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Lot Essay
This masterfully cast gilt-bronze figure of a luohan is exceptional for its large size, the sensitive rendering of his serene face, and the fluid and elegant treatment of the drapery. He takes the form of a youthful Buddhist monk wearing a Chinese-style robe and is shown sitting in a contemplative pose his hands joined in dhyana-mudra, an attitude of meditation, and with his legs crossed beneath his robe which falls in graceful folds as if draped over an edge. Two characters, zuo liu (left six), inscribed on the inside hem of his robe, likely indicate the figure’s intended placement when displayed in a temple.
The worship of luohan reached its peak in the Song dynasty, when stories of miraculous events associated with luohan were widespread and propagated by the literati class. From the imperial family to laymen, all were participating in the worship, and the Northern Song-dynasty statesman, calligrapher and poet Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo (1037-1101), was the most famous amongst them. His maternal grandfather, Cheng Wenying was said to have received generous help from sixteen monks, whom he believed to be the Sixteen Luohan in disguise, when he suffered crippling adversity at one point in his life. Thereafter, Cheng Wenying organized four large-scale ceremonies of luohan worship every year to commemorate them. When Su Shi was demoted and banished to Hainan Island, he remembered his grandfather’s story, and visited a local luohan temple to pay his respects. He offered his calligraphy to the temple and also composed four poems in praise of luohan. Later, he acquired a painting of the Eighteen Luohan by Zhang Xuan of the Five Dynasties period (AD 907-979), and sent it as a gift to his brother Su Che. There was a wide range of subjects for which people offered their prayers to luohan in the Song dynasty: prayers concerning the weather (rain); health and longevity; success in examination and officialdom; and prayers for the dead – almost every aspect of one’s life was touched by the worship of luohan.
Although the origin of luohan can be traced to the arhats in Indian scriptures, arhats were not objects of devotion in ancient India. The cult of luohan and its artistic representation is therefore indigenous to China, a by-product of Buddhism’s long history of sinicization. The Tang-dynasty Emperor Xuanzang’s translation of Nandimitravadana, a scripture dedicated to the Sixteen Arhats (Luohan), in AD 654 provided the theological foundation for the cult of luohan as well as the basis for their artistic representations, which took shape in the late Tang/Five-Dynasties periods. Although there are depictions of monks in cave sculpture of the Tang period, the earliest depiction of the Sixteen Luohan, as prescribed in Nandimitravadana, is found in the Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou, dated to AD 953 during the Wuyue Kingdom period. Apart from the Sixteen Luohan in the scripture, two more figures were added: Nandimitra, the author of Nandimitravadana, and another unnamed figure, possibly Xuanzang. The Yanxia Cave set can thus also be considered the earliest depiction of the Eighteen Luohan, a composition not rooted in any Buddhist scriptures, but which gained popularity from the Song period onwards.
There are few bronze figures of luohan that can be definitively dated to the Song dynasty. Among the most notable are the four figures dating to the Northern Song dynasty in the Xiangguo Temple in Kaifeng. They were allegedly part of a set of Fine Hundred Luohan, all which except for these four were destroyed in 1927. The Xiangguo Temple figures display a naturalistic, unadorned style not dissimilar to that of the current figure.
The present figure is very similar in style and size to a gilt-bronze figure of a seated luohan dated to the Song-Yuan dynasty sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2016, lot 3233, and now in the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, and to another pair of seated gilt-bronze figures sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 October 1991, lot 1668. The close similarity of these three figures and the current figure may indicate they were originally part of the same set. A pair of stylistically similar gilt-bronze figures of luohan of comparable size, but shown with legs pendent, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 March 2022, lot 2891, and is now in The Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. no 4.2023. Like the current luohan, both of the Cleveland figures are inscribed with two-characters (zuo si [left four] and you si [right four]) which likely indicate their intended placement when on display.
The worship of luohan reached its peak in the Song dynasty, when stories of miraculous events associated with luohan were widespread and propagated by the literati class. From the imperial family to laymen, all were participating in the worship, and the Northern Song-dynasty statesman, calligrapher and poet Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo (1037-1101), was the most famous amongst them. His maternal grandfather, Cheng Wenying was said to have received generous help from sixteen monks, whom he believed to be the Sixteen Luohan in disguise, when he suffered crippling adversity at one point in his life. Thereafter, Cheng Wenying organized four large-scale ceremonies of luohan worship every year to commemorate them. When Su Shi was demoted and banished to Hainan Island, he remembered his grandfather’s story, and visited a local luohan temple to pay his respects. He offered his calligraphy to the temple and also composed four poems in praise of luohan. Later, he acquired a painting of the Eighteen Luohan by Zhang Xuan of the Five Dynasties period (AD 907-979), and sent it as a gift to his brother Su Che. There was a wide range of subjects for which people offered their prayers to luohan in the Song dynasty: prayers concerning the weather (rain); health and longevity; success in examination and officialdom; and prayers for the dead – almost every aspect of one’s life was touched by the worship of luohan.
Although the origin of luohan can be traced to the arhats in Indian scriptures, arhats were not objects of devotion in ancient India. The cult of luohan and its artistic representation is therefore indigenous to China, a by-product of Buddhism’s long history of sinicization. The Tang-dynasty Emperor Xuanzang’s translation of Nandimitravadana, a scripture dedicated to the Sixteen Arhats (Luohan), in AD 654 provided the theological foundation for the cult of luohan as well as the basis for their artistic representations, which took shape in the late Tang/Five-Dynasties periods. Although there are depictions of monks in cave sculpture of the Tang period, the earliest depiction of the Sixteen Luohan, as prescribed in Nandimitravadana, is found in the Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou, dated to AD 953 during the Wuyue Kingdom period. Apart from the Sixteen Luohan in the scripture, two more figures were added: Nandimitra, the author of Nandimitravadana, and another unnamed figure, possibly Xuanzang. The Yanxia Cave set can thus also be considered the earliest depiction of the Eighteen Luohan, a composition not rooted in any Buddhist scriptures, but which gained popularity from the Song period onwards.
There are few bronze figures of luohan that can be definitively dated to the Song dynasty. Among the most notable are the four figures dating to the Northern Song dynasty in the Xiangguo Temple in Kaifeng. They were allegedly part of a set of Fine Hundred Luohan, all which except for these four were destroyed in 1927. The Xiangguo Temple figures display a naturalistic, unadorned style not dissimilar to that of the current figure.
The present figure is very similar in style and size to a gilt-bronze figure of a seated luohan dated to the Song-Yuan dynasty sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2016, lot 3233, and now in the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, and to another pair of seated gilt-bronze figures sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1 October 1991, lot 1668. The close similarity of these three figures and the current figure may indicate they were originally part of the same set. A pair of stylistically similar gilt-bronze figures of luohan of comparable size, but shown with legs pendent, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 March 2022, lot 2891, and is now in The Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. no 4.2023. Like the current luohan, both of the Cleveland figures are inscribed with two-characters (zuo si [left four] and you si [right four]) which likely indicate their intended placement when on display.