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Stabilizing Multinational Relationships Through Buddhist Art

Chironjit Das History of Art II

Prof. Jeremy George 5/15/15

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Historically, why has religion always had a major impact on how a society or civilization

lived? Buddhism became one of the leading world religions since its creation by Siddhartha

Gautama, who used to be a Hindu prince in India. Similar to other religions, the spread of

Buddhism affected the cultural values and standards of every person who accepted and practiced

it. Tibetan Buddhism was the official religion of the Manchu court during the Qing Dynasty.1

Buddhist art, such as the Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya (Figure 1), created cultural connections

and stabilized relationships between China, Tibet, and Mongolia.

The Metropolitan Museum’s sculpture of Ushnishivajaya follows the description of a

goddess given in the late-eleventh-century Garland of Sadhanas.

She is described as having three faces and eight arms. Two of her three visages are calm, while the third, at the right, is ferocious. She holds a small sculpture of a seated Buddha in her upper right hand and a long rope, used to suspend a two-pronged vajra, a ritual implement symbolizing adamantine power, in her upper left…Another pair of hands brandishes a bow and arrow, while the third pair holds a four-pronged vajra before her chest. The right hand of the lowest pair of arms is shown making the gesture of offering, and the left supports a covered vase. Ushnishavijaya is seated in a posture of meditation on a two-tiered…lotus pedestal. She is encircled by a…mandorla…She wears a skirtlike lower garment; a long, narrow scarf that cascades over her shoulders and upper arms; and an additional scarf that is tied at the center of the chest. In addition to a complicated crown, she wears an elaborate necklace, armlets, and anklets.2

This stylistic depiction of Ushnishivajaya is based on eleventh to twelfth century Indian and

Nepalese Buddhist imagery that was introduced to Tibet. The slightly triangular face of the Qing

Buddha reflects how Tibet and the Qing developed a closer relationship. The Mongol Yuan

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1. Marsha Smith Weidner, Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001, 170.

2. Denise Patry Leidy and Donna Strahan, Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, N.Y: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010, 164.

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dynasty (1271-1368) had close ties with Tibet and partly thanks to Qing’s patronage of Tibetan

Buddhism the Mongolians were able to slowly regain stature.3 Since the Mongolians and the

Manchus both practiced Buddhism they seem to have desired to keep peace amongst themselves.

The Mongols ruled China from 1260 to 1368 until the Manchus won over the Ming Dynasty in

1644, but they were still a considerable threat to the Manchus. Thus, the Manchus forbade non-

religious use and the destruction of Buddhist monasteries, both for their own religious beliefs

and to keep the Mongolians on their side.4 Some of these monasteries can be assumed to have

held images or statues of the goddess Ushnishavijaya. These interrelationships and interest in

Buddhist art helped protect the religious cultures of Tibet, China, and Mongolia during the Qing

dynasty.

An Indian monk, Buddhapali, introduced Ushnishavijaya to China during his quest to

find buddhisattva Manjushri in his sacred abode on Mount Wutai. Even though Tibet and China

both based their sculptures of her on Indian traditions, there were subtle differences on how she

was depicted. For example, Chinese sculptures were more round around the body and arms so

they seemed more relaxed as opposed to having stiff, angular body parts. Also, the drapery had

more of a linear flow and the diagonally worn scarf from the left shoulder is typically Chinese.5

These differences helps to differentiate between the arts of different nations. This does not mean

that these differences were due to or even caused problems between Tibet and China.

The Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya is seated under an arched structure that is considered

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3. Ibid, 164.

4. Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, 170-171.

5. Wisdom Embodied, 164-165.

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to be a stupa, or a Buddhist shrine, which is in itself an object of respect. The Bhimartha rite,

well known in Nepal, Tibet, and India, is performed when a pious Buddhist attains the age of

seventy-seven years, seven months, and seven days. During this time an offering of thanks is

given in front of a stupa containing Ushnishavijaya for the opportunity to be guaranteed a

positive rebirth.6 The stupa alludes to the importance of her divinity and indicates that she is the

freer of the mind of all enlightened beings. Those who worship her desire to ensure their long life

and a favorable rebirth. One of her stories goes like this:

