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Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius
Julia K. Murray
The Journal of Asian Studies / Volume 68 / Issue 02 / May 2009,
pp 371 - 411DOI: 10.1017/S0021911809000643, Published online: 12
May 2009
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http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0021911809000643
How to cite this article:Julia K. Murray (2009). Idols in the
Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius. The Journal ofAsian
Studies, 68, pp 371-411 doi:10.1017/S0021911809000643
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Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cultof Confucius
JULIA K. MURRAY
Until 1530, sculptural images of Confucius and varying numbers
of disciples andlater followers received semiannual sacrifices in
state-supported temples all overChina. The icons visual features
were greatly influenced by the posthumoustitles and ranks that
emperors conferred on Confucius and his followers, thesame as for
deities in the Daoist and Buddhist pantheons. This convergenceled
to visual conflation and aroused objections from Neo-Confucian
ritualists,culminating in the ritual reform of 1530, which replaced
images with inscribedtablets and Confuciuss kingly title with the
designation Ultimate Sage and FirstTeacher. However, the ban on
icons did not apply to the primordial temple ofConfucius in Qufu,
Shandong. Post-1530 gazetteers publicized the distinctionby
reproducing a line drawing of this temples sculptural icon, and
persistentreplications of this image helped to popularize his cult.
The same period saw aproliferation of non-godlike representations
of Confucius, including his por-trayal as a teacher, whose
iconographic origins can be traced to a painted por-trait handed
down through generations of his descendants. In recent
years,variations of this teacher image have become the basis for
new sculptural rep-resentations, first in Taiwan, then in Hong Kong
and the Chinese diaspora,and finally on the mainland. Now installed
at sites around the world, statuesof Confucius have become a
contested symbol of Chinese civilization.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP ON RELIGIOUS elements in the ideas,
institutions, andpractices associated with Confucius (Kongzi ) and
his later interpretershas done much to correct long-standing
representations of Confucianism as aform of secular humanism (Chen
1999; Clart 2003; Csikszentmihalyi 2001;Goossaert 2006; Jensen
1997; Wilson 2002a).1 Revisionist inquiry has alsobrought attention
to the recurrent debates over the propriety of using icons in
Julia K. Murray ([email protected]) is Professor of Art History,
East Asian Studies, and Religious Studies at theUniversity of
Wisconsin, Madison.1The convenient though problematic terms
Confucian and Confucianism are used here to referto Confuciuss
teachings and their later interpretations, as well as to certain
aspects of ideology,institutions, and rituals of governance in
dynastic times. It seems particularly appropriate to usethe terms
in referring to teachings for which Confucius was considered the
progenitor andwhose differences from Buddhism and Daoism are
articulated in Han Yus (768824)famous diatribe Source of the Way
(Yuan dao ). For a fuller discussion of terms, see
MarkCsikszentmihalyi (2001, 24344, 29297).
The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 68, No. 2 (May) 2009: 371411.
2009 The Association for Asian Studies, Inc.
doi:10.1017/S0021911809000643
-
rituals for venerating Confucius (Sommer 1994, 2002). However,
the significanceof the physical and visual qualities of these icons
has not been addressed. Nomatter whether Confucianism is viewed as
primarily a moral-ethical system oras a sacrificial cult mandated
and supported by the state, it clearly differs fromBuddhism,
Daoism, and other forms of religious expression in China.
Accord-ingly, a discussion of the materiality, visuality, and
efficacy of its icons mightseem unnecessary, irrelevant, or perhaps
even offensive. Nonetheless, iconicimages played a role in
sacrifices to Confucius at least as early as the sixthcentury, and
from 630 to 1530, sculptural icons were a standard feature of
state-supported temples throughout China (Murray 2001; Wilson
1995). When influ-ential opponents of icons finally prevailed and
temples in the state cult removedthe sculptural figures (Sommer
1994, 2002), alternative representations of Con-fucius rose in
significance and took on new functions (Murray 2001,
2002).Recently, one of these has become the standard image of
Confucius, ineffect the icon for our age.
CONFUCIAN RELIGIOSITY
Various efforts in recent centuries to foreground the moral
dimension ofConfuciuss legacy have obscured practices and beliefs
involving icons, alongwith other religious aspects of Confucianism.
During the sixteenth and seven-teenth centuries, Jesuit
missionaries tried to convince papal authorities inRome that
Confucianism was an ethical philosophy (Jensen 1997, 6370, 129),so
that efforts to spread Christianity in China would not be stymied
by requiringconverts to give up rituals for worshiping Confucius
Similarly, in the nineteenthcentury, the Protestant
missionary-translator James Legge argued that theancient Confucian
classics merely needed to be supplemented with Christianity,just as
the Bibles Old Testament was completed by the New
Testament(Mungello 2003, 590). Moreover, from the sixteenth century
onward, Confuciantemples were austere buildings where inscribed
tablets were displayed, unlikeBuddhist temples and popular-cult
shrines with sculptural icons in sensuous pro-fusion.2 Although
Kang Youwei (18581927) sought to establish Confu-cianism as Chinas
official religion (zongjiao ) at the end of the nineteenthcentury,
on the model of Christianity in Western nations, he made
littleheadway before falling from power in the coup that reversed
his 1898 reforms(Chen 1999; Goossaert 2005, 2006). Because regular
worship of Confucius wason the official Register of Sacrifices
(Sidian), and thus was closely identified
2Henri Dor, a nineteenth-century French Jesuit missionary,
suggested that Buddhism and Daoismintroduced superstitious beliefs
and practices into Chinese religion (Yu 1973, 384). Dors
ency-clopedic compendium also included a lengthy presentation on
annotated illustrations of the life ofConfucius, which he
considered a major means of disseminating Confucian morality among
thebroad populace (Dor 191138, vol. 13).
372 Julia K. Murray
-
with the imperial system, the collapse of the Qing dynasty
(16441911) undercutsubsequent efforts to create a religion based on
Confucianism. In the earlydecades of the twentieth century, some
nationalist modernizers wanted todiscard Confucius altogether,
while others found it expedient to present him asChinas counterpart
to the Wests great rational philosophers. Suppressing whatthey
considered to be idolatry and superstition, they emphasized a
Confuciuswho did not concern himself with ghosts and spirits. And
in recent years,global advocates of New Confucianism have focused
on his ideas aboutself-cultivation and morality.3 To some,
Confucian concepts of reciprocal respon-sibility in a hierarchical
society suggest an Asian alternative to Western-styledemocracy.
These different efforts have created a widespread conception of
Con-fucianism that is defined by a set of ancient texts, the civil
service examinationsystem based on their mastery, and the promotion
of social virtues such as ben-evolence (ren ), filial piety (xiao
), propriety (li ), and righteousness (yi ).
In addition to revisiting the arguments in favor of establishing
Confucianismas the official religion for modern China (Chen 1999;
Goossaert 2005, 2006),recent scholarship has begun to examine some
of the important religiouselements within traditional Confucianism.
These include ideas about Confuciushimself, as well as the rituals
for venerating the man and his legacy. Lionel M.Jensen (1997,
2002), Mark Csikszentmihalyi (2001, 2002), and Thomas A.Wilson
(2002a, 2002b) have explored ancient and persistent beliefs in
Confuciusas a heaven-sent being with superhuman powers. Huang
Chin-hsing (1994) andWilson (1995, 1996, 2002b, 2002c) have traced
the evolution of an official cult forvenerating Confucius and
Confucian learning within the ritual institutions of thestate,
which constituted Chinas official religion (Taylor 1997). Ron Guey
Chu(1998) and Huang Chin-hsing (2002) have evaluated recurrent
debates over thedetails of these ritual provisions and the
appropriate status to attribute to Confu-cius, interpreting the
disputes as symptoms of an ongoing struggle betweenemperors and
scholar-officials to define and control Confucius and his
legacy.Philip Clart (2003) has analyzed popular religious cults
that identify themselvesas Confucian (Ru ) and use simplified forms
of Confucian sacrificial liturgy.Deborah A. Sommer (1994, 2002) has
examined different ways of representingConfucius in ancestral and
state sacrifices, focusing particularly on the argumentsraised
against depicting him in sculptural icons, which were adopted into
officialpolicy in the ritual reform of 1530.
In the present article, I describe the process by which
sculptural iconsbecame part of the cult of Confucius and examine
reasons for their godlikevisual features. Exploring the beliefs
concerning agency, efficacy, and appropri-ateness that gradually
accrued to these icons, I suggest that the representationsshared
conceptual premises and interpretative connotations with the
potent
3I use the term New Confucianism in its loosest sense; John
Makeham (2003, 2554) decon-structs the movements diverse
strands.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 373
-
images associated with Buddhism, Daoism, and popular-deity
cults. Finally,I argue that the removal of icons frommost state
temples in 1530 had unintendedeffects that demonstrate the limits
of official control over image-based practicesinvolving Confucius.
One result was that the icon of Confucius uniquely retainedby the
temple in his hometown of Qufu , Shandong, gained renown
throughwoodblock-printed illustrations that circulated widely, even
reaching Europe.The iconography of his seated figure dressed in
imperial regalia was eventuallyappropriated into popular religion,
representing Confucius as a deity whocould be worshiped by the
common people. Another consequence of removingicons from Confucian
temples was to bring increased veneration to a radicallydifferent
depiction, showing Confucius as a dignified standing figure who
wasmerely human. Ultimately based on a small painting owned by his
descendants,this conception circulated in hanging scroll paintings,
woodblock prints, and rub-bings from incised stone tablets. Local
gazetteers often recorded versions of theportrayal in government
schools and private academies. When the 1970s broughtnew demands
for freestanding representations of Confucius outside
mainlandChina, the image was translated into three-dimensional
sculptural form fordisplay at selected sites around the world. In
the late twentieth century, suchstatues also began appearing at
mainland temples and schools, prompting theChina Confucius
Foundation (Zhongguo Kongzi jijinhui ) toidentify a need for a
standard portrait (biaozhun xiang ). In 2006, thefoundation
unveiled a large new statue of Confucius in Qufu itself, sparking
anew controversy over the validity of visual representations of
Confucius andtheir uses.
