This essay attempts to sketch the place of tomb art in the historiography of Chinese art history ... more This essay attempts to sketch the place of tomb art in the historiography of Chinese art history in the American academy. It highlights attention to older methodological debates that took place in the discipline of art history to demonstrate that debates about how to approach tomb art, characterized as differences between archaeology and art history in China, obscure diverse art historical approaches to tomb art.
This essay explores the afterlives of object categories in China by reconsidering the nature of m... more This essay explores the afterlives of object categories in China by reconsidering the nature of mingqi 明器 (“spirit vessels”) in tombs several centuries after the term first appeared in early ritual texts. Philosophers in early China actively debated the look and meaning of grave goods to distinguish them from objects used by the living and to guide proper expressions of grief. While the term appears in historical accounts of the fifth and sixth centuries, these early medieval sources do not elaborate on their appearance or function. Yet scholars continue to use the term as a general reference to tomb furnishings in later centuries without recognizing how the category and function of mingqi did not remain static. The continued presence of objects in tombs after the Han that resemble early descriptions of mingqi affirm some continuity with older categories. But a reliance on definitions of mingqi within early ritual frameworks prevents us from recognizing how novel innovations, including new types of figurines and pictorial imagery not explicitly discussed in early texts, could generate meaning in the afterlife outside the original ritual and textual framework of the term. Attention to the relational definition of burial goods can alert us to how furnishings can have polyvalent meanings and how even dead space can possess a dynamic afterlife.
This essay explores the relationship between murals in Buddhist cave-temples and fifth century to... more This essay explores the relationship between murals in Buddhist cave-temples and fifth century tomb murals at Pingcheng, the Northern Wei capital. I consider the role of artisans and their tools and techniques in facilitating artistic exchange. I compare three aspects of tomb murals: transpositions and copying using templates, and the material components of support layers, to contemporary constructions at Yungang and Dunhuang to argue that tomb murals at the capital used techniques deployed in Buddhist cave-temples. This extends the reach of artistic practices beyond the conventional Silk Road region in northwest China and Central Asia into the subterranean space of tombs.
The Medieval Globe 3.2 (2018) Special Issue: A World within Worlds? Reassessing the ‘Global Turn’ in Medieval Art, 2018
This essay interrogates the recent trend of global art history and cautions against the uncritica... more This essay interrogates the recent trend of global art history and cautions against the uncritical embrace of “the global” as an analytical frame for premodern eras at the expense of historical depth. From the vantage point of artistic practices in fifth- and sixth-century China, it argues that this is not always a productive analytic framework for describing the historical conditions of artistic and cultural exchange. However, it acknowledges that recent critical reformulations do productively challenge longstanding categories, binaries, and nationalist paradigms that are useful for art in an era that defies fixed political and cultural boundaries. The conditions of this era, and funerary art’s position outside of canonical art historiography, combine to counter narrow (modern) definitions and reveal the endurance and multiplicities of interactive forms and practices.
Face to Face: The Transcendence of the Arts in China and Beyond, 2014
Abstract: Stone, clay, and lacquer are all materials used to forge tomb furnishings in fifth cent... more Abstract: Stone, clay, and lacquer are all materials used to forge tomb furnishings in fifth century China. Carved or incised pictorial stones, painted lacquer objects and coffins, or sculpted figurines, each medium had long traditions as grave goods. Despite this lengthy tradition, variations in form or technological innovation intensified at Pingcheng, the fifth century capital. Three related reasons may account for this: first, the relocation of artisans to the capital after Emperor Taiwu annexed the Hexi Corridor – the Northwest region near the Silk Road – in 439; second, court attitudes towards Buddhism in the fifth century; and third, exotic items of glass and textiles brought from Western regions to the capital.
My paper examines objects constructed in this atmosphere of exchange from three vantage points: the adoption of textiles or Buddhist patterns on lacquer coffins, the transformation of stone beyond its primary use as a two-dimensional surface, and the impact of foreign glass on local production and experiments with glaze. The first instance reveals direct transmission of ornament across media, the second demonstrates a renewed vision of a long extant material into a new artistic form, while the third – the least direct – considers how glass may have inspired artisans to attempt new techniques or effects locally. Each instance shows how the capabilities of a media were pushed beyond what came before.
