Explorations Volume10 LindsayBregante

8/8/2019 Explorations Volume10 LindsayBregante

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E x p l o r a t i o n s : A n U n d e r g r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l 2 0 0 7

Regional Syncretism at Baodingshan

Lindsay Bregante

Introduction

The study o Buddhist art in China has long been a subject o interest. Within this subeld, scholarshave paid close attention to the numerous temple-cave sites, carved out o living rock, that are ound inmany parts o China. All o these temple-caves are lled with sculpture and paintings depicting standardBuddhist iconography. Only one known site is remarkably dierent. That is the Sichuan temple-cave siteknown as Baodingshan.

Despite growing interest in Sichuanese temple-caves, ew English-language scholars have researchedBaodingshan extensively. In act, the existing English-language scholarship on Baodingshan comprisesonly two texts: Angela Falco Howards Summit o Treasures: Buddhist Cave Art o Dazu, China and Karil

Kuceras Cli Notes: Text and Image at Baodingshan. In April 2006, the University o SouthernCaliornia held a conerence titled Culture in Nature: Cave Temples o Sichuan, marking the rst everscholarly conerence in the United States devoted solely to the material culture o pre-modern Sichuan.1This conerence initiated dialogue between Chinese and U.S. scholars o Sichuanese temple-cave art.

Baodingshan, the Summit o Treasures,2 is literally a cache o twelth-century stone carvings. Theelaborate and oten colorul sculptural program at Baodingshan is situated in a natural setting, carvedinto the living rock, on the cli-ace o a horseshoe-shaped valley (Fig. 1).

Baodingshans thirty-one sculptural scenesprogress in a manner akin to the unrolling o ahand-scroll, as viewers ollow a pathway beneaththe nearly seamless carvings. This immensesculptural program covers an area 487 meters

long and 4.5 to 14.6 meters high. The site wascarved between 1177 and 1249 CE, under thedirection o a lay Buddhist, Zhao Zhieng (b.

Figure 1.View of carvings across the valley at Baodingshan,Dazu County, Sichuan. (Photograph by the author)


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E x p l o r a t i o n s : A n U n d e r g r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l 2 0 0 7E x p l o r a t i o n s : A n U n d e r g r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h J o u r n a l 2 0 0 7

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1159).3 The site is located in southwestern Sichuan, China, about 12 kilometers outside the nearestcity, Dazu. Sichuan was considered a rontier region during the twelth century, ar rom the SouthernSong Dynasty political capital at Hangzhou in the east. The landscape surrounding Baodingshan remainslargely undeveloped, with small arming villages scattered over rolling hills and Baodingshans stone

carvings tucked into a river valley.Studying the carvings at Baodingshan challenged my preconceptions o Buddhist temple-cave sites

about not only their layout but also their subject matter. In stark contrast to every other known Chinesetemple-cave site, Baodingshan exhibits a grand cohesive layout, and the anomalous carvings directattention to both religious and secular ideologies. This unique iconography signies a regional syncretism oBuddhism and secular belies during the twelth century. Baodingshans syncretic iconography also providesinsight into the evolution o relations between native and appropriated cultural identities in China.

In the Baodingshan tableau depicting the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents, the iconographyexemplies the blending o sacred and secular belies (Figs. 2 and 3). Anomalous among all knownBuddhists sites, the tableau blends contradictory images: Buddha gures alongside local practices o birthand child-rearing. These amily lie images suggest that Buddhism encouraged couples to produce andrear children ollowing specic guidelines, when, in act, Indian Buddhist practice intended monasticism.4

This ideological contradiction leads to the question o why scenes o amily lie appear at this Buddhisttemple-cave site.

My research suggests that these scenes o (Han) Chinese amily lie signiy an eort to make Buddhistbelies accessible and agreeable to the lay population.5The Scripture on the Kindness o Parents tableausupports (Han) Chinese amily lie ethics in an attempt to reconcile Conucian patriarchal society withBuddhist monasticism. The syncretism o Buddhist and Conucian belies observable at Baodingshanresults in unexpected Buddhist iconography that is distinctly (Han) Chinese.

A comparison o the stone carvings at Baodingshan with several other well-known Chinese temple-cave sites across Chinas vast empire reveals commonalties in layout, iconography, and patronage at suchsites as Mogao, Longmen, Feilaieng, and Beishan. Signicantly, this comparison also reveals Baodingshanto be a ascinating anomaly. The signicant dierences at Baodingshan provide an opportunity to re-interpret the denition o Buddhist temple-cave ormat. Traditionally, temple-caves eature an interior

Figure 2. Tableau depicting Scripture on the Kindness oParents.(Photograph by the author)

Figure 3. Tableau depicting Scripture on the Kindness oParents.(Photograph by the author.)


