JOURNAL OF
ASIAN CULTURE
GRADUATE STUDENTS INASIAN STU D IES AT UCLA
JOURNAL OF ASIAN CULTURE
Vo1. I V Spring 1980
THE WU FAMILY SHRINES Conrad Rudolph I.
The Positions of Fairbank and Croissant The offering shrines of the Wu family in southwest
Shandung have long been considered to be the central monument of Han art.
They are, in addition, important
indicators of Han social history, due to the completeness of the reliefs which cover the interiors of the shrines. The shrines were constructed during the Eastern Han dynas ty (25-221 A.D. ) to serve the Confucian cult of ancestor worship.
They gradually fell into ruin over the centuries
until by the Song dynasty (960-1279 A.D. ) only one shrine was standing, when they were first studied by the antiquar ian Hong Kua
!��.
Since then the shrines have figured
prominently in the historiography of Chinese art.
In 1786
the Chinese scholar Huang Yi �
;
of carved stones at the site.
The central group was known
as the Wu Liang
excavated four main groups
�, or the offering shrine of Wu Liang.
The three other groups were named relative to the latter, that is, the Left Shrine, the Rear Shrine, and the Front Shrine.
There were also several other stone carvings found
at the site such as biographical stelae, pillars, and monu mental lions.
While the shrines have been the object of
numerous studies by both Asian and Western scholars, until fairly recently these studies have been limited to the icon ographical aspect of the shrines' reliefs. Before Wilma Fairbank's article of 1941, there had been no attempt to reconstruct the arrangement of the reliefs of these shrines, and therefore no attempt to deal with them in a coherent manner (Fairbank:
1972).
Fairbank acquired
rubbings of most of the reliefs of the site, made scale photographs of them, and then reconstructed three of the
22
Conrad Rudolph
four offering shrines from the various groups of stones. She arranged them according to , the size, shape, composi tions, and style of the different stones (Fairbank 1972: 54).
There is presently not enough evidence to allow for
a reconstruction of the Rear Shrine. The result shows rectangular shrines of three walls with the longitudinal axis running east to west.
The
north side was open and supported in the center by a pillar.
All three walls were covered from floor to
ceiling with registers of flat figural reliefs.
For the
most part the reliefs portray such Confucian themes as female virtue, .filial piety, loyalty, and good and bad rule (Sickman 1956:38; Fairbank 1972:59).,
They also depict
chariot processions and mythological and historical beings and events.
Although these reliefs vary somewhat among
the different shrines, the general themes seem to be the same.
The focal point of each shrine is the central
relief of the south wall (Plates 1, 2, and 3).
This
relief is quite similar in all of the shrines.
It consists
of a two s,tory building with men perform; ng what appears to be a ritual or ceremony on the lower level, and women also possibly performing a ritual or ceremony on the upper level.
To the side of the building is a large tree with
a chariot, horse, and archer next to it. Fairbank, using the work of other authors, associates all four of the shrines with various members of the family by matching the biographical data of the stelae with information from the shrines such as offices, events, or literary references.
The first is Wu Ban
an official when only 25 years old.
iJ\ £1i , who became
He was sent to a trouble
spot on the western border where he died in 145. Chinese scholar, Ye Han
1t:J�,
The
attributes the Left Shrine
to him since it has references to a certain literary work
23
WU FAMILY SHRINES studied by him ( Fairbank 1972:83 ) . This hypothesis is the most tenuous of all the attri�utions and is by no means conclusive.
However, if the attribution is correct,
this shrine would have been the first to have been erected, possibly at the same time as the entrance pillars.
The
latter were commissioned on April 21, 147, according to an inscription on one of them. Wu Kaiming
�
�� a� ,
Wu Ban's father, died the next
year, 148, at the age of 57.
He became an official when
46 years old and was promoted several times.
The Rear
Shrine, which has not been reconstructed, is attributed to him by Ye Han because one of its reliefs, probably · from a side wa11, portrays an officia1 of the same office as that once held by Wu Kaiming Wu Liang it:#. died in 151.
'
( Fairbank 1972:83 ) .
a scholar without public position,
Following the reasoning of
�douard Chavannes,
Fairbank attributes the Central Shrine to him.
In one of
the reliefs a kneeling man appears to present something to an oxcart marked "a superior man who has no public functions. " Chavannes believes that this scene refers to an event in Wu Liang's life when he was honored by the presentation of a silk from a local sub-prefect. The Front Shrine is attributed by the Japanese archae
Omura Segai :1: 110> J'l to Wu Rong 1;\ '!jf.. son of Wu Kaiming and brother of Wu Ban ( Fairbank 1972:82 ) . He ologist
,
sees a correspondence between the titles of the officials in the chariot procession and the positions held by Wu Rong at various times in his career.
The main chariot is
entitled "at the time when he was postmaster, " one position held by Wu Rong during his long career.
Fairbank accepts
the correspondence between the title and this position, ignoring the rest, since she believes that the figure in the main chariot was a representation of the deceased. Fairbank concludes with a collective interpretation
Conrad Rudolph
24 of the central scenes.
