5 Iconography: Synthesis

5 Iconography: Synthesis n the mid thirteenth century, several Another charismatic lama who earned the trust and events participated by the Mongol rulers and respect of Khubilai and his successor was Danba ITibetan religious leaders became a catalyst that (1230–1303), a disciple of Phags-pa. Reputed to be eventually transformed the culture and art of the fl uent in the Buddhist Tantras and sutras, Danba Yuan dynasty; it also infl uenced the way luohans took up residence in the Yuan capital Dadu were portrayed in Chinese art. In 1247 the head of (Beijing), and performed Esoteric initiations for the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Sakya Paṇḍita princes and lords. He also performed Tantric rituals (1182–1251), visited the court of the Mongol prince to pray for Khubilai’s recovery from illness, and Ködan (1206–1251), a grandson of Genghis Khan successfully persuaded Emperor Chengzong (1167–1227). The meeting marked the beginning of (Temür Khan, 1294–1307) to issue imperial orders an alliance between secular Mongol rulers and exempting Buddhist monks from taxation.2 The Sakya lamas. At that time the powerful Mongol imperial favour Danba enjoyed at the early Yuan armies had defeated the Tangut Western Xia (1227) court most likely stemmed from his ability to use and the Jurchen Jin (1234), and were making plans Tantric magic to cure diseases and avert calamities. to annex other territories in Eurasia. After a series The close relationship between the Sakya lamas of military campaigns, another grandson of and the Mongol emperors resulted in the granting of Genghis, Khubilai Khan (1215–1294), defeated the special protections and privileges to Tibetan monks. Southern Song and became the fi rst emperor of the The establishment in 1288 of Xuanzhengyuan (the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). To justify their legitima- Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Aff airs), a central cy to rule over a multiethnic and multireligious agency that had no precedent in traditional Chinese populace, the Yuan emperors adopted the Buddhist bureaucracy, gave more power to foreign monks.3 theocracy of cakravartins, enlightened universal Saṅghe (d. 1291), a Tibetan polyglot who had worked rulers, and invited erudite Tibetan Buddhist clerics as an interpreter for Phags-pa, became director of to be their advisors. Phags-pa (1235–1280), a nephew the Bureau and eventually Khubilai’s chief minister. of Sakya Paṇḍita, became one of the most powerful Saṅghe’s protégé Yang Lianzhenjia was named the and infl uential among them. As Imperial Preceptor Jiangnan Supervisor of the Buddhist Teaching; he (dishi) at the court of Khubilai, Phags-pa exercised was also a patron of the famous Buddhist carvings at authority as both the spiritual mentor of the Feilaifeng near Hangzhou (discussed in Chapter 4). emperor and the leader of the Buddhist clergy.1 Because of his favouritism towards foreigners and 132 monks in glaze 5.1 Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322). Monk in a Red Robe. 1304. Handscroll, ink and colour on paper. 26 x 52.1 cm. Collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum. After Zhejiang daxue gudai shuhua yanjiu zhongxin 2012, 3.1, pl. 1 his abuse of power, Saṅghe met his downfall in 1291, handscroll Monk in a Red Robe, (Fig. 5.1) which Zhao and Yang too was disgraced.4 Despite this, Yang’s painted in 1304, one year after Danba’s death.8 The son Yang Anpu continued to hold important painting depicts a Buddhist holy man cloaked in a positions. He became the Deputy Director of the bright red robe, standard attire for Tibetan monks Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Aff airs, and in 1311 of the Sakya sect. He has a halo and sits on a square received the bestowal of a princely title, Duke of red rug over a schematic cluster of rocks in shades of Qin.5 The coming and going of red-robed Tibetan green. The tree behind him has a thick sturdy trunk, lamas was probably a familiar sight in Dadu,6 a phe- and its leafy branches extend over him like a canopy. nomenon that no doubt had a potential cultural In his careful analysis of the painting, Hong Zaixin impact, particularly on artistic representations of argues that although the subject of the painting was foreign monks and luohan images. Danba, the exquisitely painted picture perhaps eulogized the overthrow of the child emperor Gongzong (Zhao Xian, 1271–1323), who was exiled zhao mengfu and luohan to a Tibetan monastery. Zhao Mengfu may have painting in the yuan intended this portrait of a Tibetan lama to express his feelings of sadness and perhaps even guilt.9 The great esteem in which lamas such as Phags-pa Hong bases his theory on the painting’s curious and Danba were held at the Yuan court was clearly second colophon, which Zhao Mengfu wrote refl ected by the fact that Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322), seventeen years after he completed the work and a descendant of the Song imperial family and the one year before his death. Dated 1321, the colophon most renowned Yuan scholar and calligrapher, was also contains an interesting art-historical clue ordered to write their commemorative inscriptions.7 that sheds light on the Yixian Luohans. The full Danba is also believed to be the subject of the famous translation reads: 133.

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