Page 178 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

Plate 18.8 Vájra thunderbolts, excavated
Plate 18.9 Figure of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, excavated from the
tombs of Ming royal family members located in Qichun. Gold with
semi-precious stones, height 8.6cm, width 5.4cm, weight 39g. Hubei
Provincial Museum
168 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450
from the tomb of Prince Zhuang of Liang
(1411–41) and Lady Wei (d. 1451) at
Zhongxiang, Hubei province. Gold,
length 2.4cm–2.6cm. Hubei Provincial
Museum
also gold-covered wooden prayer beads, prayer beads made
of crystal and bone, jade and bone head beads, as well as
jade in the shape of an endless knot and turquoise in the
shape of a double-fish, both Buddhist symbols.
These burial objects indicate that the tomb occupants
were followers of Tibetan Buddhism, which flourished
during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The various sects of
the religion were still venerated by the Ming courts during
the Hongwu and Yongle periods. The large number of
Tibetan Buddhist objects in the tomb of Prince Zhuang of
Liang and Lady Guo reflects the popularity of Tibetan
Buddhism in the upper echelons of society at the time. The
discovery of these precious objects is significant for the
understanding of social attitudes, Sino-Tibetan relations and
the spread of Tibetan Buddhism to the interior of China
during the early Ming dynasty.
Buddhist and Daoist elements in the tombs of the Prince
of Jing lineage
The Prince of Jing of the first generation, Zhu Zhan’gang,
was the sixth son of the Hongxi emperor. He was made
Prince of Jing in 1424 and enfeoffed in Jianchang 建昌
(present-day Nancheng 南城 county) in Jiangxi province in
1429. In 1445, he was re-enfeoffed in Qizhou (present-day
Qichun). The title of the Prince of Jing was subsequently
passed down to eleven princes over ten generations.
While a considerable number of artefacts have been found
in the tombs of royal family members of the Prince of Jing
lineage, there is a paucity of information based on scientific
excavations. The only archaeological findings that have been
published are on the tomb of Lady Liu 劉 (d. 1560), who was
the second consort of Prince Duan of Jing 荊端王, Zhu
Houquan 朱厚烇 (d. 1553). The burial goods excavated from
11
her tomb mainly consist of gold, silver and bronze items.
Among the many gold and silver objects, there are gold
hairpins in the shape of phoenixes and flowers, gold
pendants, gold phoenix crowns, gold rings inlaid with gems,
and a silver cup and box, all of which are of high quality.
Objects with religious significance include gold and silver
coins for the deceased inscribed ‘a mi tuo fo’ 阿彌陀佛
(Amitābha) and ‘zao sheng tian jie’ 早生天界 (quick rebirth in
heaven), which are clearly related to Buddhism. Tianjie 天界
(heaven) in this context refers to one of the ten dharma realms
of Buddhism that pertains to the condition of rapture.