BACKGROUND TO THE EMERGENCE OF ICONS
Early Han texts sometimes characterize Confucius as a godlike
sage, theheaven-sent uncrowned king (Su wang ) (Csikszentmihalyi
2001, 2002;Elman 1990, xxvii, 20513, 24041; Jensen 1997; Wilson
1995, 2932).4 Theydescribe supernatural elements in his nativity
and his extraordinary physicalappearance as signs of his destiny to
order the world. He was conceived whenhis mother received a visit
from a qilin , a fabulous beast believed toherald the arrival of a
sage-king. The creature carried a jade tablet inscribedwith a
proclamation: The child of the essence of water will succeed the
decliningZhou and become an uncrowned king (shui jing zi ji shuai
Zhou er wei su wang
4This conception of Confucius was particularly associated with
the so-called modern texts ( jin wen), whose most prominent
advocate was Dong Zhongshu (ca. 179ca. 104 BCE). Advo-cates paid
great attention to portents and read heavenly correlations even
into seemingly mundaneevents mentioned in the classics, while
believing that only a sage could have a true understanding ofthe
workings of the cosmos.
374 Julia K. Murray
-
).5 On the night before Confucius was born, two dragonsappeared
above the roof; deities hovered in the sky and celestial musicians
cele-brated on the day of his birth. In addition to forty-nine
distinguishing marks (biao) on the newborns body, his chest bore
five characters that announced, Talis-man of the one created to
stabilize the world (zhi zuo ding shi fu ).6
As an adult, Confucius displayed an uncanny expertise in
identifying obscureancient relics and interpreting mysterious
portents. His ability to communicatewith heaven enabled him to
transmit the Way of the Ruler, in coded language,when he composed
the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu ), a chronicleof events in
his home state of Lu .
Other conceptions of Confucius emphasized his roles as a teacher
and as anexpert on ancient ritual, instead of as a preternaturally
insightful and prescientleader who communed with heaven. In some
parts of the Analects (Lun yu ),Confucius is portrayed as a human
being who enduredmuch travail and disappoint-ment, especiallywhile
traveling the ancient states in search of a rulerwhowould takehis
advice (Csikszentmihalyi 2002).7 By the late Eastern Han period,
this moremundane Confucius had largely overshadowed the superhuman
figure. Nonethe-less, the messianic sage was featured in the
so-called apocryphal texts (weishu) of the lateHan and post-Han
periods (e.g.,Wang Jia 1966, 3:45). In addition,the modern text
traditions retained their vitality in South China well into
thePeriod of Disunion (Wilson 1995, 32). Furthermore, the Kong
lineage perpetuatedand embellished the legends in oral traditions
andwritten genealogies, evendown tothe present day.8 Claiming
descent from Confucius, lineage members had a vitalinterest in
preserving a heroic conception of their ancestor and in
maintainingtheir own cohesion (Wilson 1996).Emperors from theHan
through theQing dynas-ties awarded noble titles, tax exemptions,
official positions, and lands to the descen-dants who maintained
sacrifices to Confucius in Qufu.
Although the earliest forms of veneration and sacrifice to
Confucius occurredin funerary and memorial contexts, the
observances themselves increasingly
5According to Five Phases (wu xing ) theory, the Shang dynasty
was associated with water andthe Zhou with wood, which overcomes
water. However, Confuciuss forebears were related to theShang royal
house, and water cannot overcome wood, so Confucius was destined
not to rule.6Texts written by members of the Kong lineage (e.g.,
Kong Chuan ([1134] 1967, xia: 3b; KongYuancuo [1242] 1967, 8:4a)
record six characters, adding yun to the end of the
inscription,without changing its meaning.7Confucius seems to have
multiple personalities in the Analects, which records diverse
traditionstransmitted by his disciples and their lineages of
students; Makeham (1996) provides a convincingreconstruction of its
emergence as a book in the second century BCE.8All Kong-clan
genealogies of the last thousand years include the hagiographical
legends. For earlyexamples, see Kong Chuan ([1134] 1967, xia: 3b)
and Kong Yuancuo ([1242] 1967, 8:3b4a). Con-temporary Kongs
maintain the stories (Kong Demao 1982, 1034; Jing 1996, 30).
Literati officialsdid not necessarily believe in the supernatural
manifestations, but they respected the long history ofthe accounts
too much to discard them. Chen Gao (or Hao; jinshi 1487) ,
education intendantin the Shandong Provincial Surveillance office,
made explicit comments to this effect in the firstedition of the
Qufu temple gazetteer (Queli zhi 1505, fanli, 1b).
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 375
-
displayed the features of a deity cult. Confucius continued to
receive sacrifices athis grave long past the normal period for
commemorative worship (Jensen 2002,18086; Sima 1982, 47:1945).
Moreover, persons with no blood relation to himmade these
offerings, contrary to the customs of familial worship, which
prescribedthat a son should lead funerary ritesbut Confuciuss son
had predeceased him.After Confucius died in 479 BCE, his disciples
carried out the rites of mourning,and the especially devoted Zi
Gong kept a six-year vigil in a hut beside theburial mound (Sima
1982, 47:1945). Local authorities maintained offerings atthis site
for generations afterward. The place where Confucius had
gatheredwith his disciples became a memorial hall, and his personal
effects were displayedthere. The Grand Historian Sima Qian (14586
BCE) reported seeing themasters clothes, cap, zither (qin), books,
sacrificial vessels, and carriage in thememorial hall when he
visited Qufu. In 195 BCE, the Han founding emperorGaozu (r. 206195
BCE) performed a grand sacrifice (tailao ) to Confuciusin Qufu,
offering an ox, sheep, and pig, along with wine and other
foodstuffs(Sima 1982, 47:194546). In 136 BCE, Han Wudi (r. 14187
BCE) canonizedthe textual tradition of Confucius and his followers
by abolishing the posts ofErudite (boshi ) held by court scholars
who were experts in texts belongingto other traditions (Wilson
1995, 29). Other Han emperors awarded posthumoustitles of nobility
to Confucius and gave material support to his descendants andcult,
providing for semiannual sacrifices in Qufu after 169 CE (Wilson
2002c, 261).
By the third century, sacrifices to Confucius were also being
performedelsewhere, typically in academic settings. The first
sacrifice documentedoutside Qufu took place in 241 CE at the
imperial university (Biyong ) inLuoyang, the capital of the kingdom
of Wei (22065), and several more were per-formed there under the
Western Jin dynasty (265316) (Wilson 2002b, 74).9
During the centuries of disunion, various northern and southern
regimes estab-lished state-sponsored temples in their capitals for
conducting sacrifices to Con-fucius and his legacy.10 The Sui
(581618) and Tang (618907) dynastiescontinued this practice in a
reunified empire. The Tang founding emperorGaozu (r. 61826)
established a temple at the National University (Guozi xue ) in
Changan (modern Xian, Shaanxi) and personally sacrificed there
in624 (Ouyang 1975, 1:9, 17). The Tang eastern capital at Luoyang
also had an
9A reference to images of Confucius and his disciples painted on
the walls of the Hongdu Gate school in the Eastern Han capital in
178 may indicate that sacrifices were already beingoffered in
Luoyang by the late second century, but the fifth-century source
does not specify this(Fan 1965, 60 xia: 1998).10Thomas A. Wilson
(2002b, 51) notes that in 454, the Liu-Song ruler Xiaowudi (r.
45264) built thefirst temple to Confucius south of the Yangzi
River, modeled on that in Qufu (see also Li 1975, 2:47,58). Wilson
speculates that the temple stood in Kuaiji, home of several
prominent Kongs, but Ithink it was more likely to have been in
Jiankang (Nanjing.). In 489, the Northern Wei rulerXiaowendi (r.
47199) founded a temple to Confucius in the capital at Pingcheng
[modernDatong , Shanxi] (Li 1974, 3:104).
376 Julia K. Murray
-
imperially sponsored temple. Initially, it was the Duke of Zhou
, the wiseregent to the young heir of the Zhou dynasty founder, who
was honored asFirst Sage (Xian sheng ), and Confucius received
sacrifice as Correlate(Pei ) and First Teacher (Xian shi ). In 628,
a memorial submitted byFang Xuanling (579648) convinced the Tang
emperor Taizong(r. 62649) that sacrifices offered in a school
should be directed to a teacher.Accordingly, Taizong ended
sacrifices to the Duke of Zhou and designated Con-fucius as First
Sage, with the disciple Yan Hui as Correlate and First
Teacher(Ouyang 1975, 15:373, 375).11 Taizong extended the cult to
lower levels ofadministration in 630 by requiring every prefectural
and county school to builda temple to Confucius, thus creating a
systematic network of state-sponsoredtemples (Ouyang 1975, 15:373).
Located inside or adjacent to the governmentschools, these temples
carried out regular sacrifices to Confucius twice a year,in spring
and autumn.
Tang ritual codes ranked the sacrifice to Confucius as one of
several mid-levelrites (zhong si), prescribing specific implements,
offerings, music, and partici-pants.12 The liturgy imitated that of
another mid-level state cult, the worship of theGods of Soils and
Grains (She ji ), which had existed in classical antiquity andwhose
rituals were prescribed in the Record of Rites (Li ji ). Because
the cer-emony for sacrifice to Confucius had no fixed classical
formof its own, it was suscep-tible to innovations, and procedural
details often changed. Most significantly,portrait icons were
introduced into the ceremony, probably inspired by theimages of the
Buddha and bodhisattvas in Buddhist temples. Starting in the
Tangperiod, the Chan Buddhist practice of using portrait effigies
in memorial ritualsfor deceased abbots and monks (Foulk and Sharf
199394) provided an additionalmodel that encouraged the use of
icons in Confucian temples.