According to this interpretation,
the central scene represents a "pavilion" with the deceased receiving homage in it. feasting.
In the upper level women are
She believes that this explanation is in accord
with the purpose of the shrine as a whole (Fairbank 1972:
84-85).
She identifies the tree next to the pavilion as
the fusang tree��
�
.
Although not relating the whole
myth of this tree, she suggests that its purpose on the south wall is to counteract the absence of the sun's rays which are blocked out by this wall. In 1964 Doris Croissant wrote a long study of the Wu shrines (Croissant 1964).
In it she accepts Fairbank's
reconstruction, but what really concerns her is their function and iconography.
She tries to show that the art
program was primarily determined by the cult which was served by the shrine, a hero cult (Croissant 1964:113). Believing this cult to be grounded in Confucianism, she looks to Confucian writings to explain the central scene rather than turning to myth and undocumented interpretation as Fairbank does in the Baihu
13
her work.
£®.'
A Confucian commentary,
was written in 79 A.D. as the
result of a conference called by the Emperor Xi ao Zhang
�i
.
It discussed an extremely wide range of subjects
including portents, rituals, and sacrifices.
In the pre
vious period the attitude toward portents was problemati cal.
The founder of the Eastern Han dynasty, Emperor
Guangwu 7C
iK
, was a fi rm believer in portents.
With his
accession the use of and belief in portents became official ly accepted (Tjan, tr. 1949:128).
Croissant refers to
one portent of good rule described in the Baihu
to
explain the tree which stands next to the building in the central reliefs of the Wu shrines:
"When the [King's]
descendants [are treated] equally, then the grows at the doors of his chambers.
n-lien
t \t
Pin-lien is the name
WU FAMILY SHR INES of a tree. (branches) .
25
It has interlacing and mutually connecting Therefore it grows at the doors of his chambers,
symbo 1izing the continuity of hi s progeny" (Croissant
1964: 147).
She also cites the Rui
tu
I�/l �:
"When
the King observes the [proper] distinction between the principal wife and concubines, when there is [proper] discrimination between men and women, then the pin-lien-yueh grows at [the doors of] his chambers" (Croissant 1964: 148). Apparently this tree is not the one attribute of an ideal lord.
tree but the binlian, The archer next to the
tree is not a mythical archer but represents an act of entreaty which was made to heaven at the birth of a son by shooting arrows in the four main directions (Croissant
1964: 137).
According to Croissant the scene then represents
the rule of the ideal sovereign who maintains correct familial behavior.
The continuity of his progeny and male
succession are indicated by the tree and the archer.
Proper
distinction between his principal wife and his concubines is shown by the tree and by the deference shown the main female figure in the upper level of the building.
Croissant
again refers to contemporary sources to explain the chariot
and horse as attributes of the office and rank of the central figure in the building:
Deng Xizi
1fP� t
describes the
prince's power as his chariot, his official as his horse (Croissant 1964: 150-152).
The portents on the roof
signify earthly and heavenly harmony.
In short, the whole
scene represents the moral integrity of the lord.
A key
point for Croissant is that in the same way these attributes may be applied to a governor or loyal official who in the Han period were seen as proxies of the emperor.
In fact,
she sees these scenes as ideal portraits of the Wu digni taries receiving homage in their other-worldly residences. They are honored symbolically by a procession of officials similar to those which were actually made to offering
Conrad Rudolph
26 shrines.
But no single real event is shown.
All of this
is analogous to the bureaucratic organization of the administrative system and explicable by Confucian state teaching ( Croissant I I.
1964:161-162) .
A Critique of Fairbank and Croissant, Including a Short Integrated History of the Wu Family and Site Fairbank's reconstruction of the Wu family shrines is
a necessary first step in understanding them. not enough.
But it is
Apparently, Fairbank herself does not think
it is enough, since she entitles her closing section "New Interpretations Based on the Reconstructions. "
This section
may be seen as her answer to previous claims in the article that her reconstruction would be of importance in explaining
1)
the interrelationships and positional significance of
the reliefs, and whole ( Fairbank
2) the ritual 1972:45) .
purpose of the building as a
rt seems that by "interrelationships and positional significance " Fairbank means nothing more penetratinq than a matching-up of decorative oatterns for reconstructive pur poses and the detection of symbolic figures of the main points of direction.
No deeper study is made of the reliefs,
and the important questions are left unasked and unanswered. For example, what is the relationship of the Confucian themes of filial piety and good rule to the central pavilion scene?
Why were the shrines constructed on an east-west
longitudinal axis?
What is significant about this orienta
tion which required a symbol of the south point of the compass in the central relief of each shrine?
Why was it
necessary to "counteract " the absence of the sun's rays? In fact, Fairbank hardly discusses proper interrelationships at all.
Her concern with reconstruction is legitimate,
but when she finally does get around to an analysis of the content, she concerns herself mainly with physical
WU FAMILY SHRINES
27
characteristics of the reconstruction that might be involved with the content, namely, the orientation. To Fairbank, the figure of Xiwangmu �
I
tf] is only an
indicator of the direction west. She 'is not concerned with Xiwangmu's presence or with the fact that Xiwangmu is a symbol of immortality and as such may have greater meaning in this funerary shrine.
