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Chapter 07 (pp. 330-385)_Layout 1 7/7/10 5:42 PM Page 374

trigues during and following the Wenzong reign wiped China’s legitimate and worthy rulers. Given that Yuan
out historical records that would help us know for sure. levels of excellence in the utilitarian arts were rarely met
We do know that in 1321, Mingli Donga and other senior in later periods, and that their wares are revered even to-
officials were charged with the design and construction day, their goal of creating a lasting legacy seems to have
of imperial carriages for ceremonial processions. When been met.
the Wenzong emperor ascended the throne, he made
Mingli Donga an officer in charge of certain ceremonies the wenzong emperor and the imperial blue
and responsible in part for commissioning mandalas and and white
imperial portraits for initiation ceremonies. 195 It was During his reign, the Yuan emperor Wenzong was
standard practice for two or three Yamantaka mandalas hobbled politically in his attempt to write the Mongols’
to be woven for such ceremonies. A mandala with impe- place in Chinese history, so instead he concentrated on
rial portraits of Mingzong (r. 1329) and Wenzong (r. artistic pursuits, in which he excelled. 201 Not only was
1328–1332), which was rediscovered in the 1990s, is of this second-to-last Yuan emperor one of only four Mon-
special interest because Mingli Donga had a hand in cre- gol emperors who read and wrote Chinese, he was deeply
ating it (see Fig. 7.38). 196 On these mandalas, typical Ti- affected by Chinese culture and was a noted connoisseur
betan divisions of space into concentric bands are of the arts. Yuan dynasty texts indicate that he fully ap-
accompanied by panels of various shapes, as well as mo- preciated and practiced calligraphy, and that one of his
tifs—such as scrolling flowers and foliage, lotus-petal favorite pastimes was the Chinese game of weiqi.
panels, and animal heads—like those on imperial blue As the young Prince of Huai at Nanjing (then known as
and white vessels. Jiankang), the emperor-to-be befriended artists and schol-
If Persian emissaries carried cobalt ore and requests ars, many of whom, like the noted painter and calligrapher
for ceramics from the Il-Khanate, they no doubt came in Ke Jiusi (1290–1343), were destined to become his life-
contact with Mingli Donga. As mentioned earlier, Mus- long friends and confidants. He was also an artist in his
lims within Il-Khanate Persia were already using cobalt own right. A sketch of the Wansui Hill at Dadu, painted by
oxide pigments to decorate vessels and architectural tiles the prince, was praised by the artist Fang Da nian (active
(see Fig. 7.25). From 1256 to 1335 there were frequent ca. 1325) as “surpassing his [Fang’s own] skills as a profes-
exchanges of commodities, personnel, and information sional artist.” 202 And anthologies of Yuan poetry compiled
between the Mongolian courts of China and Iran. 197 Doc- in later periods include works by Wenzong. In his “Writ-
umented exchanges with the Il-Khanate during the Wen- ing a Poem on the Way from Jiqinglu (near Nanjing) to As-
zong reign indicate the possibility that Persian cobalt ore cend the Throne (in Beijing)” he writes,
could have been presented to this emperor of China with
a request that it be used as a decorative pigment on Dogs bark; men talk while walking beside a fence of
porcelain. 198 Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), for example— bamboo.
who was a doctor, adviser, and historiographer to the Il- Roosters call, wakening the guest in the thatched
Khan rulers in Tabriz—made a large special order for cottage.
Chinese porcelain apothecary jars (see Fig. 7.26). 199 After a while the sun rose into the sky,
In summary, the Mongols, who were enthusiastic pa- Seventy-two peaks all lie within view. 203
trons of artworks that were not only beautiful but also
useful, considered talented officials and artisans from di- During 1328, Wenzong yielded the throne to his elder
verse cultural traditions to be some of their most valuable brother and opened “the Kuizhang [Star of Literature]
resources. The Yuan repertoire referenced the Chinese Pavilion to set forth the clear precepts of our ancestors,
dragon, the Liao duck, the Tibetan lotus panel, and the and examples of success and failure, of order and disorder
Uighur cloud collar. The Mongols took motifs from the in antiquity.” An edict required the donation of books on
Uighur kesi masters and received cobalt from Persia. 200 history and the Confucian classics to the pavilion, which,
Rare textiles and imperial blue and white, which shared as Tao Zongyi wrote, was founded for the purpose of “in-
many design elements, were just two products of this vestigating antiquity and esteeming learning.” 204 The 880
cross-cultural interchange. Blue and white porcelain, in scrolls of the Great Canon for Governing the World (known
particular, is considered a lasting symbol of all that the sometimes as the Historical record of Yuan institutions, or
Mongol rulers sought to accomplish: their goal was to Jinshi dadian), was complied by scholars in the pavilion as
preserve their own culture, while being honored as well as historians in the Imperial Academy.

374 Yuan Dynasty Ceramics