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Lot Essay
The present painting is of the style associated with the Xumi Fushou Temple in Chengde, outside Beijing. Likely painted in the imperial workshops of the capital for the decoration of the esteemed temple, it belongs to an imperial Chinese school of Tibetan-style Buddhism that flourished in the eighteenth century during a period of cultural interchange between China, Mongolia, and Tibet.
As a newly established dynasty, the Qing, who were themselves Manchus and not of Han Chinese descent, relied on the discipline and support of other foreign ethnic groups, including the Mongolians and Tibetans, for their dominance of China proper. In the pursuit of this goal, the Manchus propagated and patronized Tibetan-style Buddhism. As early as the Yuan dynasty, the Mongolians had relied on the spiritual wisdom of Tibetan Buddhist masters as guidance in matters both religious and secular. They would consult with Tibetan lamas (teachers), for instance, prior to battle, and believed that subsequent victories were the result of their karmic righteousness. In the following centuries, Mongolian adherence to Tibetan Buddhism only increased, and the Qing Emperors took advantage of this devotion by lavishly patronizing Tibetan Buddhist activities in both the capital of Beijing and in areas closer to Mongolia, such as Chengde.
Originally a hunting site, the site of Chengde was chosen for its strategic location north of Beijing, and for its idyllic beauty. It also boasted a massive phallus-shaped rock, known as Qingchui, that was likened to Mount Sumeru, the Buddhist axis mundi. As the Mongols were fervent followers of Tibetan-style Buddhism, the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) ordered the construction of various Tibetan-style Buddhist temples ordered around the axis of Qingchui. Under the reign of his grandson, the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795), the site was expanded massively, with the layout of the site mirroring the Buddhist cosmology of a mandala. Qianlong even ordered the construction of the Putuo Zongchengmiao in 1771, a replica of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, complete with a façade with imitation painted windows, and the Puning Temple, a copy of the ancient Samye Monastery in Tibet.
The Xumi Fushou Temple was completed in 1780, under the orders of the Qianlong Emperor. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday, Qianlong invited Lobsang Palden Yeshe, the Sixth Panchen Lama and the second most important religious leader of the Geluk sect of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama, to visit him in Chengde outside Beijing. Like his grandfather before him, Qianlong recognized that the arrival of the revered Panchen Lama to Chengde at the behest of the emperor demonstrated enormous political and religious power in the eyes of the Mongol khans, who were all devout Tibetan Buddhists, and who would also be in attendance at his birthday proceedings. As a fantastic gesture of good will, and a display of his power, Qianlong commanded his architects and builders to replicate the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, seat of the Panchen Lama in Tibet, in the summer retreat of Chengde. The resulting Xumi Fushou Temple was completed in time for the celebration and the visit of Lobsang Palden Yeshe, and filled with countless paintings, sculptures, and other ritual objects. Unlike the Putuo Zongchengmiao, which while enormous, was largely an empty façade, the Xumi Fushou was a functioning monastery and temple. The Chinese architects, however, could not resist laying out the Xumi Fushou on a processional axis in the Chinese manner and in contrast to the layout of the Tashi Lhunpo, thus obfuscating the aesthetic connection between the two buildings.
The present painting was likely painted in the imperial workshops of Beijing for the decoration of the new Xumi Fushou Temple. The set was subsequently dispersed, and many are now found in museums and private collections. Paintings of Samantabhadra and the Buddha Ratnasambhava (figure a), both from the Xumi Fushou Temple, reside in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, while The Philadelphia Museum of Art retains a painting of Sitatapatra (acc. no. 1959-156-4) and a painting of an unidentified bodhisattva (acc. no. 1959-156-5). Two paintings from the same set were sold at Christie’s New York on 12 September 2018, including figure b, a painting of Amitabha (lot 316) and a painting of the bodhisattva Vajraraksha (lot 315). The painting of Samantabhadra in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco has an inscription stating that it was destined for the Xumi Fushou temple, and indicates its location within the building.
Suvarnabhadra Vimala (Tib. mtshan legs yongs grags dpal) is one of the eight medicine buddhas identified in the Bhaishajyaguruvaiduryaprabharaja Sutra, a sutra of great importance to early Mahayana schools as well as later Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. The jeweled mandorla, ornate lotus throne, pastel palette, and three-lobed style of clouds closely matches that of examples directly attributed by inscription to the Xumi Fushou Temple while the ornamented trees and the cluster of jewels that sit before the medicine buddha reflect the Tibetan influence on this iconography. Blue and green cliffs in a classic Chinese style give way to waterfalls that flow into the body of water from which a lotus emerges with open petals, topped with sense offerings in the form of a conch shell filled with perfume, cymbals, and a mirror. White Tara and Green Tara sit upon lotuses floating over the landscape, while the celestial appearance of Amitayus hovers in the sky above, surrounded by dakinis making offerings to the bodhisattvas. The flowers that descend from their baskets disappear within the green clouds that fill the space around Amitabha at the center.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24509.
