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Plate 16.6 Anonymous, Portrait of the Yongle Emperor, Ming, Plate 16.7 Anonymous, Portrait of the Xuande Emperor, Ming, 15th
15th century. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk, height century. Hanging scroll, ink and colours on silk, height 215.8cm, width
220cm, width 150cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei 171cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei

modestly adorned with ruyi cloud designs rather than with often politicised Buddhist culture of the Ming courts and
jewels and imperial dragons. The cloud patterns on his chair capitals where Chan and Tibetan Buddhism flourished side
and kāṣāya immerse the master in allusions to Heaven and by side.
immortality. In sum, this grand imperial reworking of an old Śākya Yeshé, a younger contemporary of Daoyan, first
Buddhist portrait formula is a remarkably synthetic tribute, arrived in China in 1415, during the Yongle period, as an
in text and image, to a man who in life moved between the emissary of his master Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), founder of
great monasteries of the Ming capitals and the imperial the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and on imperial
palace, and in death received offerings in the Imperial request, he performed esoteric rituals that brought forth
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Ancestral Shrine and Buddhist memorial halls. miraculous celestial responses. The Yongle emperor gave
The two early Ming textile portraits of the Tibetan him an impressive honorific title and sent him off on his
hierarch Śākya Yeshé mounted as thangkas, one embroidered journey home in 1416 with lavish gifts of Buddhist images,
and the other produced in kesi (silk tapestry), likewise mix scriptures and implements, clothing, silks, and gold and
religious and political messages in communicating court silver utensils, and dispatched more such gifts to him the
favour (see Pls 16.2–3). They are recognised as products of following year. Śākya Yeshé was invited back to the Ming
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Ming imperial ateliers that document the emperor’s respect court during the Xuande period and was received with even
for Śākya Yeshé and the high position he enjoyed at court. greater honour than before. In 1434 the emperor granted
Both portraits have received a great deal of attention since him an elevated title consisting of a long string of
the kesi was introduced to modern readers in 1960 by an superlatives modifying the dual designation Dharma King
article on Tibetan cultural relics published in the Chinese of Great Compassion (Daci fawang 大慈法王) and
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journal Wenwu 文物 (Cultural Relics). In a recent essay Xiong Universally Penetrating Buddha (Dayuan tongfo 大圓通佛).
Wenbin 熊文彬 builds on the findings of Chinese and Both portraits are marked with versions of this title and are
Tibetan scholars who have studied the kesi to shed new light thus contemporary with or postdate this event. It is generally
on its production. In the English-language literature, Dora thought that the embroidered portrait, now in the Tibet
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Ching has examined the two portraits with great care in her Museum, was made on imperial order and bestowed upon
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analysis of developments in Ming imperial portraiture. Śākya Yeshé by the Xuande emperor. The same assumption
Observations by Xiong, Ching and others are echoed here, was made about the kesi until recently, when the importance
but the following discussion is concerned with other matters, of the Tibetan inscription on the border below the portrait
especially with the portraits as vehicles of intercultural was recognised. As read by Xiong Wenbin, this inscription
communication and as visual records of the diverse and identifies two of Śākya Yeshé’s disciples who bore lofty titles

Faces of Transnational Buddhism at the Early Ming Court | 147