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Regional Syncretism at Baodingshan9

temple-like space within which are depictions o exclusively Buddhist gures and narratives, all undedby a large body o patrons. In contrast, the sculptural program at Baodingshan was carved directly intothe exposed cli-ace and depicts not only standard Buddhist icons and narratives but also importantsecular belie systems. Moreover, it was created under a single patron.

Temple-cave Layout

The layout o Baodingshan diers rom other Chinese Buddhist temple-cave sites such as the Mogaotemple-caves adjacent to Dunhuang in northwestern China. The Mogao temple-caves comprise almostve hundred remaining caves created between the ourth and ourteenth centuries. These temple-cavespunctuate the cli ace, and are excavated out o the living rock, similar to sites in India. The excavatedspaces served as living quarters or monks, as well as settings in which to meditate and to perormrituals with the visual aid o sculpture and wall paintings.6Whereas the Mogao temple-caves replicatethe experience o being in the interior o a temple with several private rooms, Baodingshans sculpturalprogram covers the valley walls, creating an exterior and thereore more public domain.

The Longmen grottoes, situated in eastern China and constructed during the Northern Wei (386-

534) through the Tang Dynasties (618-907), provide another point o comparison. Fewer large caveswere commissioned at this site than at Mogao, but innumerable small niches cover the clis. Likethe Mogao temple-caves, the Longmen grottoes were excavated out o the living rock to replicate aBuddhist temple. The intimate setting within the Longmen temple-caves contrasts with Baodingshansaccessible, natural setting. Within the large-scale caves at Longmen grottoes, devotees meditated, perhapswhile circumambulating amongst carved Buddha and bodhisattva gures. The exterior placement oBaodingshans tableaux does not allow devotees to meditatively circumambulate as they would in anexcavated temple-cave. These striking dierences would immediately communicate to devotees andvisitors that the Baodingshan site has a dierent agenda than any other sculpted Buddhist site.

The Baodingshan sculptural program also diers rom that at Feilaieng, located near Hangzhouon Chinas eastern coast. Feilaiengs earliest carvings date to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Sculptorsat Feilaieng took advantage o natural limestone grottoes by carving the interior, allowing the organic

angles and curves to dictate the sculptural programs layout.7 Feilaieng exemplies a composite temple-cave ormat, which replicates both the interiority o the Mogao and Longmen temple-caves and thepublic setting at Baodingshan, by allowing the carving to spill out onto the cli-ace. In contrast toBaodingshan, however, the layout o Feilaieng does not suggest an over-all design, presenting instead aneclectic sculptural program that resulted rom carvings done over hundreds o years.

Iconography

The sculpture at the Mogao, Longmen, and Feilaieng temple-cave sites is more conventionallyiconic than the large-scale narrative scenes at Baodingshan. Whereas these sites eature predictable triadso the Buddha fanked by bodhisattvas, Baodingshan displays more complex gure groupings. Althoughthe Mogao temple-cave murals illustrate Buddhistjataka narratives, well-known stories o the historicalBuddhas previous incarnations, the tableaux at Baodingshan depict narrative scriptures ound at no othertemple-cave site.

The Buddha and bodhisattva sculptural groupings at the Longmen grottoes in central China andFeilaieng in eastern China resemble the images at Beishan, an earlier site located several kilometers romBaodingshan in southwestern China. Although Beishan and the Longmen grottoes both contain TangDynasty carvings, the later Song Dynasty Feilaieng carvings bear closer iconographical resemblance tothese sites than to Baodingshan. While Feilaieng is contemporaneous with Baodingshan, its iconographydiers dramatically.


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The anomalous iconography at Baodingshan is neither geographically nor temporally bound. Thesculptural depictions at every Chinese temple-cave site resulted rom the decisions o particular monks,patrons, and artists. Arguably, the stylistic and iconographical cohesiveness at Baodingshan results romthe organization o this site under the single authority o Zhao Zhieng, making it unique among the

temple-cave sites discussed here.

Patronage

The dierences seen in the carvings at Baodingshan may also result rom dierences in patronage.At the Mogao temple-caves, patrons included members o local government and wealthy amilies whoseposterity is assured by the recording o the amily name and portrait in the murals. Similarly, the Longmengrottoes comprise several large caves created under imperial patronage and numerous small niches carvedunder the patronage o individuals or small groups. In the temple-caves and niches at the Longmengrottoes, the names o patrons were carved alongside Buddha and bodhisattva images. On occasion, thesculptural niches contain donor portraits to indicate the pious generosity o historical lay Buddhists.