As a newly established dynasty, the Qing, who were themselves Manchus and not of Han Chinese descent, relied on the discipline and support of other foreign ethnic groups, including the Mongolians and Tibetans, for their dominance of China proper. In the pursuit of this goal, the Manchus propagated and patronized Tibetan-style Buddhism. As early as the Yuan dynasty, the Mongolians had relied on the spiritual wisdom of Tibetan Buddhist masters as guidance in matters both religious and secular. They would consult with Tibetan lamas (teachers), for instance, prior to battle, and believed that subsequent victories were the result of their karmic righteousness. In the following centuries, Mongolian adherence to Tibetan Buddhism only increased, and the Qing Emperors took advantage of this devotion by lavishly patronizing Tibetan Buddhist activities in both the capital of Beijing and in areas closer to Mongolia, such as Chengde.
Originally a hunting site, the site of Chengde was chosen for its strategic location north of Beijing, and for its idyllic beauty. It also boasted a massive phallus-shaped rock, known as Qingchui, that was likened to Mount Sumeru, the Buddhist axis mundi. As the Mongols were fervent followers of Tibetan-style Buddhism, the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722) ordered the construction of various Tibetan-style Buddhist temples ordered around the axis of Qingchui. Under the reign of his grandson, the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795), the site was expanded massively, with the layout of the site mirroring the Buddhist cosmology of a mandala. Qianlong even ordered the construction of the Putuo Zongchengmiao in 1771, a replica of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, complete with a façade with imitation painted windows, and the Puning Temple, a copy of the ancient Samye Monastery in Tibet.
The Xumi Fushou Temple was completed in 1780, under the orders of the Qianlong Emperor. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday, Qianlong invited Lobsang Palden Yeshe, the Sixth Panchen Lama and the second most important religious leader of the Geluk sect of Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama, to visit him in Chengde outside Beijing. Like his grandfather before him, Qianlong recognized that the arrival of the revered Panchen Lama to Chengde at the behest of the emperor demonstrated enormous political and religious power in the eyes of the Mongol khans, who were all devout Tibetan Buddhists, and who would also be in attendance at his birthday proceedings. As a fantastic gesture of good will, and a display of his power, Qianlong commanded his architects and builders to replicate the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, seat of the Panchen Lama in Tibet, in the summer retreat of Chengde. The resulting Xumi Fushou Temple was completed in time for the celebration and the visit of Lobsang Palden Yeshe, and filled with countless paintings, sculptures, and other ritual objects. Unlike the Putuo Zongchengmiao, which while enormous, was largely an empty façade, the Xumi Fushou was a functioning monastery and temple. The Chinese architects, however, could not resist laying out the Xumi Fushou on a processional axis in the Chinese manner and in contrast to the layout of the Tashi Lhunpo, thus obfuscating the aesthetic connection between the two buildings.
The present painting was likely painted in the imperial workshops of Beijing for the decoration of the new Xumi Fushou Temple. The set was subsequently dispersed, and many are now found in museums and private collections. Paintings of Samantabhadra and the Buddha Ratnasambhava (figure a), both from the Xumi Fushou Temple, reside in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, while The Philadelphia Museum of Art retains a painting of Sitatapatra (acc. no. 1959-156-4) and a painting of an unidentified bodhisattva (acc. no. 1959-156-5). Two paintings from the same set were sold at Christie’s New York on 12 September 2018, including figure b, a painting of Amitabha (lot 316) and a painting of the bodhisattva Vajraraksha (lot 315). The painting of Samantabhadra in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco has an inscription stating that it was destined for the Xumi Fushou temple, and indicates its location within the building.
Suvarnabhadra Vimala (Tib. mtshan legs yongs grags dpal) is one of the eight medicine buddhas identified in the Bhaishajyaguruvaiduryaprabharaja Sutra, a sutra of great importance to early Mahayana schools as well as later Vajrayana Buddhist traditions. The jeweled mandorla, ornate lotus throne, pastel palette, and three-lobed style of clouds closely matches that of examples directly attributed by inscription to the Xumi Fushou Temple while the ornamented trees and the cluster of jewels that sit before the medicine buddha reflect the Tibetan influence on this iconography. Blue and green cliffs in a classic Chinese style give way to waterfalls that flow into the body of water from which a lotus emerges with open petals, topped with sense offerings in the form of a conch shell filled with perfume, cymbals, and a mirror. White Tara and Green Tara sit upon lotuses floating over the landscape, while the celestial appearance of Amitayus hovers in the sky above, surrounded by dakinis making offerings to the bodhisattvas. The flowers that descend from their baskets disappear within the green clouds that fill the space around Amitabha at the center.
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no. 24509.