ICONOGRAPHY: CONFUCIAN ICONOGRAPHY

Over the centuries, the terms "Confucian" and "Confucianism" have been constructed in different ways, both in China and in the West. The adjective "Confucian" here is used loosely, referring not only to the writings of Confucius (551–479 bce) but also to that larger body of learning and praxis transmitted in other (often older) ancient classical texts and their later commentaries (which are being compiled to this day). This collection of works is very diverse and its boundaries are difficult to determine. The more important titles, which date to Warring States times (403–221 bce) or earlier, are the Book of Odes (Shijing ), Book of Documents (Shangshu ), Book of Rites (Liji ), Master Zuo's Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu Zuozhuan ), and the Analects of Confucius. Somewhat later is the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) Book of Filial Piety (Xiaojing ). The term "iconography" is used here in a very general sense to refer to visual depictions of the phenomena recorded in such classical texts, and it also refers to later products of the visual culture that was based in some fashion upon that written legacy.

Confucian Divinities and Mythic Beings

Early texts describe an expansive pantheon of divinities, numinous powers, ideal beings, and culture heroes. These include the Lord on High; heaven and earth; spirits of mountains and rivers; powers of cold, heat, and celestial bodies; mythic supra-human beings; sage rulers; and ancestral spirits, to name a few.

Historiographic issues

The ways in which these beings were visually understood in pre-Han times, however, is unclear. The pre-Han archaeological record preserves depictions of a wide range of mythic beings. However, they are neither readily identifiable nor easily associated with figures from "Confucian" written works.

More specifically, using painted or sculpted figural images as objects of reverence to depict these beings is not clearly attested in early texts. Later Confucian historiography, beginning at least as early as the Song dynasty (960–1279), insisted that anthropomorphic images of deceased human beings, or of nonhuman divinities, were not used in ritual contexts in Warring States times or earlier. Both written records and the archaeological record as it was then known support this notion.

For example, according to the Book of Rites, ancestors were instead "imaged" (xiang, a term used as both noun and verb) or represented by a personator (or impersonator) of the dead. The personator (shi ) was a living descendant of the deceased who temporarily took upon the identity of the departed ancestor, whose laid-out body was simultaneously called a shi, during commemorative rites that feted the personator/deceased with food and liquor. The consanguineous relationship between the dead and the personator (the bodies of descendants were moreover considered consubstantial with those of their forebears) often ensured a close physical resemblance between the personator and his or her ancestral "prototype."

Personators were not widely used after the Warring States era, but the notion that an image should resemble its prototype became crucial in later times, when validity of an image was determined by its perceived similitude to its prototype. Some Chinese scholars of the Song and Ming (1368–1644 ce) dynasties believed that the custom of using personators to image the deceased was in fact the origin of the later use of anthropomorphic images in sacrificial offerings. According to this historiographic interpretation, after Warring States times the living descendant was replaced with painted or sculpted images of the deceased, which were held to high standards of semblance.

Such ancestral portraits were widely used by the Song dynasty, and were called ying, or "shades." Conceptually, the term ying incorporates the meanings of both "shadow" and "reflection," and can be understood as an emanated projection from the human body that is visible in sunlight and reflected in mirrors and other clear or flat surfaces, such as the surface of an ancestral painting used in rites to commemorate the deceased. In folk tales such as the Ming dynasty Peony Pavilion, shades sometimes become doppelgängers of the original body and take on lives of their own—even after the prototype body is deceased. Ancestral portraits are still widely used in modern times, although they have been largely replaced by photographs, which ensure greater verisimilitude than paintings. In fact, the modern expression "to photograph" is literally she ying, "absorb the shade."