After determining that
the tree scene is on the south waJl, she accepts the sun mYth explanation, although this particular myth was apparently not known in the literature of the region and its relation to the purpose of the shrine cann9t be explained.
As proof that the tree was a
directional indicator, Fairbank compares it to one other shrine with the same orientation.
In such a case the tree
would necessarily have to be on the south wall due to its relation to the pavilion scene regardless of its meaning. In fact, her whole argument suffers from a lack of compari sons with other shrines and a hesitation to go outside of the rubbings themselves. Fairbank also claims that her reconstruction ;s important in explaining the ritual purpose, which she says must be kept in mind continually as one studies the shrines. U nfortunately, this idea is not developed.
Only in
the
most general way does she mention sacrificing and bowing to an image of the deceased.
In discussing the purpose of the
shrine, which she believes was ancestor worship, she states only that the "so1emn ceremonies have naturally demanded a proper setting" ( Fairbank 1972:45) .
Neither
is Confucianism mentioned in relation to the cult of ancestor worship, nor is the role of ancestral temples in governmental and private affairs.
Actually, Confucianism
and the ceremonies performed in the ancestral temples did much more than demand these proper settings, they determined them.
In spite of her declared emphasis on ritual she
28
Conrad Rudolph
never discusses the central scenes as representing ritual acts.
And there is not a word about the fact that all
these scenes quite clearly and precisely portray totally different events.
The act of homage is not even explained.
One would like to know who is Rerforming it, and why? it related to feudal or governmental ceremonies?
Is
Did
ancestor worship contain a ritual which can specifically be called an act of homage?
How do the other reliefs of
Confucian theme relate to this one?
Finally, it must be
said that Fairbank's use of the word "designs" to describe the Wu reliefs is indicative of her ultimate inability to come to terms with the content and therefore the deter mining influences of these shrines (Fairbank 1972:45) . Croissant goes much further in explaining the deter mination and function of the Wu shrines.
As noted above,
she is convinced that the art program was determined by the hero cult which was served by the shrine.
She is also
convinced that these shrines had no relation to the ances tor cult (Croissant 1964:161) .
The problem with Croissant,
and to a much greater degree Fairbank, is that she has not sufficiently taken into account the following factors: 1) the immediate conditions which determined the Wu shrines, such as the social situation of the Wu family and its indi vidual family members, who erected them and what were their motivations, both ostensible and real; 2) the implications of the similarities and the dissimilarities of the central pavilion scenes of all three shrines; 3) the reliefs' apparent function and their ideological function; and 4) the greater social and historical context within which these shrines existed. U nfortunately, little is known of the family and its individual members.
With what information is available,
however, it is still possible to put forth a tentative explan ation of the circumstances surrounding the Wu site and its meaning
WU FAMILY SHRINES
29
The stele of Wu Ban, the first of the four to die, contains most of the general information about the family (Chavannes 1913) .
In terms of social hierarchy, the Wu
traced their lineage back to the highesi level, to King Wuding
� :r
of the Shang dynasty (1766 B.C.? - 1028 B.C.) .
Since the Han had come to power the family had enjoyed a continuous succession of both honors and offices. claimed to be very loyal to this dynasty.
They
While the
occupations of only four Wu family members are known, these are the four to whom the shrines have been erected. Significantly, three of these four were officials:
a
father and his two sons. The father, Wu Kaiming, was born c.91.
In 137, at the age
of forty-six he was recommended for an official post due to his filial piety and unselfishness.
Forty-six
years was by no means an advanced age for entry into govern ment service.
Only five years before, in 132, the emperor
decreed that all those who were to be recommended had to be over 40 years old (Hoon 1956:140) . The two inscriptions which deal with Wu Ban do not explicitly state when he received his first appointment or the conditions under which it was made.
It seems that
he entered government service in his early twenties, probably not much before 145.
There are indications that
his first appointment was not made upon the basis of filial piety, the most common qualification for service.
Rather
it seems that his first appointment was due to a custom whereby members of the families of officials above a certain rank who had served for at least three years had the option of entering public service (Ch'u 1972) .
It was just at the
time of Wu Ban's first appointment, c.143-145, that his father received an important promotion, possibly qualify ing his son for this option.
This rule would explain the
discrepancy between the father's and the son's ages at the
30
Conrad Rudolph
time of their first government jobs.
In any event, Wu
Ban was soon recommended for his filial piety and integrity to a post in Dunhuang.
Although he was successful
in controlling border troubles, he died soon arriving there in 145.
after
In this year his grandmother died
and his father, Wu Kaiming, withdrew from office and went into official mourning. On April 11, 147, his retainers erected a stele in his honor at the site of his offering shrine.
It is this
stele that gives the short history of the Wu family. Toward the end of the inscription they stated that they were in mourning for their master and that they would celebrate him in stone and metal so that his fame would be imperishable and he would be praised for 100,000 years. Although hard proof is lacking, it seems possible that this shrine was erected by Wu Banis retainers.
