Painted Sculptures

Painted Sculptures

Although sculptures made during the Ming and Qing dynasties follow traditions from previous dynasties, most are less majestic and powerful than those of the Han and Tang dynasties. Growth began to slow. Sculptural arts are usually connected with the spiritual state of people and social influences. Changes mainly lie in the decline of religious thoughts and the rise of traditional aesthetic consciousness. As the urban economy grew, grotto carvings were replaced by temple arts. As a result, there are almost no grotto carvings from this period.

Though there are many masterpieces among the temple sculptures, most are stylized and lack vitality. Traditional images of deities such as Guan Yu, the local god of the land and town, became popular. Religious sculptures are mediocre and less creative due to the lack of religious belief. Architectures related to Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucius and Confucianism continued to overgrow. Worship of various and complicated idols emerged. Generally speaking, Ming and Qing-style religious sculptures tended to be stylized, while folk sculptures are more ornamental.

Buddhism and Taoism also became popular during the period, supported by the ruling class. Social ideology experienced further changes, while religious beliefs changed and became more indifferent. The golden time of Buddhism had passed. The Qing Dynasty even issued rules to standardize Buddhist sculptures. Under these rules, sculptures gradually became stylized and rigid. The sculptural arts declined dramatically.

Despite changes like religion, the number of temple sculptures continued to grow. Ming-style sculptures are mostly the painted sculptures based on the clay bodies, while Qing-style sculptures widely adopted bronze and wood bodies. Sculptures made during this period followed the Tang and Song-style in shape and style and also reflected the distinctive features of the time.

Sculptures from this period are more real, exquisite and ornamental. They are closely associated with the growth of technological skills. Although the works are inferior to those of the Tang and Song dynasties in shape and quality, apparent improvements can be seen in technique and sculptural skill. World-shaking works became rare, but some examples are still in evidence today. Most significant Ming-style clay sculptures are kept in the Shuanglin Temple in Pingyao, Shanxi Province. Qing-style painted sculptures are mostly kept in Qiongzhu Temple in Kunming, Yunnan Province.

Ming-style painted sculptures at Shuanglin Temple (双林寺)

Shuanglin Temple was built during the Northern Wei Dynasty. Formerly called Zhongdu Temple, its name was changed after the Song Dynasty, according to Buddhist scriptures. It was well known even during the Song Dynasty because of the old, well-preserved stone tablet inscriptions in this temple. The existing buildings were mainly rebuilt during the Ming and Qing dynasties. A large number of painted sculptures are well preserved -- 1,566 out of 2,052 people in the temple.

They are mainly full relief, high relief, and low relief pieces as well as unique suspending sculptures and sculptures hanging on the wall. They are the masterpieces of the master-hands and valuable cultural heritage. Therefore, Shuanglin Temple in Pingyao is also called a Treasure House of Oriental Painted Sculptures and a Museum of Painted Sculpture.

Statues of Four Heavenly Guardians

Generally speaking, statues made by rules are usually mediocre. The painted sculptures in Pingyao Temple are creative and vivid without prejudice to the rules. They possess distinctive Buddhist characteristics and never display the characteristics of only one figure. For example, the statues of the Four Heavenly Guardians in Shuanglin Temple stand in a line side by side. They are unique not only in their size and arrangement but also style and shape. They fully reflect the unique talent and creativity of the creators. Many statues of the same kind made during the Ming Dynasty only pay attention to weird images rather than personality and temperament. The statues in Shuanglin Temple borrow ideas from the images of warriors, which give them gigantic force, heroic appearance, and strong vitality.

Statues of 18 Arhats

Besides the statues of Four Heavenly Guardians, there are many breathtaking painted sculptures, such as the statues of arhats, Guanyin, and other idols.

The Hall of Four Heavenly Guardians is the first courtyard, including the main hall (Hall of Sakyamuni) and auxiliary halls (Hall of Arhats, Hall of Guangong, Hall of Yamaraja and Hall of God of Land). But it is the Hall of Arhats is the essence of the temple. The statues of 18 Arhats are the masterpieces. The life-size statues are in proper proportion and structure. They are honored as "holy works." According to Chinese Buddhism, the arhats have the nature of Buddha and are similar to Buddhists on earth. Therefore, the statues of arhats can easily break the restraints of religion and possess the personality of man. The statues in the Hall of Arhats have steady personalities and vivid shapes. They are soft on the outside and hard inside.

The Statue of Dumb Arhat is most remarkable. He wears a cowl and sits cross-legged in the hall. His body is symmetric. His posture is erect, and his robe covers his hands. This statue produces a feeling of infinite thinking and power. His facial expression is most distinctive. His eyes reveal his anger. His integrity and understanding of eyes make a deep impression. Most painted sculptures from Shuanglin Temple have vivid eyes. Sculptors from the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to the eyes of the statues, where are anatomically correct. The structures of eyebrows, eye pins, and eyeballs on the statues are similar to the structure of the human body. To express the vivid eyes, the sculptors used black lazurite or black paint to make the eyeballs, which adds the finishing touch to the statues.