In contrast, the entire sculptural program at Baodingshan was organized under a single patron, Zhao

Zhieng. Scholars speculate that Zhao Zhiengs portrait appears in several Baodingshan tableaux, but theaccompanying inscriptions do not provide denitive evidence. While it is possible that Zhao Zhiengsneglecting to credit himsel textually was motivated by humility, it does not seem likely, as most donorsinsisted on their names being recorded. It seems more likely that a separate inscription, now lost ordestroyed, included his name and the particulars o carving this site.

Depictions ofScripture on the Kindness of Parents

In order to approach the tableau depicting scenes rom Scripture on the Kindness o Parents, theBuddhist devotee either ollows the path counterclockwise inside the valley or climbs the stairs romthe river. This is not to say that directionality is an indication o meditative circumambulation, ascircumambulation seems irrelevant at this site. The path on which the devotee stands to view this tableauhugs the walls o the valley, causing the large-scale sculptures to loom overhead. This tableau lls the

curved walls o an excavated niche that measures approximately 14.5 meters long and 7 high. Much othis tableau remains intact due to a deep overhang that protects these sculptures rom the weather. Inaddition, an overall drainage system that was part o Baodingshans original construction plan divertswater that otherwise would have eroded the sculptures.8

The scenes rom the Scripture on the Kindness of Parents progress in roughly delineated horizontal registersacross the excavated niche (Fig. 2). Within the uppermost register, seven larger than lie-size Buddha guresobserve scenes o daily lie, which take place in the lower register. The tableaus organization into two majorregisters reveals the conception that a spiritual paradise exists in a separate but nearby realm rom the banalactivities o everyday lie.9 The opposition o the sacred and the proane again suggests that the syncretismo the Baodingshan iconography is a product o its combined Buddhist and Conucian origins.

The Sacred: Seven Buddhas

The Scripture on the Kindness of Parents exemplies an apocryphal text. This is to say that (Han) Chinesemonks modied the appropriated Indian Buddhist canon by writing new scriptures or (Han) Chineseaudiences. The Baodingshan tableau textually and visually reerences this apocryphal scripture, yet the onlyreadily identiable Buddhist iconography in this tableau is ound in seven large-scale Buddha gures. Byincorporating conventional Buddhist iconography within this sculptural program, artists explicitly anchoredscenes o everyday lie rom the Scripture on the Kindness of Parents within the context o Buddhism.


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Some scholars believe these seven Buddha gures represent the seven Buddhas o the past, present,and uture periods. This would include Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha who is the Buddha o thepresent kalpa.10 The gures exhibit conventional iconography such as robes and meaningul handgestures, known as mudras. The robes retain much o their blue and green paint, and they appear to have

been covered in an all-over cloud moti. The visitors attention is drawn to the Buddha gures aces,which are ramed by their hand mudras and the unadorned space o their exposed chests (Figs. 4 and5). In act, only the upper hal o each Buddhas body has been carved, giving the impression that theyinhabit a sacred realm. The Buddha gures have ull, round aces with elongated ears exhibiting traceso gold paint, and snail-shell curls cover the top o each head. The Buddha gure urthest to the right inthis tableau (Fig. 5) does not have a halo painted behind his head and may represent the historicalBuddha, Shakyamuni.11

Figure 4. Kindness eight: The Kindness of Creating

the Best Opportunity. (Photograph by the author)

Figure 5. Kindness seven: The Kindness ofEndless Washing and Cleaning. Kindness nine:The Kindness of Missing the Child when He is goneon a Long Journey. (Photograph by the author)


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The Profane: Scenes from Scripture on the Kindness of Parents

The sculptural vignettes inspired by Scripture on the Kindness o Parents provide insight into everydaylie o the (Han) Chinese living in Southern Song Dynasty Sichuan. The events illustrated in this tableau

relate to practical needs, which Scripture on the Kindness o Parents places in a Buddhist context. Thetableau depicting Scripture on the Kindness o Parents attempts to bridge the gap between Buddhistmonasticism and (Han) Chinese social pressures regarding amily lie.

The lower register contains a central scene fanked by ten vignettes with accompanying inscriptionsthat correspond to theTen Kindnesses and Virtues rom Scripture on the Kindness of Parents. From the centralscene, these ten vignettes radiate outwards, alternating rom right to let along the length o the tableau.The inscriptions that accompany each vignette are numbered so that literate devotees can trace the parentalresponsibilities rom childbirth through adulthood according to the Scripture on the Kindness of Parents.

The central scene illustrates a husband and wie solemnly perorming a religious rite (Fig. 6). Thehusband meditatively extends an incense burner to his wie, who lls it while she aectionately gazes athim. The inscription below them explains what the couple desires as a result o making an oering.

Praying to the Buddha for a Child

Great Master Cijue, who received the imperial bestowal o the purple robe, X (spoke)Zongze(s) verse saying:

Beore the Buddha o old had yet taken birth, seemingly there (had always been) the perecttotality o a single mark; (but) i Shakyamuni had (not) yet convened (the holy) assembly (toactually teach the Dharma), how could Kasyapa ever receive transmission o the Dharma?

