Page 47 - Yuan Dynasty Ceramics

Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 376

zong emperor that his brother’s son be installed as em-
peror upon his death and that Budashiri was merely hon-
oring this request. The first nephew, seven-year-old
Irinjibal, reigned one week, and was succeeded by his
thirteen-year-old brother, Toghun Temur. They both
were sons of her husband’s older brother, the Mingzong
emperor, who had reigned briefly in 1328 before the
Wenzong emperor had conspired to have him murdered.
The powerful warlord and minister El Temür was pleased
to have a seven-year-old emperor installed, but felt
threatened by his thirteen-year-old brother: he sought to
have the Wenzong emperor’s younger son take the
throne, but Budashiri would not hear of it. Only after the
death of El Temür in 1333 did the eldest nephew ascend
the throne. Another official, Bayan, then rose to the high-
est official position in Yuan China, chancellor of the
right, and wielded power behind the scenes. In 1340, the
Shundi emperor assumed full power and banished Bayan,
Budashiri, and the son of the Wenzong emperor. 213
As a child, Toghun Temur, best known by his posthu-
mous title Shundi, was relegated to live in the Dayuan
Temple in Jingjiang prefecture of Guangxi province.
There, with the abbot Chou Jiang (fl. 1330) as his teacher,
he practiced calligraphy and studied The Analects of Confu-
cius (Lun Yu) and The Book of Filial Piety (Xiao Jing). 214
When he assumed full power at age twenty in 1340, after
ascending the throne in 1333, he had already received a
fine Chinese education, was accomplished in calligraphy,
could paint, and was showing an interest in astronomy.
His reign from 1333 to 1368 is remembered both for cul-
tural contributions and his irresponsible self-indulgences
7.50a and b. Underglaze blue bowl with inward turned rim and
during a time of national unrest.
small, low splayed base, with exterior motif of the Three Friends
of Winter—prunus (plum), bamboo, and pine—and interior Shundi abolished many of the court institutions that
design of mandarin ducks in a lotus pond, Yuan dynasty, mid- his uncle, the Wenzong emperor, had organized. He re-
fourteenth century, 16.5 cm tall, 36 cm diameter. Made at
placed the Star of Literature Pavilion with the Revelation
Jingdezhen. Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul.
of Literature (Xuanwen) Pavilion, which sponsored activi-
ties identical to its predecessor. According to court
records, “Every day he called the cabinet ministers skilled
in calligraphy to draw from the private imperial collec-
tion of books from ancient to modern times and books
however, after the theorized 1340 deregulation, there of famous calligraphy. . . . From that time great strides
were wide variations in quality among wares decorated were made in calligraphy.” 215 Like most of the Mongol
with the mandarin duck or “pond full of beauty” motif. emperors before him, the Shundi emperor realized that
the emperor of China must be a patron of the arts, and in
“yuan drama” blue and white ware keeping with the Mongol approach, he patronized those
When the Wenzong emperor died suddenly in 1332, art forms aligned with his personal interests. By the
the empire was thrown into a period of political intrigue Zhizheng period of his reign (1341–1368), the Yuan
and struggles for power. Wenzong’s widow, Budashiri, drama, precursor of the Beijing opera, was flourishing,
excluded her own son and installed her nephews as em- and among the most memorable of Yuan ceramics are
perors. Some contend that it was the wish of the Wen- those associated with this new art form.

376 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics