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Buddha and his followers, representing their renunciation of
worldly things. In Chan tradition, when passed from master
to pupil, this garment came to signify the transmission of the
Dharma. Draped over the left shoulder and anchored by a
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ring over the heart, the kāṣāya is worn for formal occasions,
notably when an abbot takes the high seat in a Dharma Hall
to preach, thus playing the role of Buddha and becoming, in
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Robert Sharf’s words, ‘a living Buddha icon’. The portrait
of Wuzhun Shifan invokes the master in this iconic role, and
the meanings implicit in the iconographic programme of
this and many similar pictures must inform our
understanding of the portrait of Daoyan.
Politics, however, are not far from the surface in either the
portrait of Daoyan or that of Wuzhun. The beautiful silk
robes worn by both masters reflect the longstanding court
tradition of conferring fine monastic robes on favoured
clerics. Like Daoyan, Wuzhun enjoyed imperial favour,
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albeit of a more conventional sort based on his religious
credentials. In 1232 the Song emperor Lizong 理宗
(r. 1224–64) summoned Wuzhun to court, where the master
answered questions about Chan and expounded the
Buddhist doctrine, and the emperor rewarded him with a
golden kāṣāya (Ch. Jinlanjia 金襴袈), a vestment woven with
patterns in gold thread and the name Buddha Mirror Chan
Master (Fojian chanshi 佛鑒禪師). It has been suggested that
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Plate 16.5 Portrait sculpture of Daoyan in Tanzhesi 潭柘寺 (Deep the portrait documents this occasion and shows the master
Pond and Wild Mulberry Monastery) (current whereabouts 29
unknown), published in Yilin yuekan 藝林月刊 (Art World Monthly), wearing the imperially presented kāṣāya. The imperial
no. 56 (1934), p. 7 practice of bestowing golden kāṣāya continued in the Yongle
period, and the opulent outer robe Daoyan wears in the
shortly after by a court artist who had known Daoyan in life. Palace Museum portrait surely came from his sovereign.
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Wang Zheng suggests that the court presented it to Tanzhesi His robes also accord with Ming court regulations for
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before Abbot Musho died in 1429. As the inscription by monastic dress that were established in 1382 and remained
Zhenke and a second one dated to 1601 show, the portrait in effect through the 15th century. These regulations
remained at Tanzhesi through the late Ming. It did not assigned robes of different colours to different categories of
become famous like the portrait at Da Longshan huguosi, monks. As a Chan monk, Daoyan wears a brown common
however. By the middle of the Qianlong period (1735–96) it robe under his jade-green coloured kāṣāya. The kāṣāya
had been removed from the monastery and acquired by the borders with gold patterns were a luxury only permitted to
Qing court. Daoyan’s hermitage at Tanzhesi had a portrait monk officials of the Central Buddhist Registry. The
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sculpture of the master that survived into the 20th century fabrics of Daoyan’s kāṣāya are further distinguished by their
(Pl. 16.5). 22 patterns of propitious ruyi 如意 (as-you-wish) clouds that
Although the Palace Museum portrait is a posthumous resemble the head of the ruyi sceptre and the lingzhi 靈芝
image inscribed with court-bestowed titles rather than a fungus of immortality. This ceremonial garment is fastened
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work done in the master’s lifetime and inscribed by the man with a knotted turquoise cord and a jade ring from which
himself, it still draws on the tradition of Chan portraiture hangs a golden image of a seated Buddha, presumably
represented by the 1238 portrayal of Song master Wuzhun in another badge of rank.
style and iconography. As in the Song portrait, Daoyan’s While relying on a common pictorial tradition, the
face is rendered with soft washes of colour and highly portraits of Wuzhun and Daoyan differ in significant ways,
individualised, his boldly outlined robes have weight and beginning with scale. The Song-dynasty scroll is smaller
depth, and the designs on his garments and furnishings are (124.8 x 55.2cm), making its subject less physically imposing
finely detailed. Like Wuzhun, he sits cross-legged on a than Daoyan. Moreover, whereas Song and Yuan master
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fabric-draped chair, having left his shoes on a low step below, portraits typically employ three-quarter views, Daoyan
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and holds an abbot’s ritual implement. Specifically, he turns only slightly to his right and gazes almost directly at
holds the fly-whisk traditionally used in Dharma exposition the viewer. His imposing chair is seen straight on, like those
to punctuate remarks visually. Both masters wear a in later monk portraits and in imperial portraits such as that
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gorgeous silk vestment, or kāṣāya (Ch. jiasha 袈裟), a highly of the Hongzhi 弘治 emperor (r. 1488–1505). In fact, the
symbolic garment, over a Chinese-style long-sleeved robe seat itself – broad, square, jade-coloured and ornate – invites
that wraps in front. The luxuriousness of these examples comparison with the dragon thrones occupied by the Yongle
notwithstanding, the kāṣāya is basically a simple rectangular and Xuande 宣德 (r. 1426–35) emperors in their portraits in
garment composed of strips and patches meant to recall the the National Palace Museum, Taipei (Pls 16.6–7). The
patchwork clothing made of discarded rags worn by the arms and the backrest of Daoyan’s seat, however, are more

146 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450