The ather and mother together oer ragrant incense, praying to give birth to a lial andagreeable child in order to take precaution against their old age, when their rising andsitting will require (a childs) support. (His) ather and mother all will attain Buddhahoodbound (to one another) through the suchness o the Dharmadhatu. At the time theirhearts prayer will be ullled, and only then will they realize the nal nirvana o no-remainder. I there is (a notion o something to) attain, then it is not (true) attainment.Only when there is no (idea o personal) merit (to be sought) can it begin to be considered(true) merit. Originally this is the style o our old house.12

Figure 6. Central scene in lower register: Praying to the Buddhaor a Child. (Photograph by the author)


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Although the depicted couple is perorming a Buddhist ritual, the conception o children wasunderstood by the contemporaneous audience as ullling personal and secular needs. The majority o(Han) Chinese amilies living in Southern Song Dynasty Sichuan were part o agrarian communities.The contemporaneous audience desired children, especially male children, to provide physical labor.

Aristocratic couples also desired childrenagain, especially male childrenas heirs to the amilys title,land, and wealth. The practical explanations or desiring children provide insight into the signicance ochild-rearing scenes or contemporary audiences.

The tableau containing the rst kindness, located directly to the right o the central scene, portraysa pregnant woman seated with her knees splayed, her blue robes gathered in olds between them (Fig. 7).At her let hand stands a smaller scale young serving girl presenting a bowl with both hands. The olds oclothing between the womans knees emphasize the heaviness o her body, and the serving girl with abowl o ood indicates the womans weighty immobility. The inscription reads:

The Kindness of Caring during Pregnancy

The honorable Chan master spoke thus in praise:

The kind mother, rom the beginning o herpregnancy, her entire body eels as heavy as ileaden, and her ace is sallow as i she is ill. Shemoves only with great diculty. 13

Although the pigment on her ace has entirely disintegrated, she undoubtedly would have beenpainted originally with a color that would represent a sallow complexion.

The second kindness, entitled The Kindness o Suering the Pains o Childbirth, is located directlyto the let o the central scene (Fig. 8). This vignette depicts the emale realm o expertise and control,indicated by the two midwives assisting at the birth. The scene illustrates a standing pregnant womansupported under her arms by another woman standing behind her. The pregnant woman stands duringthe childs delivery, a position that documents contemporaneous birthing practices. She rests one handon her ull belly and her grimacing ace indicates that she eels labor pains. Another woman gure,representing a midwieshe is glancing upwards as she rolls back the long sleeve o her robekneelsbeore the pregnant woman. The husband gure timidly approaches the scene rom behind the midwieand gazes lovingly at his wie. The inscription reads as ollows:

Figure 7. Kindness one: The Kindness of Caring during Pregnancy.(Photograph by the author)


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Master Cijue spoke thus in praise:

The tribulations o ather and mother bring tears

to ones eyes. (You) will know the weightiness o(your obligations to) their kindness when a childis born rom (your own) womb. The loving atherhears the birth taking place and, lled with anxiety,he is unable to control himsel. [He realizes thathis own] birth [on the part o his parents] isimpossible to repay.14

Figure 8. Kindness two: The Kindness o Suering thePains o Childbirth. (Photograph by the author)

This vignette emphasizes the pain the mother eels when giving birth to the child, and the athersconcern or the lives o mother and child. The scene conronts the visitor with the physical and emotionalanguish that occurs during childbirth, perhaps encouraging the viewer to think o his parents at his ownbirth. The vignettes titled The Kindness o Caring during Pregnancy and The Kindness o Sueringthe Pains o Childbirth underline important moments in the lie o a Southern Song Dynasty woman orany mother at any time and place. The vignettes clearly ocus on the mother in the pregnancy and birthscenes, and the mothers role in child-rearing continues to overshadow that o the ather.

The tableau portraying the third kindness, The Kindness o Selfess Care or the Child, depicts a motherwith a complacent expression standing with a baby in her arms (Fig. 9). In this vignette, although both parentsare present, the mother holds the child and the ather merely observes. The inscription reads as ollows:


When rst they see their inants ace, both parentssmile a little. Beore there were eelings o worry andanxiety; now there has arrived a moment o rest.15

Figure 9.Kindness three: The Kindness o Seless Care or theChild. (Photograph by the author)

The translation o the accompanying inscription describes the scene as occurring when rst they

see their inants ace; however, it is clear that the child is beyond inancy, as it balances itsel whileseated on the mothers orearm. The compositional trio o gures is united by mother and child holdinghands, while the ather places one hand on the mothers orearm. The remaining paint on the athers aceindicates the slight smile that the inscription describes.

