JULIA K. MURRAY

University of Wisconsin

The Evolution of Pictorial Hagiography

in Chinese Art :

Common Themes and Forms

Recent scholarship on Chinese religions has brought attention to the complex processes by which the iconographie identities of Chinese gods and cult deities gradually took form, often in a variety of religious and secular media.1 One way that gods became well established and widely known was through hagiographies, which were created to describe their lives and deeds. For many deities, varied representations evolved to express the beliefs or aspirations of socially diverse groups of devotees, and the construction of a cult figure's hagiography may reveal their expectations with particular clarity. In this article I will trace the development of illustrated accounts of gods' lives, exploring both the conventions and significance of the genre in later Chinese art.

Pictorial biography or hagiography may be defined as a linked series of pictures that portray the life of an individual as a set of significant events and moments.2 The narrative pictures often are dynamically interrelated with oral legends and/or written literature, as well as with iconic representations of the individual. New iconographical details may originate in any of these areas and spread to the others.3 Unlike certain genres of painting, pictorial biography is created to serve some fairly overt function, rather than purporting to be the painter's unfettered creative expression for the esthetic contemplation of connoisseurs. The specific purpose for which the life is portrayed may govern the choice of episodes to illustrate and how to render them. In particular, representations of unusual events connected with conception, birth, and young childhood appear to function as defining elements in the apotheosis of Chinese cult figures. These features signal the individual's exceptional nature and foreshadow his or her prodigious deeds.

Stories about deities who once lived on earth are found in the literature and oral traditions of many cultures. Such accounts often claim that these divine beings were conceived and born in an unusual manner, and that they displayed supernatural ability or extraordinary behavior as children.4 In Christian iconography, many paintings depict prodigious events in the life of Jesus Christ.5 Pictures of the Annunciation portray the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, when the Holy Spirit became incarnate in her through an immaculate conception. The representation of subsequent events

ding up to the birth of Jesus includes anomalous manifestations, such as the Star of Bethlehem supernova and the angels that attended His birth and guided the Three Wise Men on their journey to give homage to the radiant newborn. And when Jesus was still just a young boy, He amazed His elders by preaching authoritatively in the temple.

More relevant to China and geographically closer as well are Indian stories about the conception, birth, and childhood of Prince Gautama Siddhartha, who became the enlightened being called Shakyamuni Buddha.6 Although the many accounts of the Buddha's life vary in detail, some basic features appear in most versions, whether they originated in India, Central Asia, or China. The Buddha was conceived when his mother, Queen Maya, dreamed that a bodhisattva descended on a six-tusked white elephant and entered into her right

Fig. 1

The birth of the Buddha. Stone panel, Gandhara, 2nd century.

Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 49.9 (phot. Freer Gallery of Art).

Fig. 1

La naissance du Buddha, panneau en pierre, Gandhara, ne s..

Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC (phot. Freer Gallery of Art).

Arts Asiatiques, tome 55-2000

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