Page 462 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

tions. Empress Wu Zetian entertained a Japanese
embassy there in 703; the largest occasion was a
banquet for 3,500 guests, given by Emperor
Daizong in 768.
Examples of this type of striding dragon, with
a single horn, long snout, and curling tongue, have
been dated as early as the Northern Wei dynasty
(386-534 CE). One such example is a bronze
dragon at the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massa-
2
chusetts, but its confident pose and the technique
of its casting, which it shares with the dragon seen
here, suggest a more likely dating to the Tang Dy-
nasty. One of a pair of gilt bronze dragons excavated
from the Yongle ward of the capital, some 5 kilome-
ters to the south of Darning Palace, illustrates these
features to perfection: standing on its forelegs, its
body smoothly extends skyward into its hind legs,
counterbalanced by the sinuous tail, as if it were
performing a handstand. 3
No particular justification seems to be needed
for the portrayal of this most auspicious of mythical
beasts at the Tang court, but in the context of
Daoist belief it has been noted that Emperor Xuan-
zong (r. 712-756 CE), whose devotion to Daoism was
such that his own portrait can be found alongside
those of the Jade Emperor and other Daoist images, 4
introduced a cult of Five Dragons in 714. Splendid
examples have been found decorating the backs of
bronze mirrors; six striding dragons in pure gold,
each a mere 4 centimeters long from snout to tail,
were found in the Hejiacun hoard. RW

1 Recovered in 1979 -1980; published: Wang 19893, 83;
Xianggang 1993, cat. 46.
2 Sullivan 1984, no.
3 Kuhn 1993,137-138, cat. 53; Lee 1998, cat. 59.
4 See Liu Yang, "Manifestation of the Dao: A Study in Daoist
Art from the Northern Dynasties to the Tang (Fifth to
Ninth Centuries)," Ph.D. dissertation, School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London, 1997 (The text
is currently in preparation for publication by the Univer-
sity of Hawaii Press.) Chapter 13, at pages 284-285,
provides a table of extant and recorded images of Emperor
Xuanzong and other in Daoist halls.

461 | H E J I A C U N AND O T H E R D I S C O V E R I E S