In the sculptural scene illustrating the ourth kindness, The Kindness o Swallowing the Bitter WhileSpitting out the Sweet, the mother on the right sits with a child on her knee (Fig. 10). The child gazes at


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the mothers ace and oers up a round ruit with one hand. The accompanying inscription inorms thedevotee that parents sacrice delicious ood on behal o their child. The inscription suggests that themother eats the bitter parts o the ruit and saves the sweet or the child waiting eagerly on her knee.


[The kind mother] gives the sweet to the child to eat,the bitter keeping to hersel to eat. O in this lie onessense o the kindness [o parents] is supercial ormeager, at other times, it will be dicult to repay suchvirtues.16

Figure 10. Kindness our: The Kindness o Swallowing theBitter While Spitting out the Sweet. Kindness six: The Kindnesso Being Fed and Reared. (Photograph by the author)

The th kindness, The Kindness o Giving the Dry Place to the Child, depicts a mother lying nextto her child (Fig. 11). This scene appears to be a private, aectionate moment between mother and child,although the inscription describes the ollowing situation:


The dry place [she] gives to the child to sleep in,her own body sleeping in the damp. Reverently,extrapolate rom the loving mothers unconditionaland selfess love the larger idea o the Buddhasperect compassion. What sel- centered preerencecould the Buddhas possibly show?17

Figure 11. Kindness fve: The Kindness o Giving the DryPlace to the Child. (Photograph by the author)

The inscription suggests that the mother illustrated in the tableau lies where the child has urinatedand has placed the child to sleep on the warm, dry side o the bed. The smile on the mothers ace impliesthe pleasure parents eel when caring or their ospring, even in less than comortable situations. Theinscription reinorces the notion that the unconditional love o parents, especially the love o mothers or

their children, is a metaphor or the Buddhas compassion and love.The sixth kindness, The Kindness o Being Fed and Reared rom Scripture on the Kindness oParents, is compositionally connected to the ourth kindness (Fig. 10). In act, these scenes resembleone another thematically. Although The Kindness o Being Fed and Reared could reer to both atherand mother, the inscription clearly emphasizes the mothers role in breasteeding the child. This tableauemphasizes the mothers responsibility or rearing a healthy and strong child, a poignant reminder o thereality o inant mortality at this time.


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The verses o Zongze, the Chan master Cijue Spoke:

[The kind mother] breast eeds without ceasing; in the cherishedthoughts o her breast, how could she ever eel a moment o

separation? Never worrying should the at and fesh [o herbody] be used up, earing instead that her small child shouldbe hungry.18

This vignette illustrates a child sitting on a mothers knee drinking rom the let breast and holdingthe right breast with one hand. The mother places one hand on the nearby gure, occupying the scenedepicting the ourth kindness, and holds an object that might represent ood in the other. The positiono the mothers hands signies that she does not need to hold the child as she would hold an inant. Thechild gure probably represents a child between the ages o one and three years, rather than a newbornbaby. The age o the child may seem irrelevant to the primary objective o this vignetteto praise amothers dedication to her child through actions as commonplace yet necessary as breasteeding. In act,the duration o breast-eeding correlates with the duration that the child is morally bound to perorm

uneral rites or his parents upon their deaths.19

The seventh kindness, The Kindness o Endless Washing and Cleaning, shows a woman sittingbehind a basin (see Fig. 5). Ater reading the inscription accompanying this vignette, the devoteeunderstands what the womans pose symbolizes. The inscription reads as ollows:

The great Master Cijue praised thus:

The small child incessantly soils his swaddling clothes, and thechilds bodily organs are also soiled. [The kind mother] washesand cleans without end.20

The woman sitting at the basin represents a mother washing the soiled clothes o her child. Themother appears hard at work with her sleeve pulled up and her hand submerged in the wash basin.

Unortunately, the mothers ace has worn away, leaving no trace o acial expression. The head tiltsorward and the viewer imagines that the mothers ace expresses complacency, as the remaining aces osurrounding gures suggest. The gure standing behind the kneeling mother, although it too has suereddamage, appears to be holding the child. Although the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents suggests thatboth athers and mothers make sacrices on behal o their children, the images and inscriptions upthrough the seventh kindness emphasize the mothers sacrices.

