’S DECISION MAKING: CONVENTION/ TRADITION(S): COMPARE TO ANOTHER WORK: 1. IDENTIFICATION: (Artist,title, date, size, country of 2. FORM: (use of design elements/ principles: 3. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: (art making origin, period/style) color, shape, value, texture, line, space; balance, processes) contrast, emphasis, movement, etc.) 206. Forbidden City Stone masonry, marble, brick, wood, and ceramic 15th century CE and later tile Beijing, China- Ming Dynasty 5 images: Forbidden City; Front Gate; Hall of Supreme Harmony; The Palace of Tranquility and Longevity; plan 4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Cultural and Religious Background of Sexual Vampirism in Ancient China
    Theology & Sexuality Volume 12(3): 285-308 Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications London, Thousand Oaks CA, New Delhi http://TSE.sagepub.com DOI: 10.1177/1355835806065383 The Cultural and Religious Background of Sexual Vampirism in Ancient China Paul R. Goldin [email protected] Abstract This paper considers sexual macrobiotic techniques of ancient China in their cultural and religious milieu, focusing on the text known as Secret Instructions ofthe Jade Bedchamber, which explains how the Spirit Mother of the West, originally an ordinary human being like anyone else, devoured the life force of numerous young boys by copulating with them, and there- by transformed herself into a famed goddess. Although many previous studies of Chinese sexuality have highlighted such methods (the noted historian R.H. van Gulik was the first to refer to them as 'sexual vampirism'), it has rarely been asked why learned and intelligent people of the past took them seriously. The inquiry here, by considering some of the most common ancient criticisms of these practices, concludes that practitioners did not regard decay as an inescapable characteristic of matter; consequently it was widely believed that, if the cosmic processes were correctly under- stood, one could devise techniques that may forestall senectitude indefinitely. Keywords: sexual vampirism, macrobiotics, sex practices, Chinese religion, qi, Daoism Secret Instructions ofthe Jade Bedchamber {Yufang bijue S Ml^^) is a macro- biotic manual, aimed at men of leisure wealthy enough to own harems, outlining a regimen of sexual exercises that is supposed to confer immor- tality if practiced over a sufficient period. The original work is lost, but substantial fragments of it have been preserved in Ishimpo B'O:^, a Japanese chrestomathy of Chinese medical texts compiled by Tamba Yasuyori ^MMU (912-995) in 982.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebuilding the Ancestral Temple and Hosting Daluo Heaven and Earth Prayer and Enlightenment Ceremony
    Cultural and Religious Studies, July 2020, Vol. 8, No. 7, 386-402 doi: 10.17265/2328-2177/2020.07.002 D DAVID PUBLISHING Rebuilding the Ancestral Temple and Hosting Daluo Heaven and Earth Prayer and Enlightenment Ceremony Wu Hui-Chiao Ming Chuan University, Taiwan Kuo, Yeh-Tzu founded Taiwan’s Sung Shan Tsu Huei Temple in 1970. She organized more than 200 worshipers as a group named “Taiwan Tsu Huei Temple Queen Mother of the West Delegation to China to Worship at the Ancestral Temples” in 1990. At that time, the temple building of the Queen Mother Palace in Huishan of Gansu Province was in disrepair, and Temple Master Kuo, Yeh-Tzu made a vow to rebuild it. Rebuilding the ancestral temple began in 1992 and was completed in 1994. It was the first case of a Taiwan temple financing the rebuilding of a far-away Queen Mother Palace with its own donations. In addition, Sung Shan Tsu Huei Temple celebrated its 45th anniversary and hosted Yiwei Yuanheng Lizhen Daluo Tiandi Qingjiao (Momentous and Fortuitous Heaven and Earth Prayer Ceremony) in 2015. This is the most important and the grandest blessing ceremony of Taoism, a rare event for Taoism locally and abroad during this century. Those sacred rituals were replete with unprecedented grand wishes to propagate the belief in Queen Mother of the West. Stopping at nothing, Queen Mother’s love never ceases. Keywords: Sung Shan Tsu Huei Temple, Temple Master Kuo, Yeh-Tzu, Golden Mother of the Jade Pond, Daluo Tiandi Qingjiao (Daluo Heaven and Earth Prayer Ceremony) Introduction The main god, Golden Mother of the Jade Pond (Golden Mother), enshrined in Sung Shan Tsu Huei Temple, is the same as the Queen Mother of the West, the highest goddess of Taoism.