THE EARLIEST ICONS OF CONFUCIUS AND THEIR VISUAL FEATURES
Sculptural images had appeared in the Qufu temple by the sixth
century, if notearlier, when Li Daoyuan (d. 527) reported that it
displayed statues of Con-fucius flanked by two unnamed disciples
holding scrolls (Li Daoyuan [527] 1984,25:807).13 Such a triad
shares the conceptual logic of a figure of the Buddhaaccompanied by
bodhisattvas, a familiar composition in sixth-century Buddhist
11Fangs memorial also pointed out that Confucius had previously
been recognized as First Sageand Yan Hui as First Teacher, until
the Daye era (60516) of the Sui dynasty.12There were three levels
of state rituals; for details of the liturgy for Confucius, see
Wilson (2002b,7277). Howard J. Wechsler (1985) discusses Tang
debates on ritual and the various codifications.13The triad is
mentioned in a note in the River Si (Si shui ) section of Shuijing
zhu; in citing it,the compilers of Qufu Kongmiao jianzhu (1987, 54)
speculate that the flanking figures were thedisciples Yan Hui and
Zi Gong. Another mid-sixth-century source explicitly mentions that
thesetwo disciples accompanied Confucius in images displayed in
Luoyangs National Universitybefore 534 (Yang Xuanzhi 1978, 1:1)
.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 377
-
icons, as well as in Daoist imitations.14 By 541, the figures of
ten disciples attendedConfucius in the Qufu temple (Kong Yuancuo
[1242] 1967, 10:8a11b).15 Again,the tableau suggests a conceptual
counterpart in Buddhist iconography, the tenmajor disciples of
Sakyamuni, which may have inspired the increase.
The temple toConfucius in theTang capital also housed sculptural
images, prob-ably from its inception in 619, and certainly by the
eighth century. Officials whomemorialized the throne on matters of
ritual procedure and nomenclature rarelymentioned icons explicitly,
but one episode is suggestive. In 720, Li Yuanguan pointed out to
Emperor Xuanzong (or Ming Huang, r. 71256) that theten disciples
(called Ten Savants, Shi zhe ) who received sacrifices along
withConfucius should be represented as seated images (zuo xiang),
not as standingattendants (li shi). Furthermore, Li requested that
seventy other disciples andfollowers of Confucius be portrayed in
paintings on the walls of the temple, so thatthey, too, could
receive sacrifices. Accepting Lis arguments, Xuanzong
immediatelyissued a decree adopting these changes (Ouyang 1975,
15:375).
Although no early temple icons of Confucius survive today and
documentarysources rarely mention them, some of their attributes
can be inferred from hisposthumous status. In 1 CE, the Han emperor
Pingdi (r. 1 BCE5 CE)honored Confucius by awarding him the rank of
duke (gong ). From thattime onward, various emperors conferred
noble ranks and honorific titles onConfucius, his disciples, and
the canonized later scholars who were periodicallyadded to the
temple (Wilson 1995, 2371, 25459).16 In 739, Tang Xuanzongelevated
Confucius to King of Propagating Culture (Wenxuan wang )and gave
the disciples and later followers various titles, such as duke,
marquess(hou ), or earl (bo ) (Ouyang 1975, 15:37576). These
posthumous rankshad considerable bearing on the visual features of
the temple images. Sumptuaryregulations specified the kinds of
clothing, headgear, and ornamentation appro-priate for each rank,
as well as the number and kinds of vessels, music, anddancers to be
used in sacrifices. As king, Confucius was to be portrayedwearing a
robe embroidered with nine emblems and a crown with nine stringsof
jade beads hanging at the front and back (Kong Zhaoxi [1897] 1990,
8a [623]).
Some later rulers sought to exalt Confucius beyond the rank of
king, but min-isterial opposition prevented them from doing so. For
example, in 1008, the Song
14An important cache of early Buddhist images was recently found
in Shandong not far from Qufu(Nikel 2002). Stanley K. Abe (2002,
chap. 5) reproduces early Daoist votive images that also
wereinspired by Buddhist models.15Kong Yuancuo excerpted this
information from a stele inscription, dated 541 (Eastern Wei), by
LiTing (zi Zhongxuan or), who restored the temple while serving as
regional inspector ofYanzhou. Kong Yuqi ([1689] 1983, 7:1a8b
[652-76652-79]) transcribes more of the stele anddescribes the
evolution of iconic representations in detail, in response to the
questions posed by theKangxi emperor (r. 16621722) during his 1684
visit to Qufu.16Valerie Hansen (1990, chap. 4) discusses the
principles involved in imperial awards of titles andhonors to
various gods during the Song period, when the practice was greatly
expanded.
378 Julia K. Murray
-
emperor Zhenzong (r. 9971022) wanted to confer the title of
emperor (di) onConfucius. Senior officials were able to dissuade
him by arguing that no such des-ignation had existed during
Confuciuss lifetime (Zhang Tingyu et al. [1739] 1974,50:1299). Left
unstated but surely significant is the fact that
scholar-officialswould no longer be allowed to worship Confucius if
he were promoted toemperor, because he would have to receive the
highest level of state sacrifice,which only the ruler could offer
(Wilson 2002c, 268). Although Zhenzong wasunable to raise
Confuciuss posthumous rank, he added the words Dark Sage(Xuan sheng
) to the kingly title. The epithet alludes to apocryphallegends
about Confuciuss supernatural nature and powers, and in 1013,
Zhen-zong changed it to Ultimate Sage (Zhi sheng ).17 A
black-faced, ferocious-looking sculptural icon preserved in the
Confucian temple in Pingyao ,Shanxi, may reflect iconography
specific to the Dark Sage.18
Even without elevating Confuciuss rank, some emperors conferred
higherhonors on him by enhancing his visual representation or
aggrandizing his sacrifi-cial ceremony. In 1009, Zhenzong ordered a
jade scepter to replace the woodentablet held by the sculptural
effigy in the Qufu temple (Kong Chuan [1134] 1967,shang: 20a). A
century later, the Song emperor Huizong (r. 11001125) had thenine
strings of jade on the crown increased to twelve, and the Jin
emperorShizong (r. 116189) augmented the emblems on the robe from
nine to twelve(Kong Zhaoxi [1897] 1990, 8b [624]).19 These changes
in the icons attributesvisually upgraded the uncrowned king to an
emperor. In the late fifteenthcentury, two Ming rulers also
expanded the number of vessels and dancers inthe semiannual
sacrificial ceremonies to an imperial level, again without
alteringConfuciuss kingly title.20
17Wilson (2002b, 4748, 5152) discusses legends about Confucius
related to the term Xuan shengand the possibility that it was
changed because the character Xuan became taboo (as part of
thepersonal name of an ancestor of the Song royal
house).18Partially reproduced and briefly discussed in Da zai
Kongzi (1991, 33334). Attributed to theYuan period, the sculpture
stands in a hall built during the Jin dynasty in 1163, but the
conditionof the icon suggests a much more recent date. Another
black-faced statue of Confucius wasreported by John Henry Gray, a
late nineteenth-century Western visitor to the famous WhiteDeer
Grotto Academy (Bailudong shuyuan ) in Nanchang , Jiangxi
(Meskill1982, 49, 176 n. 25).19A contemporary account by a
forty-seventh-generation descendant active at the time places
Hui-zongs edict requiring images to have twelve strings and nine
emblems in 1107 (Kong Chuan [1134]1967, shang: 27b28a). According
to the gazetteerQueli zhi (1505, 6:2b), which dates the change
to1105, images incorporating proper regalia were subsequently
depicted, carved, and distributed toall the prefectural (zhou ) and
county (xian ) schools. Writing in the mid-eighteenth
century,sixty-ninth-generation descendant Kong Jifen ([1762] 1966,
12:2ab [211212]) affirmed thatthe sculptural icon of Confucius had
a crown with twelve strings of jade, a garment with thetwelve
emblems, a zhen gui jade tablet, and faced south (like an emperor),
while the subsidiaryfigures had lesser emblems and faced east or
west.20In 1476, the Chenghua emperor (r. 146587) increased the
vessels from ten to twelve, and therows of dancers from six to
eight; in 1496, the Hongzhi emperor (r. 14871505) raised the
totalnumber of dancers to seventy-two, making them consistent with
the procedures for a Son
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 379
-
CONVERGENCE WITH OTHER CULT IMAGES AND OPPOSITION TO ICONS
Confucius was by no means the only recipient of imperial
recognition.Emperors also bestowed noble ranks and titles on
deities in the Daoist andpopular-cult pantheons.21 Some of these
figures gained imperial designations,and many others were kings.
Accordingly, the highest-ranking Daoist and cultimages were also
portrayed with imperial regalia, such as the Jade Emperordepicted
in figure 1. Although the icon of Confucius resembled these
otheremperors and kings, the visual similarities masked great
differences in signifi-cance and function. Ordinary men and women
could worship Daoist, Buddhist,and popular-cult deities, seeking
benefits for themselves and their families. Bycontrast, Confucius
and his canonized followers were not efficacious gods whodid things
for individual supplicants, but conferred benefit to society at
large;moreover, only a restricted male elite could perform the
sacrifices.22 These cer-emonies were intended to provide sustenance
to the spirits of the men enshrinedin the temple, as well as to
enable participants to express their reverence for theentire canon
of learning and ritual represented by Confucius, his disciples,
laterscholars, and statesmen. During the sacrifice, icons might
help the celebrantvisualize the spirits coming and accepting the
offerings. A successful performancebrought blessings to the entire
realm.