Along with exploring how artistic traditions are imbricated across media, I examine the various conduits of these materials’ reconfiguration. In addition to the rise of exchange along the Silk Road and the confluence of traditions at Pingcheng, I examine how historic episodes impacted artistic production. By exploring the interaction across several media, many for which we have few or fragmented items, we may thus have a fuller view of the processes that sparked innovation or their distinct appearance.
Stone as a medium in China conjures up immediate associations with ancient Confucian shrines or s... more Stone as a medium in China conjures up immediate associations with ancient Confucian shrines or steles bearing lengthy memorial inscriptions, yet a passage from the Wei shu marvels over its use to construct a pagoda in fifth century Pingcheng. This essay examines the atmosphere in which stone, despite its long material presence in China, was perceived as having innovative possibilities for craftsmanship during the Northern Dynasties. I track funerary structures (e.g. coffins or sarcophagi) that use stone both as a material for construction and surface for decorative elaboration. I explore how disparate artistic traditions are imbricated in these hybrid objects and examine various conduits of the material’s reconfiguration as a new media, including the rise of cultural exchange along the Silk Road and the presence of Xianbei/Sarbi rulers and other non-Chinese with new belief systems.
Several late sixth-century stone items of tomb furniture unearthed over the past decade in north ... more Several late sixth-century stone items of tomb furniture unearthed over the past decade in north China have reconfirmed the role of the Silk Road in facilitating exchange between China and regions to its west. Scholars have identified motifs in the decoration of these tomb elements and linked them to Chinese or Zoroastrian traditions, searched for discernible narratives, or investigated the deceased’s ties to Central Asia and service as leaders of their communities. While the individuals buried in these tombs or their ancestors likely hailed from Sogdiana, other features of the objects defy clear interpretation according to artistic paradigms in either north China or Central Asia. Viewed as an entire complex, the tombs also demonstrate a range of affinities with the traditions of both regions and challenge our assumptions about culture and the coherency of traditions in the context of exchange.
This essay takes a broad view of these stone objects and examines the occupants, tomb contexts, and the diverse representations on the tomb furniture as a collective group. Drawing together biographic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, together with relevant iconography from examples in museum collections, I reconsider the methods by which these pieces have been examined and demonstrate the varied relationships their occupants had to Central Asia and the local communities they inhabited. I reorient the focus away from distinct markers of one culture or another toward the larger picture that characterizes the complex identities of individuals in late sixth-century north China. I posit a thematic rationale for iconographic choices that transcend affiliation with one region or another and argue that while specific elements may demonstrate affinities with extant traditions, taken as a whole the general diversity of artistic elements and burial practices suggests that these individuals occupied a space between paradigmatic “cultures.”
Several recent books have begun to fill gaps in the study of medieval Buddhist art in China. Thes... more Several recent books have begun to fill gaps in the study of medieval Buddhist art in China. These volumes delve into the expansive field of Buddhist art, primarily Tang painting, by isolating the vision of a singular source, be it a cave temple or site, a type of sketch used ...
The "Social Lives of Chinese Objects" is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s ... more The "Social Lives of Chinese Objects" is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s well-known argument on the social life of things to the discussion of artefacts made in China. The essays in this book look at objects as “things-in-motion,” a status that brings attention to the history of transmissions ensuing after the time and conditions of their production. How does the identity of an object change as a consequence of geographical relocation and/ or temporal transference? How do the intentions of the individuals responsible for such transfers affect the later status and meaning of these objects? The materiality of the things analyzed in this book, and visualized by a rich array of illustrations, varies from bronze to lacquered wood, from clay to porcelain, and includes painting, imperial clothing, and war spoils. Metamorphoses of value, status, and function as well as the connections with the individuals who managed them, such as collectors, museum curators, worshipers, and soldiers are also considered as central to the discussion of their life. Presenting a broader and more contextual reading than that traditionally adopted by art-historical scholarship, the essays in this book take on a multidisciplinary approach that helps to expose crucial elements in the life of these Chinese things and brings to light the cumulative motives making them relevant and meaningful to our present time.
