China

Olfert Dapper’s “The Idoll Sechia” Engraving

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The Atlas Chinensis by Olfert Dapper (1636–1689) is among the most visually embellished European treatments of China from the late 17th century. Never traveling to Asia, Dapper used reports from the 2nd and 3rd Dutch embassies to China and consulted older Jesuit accounts.

The copperplate engravings were likely prepared in the workshop of publisher Jacob van Meurs who found reasonable success issuing illustrated books on Asia. The illustration here is from the 1674 German edition of Atlas Chinensis; it was originally published in Dutch in 1670.

In a section describing Buddhism, Dapper notes that images of the “Idoll Sechia” (Śākyamuni) are found in temples, “in the shape of a fair Youth; with a third Eye in his forehead.” Engravers had great liberty to interpret and add further details.

Some details, such as the European-style crown at the base of the altar, suggest fabricated visual embellishments intended to make the scene more familiar to European readers.

While other details that might appear odd, such as the flanking figures scratching their ears, are actually based on authentic Buddhist imagery of the arhats (C. luohan). Unpublished Jesuit sketches available to Dapper likely informed some of these details.

An English edition of Dapper’s work, published by John Ogilby in 1671 (and curiously misattributed to Arnoldus Montanus), can be viewed through Stanford University here: tinyurl.com/ycyw93eb.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Guanyin Icon in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

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Fu Manchu’s opulent Gobi Desert lair seen in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) was assembled by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons. While the Art Deco inspired torture chambers remain horror classics, Gibbons’ strategic use of Buddhist statuary also hint to the audience impending danger.

Boris Karloff portrayed the villainous doctor Fu Manchu, here sitting on a throne introducing his daughter Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy). This scene unfolds under the eyes of a shadowy Buddhist figure perched atop the throne; close inspection reveals this to be in the style of a Guanyin statue.

Many props Gibbons used were made at the studio, including some of the Buddhist statues seen on screen. The idiosyncratic elements, including the multi-rayed halo, suggested this statue was pieced together by set designers; it was seen previously in Daughter of the Dragon (1931).

Curiously, the ornate backrest of the throne makes it appear as if Fu Manchu himself is a statue encircled by a halo. Like a menacing statue come to life, the audience can surmise the visitor will suffer at the hands of the villain.

Fu Manchu played on the racist fears of the Yellow Peril; in film, these fears could also be signified by Buddhist imagery. For further discussion of the dueling positive and negative views of China in American cinema, see Naomi Greene’s From Fu Manchu to Kung Fu Panda (2014).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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William Alexander’s Idol Temple Aquatint Print

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Artist William Alexander (1767–1816) accompanied the first British diplomatic mission to China in 1793 to visually document the embassy’s trip. Eager to be the first Brit to provide wide-ranging eye-witness accounts of China, Alexander’s published works blend fantasy and reality.

After arriving in China and sailing inland routes from Macao to Beijing, Alexander was mostly quarantined to the Summer Palace of the emperor. Alexander’s illustrations sometimes draw heavily upon European chinoiserie imagery, creating idyllic pagoda-filled land

Alexander’s 1805 publication, The Costume of China [sic], was bound pairing images with short explanatory text. It’s notable that while the accompanying image shows a rudimentary Buddhist figure with crossed legs, the text only speaks generically of paganism, idols, and joss houses.

Alexander originally produced sketches and watercolors, but these were rendered into engravings for early publications recounting the British embassy. For The Costume of China, however, the London publisher used colored aquatints, a popular printmaking method at the turn of the 19th century.

As for the “continued biography” of this print, the masking tape indicates it was previously framed. The explanatory text was taped to the back of the image.

The pagoda was one of the most enduring visual icons of China in the European imagination. The crumbling top could indicate the diminishing stature of China in comparison so the growing industrial might and colonial reach of Britain.

Unlike earlier European visitors to China who focused on religion, few of Alexander’s artworks concern this topic, reflecting changing interests. For further discussion of Alexander’s illustrations of China, see Chen Yushu’s “William Alexander’s Image of Qing China” (2019).

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Wa Lum (Hualin) Temple 500 Arhats Hall Postcard

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The Hualin Temple in Guangzhou, China was well known among foreign tourists at the end of the 19th century for its Hall of Five Hundred Arhats. Reportedly made of clay, the icons were installed in the early 1850 and remained until the Cultural Revolution a century later.

This postcard dates to c. 1910 and was published by the postcard dealer Moritz Sternberg who operated from Queen’s Road in Hong Kong. The original photo, however, is much older and is often attributed to Lai Afong, the most influential Chinese photographer of the late Qing.

While the temple has a history dating to the 6th century, the Arhat Hall was built in the late 1840s. It was one of the sites visited by the pioneering Scottish photographer John Thompson when he sojourned in China from 1868 to 1872.

By Thompson’s visit, rumor had spread that one of the arhat statues was actually an image of Marco Polo (not shown). Thompson notes “careful inquiry proves this statement incorrect,” nevertheless, the belief still persists to the present.

While the icons were replaced in the 1990s, several photographs exist of the originals that were destroyed. A copy of the original photo for this postcard is found in the Hotz Collection of Leiden University Library, viewable here: https://tinyurl.com/2syahybe

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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1933 Golden Pavilion Laughing Buddha Playing Card

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The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair held a true wonder: A Chinese replica of an 18th century Tibetan Buddhist shrine hall, the Golden Temple of Jehol. While the hall included a main shrine to Guanyin, the Laughing Buddha at the front entrance was often used in advertising.

Due to growing conflict in East Asia, the Chinese government withdrew from the 1933 World’s Fair. Subsequently, organizers arranged for display of the recently acquired temple replica of Vincent Bendix, a well-known Chicago industrialist.