However, it was hard to prevent Confucian temple icons from
triggeringbeliefs and expectations associated with representational
images belonging toother religious contexts. The convergences in
visual culture gave rise to beliefsthat were not grounded in
ancient sources, as well as to embellishments of Con-fuciuss life.
One idea undoubtedly inspired by Buddhism is that Confucius wasborn
with forty-nine unusual bodily features, echoing and outdoing the
thirty-twomarks that distinguished the Buddha Sakyamunis body from
those of ordinarymortals.23 Another is that Confuciuss spirit was
constrained by the physical
of Heaven (ru tianzi zhi zhi ) (Zhang Tingyu et al. [1739] 1974,
50:129798; see alsoStandaert 2006, 8485, 163 n. 38).21Romeyn Taylor
(1990) provides a useful overview of the late imperial form of the
relationshipsamong state sacrifices, institutional religions, and
popular cults; Hansen (1990, chap. 4) discussesimperial awards of
titles and honors to the various gods; and Liu Yang (2001) details
the conflationof imperial imagery into Daoist iconography.22Wilson
(2002b, 44 n. 3) cites edicts of 1438 and 1836, outlawing statues
of Confucius in Daoistand Buddhist temples, as evidence that he was
occasionally worshiped by other social groups. Bythe late Qing,
popular votive woodblock prints indicate that a godlike Confucius
had developedsome popular following; cf. figures 7 and 8. In the
twentieth century, students in Japan as wellas in China sought aid
from Confucius for success on examinations. This practice has
burgeonedon the mainland in recent years.23See, e.g., Kong Chuan
([1134] 1967, xia: 3b) and Kong Yuancuo ([1242] 1967, 1:1); Kong
Yuqi([1689] 1983, 7:5b [652-78]) claims that a portrait made by
Confuciuss disciple Zi Gong recordedthe forty-nine bodily marks.
They are listed and explained by Dor (191138, 13:26) with
refer-ence to a nineteenth-century manual on physiognomy. The idea
that Confuciuss body was
380 Julia K. Murray
-
Figure 1. The Jade Emperor, detail of painting on theeast wall
of the Hall of Three Purities (Sanqing dian), in the Palace of
Eternal Joy (Yongle gong )Daoist temple, Yuan dynasty, dated 1325.
Source:Shanxi siguan bihua [Murals in Shanxitemples], comp. Chai
Zejun (Beijing: Wenwuchubanshe, 1997), 198:121.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 381
-
features of his sculptural icon. Once enlivened by a
consecration ritual, aBuddhist image literally became the deity and
could wield his powers (Kieschnick2003, 5663; Sharf 1996, 26167).
The gods of popular cults were also believedto inhabit their images
(Hansen 1990, 5354). The infiltration of such conceptsand the
danger that they would debase the cult of Confucius prompted
Songand Ming Neo-Confucian ritualists to formulate objections to
the presence ofanthropomorphic images in the temple.
The first signs of opposition to icons of Confucius in the state
cult emerged aspart of a larger argument against using images in
sacrifices that had originated inantiquity (Ebrey 1991; Sommer
1993, 1994, 2002). Authoritative classical textson ritual, most
notably the Etiquette and Rites (Yi li ) and Record of Rites,did
not mention portraits in the procedures for making offerings to
ancestralspirits, heavenly forces, or worthy men of ancient times.
Major Song thinkerssuch as Cheng Yi (10331107) and Zhu Xi
(11301200), as well asordinary officials, were eager to separate
these kinds of rituals from the practicesthey associated with
Buddhism, Daoism, and popular cults (Ebrey 1989, 3012;Neskar 1996,
293300). Zhu also argued explicitly against sacrificing to images
ofConfucius (Chan 1989, 400401; Sommer 2002, 108).
An additional concern was whether sculptures or paintings could
everprovide a sufficiently faithful likeness of any deceased person
for celebrants toexperience the presence of his spirit and enter
into communion with him(Sommer 2002). Classical texts indicated
that in antiquity, a lineal descendantof the deceased played the
role of personator of the dead (shi ) during theceremony, using his
blood connection and physical resemblance to evoke thedeparted
ancestor. In order for a portrait to serve as an effective
substitute, ithad to be accurate, or else the offering would go
astray. As Cheng Yi famouslyproclaimed, perhaps hyperbolically, a
mistake in depicting even a single hairwould cause the wrong spirit
to come down to receive the sacrifice.24 Becauseimages of Confucius
were made so long after his lifetime, they could hardly befaithful
representations, and no two looked exactly alike. The portrayals
wereinvented by later artisans and not based on direct observation.
The visual featuresof the sculptural icons of Confucius also
contradicted the details of his life anddisplayed elements
anachronistic to the material culture of his day. Not onlywere
there no chairs in the late Eastern Zhou period, even the most
reliablydocumented portraits showed him wearing the clothing of the
Han and later
physically distinctive predated Buddhism, but the specification
of forty-nine marks reflects Bud-dhist influence. The attribution
of a larger number to Confucius implied that he was superior tothe
Buddha.24Cheng Yi, Yi shu [Surviving Writings], 22A:7a; quoted by
Deborah A. Sommer (2002, 113),who considers Chengs statement a
literal prescription for accurate ancestral portraits. I
believeinstead that he was making an extreme statement in order to
emphasize his point that it was imposs-ible for a fabricated image
ever to be adequate for ritual use.
382 Julia K. Murray
-
periods (Queli zhi seventeenth-century ed., 1:6a; Kong Yuqi
[1689] 1983,7:11ab [652-81]). And, of course, Confucius had never
been a king, much lessan emperor. Icons that represented him in the
regalia appropriate to thehonors that had been posthumously
bestowed on him conflicted egregiouslywith well-known biographical
details.
Another line of argument reveals that even very sophisticated
men subcon-sciously equated the sculptural icons in the Confucian
temple with the spiritsthat descended to receive sacrifice during
the ceremony. In accord with classicalritual procedures, offerings
of food and wine were placed on a mat on the ground.Because the
icon of Confucius depicted a figure seated on a chair, both Zhu
Xiand Song Na (131090) worried that his spirit would have to crawl
toreach the nourishment (Sommer 2002, 1067).25 Underlying this fear
wastheir presumption that his spirit took on the properties of its
anthropomorphicrepresentation. The notion that Confuciuss spirit
entered and became theseated figure reflects the influence of
Buddhism. Although the sculpturalimages of Confucius were not
supposed to be considered embodiments of thesage, but merely
representations to help evoke his spirit, this distinction
wasblurred by their visual and material similarities to Buddhist
icons.
At the most fundamental level, however, Neo-Confucian ritualists
wereopposed to icons in the Confucian temple simply on principle:
Classical textsdid not prescribe a role for images in the
performance of sacrificial rites. Eventhe authors of a treatise on
the Qufu temple and its rituals acknowledged thaticons had been
incorporated only in recent centuries: Setting up images toserve
the spirits was not [done in] antiquity. It must postdate the end
of thepersonator ritual (Queli zhi 1505, 9:50a). Neo-Confucian
ritual experts didnot necessarily object to representations of
Confucius in other contexts; Zhu Xihimself reportedly bowed daily
to a sculptural portrait of Confucius, presumablyan image kept in
his home.26 Rather, they believed that the presence of
anthro-pomorphic images altered the character of the formal
sacrifice, obstructing itsevocation of the grandeur of the Way that
Confucius had transmitted from theancient sages. Indeed, Qiu Jun
(142195) argued that the object of thesacrifice was the Way itself,
not the flesh-and-blood Confucius (Sommer 1993;Wilson 1996, 566).
Figural icons threatened to reduce a profound spiritualencounter to
a mundane, sensual experience that would have no
transformativepower. As Song Na observed, anthropomorphic images
profaned the ineffablerealm of invisible spirits and could not
convey their virtues (Sommer 2002,
25This argument drew upon Su Shis (10361101) observation
concerning sacrifices in general,that it was incongruous to place
offerings on the floor for images over an altar.26Sommer (2002,
109), quoting Zhu Xis son-in-law Huang Gan (11511221). Zhu Xis
ambiva-lence about icons of Confucius comes out in a text for his
White Deer Grotto Academy, quoted byKong Yuqi ([1689] 1983, 7:5b
[652-78]).
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 383
-
11011). Because literati officials repeatedly revived the charge
that the use oficons had come to China with Buddhism, the issue
continued to rankle.Perhaps finding this view threatening to their
special status, Kong writers care-fully maintained accounts of the
lineages various images of Confucius. Inaddition, Kong Yuqi ([1689]
1983, 7:5a7b [652-78652-79]) and Kong Jifen([1762] 1966, 12:10b11a
[228229]) presented forceful arguments in defenseof icons, citing
cases from the late Zhou to early Han in which
representationalimages were created or used in sacrificial rituals,
before the purported introduc-tion of Buddhism in the reign of Han
Mingdi (5775).
STAGES IN THE REMOVAL OF ICONS
In 1382, theMing founding emperor, Taizu (r. 136898), built a
newConfuciantemple for the imperial university in his capital at
Nanjing. At the urging of hisadvisor, Song Lian (131081), he
ordered that the temple be furnished notwith portrait icons but
only with wooden tablets inscribed with the names andtitles of
Confucius, his disciples, and later followers and scholars (Sommer
2002,106).27 However, Taizu did not require other Confucian temples
to get rid oftheir images, nor did he remove the posthumously
conferred noble ranks and hon-orific designations. By contrast,
when he reformed anothermid-level state cult, theworship of city
gods (Cheng huang), Taizu abolished noble titles and
anthro-pomorphic representations from all city-god temples (Taylor
1990, 10910). Aspersonifications of natural forces, the city gods
did not have well-established indi-vidual identities.28 But
Confucius and his followers had been men who walked theearth in
historical times, and the desire for images of them remained
strong.Whenthe Yongle emperor (r. 140124) refurbished theNanjing
temple in 1410, he aban-doned his fathers principled aniconism and
allowed representational images to beadded. After he shifted the
Ming capital to Beijing in the 1420s, he permitted therefurbishing
of the icons in the imperial universitys Confucian temple, which
hadbeen built under Mongol rule (Sommer 2002, 11718).