This essay attempts to sketch the place of tomb art in the historiography of Chinese art history ... more This essay attempts to sketch the place of tomb art in the historiography of Chinese art history in the American academy. It highlights attention to older methodological debates that took place in the discipline of art history to demonstrate that debates about how to approach tomb art, characterized as differences between archaeology and art history in China, obscure diverse art historical approaches to tomb art.
This essay explores the afterlives of object categories in China by reconsidering the nature of m... more This essay explores the afterlives of object categories in China by reconsidering the nature of mingqi 明器 (“spirit vessels”) in tombs several centuries after the term first appeared in early ritual texts. Philosophers in early China actively debated the look and meaning of grave goods to distinguish them from objects used by the living and to guide proper expressions of grief. While the term appears in historical accounts of the fifth and sixth centuries, these early medieval sources do not elaborate on their appearance or function. Yet scholars continue to use the term as a general reference to tomb furnishings in later centuries without recognizing how the category and function of mingqi did not remain static. The continued presence of objects in tombs after the Han that resemble early descriptions of mingqi affirm some continuity with older categories. But a reliance on definitions of mingqi within early ritual frameworks prevents us from recognizing how novel innovations, including new types of figurines and pictorial imagery not explicitly discussed in early texts, could generate meaning in the afterlife outside the original ritual and textual framework of the term. Attention to the relational definition of burial goods can alert us to how furnishings can have polyvalent meanings and how even dead space can possess a dynamic afterlife.
This essay explores the relationship between murals in Buddhist cave-temples and fifth century to... more This essay explores the relationship between murals in Buddhist cave-temples and fifth century tomb murals at Pingcheng, the Northern Wei capital. I consider the role of artisans and their tools and techniques in facilitating artistic exchange. I compare three aspects of tomb murals: transpositions and copying using templates, and the material components of support layers, to contemporary constructions at Yungang and Dunhuang to argue that tomb murals at the capital used techniques deployed in Buddhist cave-temples. This extends the reach of artistic practices beyond the conventional Silk Road region in northwest China and Central Asia into the subterranean space of tombs.
The Medieval Globe 3.2 (2018) Special Issue: A World within Worlds? Reassessing the ‘Global Turn’ in Medieval Art, 2018
This essay interrogates the recent trend of global art history and cautions against the uncritica... more This essay interrogates the recent trend of global art history and cautions against the uncritical embrace of “the global” as an analytical frame for premodern eras at the expense of historical depth. From the vantage point of artistic practices in fifth- and sixth-century China, it argues that this is not always a productive analytic framework for describing the historical conditions of artistic and cultural exchange. However, it acknowledges that recent critical reformulations do productively challenge longstanding categories, binaries, and nationalist paradigms that are useful for art in an era that defies fixed political and cultural boundaries. The conditions of this era, and funerary art’s position outside of canonical art historiography, combine to counter narrow (modern) definitions and reveal the endurance and multiplicities of interactive forms and practices.
Face to Face: The Transcendence of the Arts in China and Beyond, 2014
Abstract: Stone, clay, and lacquer are all materials used to forge tomb furnishings in fifth cent... more Abstract: Stone, clay, and lacquer are all materials used to forge tomb furnishings in fifth century China. Carved or incised pictorial stones, painted lacquer objects and coffins, or sculpted figurines, each medium had long traditions as grave goods. Despite this lengthy tradition, variations in form or technological innovation intensified at Pingcheng, the fifth century capital. Three related reasons may account for this: first, the relocation of artisans to the capital after Emperor Taiwu annexed the Hexi Corridor – the Northwest region near the Silk Road – in 439; second, court attitudes towards Buddhism in the fifth century; and third, exotic items of glass and textiles brought from Western regions to the capital.