During the
Eastern Han period it was common for officials to erect monuments to a departed colleague (Chang 1975:127). custom was especially observed by subordinates.
This
Since
the co- signers of the inscription refer to Wu Ban as their "master," it seems that this may have been the case for his shrine. Ten days later, on April 21, 147, Wu Kaiming and his three brothers ordered that the two entrance pillars and two stone lions be carved.
Chavannes believes that this inscrip
tion indicates the previous tomb of an unknown person (Chavannes 1913:102).
The history of the Wu family in the
first inscription was of such a general qharacter as to imply a purpose broader than the memorialization of a single man.
Although the stele was set up
by associates of
Wu Ban, the Wu family itself must have had considerable lever age in the matter. The second inscription recorded the commission of funerary paraphernalia which, though Wu Ban was mentioned on
31
WU FAMILY SHRINES
one of them, cannot be seen as having been specifically constructed on account of his death�
They gave order and
processional direction to the site as a whole and perhaps replaced wood structures which were serving this function for the burial area which Chavannes believes previously existed.
This,evidence suggests a conscious program of
upgrading or renovation, almost a Ireestab1ishment" in stone of the Wu family site.
The use of stone is important
as it indicates not only the financial ability for such a project, but also implies the social status permitting this effort and the social environment which would prompt such a d�sire to project one's family in such prestigious and permanent terms.
All extant stelae make reference to the
permanence of stone.
One gets the impression that the Wu
family conferred and decided that their time had come, that they had "arrived.
II
This impression is strongly reinforced by the appearance of two more offering shrines in ing.
the years immediately follow
Wu Kaiming died on Dec. 14, 148, at the age of 57.
It
is very likely that he died 'before the pillars and first offering shrine were completed.
His stele is no longer
extant and the 1tttle information that has been recorded from it gives no suggestion as to who erected either the stele or his shrine.
It is regrettable that there was also
not enough evidence for Fairbank to reconstruct his shrine, since it w6u1d be of great interest to study the shrine in relation to the other shrines and central pavilion scenes. If Wu' Kaiming's shrine was rot begun until after his death, it was probably near completion or just completed when his older brother, Wu Liang, died in 151.
He was 74
years old and 14 years the senior of Wu Kaiming.
According
to his stele, he had chosen to lead a retired life as a scholar and actively avoided public office. he was animated by loyalty and filial piety.
Neverthe1ess, On his death
Conrad Rudolph
32
three of his sons and one grandson had an offering shrine built to him with an altar and area in front of it.
The
stone for these works had to be brought from some distance and the whole affair reportedly cost them all they had. The shrine was somewhat smaller and simpler than the others. The presence of an altar and area in front of this less expensive shrine would suggest that the others had them, too.
The offering rites to the dead known as
sangli
t�t
must have been
J..:!.li ff ft
and
performed separately at the
shrine and altar. Wu Rong, like his brother Wu Ban, seems to have entered public service on the basis of his father's status. No personal talents are cited which qualify him for his early posts.
He held several of these posts successively
until at the age of 36 he was noticed and recommended for his filial piety and integrity, that is, promoted for his own merit.
At the time of his death in 168 he was an aid
to the chief of the guards of the interior of the palace. His stele does not directly mention who erected it, but it does say, "Considering his virtue...we have cut a stone and engraved a eulogy to transmit
his fame."
n
ijd
indefinitely raise
Then the inscription goes on to cite Wu Rang's
civil and military talents, those talents which would be of most concern to other government officials.
Although
damaged at this point, one line mentions his ancient mili tary prestige.
This line might be a reference to the
tracing of the family lineage back to King Wuding. stele of Wu Ban, which was set up
The
by retainers of the de
ceased, also mentioned this lineage.
The shrines of these
two men also show similar military scenes - in contrast to the scholar Wu Liang's - and put more emphasis on the procession of government officials than does the shrinp of Wu Liang.
Their larger sizes and more elaborate structures
indicate a greater resource of funds for both.
This evidence
33
WU FAMILY SHRINES
is not enough to prove that associates of Wu Rong set up the stele and/or offering shrine, but in connection with the customs of the time, the possibility must be considered. This short history of the Wu family and their burial site still has not answered the question raised by Croissan t of the cult served by the shrines, that is, whether it is a hero cult or an ancestor cult.
Neither has it explained
the meaning of the central scenes which has been uncriti cally accepted as a homage scene.
The general compositions
of these scenes are so similar that all authors so far have overlooked, or ignored, the diss�milarities.
It is by the
implications of the similarities and the dissimilarities of these three central reliefs that answers to these questions may be at least tentatively offered.
Croissant states that
the hero cult of the Wu shrines had no relation to the ancestor cult.
Undoubtedly hero cults did exist, but do
the Wu shrines really exemplify such a cult? led a li , fe removed from public affairs.
Wu Liang
He may or may not
have actually possessed the personal virtue and learning alleged in his stele, but these attributes certainly were not enough to generate such a cult.
Besides, the construc
tion of his shrine was strictly a family enterprise inspired by filial piety as stated in the inscription.