The eighth kindness, The Kindness o Creating the Best Opportunity, appears as a large vignetteon the let side o the tableau (see Fig. 4). The ve gures illustrated in this scene represent a weddingparty, as the accompanying inscription describes:

The verse o an ancient worthy says:

Once the child that one is raising nally grows up, it is natural

to marry him o. At the wedding banquet, many animals areslaughtered, yet to whom will this evil [karma] redound?21


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The mother and ather stand to the right o a table with three seated gures. The ather holds a club,indicating that he killed the animal at his eet. The mother stands over the butchered animal, taking partin the preparations or the wedding banquet. The gures seated nearby represent guests at the weddingbanquet who are waiting to devour the reshly butchered meat. This depiction shows a transgression o

the edict that warns Buddhists to abstain rom eating meat, a prohibition that stems rom the concept okarmic rebirth. The Buddhist belie that a deceased relative or riend could be reincarnated as an animalwould keep the devout Buddhist rom consuming the pig pictured in this vignette. The parents in thisvignette, however, sacrice their karma by butchering an animal or their childs wedding banquet. Thisscene thereore underscores the strong secular elements in this sculptural program.

The ninth kindness, The Kindness o Missing the Child when He is gone on a Long Journey, showsa ather and mother parting with their son (see Fig. 5). The inscription reads:

[Master Cijue] spoke thus in praise:

[The parents] think o the child daily, even ater being apart orthree years. [Although] even 1000 li distant, (they) put orthgreat mindulness to tell the son to be careul when he is away.22

The parents rigid stances indicate the stoic melancholy o watching their son depart or several years,probably or ocial service. The gures aces have sustained damage that obscures their expressions, butthe viewer can imagine their worried looks. The son turns his head in the direction o his parents as hewalks away, indicating his sadness in leaving home.

The tenth kindness, The Kindness o Having Empathy or (Whatever) Outcome, is positioned onthe ar let side o the tableau (Fig. 12). The vignette illustrates an aged seated couple gazing lovingly attheir son, who is kneeling beore them. A close look at the parents aces shows that the mother is jowlyand the ather wears a long, thin beard, both o which indicate advanced age. The inscription explains theexchange between parents and son:

The verse reads:

100 years old and still they only think o (their) 80-year-old son; unable to let him go, they become ghostsand still they yearn or him. A son should pay attentionto his parents moods, be they happy or angry, and trynot to oend them. It is not easy, and that is why wecall all phenomena troublesome.23

Figure 12. Kindness ten: The Kindness of Having Empathy for(Whatever) Outcome. (Photograph by the author)

The son kneels beore his parents, representing his respect or their kindness when raising him.This vignette represents the nal and pivotal point in the relationship between parents and children. Theelderly parents require care rom their son ater many years spent physically, emotionally, and spirituallysacricing themselves on his behal. The sons obligation to repay his parents kindness, known as lialpiety, originated in secular Conucianism.


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Confucian Filial Piety

The Kindness o Having Empathy or (Whatever) Outcome indicates the objective o eachproceeding vignette. The depiction oScripture on the Kindness o Parents shows devotees the physical,

emotional, and spiritual sacrices their parents made on their behal as a way in which to encourageviewers to repay their own debts to their parents. Filial piety would have been amiliar to Southern SongDynasty audiences, yet this tableau convinces devotees that they may also repay their lial debts throughBuddhism. This tableau suggests that lial debt accrues against an individual in the same manner asBuddhist karmic debt. Buddhists wanting to repay these moral debts would make oerings at the localmonastery, which improved devotees karma and nancially supported the monastery.

According to the concepts o Conucian lial piety, in order to organize and balance authority andrelations in the household, wives must obey husbands, sons must obey athers, and younger brothers mustobey older brothers. Conucian texts requently ocus on children who are exemplars o either lial pietyor the lack thereo, whereas the tableau at Baodingshan emphasizes the relationship between childrenand parents to explain lial debt. In the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents tableau, each vignette up untilthe nal scene is connected to the previous one to illustrate the theme o parents sacricing themselves

on behal o their children. The tenth kindness, The Kindness o Having Empathy or (Whatever)Outcome, in contrast to the previous ones, supports a Conucian reading o this tableau. The sceneshows the result o the couples physical, emotional and spiritual sacrices: a son who understands hislial obligation. Their grateul son kneels beore them as a reminder to the sons and daughters viewingthe tableau o the incredible debt they owe their parents.

The Cultural Context of the Southern Song Dynasty

MARRIAGE AND CHILDBIRTH

The tableau depicting the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents attempts to reconcile the opposition

between Buddhist monasticism and Conucian patrilineage by illustrating cultural values regardingamily lie in a Buddhist context. The syncretism o Buddhist, Conucian, and olk belies suggests thatthe (Han) Chinese interpreted belie systems according to regional needs. The scenes rom Scriptureon the Kindness o Parents, in the context o Southern Song Dynasty marriage and childbirth practices,indicate Sichuanese cultural pressures and values. A sociological interpretation o the tableau provideshelpul insight concerning the intersection o Buddhism and secular belie systems.

