FOR BUDDHA AND BODHISATTVA OF COMPASSION

Regina Krahl

Tibetan Buddhism exerted a strong influence on the Chinese throne ever since Kublai Khan (r. 1271-1294) elevated the Tibetan Phags-pa Lama (1235-1280) to the role of Imperial Preceptor. The Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368-1398), himself once a Buddhist novice, rewarded Buddhist monks with government positions and had grand Buddhist rituals carried out. The Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-1424) repeatedly received the highest Tibetan lamas at court, asked them to perform religious ceremonies, for example, on behalf of his deceased parents, and granted them lavish gifts. Missions of Tibetan lamas continued to arrive in the capital until the end of the 1440s (Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett, eds, The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, part I, Cambridge, 1988, p. 263).

During that time, motifs and inscriptions relating to Tibetan Buddhism appeared in China not only on items of immediate religious significance such as tangkas and sutra covers, but from the Yongle period onwards, sacred texts, known as mantras, were also inscribed on more secular items used in religious ceremonies, such as blue-and-white porcelain stem bowls, stem cups, monk’s cap ewers and ladles, as well as lacquer trays. Prayers and mantras composed in Sanskrit, were recorded in lantsa script. One of the most beautiful calligraphic scripts, lantsa lends itself to ornamental beautification, which can produce striking graphic designs that are not always easy to decipher.

Prayers and mantras composed in Sanskrit, were recorded in lantsa script. One of the most beautiful calligraphic scripts, lantsa lends itself to ornamental beautification....

Due to imperial patronage, lantsa characters appeared on Chinese artefacts increasingly during the Yongle and Xuande (1426-1435) periods, and much later again under the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-1795) of the Qing dynasty. Works with lantsa inscriptions were specially commissioned as imperial gifts to Tibetan clergy or for use in Buddhist ceremonies performed at the court.

Longquan celadons with obviously Buddhist motifs are rare, although small Buddhist figures and shrines, probably made for use on house altars, are known, and motifs such as double vajra, the Eight Buddhist Emblems, and lotuses are not uncommon. The importance of the Longquan kilns for the production of sacrificial vessels is stressed in Ye Yingting and Hua Yunong, Faxian: Da Ming Chuzhou Longquan guanyao [Discovery: Official ware from Longquan in Chuzhou in the great Ming dynasty], Hangzhou, 2005, pp. 22ff. Longquan celadons inscribed with lantsa characters are, however, exceedingly rare, as are Buddhist-themed Longquan vessels clearly made for the court in general. One likely example is a Longquan monk’s cap ewer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, attributed to the early to mid-Ming (1368-1644) period (Tianxia Longquan. Longquan qingci yu quanqiuhua/Longquan of the World. Longquan Celadon and Globalization, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2019, vol. 1, pl. 147).

Works with lantsa inscriptions were specially commissioned as imperial gifts to Tibetan clergy or for use in Buddhist ceremonies performed at the court.

Zhu Boqian, quoting Ming historical records, states that in the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, 1393, some imperial wares were fired in the Chu (Longquan) kilns, and that until 1457 “the Ming royal family sent several times its internal affair officers to Chuzhou [Longquan region] to supervise the firing of the Longquan celadon wares of the royal orders” (Zhu Boqian, Longquan yao qingci/Celadons from Longquan Kilns, Taipei, 1998, p. 47). Imperial patronage enormously boosted the quality of Longquan’s celadons and made its output more even and reliable.

In terms of quality, with its extremely smooth and glossy sea-green glaze, superb even finish and outstanding size, the present dish can be attributed to this early Ming period, when the court had extended its patronage from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi also to Longquan in Zhejiang and commissioned wares for tribute. Large chargers had begun to be made by the Longquan kilns in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), when a way of firing on ring-shaped supports had been introduced, which prevented the wide bases from sagging. Dimensions were increased even further and even bigger sizes, like that of the present piece, were reached in the early Ming, when the kilns worked for the court. Most of the large imperial celadon pieces of this period share design and shape with contemporary Jingdezhen wares and, like these, were largely intended for rulers in Western Asia. The present dish is different, and exceptional in its deep basin-like shape with rolled rim, and was clearly made for another destination.

Longquan celadons inscribed with lantsa characters are, however, exceedingly rare, as are Buddhist-themed Longquan vessels clearly made for the court in general.