There is no
evidence that the event went any further than Wu Liang's three sons and one grandson.
There is no evidence to suggest
a hero cult. The evidence does suggest an ancestor cult.
If this
is so, Croissant's argument that the others might belong to a hero cult is weakened since she accepts them as all serving the same function.
In other words, when dealing
with broad concepts for these shrines, what is true for one should be true for the others due to their similarities. Furthermore, the earliest inscription from the site sets out the ancestral history as if by
program and appears to have
34
Conrad Rudolph
been made in collaboration with the family.
The pillar
cites only filial piety as the reason for its existence. In fact, filial piety is a theme emphasized throughout the inscriptions and reliefs.
If any of these were erected by
retainers of the deceased, it was as a result of the re ciprocal nature of the Han bureaucratic system whereby a special bond existed between an office holder and the official who recommended him for that position.
Croissant
recognizes this situation, but overreacts in her estimation of it as a hero cult.
It is possible that just such a
recommendation ceremony is portrayed in the cen�ral scene of Wu Banis shrine. The similarities of the three central reliefs suggest that scenes of like concept are being- portrayed.
They all
take place in an identical building with a comparable grouping of women in the upper story.
They all have the
binlian tree outside along with various other portents. Even the ritual scenes in the lower stories have the same general composition of a hierarchically large, seated, and pa�sive figure with an attendant next to him.
Before him
are two or three active and hierarchically subordinate figures who, due to the precision of their gestures and the objects which they hold, seem to be performing some ritual. However, the gesture of the central figure changes slightly and those of the figures before him vary so significantly as to indicate undeniably different rituals or perhaps (but less likely due to the change in subordinates) different stages of the same ritual.
If all these scenes do have one
general concept, that concept would most likely be suggested by the two main features of the ritual scenes:
the presiding
figure and the building or location. The presiding figure is indicated by a number of means. The most important of these is scale.
He is the largest
of all the figures, denoting his heirarchically higher
35
WU FAMILY SHRINES
position and more important social role.
A pair of
curtains hang from the ceiling, framing his head and drawing attention to him.
He is the only seated figure,
again a sign of social superiority.
He is emphasized and
set off from the others by having a slightly greater area of .free space around him.
At the same time all action is
directed toward him, all figures turn toward him, but his attitude is passive like that of the ruler described by the Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu:
"The ruler of mankind makes
non-action his principle and unselfishness as a treasure. If he maintains the position in which he remains non-active and makes use of an officialdom perfect· in every respect... the ministers will rightly perform their duties, without his having to think about it himself.
Consequently no one will
have seen the ruler do anything; but a successful administra tion will have been achieved"
(Chang
1975:103).
The success
ful administration of a king is also referred to by the binlian tree outside the building.
The chariot under the
tree refers to an emperor or a prince as well'.
Emperor,
king, or prince, the figure in the center apparently is a ruler, not the deceased.
this figure
may
As to Croissant's conjecture that
represent the deceased by proxy, there are
no firm grounds to justify such an important statement. Furthermore, any desire to portray the deceased could have been amply fulfilled in
the figures of the official class,
that class to which he actually belonged. The building is more difficult to identify securely. Croissant states that this typ� of structure was erected in front of graves, among other uses (Croissant
1964:133-134).
It is more the ritual performed within it than any other evidence which suggests that this building is an ancestral temple.
The ritual by which ranks were bestowed is described
in the L ij i zhusu
�� f.i:.)i LA-:
"Anci ently, when the en1ightened
ruler conferred ranks upon the virtuous or emoluments upon the
36
Conrad Rudolph
meritorious, the conferring had always to take place in the ancestral temple, to show that he dared not act of his own accord.
Therefore on the day of the sacrifice, after
the first presenting [of the cup to the representative of the ancestor], the ruler descended and stood south of the eastern steps, with his face to the south, while those who were to receive their appointments faced north.
The
recorder was on the right ·of the ruler, holding the tablets [on which the appointments were written], from which he read.
[The appointed] prostrated himself twice, knocking
his head against the ground.
He received the writing, and
returned [to his home], where he presented it in his ancestral temple. rewards
II
Such was the bestowing of ranks and
(Tjan, tr. 1949:225).
In the central relief of the shrine of Wu Ban the ruler sits at one end of the hall with an attendant.
This
attendant may be seen as beside him, as described in the Liji, rather than behind him due to the tendency to avoid overlapping of figures in this relief.
Two figures pros
trate themselves before the ruler, knocking their heads against the ground, also as described in the Liji. appears to be on top
One
of the other, a perspectival device
indicating that both are side by side and that neither has preference over the other.
In front of them is an unidenti
fiable object on the floor, possibly.the tablet upon which their appointments were written.
Behind the two kneeling
figures is a man of rank between that of the ruler and the appointees.
His rank is portrayed by his standing yet
slightly bowing posture, by his intermediate size, and by l his cap which is the same as that worn by the ruler. His position close behind the kneeling figures suggests support fur them.
In this connection, his bowing also implies that
he is offering them to the ruler.