A god residing in Heaven…was on the threshold of death and saw with his clairvoyance that he was going to be reborn as a pig. Greatly agitated, he went to…Shakyamuni Buddha. The Awakened One then taught him to recite the mantra of Ushnisha Vijaya; this ripened his latent good karma sufficiently for him to take rebirth, not as a lowly pig, but as an exalted celestial being once again.7

This story connects to how the Mongols’ faith in Buddhism led them to regain strength to

maintain their society, instead of being completely demolished, partly due to the shared faith

between the Qing and the Mongols. This relationship and similar faith in Buddhism helped keep

peace between the two civilizations. Also, the iconography of the stupa creates a cultural

connection between Tibet and China because the arc structure in The Buddhist Deity,

Ushnishavijaya can refer to the religious ceremony, the Bhimartha rite, practiced in Tibet.

The focus of the artist on the Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya was to use iconographies to

accurately depict her so that anyone can identify her. China, Tibet and Mongolia depict her in a

similar posture with her three heads and eight arms (Figure 1, 2, 3). The golden-like color, the

_____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Rob Linrothe, "Xia Renzong and the Patronage of Tangut Buddhist Art: The Stūpa and Ushnīshavijayā Cult", In Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, No. 28, Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasty Studies, 1998, 104-105. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496064

7. Jonathan Landaw, Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practice, Ithaca, NY, Snow Lion Publications, 2006, 92.

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pedestal-like base, the three heads and eight arms highlights her role as a deity or just a being

who is not a part of the mortal world. These similarities emphasize the cultural connections

between these three nations, but the differences between the three figures shows varying

iconographical preferences. Figure 3 is from Mongolia and is only depicted with the three heads

and eight arms. Figure 2 is from Tibet and is depicted similar to figure 3 but is shown holding

different objects. Figure 1 is from China and has both of what figure 2 and 3 has but with an arc

surrounding Ushnishavijaya. These three different representations of her suggest that some parts

of her were not as important to Mongolia as it may have been for China or Tibet. This also

alludes to which of her powers they thought were more relevant.

The Buddhist Deity, Ushnishavijaya can be used to make cultural and religious

connections between China, Tibet, and Mongolia. Buddhist art may have helped stabilize and

keep a positive relationship between the three nations, but one can also assume that the religious

relationship they shared helped preserve Buddhist art. Ushnishavijaya may have had the power to

prolong life and give a favorable rebirth but one should also remember that she helps free the

mind to walk down the enlightened path. Based on figures 1, 2, and 3, since the iconographies

don’t all match up perfectly, one can question which of Ushnishavijaya’s powers the three

countries gave more prominence to.

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Illustrations

 

Figure  1.  Buddhist  goddess  Ushnishavijaya,  Qing  dynasty  (1644–1911),  late  17th–early  18th  century,  China,  Gilt  brass,  lost–wax  cast;  H.  7  in.  (17.8  cm)                                                                                                                                                                                                              Source-­‐http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-­‐of-­‐art/2007.75a,b                                                                                                                                                                                Accessed:  5/11/15  

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Figure  2.  Ushnishavijaya,  Tibetan,    17th  century                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Gilt  bronze  with  pigments,  inlaid  with  turquoise  and  coral                                                                                                                                                                    Source-­‐  http://museum.cornell.edu/collections/view/ushnishavijaya.html                                                                                                                    Accessed:  5/11/15  

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Figure  3.  Ushnishavijaya,  17th  century,  Mongolia                                                                                                                                                                                                              Gilt  copper  alloy,  pigment  and  stone  inlay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Source-­‐  https://himalayanbuddhistart.wordpress.com/category/all/mongolia/                                                                                                                                          Accessed:  5/11/15  

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Bibliography

Landaw, Jonathan. Images of Enlightenment: Tibetan Art in Practic. Ithaca, NY. Snow Lion Publications. 2006. 92-94.

Leidy, Denise Patry and Donna Strahan. Wisdom Embodied: Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, N.Y: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. 164-165.

Linrothe, Rob. "Xia Renzong and the Patronage of Tangut Buddhist Art: The Stūpa and Ushnīshavijayā Cult." In Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 91-121. No. 28. Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasty Studies, 1998. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23496064. Accessed 5/11/15.

Weidner, Marsha Smith. Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawai'i Press, 2001.