Starting in the middle Ming period, opponents of icons in the
Confuciantemple began to characterize them explicitly as a Buddhist
influence. Duringthe Tianshun era (145764), the Suzhou prefect Lin
E (142376) refusedto repair the dilapidated clay statues in the
prefectural schools temple of Confu-cius, stating,
27Song Lian had presented his recommendation in a 1371 memorial,
On the Confucian Temple(Kongzi miaotang yi ), which is discussed by
Huang Chin-hsing (2002, 276). Kong Yuqi([1689] 1983, 7:6ab
[652-78]) strongly rebuts Songs arguments.28Taylor (1990, 14849)
suggests that certain official-cult nature gods had developed
personifica-tions with a popular following, such as the God of
Taishan , whose local temples were runby Daoist priests.
384 Julia K. Murray
-
Clay images are not an ancient practice They are nothing but
earth.How are they the sages and worthies? Confucius was born
before Bud-dhism entered China. Who knew of these so-called images
then? (Gu[1658] 1963, 535; Taylor 1990, 141).
Following the precedent set by Ming Taizu in the Nanjing
Confucian temple, Lininstalled inscribed wooden tablets
instead.
A few years later, Qiu Jun appealed to anti-Mongol sentiment in
his polemicagainst icons in the Confucian temple at the Beijing
imperial university (Sommer1993; 2002, 11825). He claimed not only
that Buddhist influence had interp-olated images into classical
rituals but also that Mongol patronage during theYuan dynasty had
caused alien religious practices to become entrenched. ToQiu, the
presence of icons in the Confucian temple signified a foreign
debase-ment of the native practice, which was to use a tablet to
represent the recipientof a sacrifice. However, Qiu did not press
to remove images from temples associ-ated with schools at the lower
levels of government. His main concern was withthe temple in the
capital, where the emperor himself sometimes performed thesacrifice
(Sommer 2002, 123).
As Sommer has pointed out (2002, 12324), Qiu Jun evidently
attributed aform of embodiment and agency to anthropomorphic
representations that hedid not associate with inscribed tablets. He
believed that it violated protocolfor the emperor to bow before
sculptural images of Confucius and his followersbecause these men
had all been of lower ranks. However, Qiu did not object tothe
emperors veneration of tablets inscribed with the names of those
same com-moners. Although Qiu disparaged sculptural icons as
inanimate and worthlessobjects of clay, arbitrarily fashioned by
artisans, he must have sensed that suchimages made their referents
present more effectively than inscribed tabletsdid. If only at an
unconscious level, Qiu equated the icons with the men they
rep-resented, which suggests that even an arch foe of Buddhism
could not avoidbeing influenced by the Buddhist idea that the image
embodied the deity.Accordingly, Qiu was less concerned about
removing icons from prefecturaland county temples because only
ordinary officials and scholars sacrificedthere; the emperor did
not.
Although Qiu Juns arguments went nowhere during his lifetime,
they wererevived and finally adopted in 1530, when the Jiajing
emperor (r. 152266) issueda decree requiring that images be removed
from all Confucian temples, whichhenceforth were to display only
the inscribed tablets. At the same time, theemperor abolished the
noble titles held by Confucius, his disciples, and later
fol-lowers, replacing them with designations that shifted emphasis
to the teachingand transmission of the Way. Confucius was now
titled Ultimate Sage and FirstTeacher (Zhisheng xianshi ), and the
others were variously Correlates,Savants (Zhe), Former Worthies
(Xian xian ), and Former Scholars (Xianru ). Even if a few state
temples dodged the order to destroy their images
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 385
-
by constructing a false wall in front of them, the shift to
reliance solely oninscribed wooden tablets was remarkably
thorough.29 At the same time, thenumber of vessels was reduced from
twelve to ten, and the rows of dancersfrom eight to six (Zhang
Tingyu et al. [1739] 1974, 50:1298). Huang Chin-hsing(2002) has
argued that the Jiajing emperor used the issue of appropriate rites
forConfucius as an opportunity to consolidate his dominance over
capital officials,who had opposed his desire to incorporate his
natural parents into the ritualsvenerating his imperial
ancestors.
THE SURVIVAL AND RENEWAL OF THE QUFU TEMPLE ICON
Significantly, the imperial order to remove icons made an
exception for thetemple of Confucius in his hometown of Qufu (Kong
Yuqi [1689] 1983, 7:7b[652-79]). This temple not only participated
in the state cult but also was associ-ated with Confuciuss
flesh-and-blood descendants (Wilson 1996, 2002b), andritualists had
come to accept the use of portraits in familial worship (Stuartand
Rawski 2001, 3549). Nonetheless, government officials performed
semi-annual sacrifices at the Qufu temple, which also enshrined
more than 150 menunrelated to the Kongs. The main sacrificial hall
(Dacheng dian) displayedsculptural images of Confucius, the Four
Correlates, and the Ten Savants, whilethe Former Worthies and
Former Scholars were depicted in paintings in the twolong corridors
along the east and west sides of the forecourt. The icon of
Confu-cius continued to display imperial attributes, despite the
apparent contradictionwith his changed title, perhaps to ensure
that visually, at least, he outrankedhis ennobled descendants.
Since 739, the most senior Kong in each generationhad been a duke,
initially titled Duke of Propagating Culture (Wenxuan gong), and
after 1055, Duke of Perpetuating the Sage (Yansheng gong )(Wilson
2002b, 63, 67). Whatever the reason, the Qufu image preserved
thevisual similarity between Confucius and the high gods of the
Daoist and popularpantheons.
The continued presence of icons after 1530 made the Qufu temple
unique,even though the temple at the imperial university in Beijing
was ritually moreimportant because the emperor regularly sacrificed
there.30 Post-1530 editionsof the Qufu temple gazetteer, Queli zhi
, called attention to this new
29Sommer (2002, 12627) quotes a widely repeated assertion by Gu
Yanwu (161382) thatsome temples hid their images after 1530 rather
than demolishing them. John Meskill (1982, 49)suggests that private
academies might have kept images. The Japanese Confucian scholar
HayashiRazan (15831657) installed icons of Confucius and the Four
Correlates in his academystemple in 1632; and sculptural icons of
Confucius and Ten Savants were displayed in theYushima Seido , the
Tokugawa shoguns temple in Edo, founded in 1690 and depictedin a
contemporary painting (Yushima Seido to Edo jidai 1990, cat.
B7).30On very rare occasions, an emperor journeyed to Qufu to offer
sacrifice, usually in conjunctionwith a visit to Taishan to perform
the even more important feng and shan sacrifices; but
386 Julia K. Murray
-
distinction by reproducing a line drawing of the sculptural icon
of Confucius atthe beginning of the book (figure 2).31 Portrayed as
a frontal and symmetricalfigure with a heavy beard, Confucius sits
regally on a curved-back throne withan ornate footrest. Solemn in
expression, he holds a pointed tablet in front of
Figure 2. Line drawing of the Qufu temple icon ofConfucius,
titled Portrait of the Great-CompletionUltimate Sage and
Culture-Propagating FirstTeacher, Master Kong (Dacheng zhisheng
wenxuanxianshi Kongzi zhi xiang ), early Qing, c. 1647, woodblock
print. Queli zhi , expanded edition of Kong Yinzhi ,juan shou.
Source: Regenstein Library, University ofChicago.
none of the Ming emperors made the effort. By contrast, most of
them managed to make the shortexcursion to the Confucian temple at
the imperial university at least once during their reigns.31The
line drawing of the icon, which does not record the size, medium,
or color, appears in KongZhencongs twelve-juan edition of Queli
zhi, completed in 1599 and printed in 1609, and inKong Yinzhis
(15921647) mid-seventeenth-century edition in twenty-four juan.
Althoughthese later editions preserved core material from the
original 1505 compilation by the high officialChen Gao, the Kong
lineages vested interest in the Qufu temple is evident from the
fact thatthe compilers of later editions were eminent Kong
clansmen; Kong Yinzhi was thesixty-fifth-generations Duke of
Perpetuating the Sage.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 387
-
his chest. His robe displays imperial emblems, such as the sun,
moon, and BigDipper on the shoulders, and dragons and mountains on
the voluminoussleeves. Twelve strings of beads hang from both ends
of his mortarboard-shapedcrown, which is foreshortened so that the
back is not visible. Except for theinscribed title that identifies
the figure as Confucius, the image could easily betaken for one of
the high gods of religious Daoism (cf. figure 1).
In 1724, a fire in the Qufu temple devastated the main hall and
destroyed thesculptural icons. To assist with the repairs, the
Yongzheng emperor (r. 172335)sent a team of palace artisans to
create replacements for the images of Confuciusand the Four
Correlates, which were completed in 1730 (Kong Jifen [1762]
1966,12:10ab [222228]; Xichao xinyu [1824] 1984, 9:1b [366]). The
similaritybetween figures 2 and 3, as well as a late Ming
description (Bi Ziyan 1983,3:26a [1293-447]), suggest that the 1730
replacements faithfully preserved icono-graphic details. The
illustration in Queli zhi (i.e., figure 2) probably served as
thespecific model for the replacement (figure 3). Rather than
simply modeling clayfigures over a wooden armature, the sculptors
used the unsupported method(tuo tai fa , literally discarded-embryo
technique), which created ahollow space inside the sculptures.32
Silver organs, bronze mirrors, and old edi-tions of the Confucian
classic books were placed there, suggesting yet anotherway in which
Confucian icons were affected by Buddhist practices. Such
depositswere often placed inside an interior cavity of a Buddhist
sculptural image to helpempower the image or make offerings to the
deity (Kieschnick 2003, 6263; Shen2000). Qufu temple documents do
not mention the concealed objects, and it isunclear whether the
previous set of icons had also contained them. Thehidden deposits
briefly came to light only in November 1966, during the
CulturalRevolution, when Red Guards smashed the Qing sculptures and
discovered theobjects inside. Unfortunately, the deposited objects
were almost immediatelydestroyed (Wang Liang 2002, 391; Yazi 1991,
13839, 168).