The ruler receives them with the gesture of an outstretched and open hand.
WU FAMILY SHRINES
37
According to the Liji, the newly appointed officials would have returned home after this ceremony and presented the tablet in their own ancestral temples, possibly in a shrine such as the one in which this relief was displayed. If one accepts this scene as representing the ritual of recommendation, then one must accept that the building in which it takes place is an ancestral temple. However, the ritual differs somewhat from the ritual described in the Liji.
The ruler is seated instead of
standing, and the ritual takes place inside the ancestral temple rather than outside.
By showing the ruler sitting,
his greater social importance is emphasized all the more in the space aflowed by a hierarchically larger size.
In
addition, the Liji ritual was described as "ancient." Although there was a revival of earlier rituals at this time, it is possible that this particular ceremony had come to be performed with the ruler sitting.
For the same reason the
ritual may have been shown as taking place within the temple. This practice may also be due to a lack of space:
it was
considered more important to show the locality of the ritual with the portents than to have a precise record of events. In other words, the scene is abbreviated but all pertinent information is present. The attribution of this building as an ancestral temple is of importance beyond its mere identification or even the identification of the ritual as ancestor worship.
Even if
the ritual could not be identified, as is the case with the other two central reliefs, the general thrust of the projec ted ideology of the pavilion scene could be recognized as ancestral approval of all action performed by the ruler and, in effect, rule by the ancestors themselves.
To requote
the Liji, "Anciently, when the enlightened ruler conferred. ranks upon
the virtuous or emoluments upon the meritorious,
the conferring had always to take place in the ancestral
Conrad Rudolph
38
temple, to show that he dared not act of his own accord (Tjan, tr. 1949: 225) .
II
The ancestral temple served the
very real function of showing ancestral approval of all appointments made; by extension this applied to the whole government.
The appointment of able subordinates was taken
quite seriously.
To the ruler it meant continued mainten
ance of rule itself.
To the ruled it could have been as
crucial as the difference between peace and warfare, or between a decent level of sustenance and starvation due to over taxation and poor administration.
The Hanshu
�� it
mentioned five signs which qualified Gaozu�� �A to found the Western Han dynasty (206 B. C.
-
9 A. D.) :
1) he was
a descendant of the Emperor Vao, 2) he �ad special bodily marks, 3) heavenly signs appeared, 4) he had good character, and 5) he could select good helpers (Eberhard 1973:38) . Of these five personal signs it is possible to apply the last three to the rulers in the central reliefs.
Since
the appearance of positive heavenly signs was connected with good character or virtue, the selection of good helper ranked as one of the two most important qualifications of any ruler according to this text.
It is interesting to note
that these last three signs all appear in the Wu Ban relief. Good character is shown through the appearance of the heavenly signs (the chariot and the
tree) , while the
choosing of able assistants comprises the central action. Returning to the subject of ancestral participation in government, the Baihu its implications:
is even more specific about
liThe Feudal Lords are enfeoffed in the
ancestral temple, to show that [the King] does not act of his own accord.
It means that the laws and ordinances are
all institutions of the ancestors, and that for every act performed, announcement must be made to them" (Tjan, tr. 1949: 224) .
Like the
the Baihu tong removes the total
responsibility for certain governmental actions from the
39
WU FAMILY SHRINES ruler.
By sharing them with the ancestors, this procedure
not only gives such actions greater authority, it also legitimizes them.
Even more, by declaring that the laws
and ordinances are all institutions of the ancestors, with out mentioning the ruler, the Baihu
implies that a
subject is ultimately responsible to infallible spiritual powers for failure to comply, rather than to imperfect earthly powers.
Though.not complete, this concept is the
basis of the ideological statement of the central relief of the offering shrine of Wu Ban.39 It should be mentioned that the founder of the Western Han dynasty erected temples thro�ghout the empire.
His
successor, the Emperor Yuan, explained in 40 B.C. that "this was the best expedient by which power was established, subversive intentions eradicated, and the people unified" (Chang 1975:40) .
Thus the ancestral temple was clearly
seen during the Western Han dynasty as a political tool. The Eastern Han claimed to
be a political and cultural
restoration of this dynasty (Tjan, tr. 1949:146) .
It was
Wu family's declaration of loyalty to the Han and their prosperity under them that was recorded in the stele of Wu Ban. The significance to the emperor of appointing subor dinate officials has been briefly discussed.
More impor
tant to the Wu reliefs is the sig nificance of the recom mendation system to the official class.
At this time in
China political strength lay in the hands of powerful families which were mostly drawn from the consort families and the official class.
Through the exercise of de facto
power they came to control government and society, often coming into conflict with the de jure power of the emperor (Ch'u 1972:160) .
The consort families gained power through
ties to the throne by marriage.
The official class gained
and maintained power by means of the recommendation system
40
Conrad Rudolph
(Ch'u 1972:205).
The Wu family is an example of this process.
Official families often held on to excessive political power for many generations through this system.
Perhaps
what seems to have been the conscious and deliberate establishment of a permanent Wu family burial site was in anticipation of just such a prospect.
