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The Yuan Dynasty was established by Kublai
Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, upon
relocating the capital of his empire from
Mongolia to Beijing. The Forbidden City was
constructed, a relative oasis of Mongolian culture
in the heart of China. While the Mongol elite
retained their native language and customs, they
did adopt the Chinese system of bureaucratic
government and cemented the authoritarian rule
of the emperor. Although they were unaffected
by Chinese culture, the Yuan did little to stifle
the native traditions and beliefs of their subjects.
Buddhism continued to flourish, although the
monasteries received little funding from the
state. In fact, during the Yuan Dynasty, China
first began to open up to foreigners. Christian
and Hindu missionaries arrived in Beijing and
Marco Polo made his famous journey during the
Yuan era. While the Chinese never accepted the
Yuan as a legitimate dynasty, instead viewing
them as foreign bandits, the Mongolians rebelled
against the Beijing Khans for becoming “too
Chinese.” In the end, the Yuan Dynasty had the
shortest duration of the major Chinese
Dynasties, lasting little more than a hundred
years.
Even today, when entering the main hall of a
Buddhist temple in China, one will discover two
rows of sculpted figures, traditionally numbering
eighteen in total. These figures are known as the
Eighteen Lohan. Lohan is the Chinese term,
derived from the Sanskrit word Arhan, for a
disciple or follower of Buddha who has reached a
state of enlightenment. The Lohan had been a
popular subject in Chinese art at least since the
cultural flourishing of the Tang Dynasty.
Traditionally, they are always produced in sets of
sixteen or eighteen. The numerical difference is a
result of discrepancies in Buddhist texts. By the
Song Dynasty, artists began to depict each Lohan
with individualized facial features. This superb
example was discovered in a temple in the
Sichuan Province. Having achieved
enlightenment, Lohans were free from all earthly
desires and no longer subject to the cycle of
rebirth. The serenity and wisdom conveyed in
this sandstone example, with its heavy eyelids
and expression of contentment, are thus entirely
appropriate to the subject matter.
- (DL.996)
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