Upon leading a victorious rebellion against the
foreign Mongul rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a
peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang seized control of
China and founded the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
As emperor, he founded his capital at Nanjing
and adopted the name Hongwu as his reign title.
Hongwu, literally meaning “vast military,” reflects
the increased prestige of the army during the
Ming Dynasty. Due to the very realistic threat
still posed by the Mongols, Hongwu realized that
a strong military was essential to Chinese
prosperity. Thus, the orthodox Confucian view
that the military was an inferior class to be ruled
over by an elite class of scholars was
reconsidered. During the Ming Dynasty, China
proper was reunited after centuries of foreign
incursion and occupation. Ming troops
controlled Manchuria, and the Korean Joseon
Dynasty respected the authority of the Ming
rulers, at least nominally.
Like the founders of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-
220 A.D.), Hongwu was extremely suspicious of
the educated courtiers that advised him and,
fearful that they might attempt to overthrow him,
he successfully consolidated control of all aspect
of government. The strict authoritarian control
Hongwu wielded over the affairs of the country
was due in part to the centralized system of
government he inherited from the Monguls and
largely kept intact. However, Hongwu replaced
the Mongul bureaucrats who had ruled the
country for nearly a century with native Chinese
administrators. He also reinstituted the
Confucian examination system that tested
would-be civic officials on their knowledge of
literature and philosophy. Unlike the Song
Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.), which received most of
its taxes from mercantile commerce, the Ming
economy was based primarily on agriculture,
reflecting both the peasant roots of its founder
as well as the Confucian belief that trade was
ignoble and parasitic.
Culturally, the greatest innovation of the Ming
Dynasty was the introduction of the novel.
Developed from the folk tales of traditional
storytellers, these works were transcribed in the
everyday vernacular language of the people.
Advances in printmaking and the increasing
population of urban dwellers largely contributed
to the success of these books. Architecturally,
the most famous monument of the Ming Dynasty
is surely the complex of temples and palaces
known as the Forbidden City that was
constructed in Beijing after the third ruler of the
Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle, moved the
capital there. Today, the Forbidded Palace
remains one of the hallmarks of traditional
Chinese architecture and is one of the most
popular tourist destinations in the vast nation.
Glazed sculptural tile are today considered one of
the hallmarks of classical Chinese architecture.
However, despite their popularity in modern
times, they were relatively scarce until after the
end of the T’ang Dynasty. Even then, during the
Song and Yuan Dynasties, they were still
infrequently used. It was not until the rise of the
Ming Dynasty that glazed sculptural tiles became
a popular decorative devise extensively
employed in temples, altars, imperial palaces,
and gardens. Beijing became the center of glazed
architectural tile production during the Ming
period, and colorfully decorated pagodas began
to sprout up around this region. Eaves and
entryways were decorated with vibrant
sculptures that served both decorative and
sometimes religious purposes.
Chinese architecture is one of the more distinct
styles of building throughout the world. Perhaps
the most characteristic element is the pagoda
roofs that end in dramatic curves. This
sculptural tile would have been situated on that
curved edge of a Ming Dynasty temple.
Depicting a figure lunging forward on the tile,
this work was placed on the roof in order to
frighten away any evil spirits that might attempt
to infiltrate the sacred space. The exposed flesh
of the bald man is covered in an ochre glaze;
otherwise, he is covered in a blue and white skirt
that gathers in undulating folds in between his
spread legs. He has his fists clenched together,
held in front of his body as if a boxer. Holes in
his hands reveal that he would have once held
objects likely made out of wood that have
deteriorated over the centuries. Who does this
figure represent? A fighter? A spiritual leader? A
deity? While we may never know his true
identity, we can assume that he was an important
individual to be memorialized in such a way.
When one considers that this remarkable
architectural sculpture is just the tip of the
temple, the beauty of the completed temple
must be truly astounding.