The fact that the
recommendation of every official of the Wu family was mentioned at least once in the often very short biographical inscriptions underscores the importance of this system for the official class.
Although this system became
increasingly corrupt, and allowed the official class to assume great power, it underwent a short revitalization under Emperor Shun just about the time the relief was carved (this may have had some influence on the adoption of this theme by the Wu family). Croissant believes that the Wu reliefs show the rule of an ideal sovereign, the symbolism of which was trans ferred by proxy to the deceased bureaucrat who was portrayed in his other-worldly residence.
The evidence indicates that
this theory is only partially correct. fragmented.
Han society was
Emperor, consort families, and bureaucrats
often struggled with each other for power. shows a harmonious society.
But the Wu relief
The main action is that of an
official recommending two members of the official class for official positions. one of acceptance.
The ruler's only part in this scene is It is best characterized by Dong
Zhongshu as maintaining "the position in which he remains non-active and makes use of an officialdom perfect in every respect."
The upper level of the pavilion has been discussed
only in terms of familial accord.
History suggests that this
scene also shows the broader co-existence of the consort family with the emperor.
It is possible that even the off
center placement of the "principal wife" may be explained by the attitude expressed in the Baihu
"The wife has
WU FAMILY SHRINES
41
rank, she takes her seat according to the position that belongs to her husband," (Tjan, tr. 1949: 223) who is just below her.
If such a correspondence is correct, it could only 2 The official
have a political meaning in this context.
class·s attitude generally was that of supporting the govern ment which they themselves comprised while often opposing the head of that government, the emperor.
Yet even in their
opposition to the emperor the official class needed his legitimacy. The act of recommendation was both a right and a duty of the Eastern Han bureaucracy.
As a right it allowed the
official to build his power base and increase his wealth and influence.
It was the basis _of the domination of Han
society by the powerful families of the official class.
As
a duty the act of recommendation was required by the emperor of all bureaucrats above a certain rank.
More importantly,
as a duty it also legitimized the previous benefits.
It was
not their own needs that the bureaucrats were fulfilling, but those of the emperor.
In the central relief of th� offering
shrine of Wu Ban, members of the bureaucratic class attempted to justify and legitimize their privileged position and assumption of power.
They justified this by showing their
role as literally central to, and possibly even the implied cause of, a harmonious society which in reality did not exist.
They legitimized their position and power by showing
themselves as subservient to and reliant on both the emperor and the ancestors.
By performing this ritual in an ancestral
temple all the implications discussed earlier in relation to the ruler were also applicable to the bureaucrats (See above, p.
36) .
The ancestral t�mple had become a vehicle of
government, mutually beneficial to both parties. The relief is surrounded by a variety of scenes and figures of Confucian theme.
An analysis of these in relation
to the central relief would undoubtedly contribute much to
42
Conrad Rudolph
the understanding of the shrine as a whole.
For the purposes
of this paper they will only be considered as support and documentation of the central Confucian theme of good government just discussed. In summary, the central scene is an ideological presenta tion of a harmonious society, ostensibly in terms of the state philosophy of Confucianism, but more precisely in terms of the justification and legitimization of the bureaucratic class.
As such, no representation of the deceased function
ing in this world or the other world is involved.
Although
this scene undoubtedly applied to the deceased and the deceased probably took part in the exact ritual protrayed, it is primarily a class statement, not an individual one, and exists only on the ideological level.
III.
Suggested Methodology for Future Research on the Wu Site The specific meanings of the other central reliefs have
not yet been established, but their similarities with the Wu Ban relief provide a starting point:
they represent
rituals taking place in ancestral temples.
The most impor
tant problem is to ascertain exactly what rituals are being portrayed.
The social and political significance of the
recommendation ritual has been explained.
The probability
of a similar significance for the central reliefs of the offering shrines of Wu Liang and Wu Rong is suggested by the Baihu tong, "Rites are the meeting corner of the the
� and
� , [the link] connecting all the affairs [of men],
that wherewith Heaven and Earth are revered, the spirits are treated, the order among the high and the lowly is maintained, and the Way of Man is kept straight" 1949:390).
The Baihu
(Tjan, tr.
is quite clear in stating that
one purpose of rites was to maintain social order (See above, p. 36).
Like the ancestral temple, the rite or ritual was
43
WU FAMILY SHRINES
a vehicle of government.
Time has worked against an exact
identification of these rituals.
In the Wu Liang relief
one of the ritual celebrants is partially destroyed making it difficult to see what he is holding.
The figure
of the ruler is even more seriously damaged as is his per sonal attendant.
What one can see is that one of the
participants appears to be holding a cup or bowl and is wearing a woman's headdress.
This information should 3 In the
very much narrow the range of possible rituals.
Wu Rong relief the key is not so much the general composi tion as it was in the Wu Ban relief, but rather what is carried on the tray by the subordinate.
The original paint
would probably have shown this clearly thus facilitating identification for a contemporary. paint has long since come off.
Needless to say, the
There are indications of
the incised outlines of objects on the tray in tne ruobtng, 4 but an examination of the carving itself is necessary. A complete analysis of these scenes should be correlated with contemporary discussions and pictorial representations of sacrifice and ritual known to have been current in that region.