    [Show full text]
  • Mythical Image of “Queen Mother of the West” and Metaphysical Concept of Chinese Jade Worship in Classic of Mountains and Seas
    IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue11, Ver. 6 (Nov. 2016) PP 39-46 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Mythical Image of “Queen Mother of the West” and Metaphysical Concept of Chinese Jade Worship in Classic of Mountains and Seas Juan Wu1 (School of Foreign Language，Beijing Institute of Technology, China) Abstract: This paper focuses on the mythological image, the Queen Mother of the West in Classic of Mountains and Seas, to explore the hiding history and mental reality behind the fantastic literary images, to unveil the origin of jade worship, which plays an significant role in the 8000-year-old history of Eastern Asian jade culture, to elucidate the genetic mechanism of the jade worship budded in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, so that we can have an overview of the tremendous influence it has on Chinese civilization, and illustrate its psychological role in molding the national jade worship and promoting the economic value of jade business. Key words: Mythical Image, Mythological Concept, Jade Worship, Classic of Mountains and Seas I. WHITE JADE RING AND QUEEN MOTHER OF THE WEST As for the foundation and succession myths of early Chinese dynasties, Allan holds that “Ancient Chinese literature contains few myths in the traditional sense of stories of the supernatural but much history” (Allan, 1981: ix) and “history, as it appears in the major texts from the classical period of early China (fifth-first centuries B.C.)，has come to function like myth” (Allan, 1981: 10). While “the problem of myth for Western philosophers is a problem of interpreting the meaning of myths and the phenomenon of myth-making” as Allan remarks, “the problem of myth for the sinologist is one of finding any myths to interpret and of explaining why there are so few.” (Allen, 1991: 19) To decode why white jade enjoys a prominent position in the Chinese culture, the underlying conceptual structure and unique culture genes should be investigated.
    [Show full text]
  • Learning Guide
    Once Upon a Moon Once Upon a Moon In partnership with the National Air & Space Museum Recommended for ages 3-7 PreK to Grade 2 A Reproducible Learning Guide for Educators This guide is designed to help educators prepare for, enjoy, and discuss Once Upon a Moon It contains background, discussion questions and activities appropriate for ages 3-7. Programs Are Made Possible, In Part, By Generous Gifts From: The Nora Roberts Foundation Smithsonian Women's Committee DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Sommer Endowment Smithsonian Youth Access Grants Program Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Discovery Theater ● P.O. Box 23293, Washington, DC ● www.discoverytheater.org Like us on Facebook ● Instagram: SmithsonianDiscoveryTheater ● Twitter: Smithsonian Kids Once Upon a Moon 2 Fun Facts about the Moon! • The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. A natural satellite is a space body that orbits a planet, a planet like object or an asteroid. • It is the fifth largest moon in the Solar System. • The average distance from the Moon to the Earth is 238857 miles. • The Moon orbits the Earth every 27.3 days. • The first person to set foot on the Moon was Neil Armstrong. • The Moon is very hot during the day but very cold at night. The average surface temperature of the Moon is 107 degrees Celsius during the day and -153 degrees Celsius at night. • The Earth’s tides are largely caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon. Moon Myths from Around the World Chang’e: The Chinese Goddess of the Moon The Jade Emperor, ruler of Heaven, had ten unruly sons.
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook of Chinese Mythology TITLES in ABC-CLIO’S Handbooks of World Mythology
    Handbook of Chinese Mythology TITLES IN ABC-CLIO’s Handbooks of World Mythology Handbook of Arab Mythology, Hasan El-Shamy Handbook of Celtic Mythology, Joseph Falaky Nagy Handbook of Classical Mythology, William Hansen Handbook of Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch Handbook of Hindu Mythology, George Williams Handbook of Inca Mythology, Catherine Allen Handbook of Japanese Mythology, Michael Ashkenazi Handbook of Native American Mythology, Dawn Bastian and Judy Mitchell Handbook of Norse Mythology, John Lindow Handbook of Polynesian Mythology, Robert D. Craig HANDBOOKS OF WORLD MYTHOLOGY Handbook of Chinese Mythology Lihui Yang and Deming An, with Jessica Anderson Turner Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England Copyright © 2005 by Lihui Yang and Deming An All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yang, Lihui. Handbook of Chinese mythology / Lihui Yang and Deming An, with Jessica Anderson Turner. p. cm. — (World mythology) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-57607-806-X (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-57607-807-8 (eBook) 1. Mythology, Chinese—Handbooks, Manuals, etc. I. An, Deming. II. Title. III. Series. BL1825.Y355 2005 299.5’1113—dc22 2005013851 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, Inc. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116–1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Time in Daoist Practice