Statue of Zizai Guanyin

The Grand Hall, the Thousand-Buddha Hall, and the Bodhisattva Hall are located in the second courtyard. The statues in the Thousand-Buddha Hall are of great significance in this temple. The significance lies in a statue of Zizai Guanyin and a statue of Veda. The Shuanglin Temple includes a large number of statues of Guanyin, including Duhai Guanyin and Thousand-Hand Guanyin, which are usually sitting in a posture of mind in comfort and ease. The statue of Zizai Guanyin does not follow the traditional standing posture and sits at ease. The statue has its right leg lifted and the right arm on the right knee. It is unique in the history of the Chinese sculpting.

Statue of Veda

The Statue of Veda in an aggressive posture is also a very brilliant example from the Shuanglin Temple. Veda is the Guardian Deity in Buddhism. The statue in Shuanglin Temple has both civil character and military competence. It looks powerful and fierce. The statue has an exaggerated body and vivid facial expression, especially the eyes, which are always looking at you from all sides.

The sculptors used the static statue to display dynamic charm, an important reason why this statue meets with great artistic success. The weight of the statue is on its right foot. Its two legs are standing in front and the upper body distorted to the right from the head to the waist. The distortion greatly exceeds the physical limits of the human body. However, the posture doesn't

produce an uncomfortable feeling but gives it great power. It looks like an S-shaped curve, which gives the statue more vitality and a dynamic feeling. The statue also displays a sense of rhythm and continuity of movement.

The most ingenious designs are the eyes and head. The eyes look to the left, while the head and body turn to the right. The statue successfully breaks the stylized restrains.

Characteristics and processing techniques

It's rather amazing that so many painted sculptures can be found in Shuanglin Temple. Sometimes, there are several hundred statues on one wall. Every statue is perfect, not only in sculptural but also in decoration. They look vivid. They are made of the local red clay, which is good in viscosity and quality and can produce smooth and exquisite statues. Around three-quarters of the painted statues are made by suspending sculpture and give a full of stereoscopic feeling. Many statues bend forward at an angle of 10 to 20 degrees, which changes the conventional processing method of the clay sculptures and combines mechanics and the sculptural arts.

All sculptures give profound attention to the eyes. The eyeballs of most statues use black lazurite and are bright and piercing even after a thousand years. More than 2,000 painted sculptures, big or small, in Shuanglin Temple are all different in appearance and shape.

The painted sculptures in Shuanglin Temple follow the conventional method of Chinese clay sculptures. The method can be roughly divided into four steps.

The first is to make the wooden frame depending on the size of the statue. The frame, just as the human skeleton, plays a supportive role. The wooden frame was usually bound with straw and hemp rope to protect the clay from cracks and shrinking.

The second step was to add coarse clay. The coarse clay was added to the wooden frame in two or three steps. The clay was then closely compacted to the frame. Sand was being mixed into the clay to protect the statue from cracking.

The third step was to add fine clay. The facial expressions, movements, cloth patterns, ribbons, necklaces and temperament of the statue are all completed in this step.

The fourth and final step is painting. After the clay body becomes as dry as a bone, it was painted with gum two or three times. A couple of coats of powder mixed with egg were then applied. The egg white can give the statue lustre and strength. After that, the statue was wiped repeatedly until the surface became smooth to complete the color painting. The paints used were mostly mineral paints, so the colors are still bright and fresh after several thousand years.

Statues of 500 Arhats at Qiongzhu Temple (筇竹寺)

The statues of 500 arhats in Qiongzhu Temple were made from the Guangxu Reign of the Qing Dynasty (Approx. 1883). They are all painted sculptures of around lm in height. The statues of 500 arhats are the most creative of all Buddhist sculptures from the Qing Dynasty. They are unique in their painted sculptural techniques and strong folk styles.

These statues were made by Li Guangxiu, from Sichuan Province. He was not only good at sculpting and painting but was also interested in Buddhism. He is a famous folk artist from the period. It took Li Guangxiu and his apprentices more than 20 years to complete the statues. The statues are different in shape, and each has its character. Their clothes and properties are also various. No two statues are quite the same. The space among the status changes but they are in proper arrangement. Their hair and beards are all made of real hair. Their eyeballs are made of black lazurite. The statues are wearing folk style clothes and represent people from all walks of life, such as squares, scholars, merchants, and butchers. Such strong secular styles are one of the characteristics of Qing-style Buddhist sculptures. Those statues are famous for their realism. Their appearance also interacts with their movement, giving a sense of "separate strokes, connected meaning" in the traditional arts in China.

The statues borrow stage skills and features from the Chinese opera, especially Sichuan opera. They are endowed with vivid characteristics of worldly people. These statues could only be made in Yunnan, where religious ideas remained free during the late Qing Dynasty, and the social environment was intricate and complicated.

Although there are some breathtaking masterpieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties, sculpture fell into decay during this period and the prosperity from the Han and Tang dynasties gradually faded. The secular styles and developed techniques made sculptures from the Ming and Qing dynasties more luxurious but tasteless.