Images in early China

Confucian images often emerge from or appear in mortuary, visionary, or other liminal contexts. One of the earliest known textual descriptions of an image in a Confucian text is of an image (xiang ) created to depict a man seen in a vision. The Book of History records how a bereft ruler went into mourning and underwent the usual austerities of isolation, fasting, silence, and occlusion of the senses. This typically led to visionary experiences, and not unexpectedly the ruler saw in a dream a man whom he understood was to be his helpmate or body-substitute. This helpmate would replace the ruler while he remained secluded in mourning. The ruler ordered an image created of the man he saw and sent it about the kingdom until someone was located who resembled it. This person was then established as the ruler's prime minister. Visions of the deceased, as well as the living, were commonplace in the pre-sacrificial vigils of commemorative offerings presented by pious descendants to their ancestors. It was here that one could see them again, even though they were now in the realm of spirits, which were otherwise formless, invisible, and ineffable.

Physical Appearance of Confucian Figures

Virtually nothing is known of the actual physical appearance of particular figures from Confucian lore, or even of Confucius himself.

Han dynasty iconography

By Han times, thinkers and artists began to create their own visual interpretations of important figures. Extant sculpted stone bas-reliefs on shrines, tombs, and steles from the Han and early medieval periods (to 618 ce) depict narrative representations of daily life, historic figures, mythic beings, and prognosticatory omens. These reliefs were didactic in nature and, when located in tombs or shrines, were the backdrop for the mortuary rites convened there.

Confucius appears frequently in these early depictions, never alone and sometimes accompanied by a retinue of disciples and even by half-human, half-animal hybrid creatures. He is yet far from being depicted as the premier sage of the Analects —or even as the "uncrowned king" that contemporary philosophical texts claim him to be—but is more commonly shown to be a pedant instructed by recluses, farmers, or even children. He frequently appears in conversation with the legendary Laozi and the child prodigy Xiang Tuo. The assemblage of these three figures constitutes an admixture of mythic accounts from several textual sources, some of which are not "Confucian." In this grouping, Confucius is understood to be a middle-aged man who is the pupil of both the older master ("Lao" means simply "old" or "elderly") and the precocious child. Tales of Confucius's apocryphal conversations with Xiang Tuo appear in Dunhuang literature (a trove of documents dating to Tang times discovered in the Dunhuang caves of Central Asia), and both texts and illustrations of the encounter are still commonly included in yearly almanacs distributed among Chinese populations worldwide.

Other bas-reliefs from Han and early medieval times depict culture heroes and heroines from antiquity: the model rulers Yao, Shun, and Yu; exemplars of filial piety; paragons of female courage; and men of remarkable character. The medium does not allow for "realistic" renderings, and the figures are highly stylized and sometimes only identifiable by virtue of their insignia or textual cartouches. Didactic representations, such as those of the Wu clan shrines in Shandong, depict their subjects in the very act of performing virtuous deeds: a wife allows herself to be murdered in order to save her husband and father; the culture hero Yu digs the waterways that preserved the world from floods; a mother rescues a nephew at the expense of her own child.

Early medieval images

These Han images are murals in shrines, but during the Tang dynasty (618–907), spirits of all kinds also were represented at their "spirit places" (shenwei ) on temple altars by spirit tablets (zhu ), which were vertical planks that recorded the name and title of the divinities they represented. Written records indicate that by this time period, Confucius and other famous literati also were represented by two- or three-dimensional anthropomorphic images on altars where they were given state-sponsored food offerings. Debates ensued over how certain figures should be represented; being depicted sitting rather than standing was considered a mark of honor. These arguments paralleled debates over which textual or spiritual traditions should be granted greater authority: personal disciples of Confucius, or later scholars who transmitted the learning of a particular classic. Because few Tang images exist, their actual appearance is unknown.

One of the most widely known depictions of Confucius is traditionally attributed to the famous Tang painter Wu Daozi (fl. 710–760), although the image's authenticity is questionable. This rendering depicts Confucius as a solitary standing figure, hands held at his chest. A long beard attests to his age and seniority; he is no longer a pupil who bows politely to seek wisdom from others, but is an autonomous, iconic figure presented visually as a model of authoritative gravitas. It is this Confucius who is the subject of modern sculptures in Chinatowns throughout the world.