WOODBLOCK PRINTS AND THE POPULARIZATION OF CONFUCIUS
Although the Jiajing emperor intended his 1530 reform to put an
end to inap-propriately godlike representations of Confucius, the
continued existence of thesculptural icon in the Qufu temple
prevented this iconography from disappear-ing. Coinciding with the
sixteenth-century boom in woodblock printing andbook publishing,
the ban on representational images in all other Confucian
32The translation of tuo tai fa (literally, embryo-removal
technique) as unsupported method wassuggested by an anonymous
reviewer for the JAS. The technique was used most often to
makehollow dry-lacquer images, in which raw lacquer is applied to a
cloth over an unfired clay modelof the desired figure; after the
lacquer has dried and hardened, the clay is chipped out. Theterm
could also be used to describe a technique for modeling an image in
clay and removingsome of the interior material when the form has
dried.
388 Julia K. Murray
-
temples made the Qufu image unique, and thus interesting.
Versions of the line-drawn illustration in Queli zhi reproducing
the icons visual features circulatedwidely during the late Ming and
Qing periods, even reaching Europe, wherethe image was copied and
given more naturalistic rendering, shading, andcontour to make it
look more like a seated human being (figure 4). Pictures
inwoodblock printed books and on single sheets also spread
awareness of thegodlike icon to broader segments of Chinese
society, facilitating Confuciuss
Figure 3. Sculptural icon of Confucius (now destroyed) in the
mainsacrificial hall (Dacheng dian ), Temple of Confucius,
Qufu,Shandong. Qing, 1730. Photo by Stphane Passat, 1913.
Source:Chine, 19091934, comp. Muse Albert Kahn
(Boulogne-Billancourt:Le Muse, 2001), 1:622.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 389
-
incorporation into popular religious practices that differed
from the rarified sacri-ficial rituals enacted in Confucian
temples.
Besides appearing prominently in various reprints and expansions
of theQufu temple gazetteer Queli zhi, the illustration of the
sculptural icon also was
Figure 4. Engraving of Confucius inscribed with praise by
Voltaire(16941778), by Isidore Stanislas Helman (17431806), from
Abrghistorique des principaux traits de la vie de Confucius, clbre
philo-sophe chinois; orn de 24 estampes in 4, graves par
Helman,daprs des dessins originaux de la Chine, envoys Paris par
M.Amiot, missionaire Pkin et tirs du cabinet de Mr. Bertin
(Paris,1788). Source: Regenstein Library, University of
Chicago.
390 Julia K. Murray
-
copied into later editions of another book, LWeiqis (15871641)
Sheng-xian xiangzan (Portraits and Encomia for the Sage and
Worthies). Firstpublished in 1632, the work was a compendium of
line-drawn images andeulogies for Confucius, the disciples, and
canonized later Confucian scholars.The picture of the temple icon
(figure 5) was inserted at the beginning ofthe 1832 edition and
annotated as copied from the True Visage in Qufu
Figure 5. Line drawing of the Qufu temple icon of Confucius,
entitled UltimateSage and First Teacher, Master Kong (Zhisheng
xianshi Kongzi ),Qing period, woodblock print. L Weiqi , Shengxian
xiangzan ,1837 edition. Source: National Diet Library, Tokyo.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 391
-
(lin Qufu zhenrong ), indicating that the book was published
else-where.33 This notation was removed in the 1878 edition, which
was publishedin Qufu by Kong Xianlan ( juren 1862), a
seventy-second-generationmember of the Kong lineage.34 Perhaps he
considered it unnecessary toprovide such detailed information about
the familiar icon, but he may alsohave thought it did not represent
the true visage of his ancestor. As I discussin the next section,
Kong family publications since the twelfth century hadrecorded a
small painting of Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui as the most
faith-ful (zui zhen) depiction of the master (Kong Chuan [1134]
1967, xia: 3b4a;Kong Jifen [1762] 1966, 12:3a [213]; Murray,
forthcoming).
The illustration of the Qufu temple icon differed significantly
from the otherpictures in Shengxian xiangzan. L Weiqis original
compendium reproduced afamous set of stone tablets made in 1156 for
the Southern Song imperial univer-sity, which later became the
Hangzhou prefectural school.35 Unlike the Qufusculpture, the
incised tablets portrayed Confucius seated in three-quarterprofile
on a low dais and dressed in unadorned robes (figure 6). Gesturing
withone hand and holding a long, curved scepter with the other, he
appears to beaddressing the seventy-two disciples, who are arrayed
before him in a long lineof lively figures.36 The Hangzhou tablets
were not used in temple sacrifices butwere displayed in the school
building to inspire the students to cultivate virtue
33The name Hall of the Three Rarities (Sanxi tang ) appears in
the lower margin (banxin ) throughout this edition, perhaps
indicating that it was published by the Qing palace inBeijing. A
hall of that name was the private studio of the Qianlong emperor
(r. 173596). Zhen in zhenrong may sometimes mean ideal or perfect
rather than realistic in a literalsense (Zeitlin 2005, 406 n.
30).34The title page of the 1878 edition of Shengxian xiangzan has
a notation stating that the blockswere stored in the Gathered
Culture Hall (Huiwen tang ) in Qufu.35Huang Yongquan (1963) and
Beijing tushuguan cang huaxiang taben huibian (1993,
1:876)reproduce rubbings of the extant tablets; I have analyzed
their creation and transmission(Murray 1992). Originally
commissioned by the Song emperor Gaozong in 1156, the
incisedtablets reproduced eulogies (zan ) personally composed by
that emperor and idealized portraitsby an unnamed court artist (or
artists) for all seventy-three figures. By the mid-fifteenth
century, theimages had gained an attribution to a famous literati
painter, Li Gonglin (c. 10491106). LWeiqi used other sources for
images of the many later men who had been added to the temple
cultafter 1156 and composed eulogies for them himself. The most
recent figure in the compendium isWang Yangming (14721529; jinshi
1499), who entered the temple in 1584.36Although the depiction of
Confucius in the Hangzhou tablets superficially resembles images
ofthe learned Buddhist layman Vimalakrti in his debate with the
bodhisattva Majusr, the twofigures differ significantly in posture.
Confucius sits on the soles of his feet, with both legsfolded
beneath him, while Vimalakrti was frequently portrayed sitting
cross-legged, sometimeswith one knee up, and displaying his feet
(e.g., Barnhart et al. 1997, 73 fig. 67). According toZhu Xi, the
cross-legged posture was a Buddhist innovation that went against
ancient decorum,which was represented by Confuciuss way of sitting
(Kong Yuqi [1689] 1983, 7:5ab [652-78]).In fact, a more likely
inspiration for the Hangzhou portrayal was the long-lost stone
image of Con-fucius to which Zhu Xi referred, which many believed
had been installed by Wen Weng (fl.second century BCE) in his
academy at Chengdu . J. Michael Farmer (2000) deconstructsthis and
other widespread myths about Wen.
392 Julia K. Murray
-
and loyalty, as the preface by the Song emperor Gaozong (r.
112762)makes clear.Similarly, LWeiqi prefaced his Shengxian
xiangzan by stating that scholars of hisown day needed images to
remind them of fundamental values and prevent themfrom straying
into Buddhism, Daoism, and even Christianity (L 1632, xu: 3b4b).
The animated and engaging figures contrast sharply with the static
poseand hieratic frontality of the Qufu temple icon, which suggests
a conception ofConfucius as remote and eternal, consistent with its
ritual function.37
Figure 6. Portrait of Confucius, from Portraits and Eulogies of
Confuciusand Seventy-Two Disciples, Southern Song, 1156, detail of
rubbing from anincised stone tablet in the Temple of Confucius,
Hangzhou. Source: HuangYongchuan (1963, 2).
37The portrayal of Confucius with his seventy-two disciples
focuses attention on his teaching and itstransmission, and these
images may be compared with the incised tablets illustrating his
life and
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 393
-
Before photographs of the Qufu temples sculptural icon of
Confucius madeit widely known in the twentieth century (e.g.,
figure 3), woodblock-printedimages were the primary means of
spreading knowledge of it (e.g., figures 2and 5). The hieratic
frontality and clearly depicted emblems of rank andpotency marked
Confucius as a god comparable to the Jade Emperor (figure1), which
undoubtedly helped stimulate interest in worshiping him.
Moreover,late nineteenth-century efforts to popularize his cult
encouraged ordinarypeople to incorporate Confucius into the
heterogeneous pantheon of efficaciousdeities (Chen 1999; Clart
2003). Although Confucius never became as importantin this respect
as Buddhist, Daoist, and popular-cult gods, votive prints from
thelate nineteenth and early twentieth centuries suggest that
people did worship himin homes and village schools (Kongzi baitu
1997, 12). Some of these prints, calledNew Year pictures (nian
hua), were pasted above altars and on walls at thebeginning of each
year, providing a focus for veneration and offerings of
incensethroughout the year. Others, sometimes called paper horses
(zhi ma), wereintended for use in a single worship ritual and were
burned immediately after-ward, to send them to the spirit world.38
Surviving examples show that Confuciuswas sometimes the primary
object of worship, while others include him as justone of many
deities in a pantheon print.