    Time in Daoist Practice Cultivation and Calculation edited by Livia Kohn Three Pines Press www.threepinespress.com © 2021 by Three Pines Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standard Institute Z39.48 Standard. Distributed in the United States by Three Pines Press. Cover Art: “Measuring Flow: Clock over Yin-Yang.” Design by Breant Cochran. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kohn, Livia, 1956- editor. Title: Time in Daoist practice : cultivation and calculation / edited by Livia Kohn. Description: St Petersburg : Three Pines Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021011151 | ISBN 9781931483490 (acid-free paper) Subjects: LCSH: Time--Religious aspects--Taoism. Classification: LCC BL1942.85.T56 T56 2021 | DDC 299.5/142--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021011151 Contents Introduction Livia Kohn Daoist Practice and the Importance of Time 1 Setting the Theme Hervé Louchouarn Dao Defines Time and Health 17 Part One: Planetary Time Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik Defining Time: The Codes of Yin-Yang in Han Murals 39 Bede Benjamin
    [Show full text]
  • Chinese Bears in Antique Garb 3 Emperor Yu the Great
    ls ia er at M ed ht ig yr op C s: es Pr g on K g on f H o ity rs ve ni U se ne hi C e Th Chinese Bears in Antique Garb with introductory notes added by the translator ls ia er at M ed ht ig yr op C Legendary Times : (c.2100–c.1600 ss re P ng BC o ) K ng The Queen Mother of the West, o Yi the Archer and Chang’e f H o ity rs ve ni U se ne hi C e Th THE TEDDY BEAR CHRONICLES 2 ls ia er at M ed ht ig yr op C s: es Pr g on K The Queen Mother of the West is a legendary being in Chinese g n mythology, supposed to dwell upon the Kunlun Mountains and to o have been visited there by King Mu of Zhou. In her garden grow the H f famous peaches which ripen but once in o mortality upon those who eat them. Later tradition has given her a y it husband called the Royal Lord of the East. rs ve ni U e es to haveHou rescued Yi, or humans simply ‘Yi’, from is theimminent famed heroicannihilation. archer said in He shot down nine (or in some texts ten) surplus suns h which once rose together and scorched the earth. He was C e given the elixir of immortality by the Queen Mother of h 3,000 T the West as a reward, but his wife, Chang’e, stole it and flew away to the moon.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Model in the Study of Chinese Mythology
    Journal of chinese humanities 3 (���7) �-�� brill.com/joch A New Model in the Study of Chinese Mythology Liu Yuqing 劉毓慶 Professor of Literature, Shanxi University, China [email protected] Translated by Casey Lee Abstract Chinese mythology [shenhua 神話] does not exist independently as a cultural medium like mythology does in the West but, rather, comprises ideological and narrative forms that emerge according to historical and cultural trends. Not only have myths withstood humanity’s conquest of nature, but they have drawn and continue to draw on the mys- teries of scientific development for new content. It is possible to identify three high- points of creativity in the history of Chinese mythology, each corresponding to shifts in the function and nuance of myths. The first highpoint occurred very early on in China’s ancient history, in the period of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors [wudi san- wang 五帝三王], when myths were a way to articulate history—that is, history as myth. The second highpoint occurred in the period from the Qin through Jin dynasties, when mythology mainly expounded on philosophy and theory—that is, philosophy as myth. The third highpoint occurred during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, when the narrative content of mythology turned toward the religious—that is, religion as myth. Keywords ancient Chinese history – The Classic of the Mountains and Seas – myth – mythology Mythology is a Western concept. The study of Chinese mythology dates back only to the broad dissemination of Western learning in early twentieth century China and, for most of the past century, has employed concepts, theories, clas- sifications, and research methods developed by Western scholars.
    [Show full text]
  • Divinity and Salvation : the Great Goddesses of China
    Divinity and Salvation : The Great Goddesses of China LEE IRWIN Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana Though Chinese mythology and religion have been dominated by male gods and masters, the presence of female divinities has always been a part of Chinese folk belief. These various divinities, usually identified with the feminine principle of moist, dark, receptive nature, constitute a somewhat obscure pantheon of water sprites, dragon ladies, snake queens, moon-goddesses, and rulers of heaven and earth. Among them may be recognized four divinities whose collective popularity extends from ancient times to the present. These four are Niigua -& #fi, the ancient Zhou dynasty creatress; Xiwangmu EEB,the Queen Mother of the West; Guanyin as, the Goddess of Mercy; and Tian- hou *G, the Empress of Heaven. These four divinities have an in- teresting and significant relationship with each other, indicative of the dynamic social and cultural history of China. Collectively, they rep- resent the presence of the feminine element, divinized to the highest- degree, in an almost unbroken continuity of spiritual potency and signi- ficance for both the masses of China, as well as for various religious- and ~oliticalgroups. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss these four figures and to show how their interrelationship has developed in the face of a dominant male religious and political environment. The basic difference between the religious environment of classical and post-classical China might best be characterized as the difference between a warring hegemony of hereditary Chinese warlords and a central bureaucracy, dominated by a structured hierarchy of non- hereditary officials (BODDE1961, 369).