Special attention should be paid to the state of
ritual at the time, such as which rituals were popular, what ancient rituals were undergoing revival, on what occasions were they performed, who performed them, and what meaning they had.
In addition, an investigation of the actual
rituals performed in these offering shrines is necessary. This should result in a more precise understanding of the role of ancestral temples in governmental and private affairs. Future work should relate these ideas to both the social situation of the individual and that of his family.
The
latter includes the overall class position of the family as well as to what segment and to what political factions they belonged.
The exact political situation of the years
when the reliefs were carved and the preceding period must
Conrad Rudolph
44
also be taken into consideration.
This background is
necessary to understand the overall as well as finer shades of meaning in the art program.
It is particularly useful
in studying Confucian themes which could be used against the emperor as easily as in support of him.
Such a study
of the central scenes should be the basis for a comprehensive study of all the reliefs of t� shrine, again documenting their meaning in the context of literature which was current in the region.
The literature itself must be viewed in
terms of politcal struggle, such as that which was going on at this time between the adherents of the New Text and the Old Text. Once the complete program of each shrine has been worked out, they should be studied in relation to the site as a whole.
Are there any connections among the shrines,
especially the central reliefs?
Is there any indication
that they were all thematically planned at the same time? Is there any significance in their chronology?
Ideally,
future excavations should be made to find the rest of Wu Kaiming's shrine to see how it fits into the total plan. I personally suspect that he was the one who conceived the idea of renovating the burial site. Once the site has been comprehensively studied, it should be compared with others belonging to the same social class in that region.
This comparison is to see whether
or not it is conventional in terms of content, orientation and the number of shrines.
Divergence from regional conven
tions would be of special concern.
It should also be
compared with burial monuments of the upper class as well as lower class
( if
any such monuments exist ) to demonstrate
how the particular interests of the bureaucratic class determined these shrines.
Comparisons outside the region
and period would be of secondary importance but still of some value in terms of the overall state of Han society.
WU FAMILY SHR INES
45
In conclusion, it may be stated that the central relief of Wu Ban was determined by social, economic, and political factors under which it ultimately took on an ideological aspect.
Only by accepting art on the terms under which
it was originally made can we understand its proper meaning. To explain the central reliefs only by reference to myth and legend as Fairbank does is to isolate them from their historical conditions.
Likewise, with Croissant the
peripheral elements such as the binlian tree receive more attention than the main action, and philosophy is emphasized over society and history, again resulting in a certain isolation.
Thus the reliance of art history on historical
explanation for its problems points up two principles which should be considered as fundamental to art historical research.
First, if one wishes a more complete understanding
of the art object, there can be no independent history of art, that is, a history of art divorced from its historical conditions or ideological purposes.
Second, that art
history should not be regarded as an essentially independent discipline, but rather as a branch of history which deals with art and which must use all the resources of historical research.
1.
pg. 614 for a possible See Tjan, tr. , Po Hu reference to the wearing of this type cap in the ancestral temple.
2.
The upper levels in all the reliefs seem to reflect to one degree or another the action of the lower scene.
3.
The woman on the far left in the upper level appears to be holding a baby, although this may be due to the poor quality of the relief and/or rubbing. If it actually is a baby, there may be a direct connection between the baby and the woman's participation in the ritual.
46
Conrad Rudolph
4.
Such incisions on trays form recognizable items on a relief of a dining scene from the shrine of Wu Kaiming ( Chavannes, No. 117, Plate LVII ) . In the same relief the women are shown one floor above that of the men. Here too the "principal wife" seems to take her seat according to the position of her husband.
47
WU FAM ILY SHRINES BIBL IOGRAPHY
Chang, Chun-shu 1975 The of China. Prentice Hall. Chavannes, Edouard 1913 Mission Septentrionale.
Paris:
Ch'u, T'sung-tsu 1972 Han Social Structure. of Washington Press.
Englewood Cliffs:
dans la Chine E. Leroux.
Seattle :
University
Croissant, Doris 1964 "Funktion und Wanddekor der Opferschreine von Wu Liang Tz'u," Monumenta Serica. 88-162. XXIII: Eberhard, Wolfram 1973 "The Political Function of Astronomy and Astronomers in Han China ," in Chinese and Institutions, edited by J. Fairbank, pp. 33-70, University of Chicago Press. Chicago: Fai rbank, Wilma 1972 "The Offering Shrines of Wu Liang Tz'u," in Adventures in Retrieval, pp. 41-86, Cambridge, Harvard University Press. Massachusetts: Houn, Franklin W. 1956 "The Civil Service Recruitment System of the Hua Journal of Chinese Han Dynasty," in The 138-164. I: Studies. Sickman, Laurence and Soper, Alexander The Art and Architecture of China. Hammondsworth: 1956 Penguin Books Ltd., Pelican History of Art. T'jan, Tjoe Som, ed and tr. The 1949 Po Hu White Hall. Tjan Tjoe Som.
Discussions in the E.J. Brill. Leiden:
