Page 205 - Christies King St. FINE CHINESE CERAMICS AND WORKS OF ART

on the current luohan, the treatment of the eyes is comparable. archaistic treatment of these creatures. This feature, as well as
The detailing on the edges of the robes on both the Burrell and the elaborate scrolling tails of the dragons on the luohan’s robe
Seattle luohans also refects a similar attention to the detailed was carried into the depiction of kui dragons – with extended
reproduction of precious textiles to that seen on the current noses – on porcelains of the Xuande (AD 1426-35) and
wooden fgure. Chenghua (AD 1465-87) reigns. Another interesting feature of
this dragon scroll, unrelated to its iconography, is that it has not
Interesting comparisons may be made between the current simply been painted onto the robe. The outlines and details have
luohan and some of the Ming dynasty painted clay fgures in been created in low relief lines and dots, prior to the application
the Hall of Shakyamuni at the Shuanglin Temple (Double- of colour, to provide added richness of texture. The use of this
grove Temple) in Pingyao County, Shanxi province. In particular, time-consuming technique, which in lacquer can be traced as
the face of a standing luohan in the Hall of Shakyamuni (fg. 4) far back as the Han dynasty, and is related both to Yuan and
shares with the current fgure a similar shape of face, shape Ming cloisonné enamels and to Ming dynasty fahua decorated
and size of nose, defnition of cheek bones, age and expression porcelains, emphasises the high quality of this fgure, and the
lines, and throat details (illustrated by Li Song in Angela Falco fact that no expense was spared in its creation.
Howard, et al., Chinese Sculpture, New Haven, London &
Beijing, 2006, p. 439, pl. 4.78). The Shuanglin Temple was Fig. 2
granted state protection by the Chinese government as a site 圖二
of exceptional historical and cultural importance in 1988, and
in 1997 UNESCO included the temple on its World Heritage Fig. 3
List in recognition of the outstanding quality of the statues in 圖三
the temple. The Shuanglin Temple is in the village of Xiaoqiao
Tou, in the southwest of Pingyao, and was originally known as
the Zhongdu Temple, but its name was changed during the
Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) in order to commemorate
a saying associated with Shakyamuni: ‘to disappear into two
groves’: that is to enter nirvana from between the two groves.
This was a reference to the Bamboo Grove in Rajagaha, the frst
capital of the kingdom of Magadha, and the Jetavana Grove
in Savatthi, the capital of Kosala – two of the most important
Indian holy sites, associated with the preaching of Shakyamuni.
The temple has a long history and was rebuilt in the Northern
Qi period, but the majority of what remains in the present day
dates to the extensive restoration which took place in the Ming
dynasty. There are more than 1500 well-preserved statues
in the temple complex, and some of those dating to the Ming
dynasty are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of
Ming Buddhist sculpture.

Two aspects of the decoration on the current fgures’ robes are
particularly rare and interesting. One of these is the painted
chrysanthemum scroll which can be seen on the edge of the
robe which falls over the fgure’s right hand. The other is the
chi dragon scroll with raised outlines which can be seen on
the red and green edge of another robe. The chrysanthemum
scroll is interesting because, although chrysanthemums are
mentioned in early Chinese literature, including the Shijing
(Book of Odes, which contains poetry dating from the 11th
to the 7th century BC), and do occasionally appear on earlier
works of art, their linear depiction is rare before the reign of
the frst Ming dynasty Emperor Hongwu (AD 1368-98). This is
particularly noticeable when examining underglaze decorated
porcelains, which can be accurately dated from stratifcation
at the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. The form
of the chi dragons (or feline dragons), which form a scroll by
holding in their jaws the tail of the creature in front, is also rare
– being a linear depiction of an animal which is more usually
carved in relief or in the round, particularly in jade, from the Han
dynasty onwards. A low-relief dragon of this type can be seen
on a Han dynasty (2nd-1st century BC) scabbard slide in the
collection of Sir Joseph Hotung (illustrated by Jessica Rawson
in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p.
301, no. 21:14). A similarly dated jade bi in the collection of the
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, has a chi dragon providing
pierced decoration (ibid., p. 310, fg. 3). Chi dragons with larger
heads, like those on the current luohan’s robes – characteristic
of the Ming dynasty – can be seen climbing up the sides of
a Ming dynasty jade rhyton, published in the same volume,
p. 396, no. 29:8. The dragons on the robe have retained the
exaggerated articulation on their limbs that is typical of the

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