Upon leading a victorious rebellion against the
foreign Mongol rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a
peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang seized control
of China and founded the Ming Dynasty in
1368. As emperor, he founded his capital at
Nanjing and adopted the name Hongwu as his
reign title. Hongwu, literally meaning “vast
military,” reflects the increased prestige of the
army during the Ming Dynasty. Due to the very
realistic threat still posed by the Mongols,
Hongwu realized that a strong military was
essential to Chinese prosperity. Thus, the
orthodox Confucian view that the military was
an inferior class to be ruled over by an elite
class of scholars was reconsidered. During
the Ming Dynasty, China proper was reunited
after centuries of foreign incursion and
occupation. Ming troops controlled
Manchuria, and the Korean Joseon Dynasty
respected the authority of the Ming rulers, at
least nominally.
Like the founders of the Han Dynasty (206
B.C.- 220 A.D.), Hongwu was extremely
suspicious of the educated courtiers that
advised him and, fearful that they might
attempt to overthrow him, he successfully
consolidated control of all aspect of
government. The strict authoritarian control
Hongwu wielded over the affairs of the
country was due in part to the centralized
system of government he inherited from the
Mongols and largely kept intact. However,
Hongwu replaced the Mongol bureaucrats
who had ruled the country for nearly a century
with native Chinese administrators. He also
reinstituted the Confucian examination system
that tested would-be civic officials on their
knowledge of literature and philosophy. Unlike
the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), which
received most of its taxes from mercantile
commerce, the Ming economy was based
primarily on agriculture, reflecting both the
peasant roots of its founder as well as the
Confucian belief that trade was ignoble and
parasitic.
A representation of Ming ideals but not
necessarily its cultural austerity, this graceful
and serene jade sculpture depicts Guanyin,
one of the most popular of all bodhisattvas,
whose name literally means 'the one who
always hears sounds'. In the Buddhist religion,
bodhisattvas are souls who have attained
enlightenment and no longer need to
reincarnate, but forsake nirvana and choose to
remain on earth to alleviate the suffering of
others. Known in China as 'the compassionate
Bodhisattva', who listens to every prayer,
Guanyin was often placed behind the main
Buddha image in a temple or flanking a figure
of the Buddha himself. However, as this jade
sculpture is just a bust, we may inquire about
its origins and function.
The ability to render such a sophisticated
design in jade demonstrates the technological
prowess of the Ming dynasty. Rendering the
free-flowing, curling headdress-cum-crown in
medium-relief would have required a
tremendous amount of skill, not to mention
achieving the softness of the facial features
that live up to the Guanyin’s status in the
Buddhist pantheon as the deity of mercy. At
the front of the crown headdress, small
impressions suggest the absence of the
Amitabha Buddha that would have likely once
adorned the central lotus in the jade crown,
which is surrounded by a sikhara-shaped
aureole. A finely protruding urna is placed in
the middle of the reduced forehead just above
the halfway point between the two eyes.
Though the bodhisattva has no eyebrows, we
gain a sense of character and demeanour
from the deep impressions above the eyes.
Low-hanging earlobes – a symbol of divinity
and the renunciation of worldly desires –
further demonstrate devotion as well as
artistic accomplishment. In all, a softening of
features achieved by the smoothness and
plumpness of the jade medium render this
bust a magnificent example of Guanyin’s
compassion.