My paper examines objects constructed in this atmosphere of exchange from three vantage points: the adoption of textiles or Buddhist patterns on lacquer coffins, the transformation of stone beyond its primary use as a two-dimensional surface, and the impact of foreign glass on local production and experiments with glaze. The first instance reveals direct transmission of ornament across media, the second demonstrates a renewed vision of a long extant material into a new artistic form, while the third – the least direct – considers how glass may have inspired artisans to attempt new techniques or effects locally. Each instance shows how the capabilities of a media were pushed beyond what came before.
Along with exploring how artistic traditions are imbricated across media, I examine the various conduits of these materials’ reconfiguration. In addition to the rise of exchange along the Silk Road and the confluence of traditions at Pingcheng, I examine how historic episodes impacted artistic production. By exploring the interaction across several media, many for which we have few or fragmented items, we may thus have a fuller view of the processes that sparked innovation or their distinct appearance.
Stone as a medium in China conjures up immediate associations with ancient Confucian shrines or s... more Stone as a medium in China conjures up immediate associations with ancient Confucian shrines or steles bearing lengthy memorial inscriptions, yet a passage from the Wei shu marvels over its use to construct a pagoda in fifth century Pingcheng. This essay examines the atmosphere in which stone, despite its long material presence in China, was perceived as having innovative possibilities for craftsmanship during the Northern Dynasties. I track funerary structures (e.g. coffins or sarcophagi) that use stone both as a material for construction and surface for decorative elaboration. I explore how disparate artistic traditions are imbricated in these hybrid objects and examine various conduits of the material’s reconfiguration as a new media, including the rise of cultural exchange along the Silk Road and the presence of Xianbei/Sarbi rulers and other non-Chinese with new belief systems.
Several late sixth-century stone items of tomb furniture unearthed over the past decade in north ... more Several late sixth-century stone items of tomb furniture unearthed over the past decade in north China have reconfirmed the role of the Silk Road in facilitating exchange between China and regions to its west. Scholars have identified motifs in the decoration of these tomb elements and linked them to Chinese or Zoroastrian traditions, searched for discernible narratives, or investigated the deceased’s ties to Central Asia and service as leaders of their communities. While the individuals buried in these tombs or their ancestors likely hailed from Sogdiana, other features of the objects defy clear interpretation according to artistic paradigms in either north China or Central Asia. Viewed as an entire complex, the tombs also demonstrate a range of affinities with the traditions of both regions and challenge our assumptions about culture and the coherency of traditions in the context of exchange.
This essay takes a broad view of these stone objects and examines the occupants, tomb contexts, and the diverse representations on the tomb furniture as a collective group. Drawing together biographic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, together with relevant iconography from examples in museum collections, I reconsider the methods by which these pieces have been examined and demonstrate the varied relationships their occupants had to Central Asia and the local communities they inhabited. I reorient the focus away from distinct markers of one culture or another toward the larger picture that characterizes the complex identities of individuals in late sixth-century north China. I posit a thematic rationale for iconographic choices that transcend affiliation with one region or another and argue that while specific elements may demonstrate affinities with extant traditions, taken as a whole the general diversity of artistic elements and burial practices suggests that these individuals occupied a space between paradigmatic “cultures.”
Several recent books have begun to fill gaps in the study of medieval Buddhist art in China. Thes... more Several recent books have begun to fill gaps in the study of medieval Buddhist art in China. These volumes delve into the expansive field of Buddhist art, primarily Tang painting, by isolating the vision of a singular source, be it a cave temple or site, a type of sketch used ...
The "Social Lives of Chinese Objects" is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s ... more The "Social Lives of Chinese Objects" is the first anthology of texts to apply Arjun Appadurai’s well-known argument on the social life of things to the discussion of artefacts made in China. The essays in this book look at objects as “things-in-motion,” a status that brings attention to the history of transmissions ensuing after the time and conditions of their production. How does the identity of an object change as a consequence of geographical relocation and/ or temporal transference? How do the intentions of the individuals responsible for such transfers affect the later status and meaning of these objects? The materiality of the things analyzed in this book, and visualized by a rich array of illustrations, varies from bronze to lacquered wood, from clay to porcelain, and includes painting, imperial clothing, and war spoils. Metamorphoses of value, status, and function as well as the connections with the individuals who managed them, such as collectors, museum curators, worshipers, and soldiers are also considered as central to the discussion of their life. Presenting a broader and more contextual reading than that traditionally adopted by art-historical scholarship, the essays in this book take on a multidisciplinary approach that helps to expose crucial elements in the life of these Chinese things and brings to light the cumulative motives making them relevant and meaningful to our present time.