In other Tang and Song renderings, Confucius is no longer accompanied by his "teacher," Xiang Tuo, who has instead been replaced by Confucius's favorite disciple, Yan Hui. In contrast to the child prodigy, Yan Hui was noted for his humility. Elsewhere, Confucius is found in poses similar to those of the Buddhist layman Vimalakīrti: he sits on a raised platform and holds a fan. However, instead of an entourage of monks and bodhisattvas, he is accompanied by his disciples. These images exist as narrative scrolls on paper and silk, and also as stone carvings displayed in temples.

Political and Societal Acceptance

Some Song scholars began to express discomfort with anthropomorphic renderings of both historic figures and spirits of natural phenomena, particularly when they were used in ritual contexts.

Images in the Song dynasty

The brothers Cheng Hao (1032–1085) and Cheng Yi (1033–1107) questioned the use of ancestral portraits, especially those wanting in verisimilitude. In addition, Chen Chun (1159–1223) ridiculed the practice of depicting the spirit of sacred Mount Tai as a human king. Taking anthropomorphizing to its logical conclusion, Chen wondered where such a geographically isolated mountain range was likely to find a queen. Distaste for perceived Buddhist influences on Chinese practices, and for the charlatanry that passed for Buddhism, was not far below the surface. Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was troubled that images of Confucius were depicted in ahistorical Buddhist poses, and Cheng Hao ordered the decapitation of a Buddhist statue that gained notoriety by purportedly emitting rays of light.

Elsewhere, artists of the Song dynasty found their subjects in classical texts. Such famous artists as Li Gonglin (c. 1041–1106) created illustrations for the Book of Filial Piety, and others illustrated the Women's Book of Filial Piety. These works were created in the hand scroll format: a long scroll of paper or silk about one foot in height and several yards in length was illustrated alternately with text passages and accompanying illustrations. Intended for the moral edification and aesthetic appreciation of the viewer, the scroll would be unfurled slowly and the images viewed one at a time, perhaps with the help of an instructor. The twelfth-century painter Ma Hezhi and his calligraphic collaborator, Song emperor Gaozong (1107–1187; r. 1127–1162) chose as their subject the verses of the ancient Book of Odes. The cryptic verses and liturgical hymns of the Odes were believed to embody the epitome of human sensibility, and were thus a fitting subject for the ruler himself.

For millennia, vessels of bronze and objects of jade have been the vehicles for presenting food offerings and displaying pious sentiments to spiritual beings, and even illustrations of those objects bear iconic status. Several compilations of woodblock illustrations, depicting ritual objects, were created during the Song dynasty. Thereafter, this genre remained popular for centuries. Some of these texts were created for an audience of connoisseurs and antiquarians. However, others were intended as handbooks for those who officiated at rites or were used as visual inventories of sacred objects appreciated for their own sake. The display, arrangement, directionality, and number of particular objects used in ritual performances was of great concern, and Ming (1368–1644 ce) and Qing (1644–1911 ce) dynastic records provide line illustrations that document the placement of each goblet and saucer for spiritual beings of all ranks.

Images in later imperial times

In the Ming, scholars began to question more fundamentally the use of anthropomorphic images in sacrificial offerings. To some thinkers, human-shaped images of clay or paint created by mere artisans blasphemed the subtle formlessness of spirits. Images that did not look like their prototypes were considered invalid. Images of Confucius, for example, could not possibly look like Confucius, for none of them even looked like one another. Others presented xenophobic arguments against Buddhist customs imported from India and against Mongolian Buddhist tendencies (China had been ruled by Mongol people in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries) toward iconophilia. By the 1530s, sentiment against anthropomorphic images in temples to Confucius and other literati was so strong that they were ordered eliminated by imperial decree. Sculpted images of clay were replaced by wooden tablets that bore only the names and titles of the deceased. In officially sponsored temples, images remain largely absent from temple altars to this day, although during the late Ming dynasty the ban was occasionally circumvented by hiding images inside temple walls.

