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I enclose pics of a 9.5 feet Chinese yellow silk banner with 9 characters surrounded by embroideries with floral decor. I would appreciate opinions about the banner (is this an Imperial banner?), estimate dating and translation of the inscription.
Thanks,
Michel

Hello Michel,

In my first graphic is a translation of the Chinese characters on your banner. The religious nature of it and the slogan it carries are consistent with what is found in Chinese Buddhist monasteries, temples and Pali schools. The first two characters 'nan' and 'wu', are being used phonetically to approximate Pali words, so are given alternate pronunciations of 'na' and 'mo' in this case, as indicated in my dictionary. The fifth through eighth characters also are used phonetically for the name of the Buddha Sakyamuni.

I see no particular imperial connotations about the banner or signs of great age in it for that matter. It is well made as it should be, because such items typically were and still are presented to the aforementioned types of Buddhist institutions by faithful worshipers interested in earning merit in this life and thereby improving their lots in future incarnations.

Were this an imperial textile creation I would expect to see imperial workmanship in the piece. First and foremost would be the 'gesi' tapestry weave or 'forbidden stitch' as it was nicknamed, which seems to be missing in the banner except perhaps in its flowers, which may be machine woven. Also, much of the work seems to use a couching stitch to attach metallic threads instead of them actually being woven into the design. My second group of images shows a chair frontal that probably was made for a late Qing or Republic Chinese wedding. This piece, woven using the gesi technique, is of obvious high quality but even so is not imperial.

When emperors visited Buddhist or other religious institutions, they typically would commemorate the event by donating a stone tablet with their personal inscription or maybe a gateway with calligraphic plaque or otherwise something else monumental. Perhaps the historians out there will disagree with me, but a Chinese emperor might donate such a banner if politic to do so, but he probably would have very little personal use for one around the palace, because he already held god status himself and practiced his personal and imperial rituals in some of the most opulent and best appointed structures in the world at the time.

As usual, I welcome criticism of my opinions.

Best regards,

Bill H

Hi Bill,
Thanks for your valuable input.
The embroideries are of applique type and were sewn to the yellow background. They are forbidden stitch and were done manually (I could not see the back of the embroideries but I am positive that are not machine made). All the appliques were precisely sewn on the yellow background and this required a tremendous amount of time. The embroideries feature lotus flowers that are sacro-sanct in Buddhism, but there are other laic representations as peonies and grapes. I believe that it has an Imperial background as only the emperor could use yellow color. Your thought that it could be an Imperial gift to a Buddhist monasteries is a plausible explanation. The only monastery for exclusive Imperial use was Tibetan monastery overlooking the Summer Palace in Beijing, place venerated by dowager Cy Xi.
Michel

For my personal peace of mind and the information of forum friends or anyone else who cares to read my lips, I wish to clarify that anything in my input regarding this banner that suggests to anyone that it has imperial provenance was an unintended inference and without foundation.

First of all, where's the imperial symbolism? This banner is devoid of the virtually obligatory iconography that marks a Chinese imperial gift. Emperors wanted to be known for their munificence, so hardly ever gave anything away that lacked some sort of dated inscription with seals or was otherwise unattributed. If not signed and sealed for all to see, then their gifts were so opulent or well made that nobody could doubt that they were imperial.

Neither were emperors in the habit of donating something such as this banner that almost anyone with a few taels of silver could have walked in off the street and had nicely stitched together in any late or post-Qing costume shop catering to Chinese opera, which type of business is still found today in Taiwan, Singapore, Bangkok and most other Asian capitals along with those that make religious items like this. But as is the case here, the product would reflect piecemeal economies of workmanship like the cutout and couched work that separates a respectable banner from a regal one. An imperial donation of a textile of any significance would have occupied Suzhou's most nimble thimbled fingers for months to produce a unitary and unparalleled work of art.

Furthermore, for whom was this banner's slogan written? An attempt to postulate it as intended for a Tibetan temple ignores the Chinese imperial penchant for inscribing gifts to Lamas in Tibetan Lanca script. This practice continued pretty much throughout the Qing dynasty, as evidenced in imperial porcelains. But even using Lanca script, it seems potentially implausible that a Manchu emperor would effectively prostrate himself upon such a verbal vehicle to profess fealty to the Sakyamuni Buddha. While some Ming emperors were known for being devout Buddhists, all Chinese imperial rulers had borne an implicit obligation of impartiality in religious affairs since the Song dynasty (960-1279), when a dramatic Sinicization of religion had been achieved with the reconciliation of differences among Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism known as the 'Sanjiao Heyi' or the 'Three-Doctrine Union'.

A related point that should be considered in assessing the piece is that many if not most Chinese Buddhists traditionally have approached their religion through the cults associated with mortal Buddhas such as Amitabha (the patron of Chan [Zen] practitioners), and Avalokiteshvara (through his avatar Guanyin). With this banner's slogan involking the teachings of the Buddha Sakyamuni, I see reason to speculate that it may have come from Southeast Asia, where I sensed from years of residence that the Jataka stories about Prince Siddhartha Gautama's path to enlightenment as the Buddha Sakyamuni are somewhat more mainstream in Buddhist life than now or previously in Mainland China.

Peonies, lotuses and the color yellow do not an emperor make in the absence of other emblems. The peony is tantamount to the national flower of China, in essence everyman’s flower, and far from being sacrosanct to Buddhists, the lotus has been adopted as an icon of other religions for some of the same reasons it is embraced by Buddhism. And virtually every Buddhist monk in Asia wears yellow in their saffron-hued robes. Anybody who disbelieves this is kidding themselves and should spend some time looking at similar banners shown in Google images of temples and Buddhist celebrations in China and Southeast Asia. If that remains unconvincing, then somebody should hogtie them in front of a PC monitor and make them look unblinkingly at websites such as that of the Wrigglesworth Gallery in London until they're willing to concede that most imperial textiles simply have a quality that needs very little guesswork to identify. But if you're allergic to duct tape on the wrists, then be my guest voluntarily at:

http://www.lindawrigglesworth.com/main.html

One more point: This forum is proscribed from commercial use by its owner, and I would further specifically deny permission for the use of any of my own stated views to promote the sale of this or any related item.

And that's all folks.

Bill H.

2nd set of images for reply.

Many thanks to Bill for the information provided including the plausible opinion that the banner is not of an imperial origin or connection.
Michel

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