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5. God of War Guandi Tibeto-Chinese 18th-19th c. Distemper on cloth 35 x 28.6 cm. / 13 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. |
This unusual work presents the Taoist God of War in the company of three Tibetan Buddhist teachers. The Taoist god is Guandi, Emperor Guan, who remains an immensely popular deity in China today. A martial figure, his military and spiritual protection was sought by individuals and the state. As Stephen Little has noted, Guandi (Emperor Guan) evolved from a third century Chinese military hero, Guan Yu, who underwent hagiographic transformation during the Song dynasty (960-1279) and became a guardian of the Taoist faith as Marshal Guan. During the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644), he became known as God of War, Emperor Guan (Guandi). 82 The red-complexioned, powerful figure is enveloped in voluminous robes and armour. His right hand makes a closed fist, the knuckles pressed into his right knee, the other hand rests somewhat imperiously on his thigh. One attendant presents an offering wrapped in cloth, the other holds Guandi's traditional attribute, a halberd with a long, curved blade. The presence of three Gelukpa order Tibetan monks near the top of the painting indicates that the painting was done in China during the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, when Tibetan Buddhists and particularly Gelukpa order monks had close ties with Qing dynasty (1644-1911) rulers. 83 Tibetan Buddhism was the state religion during the Manchu-ruled Qing, reaching a high point during the Qianlong period (1736-96). The Qianlong Emperor was himself a devotee of Tibetan Buddhism, a keen patron of the arts, and surviving works that he commissioned demonstrate a unique blending of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhist elements. This work may be compared with a remarkable portrait of Qianlong in the guise of the bodhisattva Manjusri. 84 One finds similar architectural details and very similar cloud formations in both works. This painting is likely to have been commissioned at a Taoist temple in China during the Qing, probably during the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. 85 Provenance: English private collection 82. Stephen Little, Taoism and the Arts of China (Chicago, 2000), pp. 23-24. 83. See Terese Tse Bartholomew, "Thangkas of the Qianlong Period" in Singer and Denwood, Tibetan Art, pp. 104-117. 84. Published in Bartholomew, op. cit., fig. 103. 85. See an earlier, Kangxi reign (1662-1722) painting of the god in Little, Taoism, p. 258. Detail: close up Detail: close up |