Paradoxically, even as sculpted images were being cleansed from the altars of officially sponsored temples, other kinds of images flourished. The expansion of the publishing industry resulted in an unprecedented variety of woodblock illustrations. Many illustrated collections that depicted important events (largely apocryphal) in the life of Confucius were printed, as were illustrated books of filial piety and ritual paraphernalia. Another popular genre was collected volumes of portraits of famous people: historical figures, rulers and ministers, sages and worthies, local heroes, filial children, and exemplars of women's virtues.

In late imperial times Confucius also was popularly depicted in "Three Teachings" images that illustrated how the Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist traditions (represented by Confucius, Laozi, and Śākyamuni Buddha, respectively) were deeply interrelated. Not everyone believed that Buddhism was a heterodox religion that profaned the teachings of the sages of ancient China. To make the philosophical point that the three traditions were different manifestations of a common substratum, the three figures are sometimes shown schematically as intertwining shapes that form one body, or ti (a term that can be applied to a human body as well as a canonical corpus). Other depictions recall the Han representation of Confucius, Laozi, and the child Xiang Tuo. However, in the late imperial images Xiang Tuo is replaced by an infant named Śākyamuni, who is held in Laozi's arms.

During the Qing dynasty, images of Confucius were largely proscribed from official temples and shrines to Confucian sages and worthies, but they were not eliminated at the Kong (the Chinese family name of Confucius) ancestral temples in Qufu in Shandong province, which also maintained a collection of family portraits of "the Sage's" descendants. During the early twentieth century, there was a revival of interest in visual depictions of Confucius. At this time, Confucian associations from around the world returned to Qufu to locate "real" images of Confucius that could be duplicated and distributed in large quantities to promote the values of the Analects. The search for verisimilitude was partially fueled by the development of photography.

Twentieth-century trends

During the first half of the twentieth century, political regimes employed images of Confucius or of the Kong family temples to promote their own agendas. In China, the facade of a temple also is understood as a mian, or face. Several governments featured Confucius's visage, or that of his temple at Qufu, on their currency. By doing so, they attempted to fortify their own cultural legitimacy and establish a cultural symbol that was palatable to the hundreds of diverse cultural and ethnic groups within China. Even the Japanese puppet government of Manchuria adopted Confucius on its currency, thus claiming sovereignty over the cultural homeland of Shandong.

With the establishment of the avowedly iconoclastic People's Republic of China in 1949, however, religious and cultural symbols of all kinds (other than those promoted by the Communist Party) were erased in the name of revolution. Even though thinkers such as Kuang Yaming tried to depict Confucius as a "man of the people," "Confucianism" became synonymous with cultural stagnation and economic backwardness. In the civil strife of the Cultural Revolution, the Confucian images at Qufu were disemboweled and paraded around the town in dunce caps, much as if they were living entities. Communist propaganda distributed to adults and children depicted Confucius as a hideous, deceitful, and decrepit old man who was deservedly punished for his reactionary ways by muscular young peasants and laborers.

Contemporary Developments

By the end of the twentieth century, revolutionary zeal was supplanted by financial ambition as China became a larger force in the world economy. As China reshaped its image of itself as a nation among equals, it rehabilitated its own culture heroes. Municipal governments and schools refashioned their own civic monuments and replaced statues of Mao with public sculptures of famous world figures from the sciences, the arts, and philosophy. In addition to Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, and Beethoven, these included representations of Confucius. In cinema, the mythic life of Confucius has been featured in several lengthy television series and feature films, where he is often depicted as a virtuous man who successfully withstands adversity.

Confucian temples in Taiwan continue to preserve the Ming tradition of using tablets instead of images, and their walls are dominated by textual and calligraphic icons, when decorated by anything at all. Blood-red tablets mark the names of hundreds of famous literati and invoke their bodies of written work. Inside shrines, altars stand before oversized calligraphed renditions of the Great Learning, clearly marking the text as an object of reverence.