The first of two popular prints reproduced here, made for
one-time use,depicts Confucius with imperial attributes (figure 7)
and is clearly based onthe Qufu temple icon. However, the image has
been vernacularized withconventions of the popular-print genre and
closely resembles votive images ofDaoist and popular gods (see,
e.g., Po 1992; Rudova 1988; Wang Shucun1992). The powerful features
of Confuciuss outsize face convey crude vigor,not decorous
serenity, rendering him remarkably similar to Lord Guan(Guan di )
(Po 1992, nos. 2122; Rudova 1988, nos. 6, 22) or even to thedeified
Ox King (Niu wang ) (Po 1992, no. 28; Wang Shucun 1992, 21pl. 6).
Smaller standing figures of the Four Correlates flank the
seatedConfucius in the same way that other popular prints portray a
gods assistants,visually attesting his importance and power.
Although iconic sculptures repre-senting the Four Correlates
accompany the statue of Confucius in the Qufutemple, and all are
reproduced as line drawings in Shengxian xiangzan, thisbook
presents each figure in isolation. The popular print not only casts
theFour Correlates as Confuciuss assistants, it also gives each of
the five men ahalo, a motif originally introduced from Buddhist
visual iconography and more
deeds that were carved in 1592 for display in the Hall of the
Sages Traces (Shengji dian ),behind the Qufu temples sacrificial
hall (Murray 1996). In 1991, incised copies of the Hangzhoutablets
were added, installed in the wall of a courtyard east of the main
axis.38Po Sung-nien (1992) provides an accessible introduction to
the iconography and use of popularprints; James A. Flath (2003)
offers a more comprehensive and contextually rigorous
discussion.
394 Julia K. Murray
-
recently reinforced by Christian imagery. The swirl pattern that
fills the spaceabove is modeled after the auspicious clouds that
often surround Buddhist andDaoist deities.
Another popular print depicting Confucius with the Four
Correlates framesthe group under a temple roof and includes an
altar with an incense burner, asetting that visually connotes
sacrifice and indicates the ritual function of this
Figure 7. Confucius and Four Correlates, entitled Great
Completion Ultimate Sageand First Teacher, Master Kong (Dacheng
Zhisheng xianshi Kongzi ), early twentieth century, woodblock print
from Yangliuqing, Hebei. 42 34.5cm. Source: Kongzi baitu (1997,
18:4).
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 395
-
image (figure 8).39 These elements, and the carefully printed
coloring, suggest thatthis print was intended for veneration and
offerings throughout the year. Confucius
Figure 8. Confucius and Four Correlates, entitled Ultimate Sage
and Ances-tral Teacher (Zhisheng zongshi ), early twentieth
century, color wood-block print from Beijing; 3120 cm. Source:
Kongzi baitu (1997, 15:1).
39Similarly, interior settings and the paraphernalia of
sacrifice sometimes appear in portrait paint-ings of recently
deceased persons that were intended for use in memorial rituals
(e.g., Stuart andRawski 2001, pls. 1.8, 2.6, 2.9, 4.10).
396 Julia K. Murray
-
wears a simplified version of the imperial regalia and has a red
face, as other godssometimes do. The books on the altar refer not
to temple rituals but to Confuciussidentification with learning. At
the center of the roof ridge is a vase sprouting lancesand an
inverted V-shaped chime, a common rebus for a lifetime of blessings
(pingsheng ji qing) (Po 1992, 160). New Year prints typically
incorporate suchauspicious designs and symbolic decorations as a
means of attracting good fortuneand worldly success. Taken
together, these features suggest that the print was mar-keted to
people who aspired to ascend socially through educational
accomplishmentand were accustomed to seeking aid from the gods to
fulfill their needs. The printvisually represents Confucius as an
appropriate god to petition for assistance withschooling and
examinations. Such expectations are confirmed by the
four-charactertitle abovehis head, Ultimate Sage andAncestral
Teacher (Zhisheng zongshi). This designation suggests the
reverential conception ofConfucius as the progeni-tor of a lineage
of scholars,40 andmay also allude to his role as the purported
founderof a national religion of Confucianism, which Kang Youwei
and others were attempt-ing to establish from 1898 through the
1910s (Chen 1999; Goossaert 2006).
AN ALTERNATIVE ICON: THE TRAVELING PEDAGOGUE
Another effect of the Jiajing emperors 1530 removal of icons
from state templesand change of Confuciuss honorific title was to
give amore prominent role to depic-tions that represented Confucius
as a man rather than as a god. In addition to morenumerous and
varied versions of his pictorial biography, often called Shengji tu
(Murray 2002, 25557), the period after 1530 saw a proliferation of
portraits ofConfucius as a teacher.41 These images show him wearing
a simple cloth cap andundecorated robes, with a sword tucked under
his left arm (figure 9). Slightlystooped, he stands in a dignified
posture with hands clasped in front of his chest.Some renditions
give his face a distinctly homely appearance, even buck teeth,while
others replace the simple cloth headgear with a cap shaped like a
lotus bud,or even an official cap. In the late Ming and Qing
periods, this image was incisedon stone tablets for display in
school buildings, and it was also reproduced inwoodblock-printed
books and hanging scroll paintings.42 Differing only slightlyfrom
one another, these renditions often include a notation attributing
the original
40For example, the group of late Ming officials and literati who
sponsored the construction of theHall of the Sages Traces in the
Qufu temple referred to themselves as the sixtieth generation ofthe
Sages disciples (Shengmen liushi chuan ) (Murray 1996, 278).41I
reproduce and discuss several depictions of Confucius as a
traveling teacher (Murray 2001) andanalyze the origins and
evolution of this iconography (Murray, forthcoming); Luo Chenglie
(2003)illustrates many examples and provides dimensions for those
in Qufu. Some of the images bearlarge-character titles, such as
Xingjiao tu / Xingjiao xiang (Picture/Portrait [of Con-fucius]
Practicing the Teaching), or Xiansheng yixiang / Zhisheng yixiang /
Xuan-sheng yixiang (Legacy Portrait of the First Sage/Ultimate
Sage/Propagating Sage).42Rubbings from several Ming and Qing
incised portrait stelae are reproduced in Beijing tushuguancang
huaxiang taben huibian (1993, vols. 1, 6), Kongzi baitu (1997), and
Luo (2003); local
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 397
-
Figure 9. Portrait of Confucius, rubbing ofincised stone tablet,
Ming sixteenth-centuryreplacement of Southern Song twelfth-century
tablet erected by Kong Duanyou and Kong Chuan in Quzhou ,Zhejiang.
Source: Qufu Kongmiao jianzhu(1988), fig. 1-1-2.
398 Julia K. Murray
-
depiction toWuDaozi (c. 689after 755), the most renowned figure
painterof the eighth century. However, Wus early biographies and
lists of paintings do notmention any portrait of Confucius.
Although the earliest references date only fromthe late eleventh
century (Murray, forthcoming), Wu could conceivably have
beeninspired to paint an image of Confucius while serving in office
in Xiaqiu, Yanzhou, a short distance from Qufu (Zhang Yanyuan [847]
1963, vol. 1, 9:1089).
Confuciuss three-quarter stance and costume in this portrayal
closely resemblethoseof anotherpicture, inwhichhe is accompaniedby
his favorite disciple, YanHui(figure 10).43 First documented in the
late eleventh century, the two-man compo-sition reproduced a small
painting in the Kong family ancestral temple ( jia miao
Figure 10. Confucius and Yan Hui, rubbing of incised stone
tableterected by Kong Yu in the Temple of Confucius, Qufu,
Shandong,Northern Song period, dated 1118. Source: E. Chavannes,
MissionArchologique dans la Chine Septentrionale (Paris: Leroux,
1909),CCCXCVIII:871.
gazetteers and epigraphical compendia preserve inscriptions for
numerous stones that no longersurvive. I discuss some of these and
other examples (Murray, forthcoming).
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 399
-
), which was adjacent to but separate from the official temple
of Confucius inQufu. Recorded in successiveKong genealogies (e.g.,
KongChuan [1134] 1967, xia:3b4a; Kong Yuancuo [1242] 1967, 8:4b),
the heirloom painting allegedly trans-mitted Confuciuss true
likeness more faithfully than other portraits, and it wasrepeatedly
copied in stone stelae and woodblock-printed books from the late
ele-venth century onward (Murray, forthcoming). The solo portrait
was probablycreated by enlarging the figure of Confucius from this
two-man composition. Inthe early Southern Song period (11271279),
prominent Kongs from Qufuerected a stele depicting just Confucius
in Quzhou , Zhejiang, where theysettled after fleeing the Jin
invasions of the north in 112627.44 In the following cen-turies,
the solo portrait was repeatedly recarved onto new stones,
particularly at gov-ernment schools and private academies in the
South. Several early examples haveinscriptions referring to a stone
incised with the Wu Daozi image of Confuciusthat was miraculously
found in 1322 inside a bridge near Jiangling , Hubei,and
subsequently put on display there (Kongzi baitu 1997, 107; Zhongguo
meishuquanji, huihua bian 1988, 19 no. 70). The apparent preference
for the solo portraitin the South and its association with the
Southern Kongs contrast with the northernaffiliations of the
two-man composition, which was reproduced on stelae in theQufu
temple and elsewhere under the Jin dynasty (Murray, forthcoming).
Compet-ing with the Southern Song for the allegiance of the Kongs
and of learned menin general, the Jin patronized the temple and
awarded the ducal title to KongDuanyous younger brother, who had
remained behind in Qufu (Wilson 1996,57172).