Marriage provided the ramework or Southern Song Dynasty amily lie. The Chinese word hunyinmeans that marriage is a relationship between amilies.24 In marriage ceremonies during the SouthernSong Dynasty, men and women represented the combining and reordering o two amilies. The groomsamily oered the amily name, occupation, property and wealth to the prospective bride and her amilyin exchange or the possibility o male children. The marriage exchange connotes a social transaction,and in act, each amily sent the other betrothal gits at particular intervals beore the marriage.25 The

marriage ceremony symbolized the brides great coming home to her husbands household. Duringthe ceremony, the grooms entourage, including musicians, coaxed the bride into his household as shecrossed gates and stepped over a saddle, in symbolic transition rom the natal amily to the groomsamily.26 With patrilineal amily organization, daughters who became wives acquired social and nancialsecurity at the cost o losing their natal identity.

The primary goal o marriage was to produce male children and sustain the grooms lineage. To aidnewlyweds in producing children, the marriage ceremony included the preparation o a bedchamber


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to promote sexuality and ertility.27 The numerous olk practices to ensure ertility that were developedwithin the Conucian social system placed immense pressure on couples to conceive male children. Asa result, Song Dynasty medical journals advised parents o practices that would help them conceive amale child. The cultural pressure to conceive males led many to believe that mothers could determine

the sex o the etus in the rst three months o pregnancy.28 The (Han) Chinese preoccupation withertility permeated every belie system, even the least likely to refect amily lie, Buddhism. Buddhistmonks advised couples to perorm good deeds to become ertile and bear sons.29 In contradiction to SongDynasty ertility advice rom the monastic community, Buddhists believe that rebirth causes pain andsuering until souls reach nirvana. According to Buddhism, men and women should perorm good deedsand live as monks or nuns to attain nirvana, rather than marry and bear children. The Buddhist beliein karma translated to earthly as well as spiritual concerns, and the (Han) Chinese adapted this beliesystem according to their secular needs.

SYNCRETISM OF BELIEF SYSTEMS IN THE SONG DYNASTY

Regional syncretism o belie systems during the Southern Song Dynasty appears in both text and

image. The conscious blending o Buddhism and secular belies is textually represented in the apocryphalsutra, Scripture on the Kindness o Parents. The Baodingshan tableau depicting the Scripture on the Kindnesso Parents visually pairs Buddhist iconography with scenes o (Han) Chinese amily lie to make Buddhismaccessible to the lay population.

This point is underscored by another sculpture at Baodingshan. The tableau depicting a Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin also alludes to the importance o lial piety within Southern Song DynastyBuddhist practice (Fig. 13). The domestication and eminization o this Tibetan orm oGuanyin occurredthrough the (Han) Chinese narrative known as The Legend o Princess Miaoshan.30 This legend appropriatesthe indigenous narrative theme o lial piety to make the Tibetan Buddhist iconography agreeable to(Han) Chinese audiences.`

In the Legend o Princess Miaoshan,the princess exemplies the daughter

possessed o lial piety who perormsacts o sel-sacrice and devotion to herparents. In the beginning o the tale,she devotes hersel to Buddhism againsther athers wishes that she marry andproduce an heir. The princesss atherpunishes her by ordering her execution.Fortunately, the Buddha saves her soulso that she may tour hell and preachBuddhist belies to those suering.Princess Miaoshan escapes rebirththrough her devotion to Buddhism, but

she returns purposeully to her earthlyduties as a daughter when she receivesnews regarding her athers poor health.She gives her own arms and eyes to cureher athers maladies, and in return orher selfessness, she grows thousands oarms and eyes in their place. The Legend

Figure 13. Thousand-armed Guanyin. (Photograph by the author)


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o Princess Miaoshan reconciles monasticism with Chinese lial piety, indicating that even monasticBuddhists should not orget their lial responsibilities.

The tableau depicting the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents announces a similar objective byvisually pairing Buddhist iconography with Conucian and olk belies. In the scene illustrating the tenth

kindness, The Kindness o Having Empathy or (Whatever) Outcome, a son bestowed with lial pietykneels respectully beore his elderly parents. The tenth kindness communicates the Conucian ethico lial piety in a way that permitted (Han) Chinese to simultaneously uphold secular responsibilitiesand practice Buddhism. Both the Legend o Princess Miaoshan and the Scripture on the Kindness o Parentsplace lial behavior within the context o Buddhism to persuade Southern Song Dynasty viewers thatamily responsibilities and Buddhist devotion were not mutually exclusive.