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Papers by Bonnie Cheng
My paper examines objects constructed in this atmosphere of exchange from three vantage points: the adoption of textiles or Buddhist patterns on lacquer coffins, the transformation of stone beyond its primary use as a two-dimensional surface, and the impact of foreign glass on local production and experiments with glaze. The first instance reveals direct transmission of ornament across media, the second demonstrates a renewed vision of a long extant material into a new artistic form, while the third – the least direct – considers how glass may have inspired artisans to attempt new techniques or effects locally. Each instance shows how the capabilities of a media were pushed beyond what came before.
Along with exploring how artistic traditions are imbricated across media, I examine the various conduits of these materials’ reconfiguration. In addition to the rise of exchange along the Silk Road and the confluence of traditions at Pingcheng, I examine how historic episodes impacted artistic production. By exploring the interaction across several media, many for which we have few or fragmented items, we may thus have a fuller view of the processes that sparked innovation or their distinct appearance.
Keywords: Northern Wei, Pingcheng, fifth century, artistic exchange, textiles, glass, lacquer, stone, ceramic
This essay takes a broad view of these stone objects and examines the occupants, tomb contexts, and the diverse representations on the tomb furniture as a collective group. Drawing together biographic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, together with relevant iconography from examples in museum collections, I reconsider the methods by which these pieces have been examined and demonstrate the varied relationships their occupants had to Central Asia and the local communities they inhabited. I reorient the focus away from distinct markers of one culture or another toward the larger picture that characterizes the complex identities of individuals in late sixth-century north China. I posit a thematic rationale for iconographic choices that transcend affiliation with one region or another and argue that while specific elements may demonstrate affinities with extant traditions, taken as a whole the general diversity of artistic elements and burial practices suggests that these individuals occupied a space between paradigmatic “cultures.”
Book Reviews by Bonnie Cheng
Books by Bonnie Cheng
My paper examines objects constructed in this atmosphere of exchange from three vantage points: the adoption of textiles or Buddhist patterns on lacquer coffins, the transformation of stone beyond its primary use as a two-dimensional surface, and the impact of foreign glass on local production and experiments with glaze. The first instance reveals direct transmission of ornament across media, the second demonstrates a renewed vision of a long extant material into a new artistic form, while the third – the least direct – considers how glass may have inspired artisans to attempt new techniques or effects locally. Each instance shows how the capabilities of a media were pushed beyond what came before.
Along with exploring how artistic traditions are imbricated across media, I examine the various conduits of these materials’ reconfiguration. In addition to the rise of exchange along the Silk Road and the confluence of traditions at Pingcheng, I examine how historic episodes impacted artistic production. By exploring the interaction across several media, many for which we have few or fragmented items, we may thus have a fuller view of the processes that sparked innovation or their distinct appearance.
Keywords: Northern Wei, Pingcheng, fifth century, artistic exchange, textiles, glass, lacquer, stone, ceramic
This essay takes a broad view of these stone objects and examines the occupants, tomb contexts, and the diverse representations on the tomb furniture as a collective group. Drawing together biographic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, together with relevant iconography from examples in museum collections, I reconsider the methods by which these pieces have been examined and demonstrate the varied relationships their occupants had to Central Asia and the local communities they inhabited. I reorient the focus away from distinct markers of one culture or another toward the larger picture that characterizes the complex identities of individuals in late sixth-century north China. I posit a thematic rationale for iconographic choices that transcend affiliation with one region or another and argue that while specific elements may demonstrate affinities with extant traditions, taken as a whole the general diversity of artistic elements and burial practices suggests that these individuals occupied a space between paradigmatic “cultures.”