Although incised tablets depicting Confucius as a simply dressed
standingfigure were widespread before 1530, this image gained
importance after theJiajing emperor abolished icons from Confucian
temples. The representationaccorded well with Confuciuss new
official designation as Ultimate Sage andFirst Teacher, and the
composition readily circulated in rubbings, from whichadditional
tablets could be carved. Normally displayed in school
buildingsrather than in sacrificial halls, it played no role in the
formal rituals performedtwice a year. Instead, the portrayal was
commemorative and inspirational, offer-ing latter-day students and
teachers visual rapport with their role model and
43The painting of Confucius and Yan Hui is first mentioned in a
now-lost genealogy published in1085 by Kong Zonghan (eleventh
century), quoted by Kong Chuan ([1134] 1967,xia: 3b-4a); Kong
Yuancuo ([1242] 1967, shou) reproduces the composition in a line
drawing.Records by writers outside the Kong lineage associate Wu
Daozi with the two-man depiction, aswell as with the solo portrait
(Murray, forthcoming).44TheMing recarving of the stele (figure 9)
bears an inscription stating that the original was erectedby Kong
Duanyou (d. 1132) and Kong Chuan (ca. 1059ca. 1134) (Qufu Kongmiao
jianzhu1988, 3 fig. 1-1-2 caption; Luo 2003, 24). Kong Duanyou was
the forty-eighth-generations Duke ofPerpetuating the Sage; Kong
Chuan was a forty-seventh- generation descendant and genealogistwho
brought precious documents to the South. The Southern Song emperor
Gaozong soughtthe allegiance of refugee Kongs and gave them
official positions, courtesy titles, and a base inQuzhou, where
they could resume caring for their ancestors spirit.
400 Julia K. Murray
-
allowing them to imagine themselves as the latest generation of
Confuciuss dis-ciples. In the Qing period, three stelae carved with
versions of the solo portrait ofConfucius were added to the Qufu
temples Hall of the Sages Traces (Shengjidian ), joining a
112-scene pictorial hagiography displayed on stonetablets there
since 159293 (Murray 1996). Modified versions of Confuciuss
por-trayal as a teacher also appeared in European publications of
the late seventeenthand eighteenth centuries (Dematt 2007, 3738;
Jensen 1997, 10, 82).
After the Qing dynasty was overthrown and replaced by the
Republican gov-ernment, the basis for the official cult of
Confucius became much more tenuous(Wilson 2002b, 8587).45 Although
some prominent intellectuals advocatedmaking Confucianism a
national religion modeled on Christianity, othersworked strenuously
to redefine it as a nonreligious cultural tradition (Goossaert2006,
15). As First Teacher, Confucius became a symbol of respect for
learningand an emblem of classical civilization. This conception
also found resonancewith the Japanese, who increasingly saw
themselves as heirs to the ancientcultural legacy (Fogel 1995,
chap. 6).46 In 1935, a small Ming bronze imageof the standing
Confucius was installed in the Yushima Seido , theConfucian temple
in Tokyo, which had been rebuilt with sturdy modern materialsafter
the 1923 earthquake (Yushima Seido to Edo jidai 1990, nempo,
B1).
When Confucius was repudiated by Communist authorities in the
PeoplesRepublic after 1949, the Nationalist government in Taiwan
promoted him asan emblem of its commitment to preserve Chinas
ancient heritage. In 1974, atthe height of the Criticize Lin Biao,
Criticize Confucius (pi Lin pi Kong ) movement on the mainland, the
Taiwan government officially sponsoredand disseminated a carefully
chosen portrayal of Confucius (Cai 1976, 115;Murray 2001, 17, 26).
Deeming his identity as a teacher most significant forChinese and
world culture, the Ministry of Education designated a purportedWu
Daozi image to serve as the official portrait of Confucius (figure
11).Based on a rubbing from a Qing stele in Qufu, the depiction
gave Confuciusan appropriately dignified yet humane appearance.
Moreover, the choice wasvalidated by Kong Decheng (19202008), the
senior Kong in the seventy-seventh generation, who had lived in
Qufu before fleeing to Taiwan in 1949.Over-life-size bronze statues
using this iconography were cast in Taiwan and pre-sented in 197475
to sites of culture and learning around the world, includingthe
Yushima Seido (figure 12).
45Official sacrifices briefly stopped with the fall of the Qing
but were revived by President YuanShikai (18591916) in 1914,
although their observance declined after his failed attempt tofound
a new dynasty. In 1935, the Nationalist government withdrew the
ducal title from Confuciussdescendants (Jing 1996, 39).46This
attitude also encouraged the Japanese to mount extensive
photographic, archaeological, andepigraphical surveys of Chinas
ancient monuments and sites, including detailed investigations
ofQufu in the first several decades of the twentieth century, as
well as stimulating Sinologicalstudies and compilations of Chinese
texts.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 401
-
More recently, mainland China has turned away from iconoclasm,
and rep-resentations of Confucius are proliferating once more. The
smashed icons inthe Qufu temple were reconstructed in 1984, and
Hong Kong and overseasChinese donors have erected large statues of
the ancient teacher at manyschools and at former Confucian temples
that have been restored as touristattractions (see cover photo in
this issue). In 1999, the government-supportedChina Confucius
Foundation issued a limited edition of 1,000 gold statuettesof
Confucius to honor the 2,500th anniversary of his birth (figure
13). Pro-motional literature claimed that the statue was based on
the most faithful tra-ditional portrait, the Wu Daozi image, but
was even more authentic. Insteadof imitating the anachronistic
clothing inadvertently depicted by Wu, the robesof the new image
reflected archaeological evidence from the Warring Statesperiod.
This concern for period-appropriate costume perfectly captures
the
Figure 11. Portrait of Confucius, tradition-ally attributed to
Tang master Wu Daozi (ca. 689after 755), rubbing of a
Qing-periodincised stone tablet in the Temple of Confucius,Qufu,
Shandong. Source: Baba (1940, 40).
402 Julia K. Murray
-
modern demand for a scientific recovery of the past;
nonetheless, the removal ofConfuciuss sword suggests that modern
beliefs also influenced the depictionteacher-philosophers no longer
carry weapons.
Since 2004, China has used Confucius to promote the study of
Chineselanguage and culture worldwide under the rubric of Confucius
Institutes andhas even contributed funds to establish a Confucius
Literacy Prize awardedby UNESCO (China View 2006). In order to make
Confucius a more recogniz-able and effective symbol of Chinese
civilization, the China Confucius Foun-dation pushed to standardize
his visual representation and put an end to thediverse portrayals,
some of which purportedly even deified and defamed(shenhua he
chouhua ) him (Zhongguo xinwen wang 2006). Thus,in January 2006,
plans were announced to create a standard portrait, startingwith
yet another review of existing images in consultation with scholars
ofConfucianism, historians, sculptors and painters, and descendants
of Confucius.
Figure 12. Statue of Confucius on the grounds ofthe Yushima
Seido (Temple of Confucius),Tokyo, 1975, bronze, cast in Taibei,
height 4.58 m.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 403
-
Design specifications issued in February called for the new
portrait to be basedon the purported Wu Daozi image and to depict
Confucius as between sixty andseventy years of age, with a facial
expression that was at once genial yet strict,imposing and yet not
intimidating, courteous and yet at ease (wen er li, wei erbu meng,
gong er an ) (Dahe xinxiang wang 2006,quoting Analects 7.38, trans.
Dawson 1993, 27). A prototype was presented atthe Shandong
International Cultural Industry Exposition in June 2006, and
thefinal version was unveiled in Qufu on September 23, in time for
birthday celebra-tions (China View 2006) (figure 14). Inevitably,
this effort to standardize the por-trayal of Confucius prompted
criticisms (CRIEnglish.com 2006), some of whichrecall the kinds of
objections raised against his icons in earlier periods.
Obviously,it is impossible to know what Confucius really looked
like so long after his life-time, and even the so-called Wu Daozi
portrait came from the artists
Figure 13. Statuette of Confucius, 1999, designedfor the China
Confucius Foundation by Qian Shaowu (b. 1928), 24-carat gold,
height 27 cm.Source: China Confucius Foundation publicity
pamph-let, 2001.
404 Julia K. Murray
-
imagination. Moreover, an emphasis on Confuciuss outward
appearance seemswrong and completely unnecessary to people who
focus on his teachings andthe values associated with him. The
variety of visual representations reflectsthe ways in which
Confucius has been understood and appropriated throughouthistory.
As scholars debated in 2006 whether it was possible or desirable to
decreeany portrayal as correct, one new argument captured a
contemporary concern:that creating a standard is the first step
toward patenting the image for com-mercial profit (China Daily
2006). In response, Secretary-General ZhangShuhua of the China
Confucius Foundation reiterated that a unified stan-dard was
intended only to end the confusion caused by multiple images and
tofacilitate worldwide recognition of Confucius; in fact, it did
not really matterwhether the portrait resembled Confucius
(CRIEnglish.com 2006). However,Zhang also mentioned that Taiwan had
previously issued its own standard
Figure 14. Standard Portrait of Confucius, 2006,designed for the
China Confucius Foundation by HuXijia (b. 1956), bronze, height
255.7 cm.Qufu. Photo by Julia K. Murray.
Idols in the Temple: Icons and the Cult of Confucius 405
-
image of Confucius, implying that the real confusion has to do
with whichregime controls his legacy. Thus, the 2006 branding of
Confucius was not pri-marily for commercial motives but for
political ones. Establishing an official por-trait of Confucius is
an assertion of authority over the heritage of
Chinesecivilization.
Acknowledgments
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2003 Annual
Meeting of theCollege Art Association; at the University of
Wisconsins Center for East Asian Studiesseminar series; and in the
2007 Confucius Seminar Mellon Workshop in the Centerfor Humanities.
I thank the participants in these sessions for their insightful
questionsand comments. I am also grateful to Thomas Wilson, Mark
Csikszentmihalyi, and thetwo anonymous JAS reviewers for their
detailed suggestions on the submittedmanuscript.
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