The Baodingshan tableau depicting the Thousand-armed, Thousand-eyed Guanyin provides evidenceo the eminization o Guanyin in Sichuan during the Southern Song Dynasty. The earliest Chineseemale maniestations oGuanyin appear in Sichuan temple-cave carvings.31 Feminizing Guanyin wasan adaptation o the prevalent Buddhist canon that ullled the needs o a emale audience who wasprimarily concerned with ertility, motherhood, and amily lie. Guanyin became the deity that grantedchildren to womena ertility goddess, in a senseto whom couples could make oerings.32 Even in(Han) Chinese patrilineal society, women were honored or their role in reproduction, and this statusled Buddhists to create a emale representation oGuanyin who possessed the ability to give childrento pious couples. The central scene o the tableau depicting Scripture on the Kindness o Parents showsa couple lighting incense while praying or children, indicating that Southern Song Dynasty audiencesprayed or children as part o Buddhist ritual.

Conclusion

The needs o a secular society motivated the unique iconography at Baodingshan. The narrativeso lial piety that inspired both the Scripture on the Kindness o Parents and Thousand-Armed Guanyinremind both monastic and lay Buddhists to remember their lial duties. The Scripture on the Kindnesso Parents tableau places (Han) Chinese amily lie in the context o Buddhism, thereby supporting the

secular obligations o lay Buddhists. The iconography in this tableau encouraged the participation olay Buddhists by recognizing their social concerns and suggesting Buddhist solutions, such as makingoerings to the Buddha, the Guanyin, or the monastery. That Baodingshans single patron, Zhao Zhieng,was a lay Buddhist underscores the importance o the laitys attempt to adapt a long established beliesystem to embrace their equally important native cultural values.

The (Han) Chinese in Sichuan during the Southern Song Dynasty constructed a local identity byblending indigenous and appropriated belie systems. Most Buddhist artworks do not remain in theiroriginal setting, making it dicult or scholars studying Buddhist temple-caves to consider local identityas part o their contextual analysis. Due to the excellent preservation o the stone carvings in theiroriginal, natural setting, Baodingshan provides an important opportunity to bring back local identity asan important consideration.

The extensiveness o the stone carvings at Baodingshan and the complexity o their subject matter

raise as many questions as have been answered here. The layout is more cohesive than any other temple-cave site. But do the thirty-one tableaux achieve a unied thematic goal? Do (Han) Chinese secularbelies appear in iconography elsewhere within Baodingshan? Is there any visual evidence o Sichuaneseminority cultures at this site? Baodingshan requires urther study i scholars are to more ully understandhow it shaped regional belies rom the twelth century through the present day. My hope is that thisstudy provides an important step in this direction.


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Notes

1. Sonya Lee, Culture in Nature: Cave Temples o Sichuan (a symposium pamphlet presented at University o Southern

Caliornia Conerence on April 1, 2006).

2. This translation appears in Angela Falco Howard, Summit o Treasures: Buddhist Cave Art o Dazu, China (Trumbull:Weatherhill, 2001), xiii. Karil Kucera translates Baodingahan as Precious Summit Mountain. Karil Kucera Cli Notes:Text and Image at Baodingshan (Ph.D. diss., University o Kansas, 2002), 3.

3. Howard, Summit o Treasures, 1.4. By the twelth century, Buddhism was well established in China ollowing its appropriation rom Indian.5. (Han) Chinese reers to the majority ethnic group in China during the twelth century. Many minority cultures simultaneously

inhabited geographical China, but I do not presume that these cultures subscribed to Buddhism or to belies originating inthe central Chinese government.

6. Janet Baker, The Art o the Sui Dynasty Caves at Dunhuang (Ph.D. diss., University o Kansas, 1991), 63.7. Richard Edwards, Putai Maitreya and a Reintroduction to Hangzhous Feilaieng, Ars Orientalis 14 (1984): 5.8. Li Fangyin, Emulating Nature, Carving Landscape: On the Drainage System at Baodingshan conerence: Culture in

Nature: Cave Temples o Sichuan University o Southern Caliornia, April 1, 2006.9. Kucera, Cli Notes, 48.

10. Kucera, Cli Notes, 48.

11. Kucera, Cli Notes, 48.12. Kucera, Cli Notes, 352-357.13. Ibid.14. Ibid.15. Ibid.16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.18. Ibid.19. Alan Cole, Mothers and Sons in Chinese Buddhism (Stanord: Stanord University Press, 1998), 21.20. Kucera, Cli Notes, 352-357.21. Ibid.22. Ibid.23. Ibid.24. Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives o Chinese Women in the Sung Period (Berkeley: University

o Caliornia Press, 1993).25. Ibid.26. Ibid.27. Ibid.28. Ibid.29. Ibid.30. Chun-ang Yu, Kuan-Yin: The Chinese Transormation o Avalokitesvara (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001).31. Yu, 247.32. Ibid.


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Ning, Qiang.Art, Religion, and Politics in Medieval China: the Dunhuang cave o the Zhai Family. Honolulu:University o Hawaii Press, 2004.

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