In Beijing, which has been an imperial capital since the fifteenth century, the presence of numinous powers also is marked by simple tablets, as well as extensive architectural structures and sacred spaces. The late-imperial Temple of Heaven complex at the southern end of the north-south axis of the city marks the sacrality of the earth with a large open-air circular altar; of heaven, with a smaller, closed structure roofed in blue tiles. The larger Hall of Yearly Harvests architecturally represents the intersection of time and space: the numerical arrangement of columns and shrines marks the four seasons, twelve months, and calendrical days of the year. This complex is oriented with additional temples to the sun and moon in other quadrants of the city's cosmography, making all of Beijing a sacred space shared by humans and spiritual powers.

See Also

Chinese Religion, overview article; Confucianism in Japan; Confucianism in Korea; Confucianism, overview article; Confucius; Temple, article on Confucian Temple Compounds.

Bibliography

For early depictions of the human body in Chinese art, see Helmut Brinker's "The Concept of the Human Body in Chinese Art," in Symbolik des menschlichen Leibes, edited by Paul Michel (Bern, Switzerland, 1995), pp. 49–81. Bas-reliefs of the Wu clan shrine are explored in Wu Hung's The Wu Liang Shrine: The Ideology of Early Chinese Pictorial Art (Stanford, Calif., 1989). For ancestral portraits, see Worshipping the Ancestors: Chinese Commemorative Portraits by Jan Stuart and Evelyn S. Rawski (Washington, D.C., 2001) and Patricia Ebrey's "Portrait Sculptures in Imperial Ancestral Rites in Song China," in T'oung Pao 83 (1997), pp. 42–92. Song depictions of Confucian sages and texts are discussed in Julia K. Murray's "The Hangzhou Portraits of Confucius and Seventy-two Disciples (Sheng xian tu ): Art in the Service of Politics" (Art Bulletin 74, 1992, pp. 7–18), as well as her Ma Hezhi and the Illustration of the Book of Odes (Cambridge, U.K., 1993). For the Classic of Filial Piety, see Richard M. Barnhart's Li Kung-lin's Classic of Filial Piety (New York, 1993). For late-imperial narrative scenes in the life of Confucius, see Julia K. Murray's "Varied Views of the Sage: Illustrated Narratives of the Life of Confucius" in Thomas A. Wilson, ed., On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius (Cambridge, Mass., 2002), pp. 222–264. For Chinese pictorial collections of sculptures, paintings, and architectural monuments related to the Confucian tradition see the Rujia tuzhi (A collection of Confucian images) compiled by Xu Lingyun et al. (Shandong province, China, 1994) and Dazai Kongzi (O Great Confucius), edited by Zhang Zuoyao (Hong Kong, 1991). The art and architecture of the temple of Confucius in Qufu is documented in Qufu Kongmiao Jianzhu (Architecture of the Confucian temple in Qufu), edited by the Qufu Cultural Administration (Beijing, 1987). For the religious and philosophical significance of images of Confucius, see Deborah Sommer, "Destroying Confucius: Iconoclasm in the Confucian Temple," in Thomas A. Wilson, ed., On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius (Cambridge, Mass., 2002), pp. 95–133. Revivals of Confucius as a subject matter for artists is documented in the Jinian Kongzi danchen 2550 zhounian quanguo meishu zuopin Zhongguohua zuopin ji (Collection of Chinese paintings from the national art exhibition to commemorate the 2,550th birthday anniversary of Confucius), edited by the editorial committee of the national art exhibition to commemorate the 2,550th birthday anniversary of Confucius (Beijing, 1999). For a European exhibition featuring works related to Confucius and time, see Confucius: a l'aube de humanisme chinois, edited by Jean-Paul Desroches (Paris, 2003). For more theoretical studies of visuality in China, see Craig Clunas's Pictures and Visuality in Early Modern China (Princeton, N.J., 1997).

Deborah Sommer (2005)