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Daoism by Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn (Review)
    Philosophy Faculty Works Philosophy 2004 Women in Daoism by Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn (Review) Robin R. Wang Loyola Marymount University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/phil_fac Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Wang, Robin R. "Women in Daoism," (Review) China Review International 11, no. 1 (2004): 69-72. This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reviews 69 notes 1. Chung-ying Cheng, in his discussion of qi in the Encyclopedia, calls it, as do many, “vital force.” He says that qi suggests “an internal life force. That force can produce consciousness, knowledge, and wisdom” (p. 615). Judging from this explanation of qi, it does not seem to have much in common with Aristotle’s notion of the physical. 2. Elsewhere, however, Ames, in conjunction with David L. Hall, refers to zhengming as “ordering names,” whereby he criticizes its “prevailing interpretation” as “rectification of names” for failing to “give full account to the performative force of naming” and tending “to treat names in terms of some theoretical schema that has been inherited out of the tradition, and that can be hypostatized and hence rectified by behaviors that satisfy the standing theoreti- cal construct” (Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall, Thinking Through Confucius [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1987], p.
    [Show full text]
  • Chen Meiwen-Gendered Ritual and Performative Literacy
    Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/41195 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation Author: Chen Meiwen Title: Gendered ritual and performative literacy : Yao Women, goddesses of fertility, and the Chinese imperial state Issue Date: 2016-06-29 Chapter 4. Local Negotiations with the Civilizing Project: A Focus on Goddesses of Fertility This chapter addresses the diverse ritual constructions of female fertility that reveal the Yao’s reception of and negotiation with the civilizing project, the patrilineal Daoist ordination, and one of its social consequences, the naturalization of female fertility. Sherry Ortner argues that the emergence of the state has had a profound and dynamic relationship with the regulation of women’s social role and sexual behaviour. In particular, the regulation has often revolved around the idealization and symbolization of female fertility, in which a paired concept of purity and pollution is the most relevant.1 Different cultures and societies have their own distinct ways of ritualistically constructing gender relations and female fertility.2 In the Chinese context, it is fairly common to find that purity is often associated with the value of female chastity;3 whereas pollution is symbolically related to menstrual blood and childbirth.4 As will be argued in the pages to follow, the contrast between purity and pollution might be an important key in enlightening our understanding of the gender qualities ascribed to Chinese female deities and the goddesses of fertility popular among non-Han Chinese societies in South China. Steven Sangren’s study of the three Chinese female deities, Guanyin or Miao- shan, Mazu or Tian Hou (the Queen of Heaven) and the Eternal Mother5 shows that purity is an integral virtue in the deification of these female deities.
    [Show full text]
  • Queen Mother of the West the Changing Face of a Goddess
    backstory Queen Mother of the West The Changing Face of a Goddess he story of the Queen Mother of the West— who appears as the goddess of immortality T in UMMA’s ancient carved limestone slab— is one of the oldest legends in China; it has endured in one form or another for two millennia and still plays a variety of roles in contemporary life. Painting from Dingjiazha tomb no. 5, Jiuquan, Gansu province, circa 400. The Queen Mother appears repeatedly in ancient funerary icono- graphy. Here she is shown seated in her west- ern paradise accompanied by a three-legged bird, a nine-tailed fox, and an attendant holding an umbrella over her head. The upper level of the tomb also included a painting of the paradise of the Lord of the East, with whom the Queen Mother was often paired. Festival of the Peaches of Longevity, Ming dynasty (1368–1644), 15th century (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri). The Queen Mother’s enchanted palace in the Kunlun mountains was said to contain beautiful pagodas, lotus-filled ponds, jewel-laden trees, attending immortals, and lovely maidens. In her garden grew the peaches of immortality; these legendary fruits, of which she was the guardian, ripened only once every 3000 years and just a single bite was believed to grant eternal life. In her earliest incarnation, the Queen glamorized as the Queen Mother Mother of the West, also known as in Taoist and popular belief; as a Xiwangmu, was a great creative power ruler of heaven she was transformed of nature linked with the Lord of into the beautiful caretaker of the the East, Dongwanggong.
    [Show full text]