Bendix had funded the expedition of Sved Hedin a few years earlier to procure a replica of a Chinese Buddhist temple. The original interest was to display two replica temples with Tibetan religious objects, one in Chicago and one in Stockholm.

Only one replica was made, but Hedin acquired many ritual implements, including thankas and icons, to outfit the building. Named the Bendix Golden Temple (or Pavilion), it was a Chinese-made replica of the Wanfaguiyi Hall in present-day Chengde (Jehol).

The temple was rebuilt for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. As of 2018 the remains of the temple hall are in Stockholm, but the ritual items and furnishing have all been lost.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Alain Mallet’s Porcelain Pagoda of Baoen Temple Engraving

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In 1683, the French military commander Alain Mallet published his illustrated five-volume set entitled Description de l’univers. While it received tepid reviews, Mallet’s encyclopedic approach drew together diverse information about East Asia that was still relatively new to European audiences.

Trained as an engineer and draughtsman, Mallet is sometimes claimed to have drawn the images for his books. While his cartography and celestial charts may have been original works, the images of Asia were copies of earlier published illustrations.

This illustration of the famed Porcelain Pagoda of Baoen Temple in Nanjing was a copy of Johan Nieuhof’s illustration more than a decade earlier. This included the irregular mountains in the back and the people added for scale.

It was publications like Description de l’univers, however, the kept the pagoda alive in the European imagination, making it a key visual element in chinoiserie.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Liebig’s Chinese Buddha Advertising Card

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Gods of Antiquity: In the early age of black and white mass market publications, chromolithography ushered in a new era of visual media. From massive broadside to Victorian trade cards, vibrant color was the future and the British Liebig company capitalized on this market.

Liebig started producing trade cards in 1872 and by the turn of the century their cards were printed in several languages. Several different sets were made each year and these sets soon became collector’s items, predating hobbies such as baseball card collecting.

In 1895 Liebig released the Gods of Antiquity set, with the card here showing the worship of the Buddha by “Chinese nobles.” The scene is mostly a hodge-podge of turn of the century Chinese stereotypes.

A gold Buddha, sitting awkwardly with legs crossed, takes center stage in this imaginary temple scene.

Chinese Buddhist rituals use instruments, but not of the kind depicted here.

For a short introduction to the Liebig Company’s trade cards by Princeton University’s Firestone Library, follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/3nzvs6mh.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Thomas Allom’s Sticks of Fate Engraving

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Having never traveled to China, Thomas Allom’s illustrations retain a touch of the fantastic common among his European pictorial predecessors. After the end of the Opium War in 1842 there was renewed interest in China and Allom’s book was among the first to serve this audience.

The text for China: In a Series of Views was composed by Rev. George Wright. He commonly portrayed the Chinese as inferior and infatuated with bizarre customs, reflecting a growing sentiment among Europeans after the Opium War.

A trained illustrator, Allom prepared watercolor paintings and had them engraved for his books. While some paintings were copies of earlier works by others, including those in the British military stationed in China, this illustration appears to be the creation of Allom.

Overall, Allom creates a dynamic image showing a commonplace Chinese temple practice of fortune telling. Some elements, however, appear out of place.

The New York Public Library has digitized Allom’s works on China with a layout of all his engraved illustrations viewable here: https://tinyurl.com/3b74hu7m.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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1876 Centennial Ivory Pagoda Print

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Lost Ivory Pagoda? Japan’s exhibit at the 1876 Centennial Exposition is often credited as inspiring American Japonisme. Less celebrated is China’s involvement who also made a splash with its exhibit, including an intricate 4-foot ivory pagoda.

The 1830s and 40s saw a handful of private Chinese museums open, but the Centennial included objects sent to the US by Chinese representatives. By plan, the objects chosen reflected the tastes of Chinese elite, including silks, porcelain, paintings, and fine teas.

The carved ivory display merited some of the most attention, especially a fenced-in miniature pagoda surrounded by fruit trees and figurines. The artist here, working for the publisher Frank Leslie, notes the name of the Canton manufacturer, Ho A Ching.

We are told the pagoda was priced at $600. Many items were acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but I have not been able to confirm if its currently in the collection. A photo of the original pagoda can be seen here: https://tinyurl.com/mtkv2wzk.

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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Auguste Wahlen’s “Bonzes chinois” Engraving

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What did Buddhist Monks look like to Europeans? At least one visual tradition going back to the late 17th century depicts Buddhist monks in comedic caricature, possibly wearing attire similar to court minstrels. The figures here are identified as “bonzes chinois” (Chinese clerics).

There’s plenty of research yet to be done in this arena. This image appeared in Auguste Wahlen’s Mœurs, usages et costumes de tous les peuples du monde in 1843, showing the durability of this trope. The illustration was executed by Edouard Vermorcken.

Wahlen tells us Europeans generically call Buddhist monks “bonzes” – which is a corruption of the Japanese bonsō 凡僧, “cleric.” He also acknowledges Chinese monks are called “heshang” 和尚 and Tibetan monks “lamas.”

While Wahlen does not address the monk’s clothing, he does note their use of musical instruments ritual practice. Identified in the text as a “machine de bois, creuse et de forme ovale” (wooden, hollow, oval-shaped instrument), this instrument is now commonly called a “wooden fish.”

Wahlen’s book and accompanying illustrations have been scanned by the Getty Research Institute, available here: https://tinyurl.com/5n6pyedy #BuddhasInTheWest

The Buddhas in the West Material Archive is a digital scholarship project that catalogues artifacts depicting Buddhist material culture for Western audiences. It’s comprised of prints, photos, and an assortment of ephemera and other objects. For a brief introduction to this archive, visit the main Buddhas in the West project page.

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