It also stands out in bearing just one single majestic character. Jingdezhen porcelains with lantsa characters tend to be inscribed with longer mantras. In Tantric Buddhist teaching, the various Buddhas and bodhisattvas are each associated with one ‘seed syllable’. Seed syllables are considered to capture the quintessence of a mantra and as such to represent a condensation of the dharma, or teaching, concentrating infinite meaning in its single character. The lantsa character inscribed on this dish appears to represent the syllable hrih, the seed syllable of great compassion associated with Amitabha, the Buddha of compassion, and Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion.

This dish, with its fluent calligraphic engraving, appears to be unique. A smaller (40.5 cm) Longquan celadon dish inscribed with a different and much smaller seed syllable in the Guangzhou Museum, also attributed to the early Ming dynasty, is illustrated in Zhao Ziqiang, Qingci qingbaici zhenpin [Treasure of celadon and qingbai wares], Guangzhou, 1997, p. 145 bottom, and was recently featured prominently in the Museum’s exhibition Beauty of Longquan Celadons. Collection of Longquan Wares at the Guangzhou Museum, Guangzhou, 2021/22 (fig. 1). That same character appears again on another much smaller dish (17.2 cm), attributed to Yuan/Ming, included in the exhibition Sensei, Bansei and Celadon of Longquan Yao, Kuboso Memorial Museum of Art, Izumi, 1996, cat. no. 98; and illustrated again online.

Six fragments of Longquan vessels with a lantsa character impressed in the centre, probably from smaller bowls dating from the Yuan dynasty, perhaps excavated in Zhejiang, are illustrated in a post by Li Yijiong and Li Xiongxiong of Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

Also from the Yuan dynasty dates another large Longquan celadon dish that is similarly inscribed in the centre with a prominent incised character, but in Phags-pa script; see Wang Meisheng, ‘Shi du Yuan ci Menggu ci. Tantan Yuanchao taoci shang de Basiba wenzi [Trying to read Mongol characters on Yuan porcelain. Talking about Phags-pa inscriptions on Yuan dynasty ceramics]’, Zhongguo wenwu shijie/Art of China 1987, no. 4, p. 62, fig. 3. That script, developed by the Tibetan Phags-pa Lama as a common script for the various languages spoken in the Mongol empire and for a time the official script of the Yuan dynasty, was equally used to render Sanskrit mantras and other Buddhist texts and phrases.

Two other dishes of this shape and size, but decorated in the centre with a peacock and peony, are recorded, one in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, ed. John Ayers, London, 1986, vol. 1, no. 327; the other in Fujioka Ryoichi and Hasebe Gakuji, Sekai toji zenshu/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Min/Ming Dynasty, Tokyo, 1976, p. 263, figs 131 and 132.

蘭札一字，慈悲無量

康蕊君

元世祖忽必烈封西藏喇嘛八思巴（1235-1280年）為帝師，此後，中國天子受藏傳佛教影響深遠。洪武帝曾剃髮出家，稱帝後禮敬沙門，委高僧以重任，大興佛教法事。永樂帝亦屢召西藏喇嘛來朝覲見，請其主持法會，供養父母先亡等，並賜以厚禮。西藏喇嘛次第來京，直至1440年代末（詳見牟復禮、崔瑞德編，《劍橋中國明代史1368-1644年》，上卷，劍橋，1988年，頁263）。

其時，藏傳佛教相關紋飾及文字於中國湧現，除唐卡、護經板等宗教聖物外，自永樂以來，法會用器亦見密咒真言，如青花高足盌、高足盃、僧帽壺、勺及漆盤等。咒文梵字以蘭札體記錄，蘭札體古樸秀勁，可作紋飾，平添氣度，然文義往往不易解讀。

自永樂以來，法會用器亦見密咒真言……咒文梵字以蘭札體記錄，蘭札體古樸秀勁，可作紋飾，平添氣度……

永、宣二朝，因宮廷扶持，蘭札文多見於中國器物，此後再度出現已是清乾隆治下。蘭札文器物乃宮廷特別訂製，或作為皇家贈禮賜予西藏高僧，或作為佛教法器用於宮廷典儀。

龍泉青瓷帶明顯佛教紋飾者甚罕，僅見小型佛龕佛像，或為家宅供奉所造，紋飾常為十字金剛、吉祥八寶、蓮花等。龍泉窰乃產燒祭器之重要窰口，其地位論述可見葉英挺、華雨農，《發現：大明處州龍泉官窰》，杭州，2005年，頁22起。特供宮廷之龍泉青瓷佛器，如帶蘭札文者，則更殊罕。有一龍泉窰僧帽壺或可作比，藏故宮博物院，北京，斷代為明初至明中期（詳見《天下龍泉：龍泉青瓷與全球化》，故宮博物院，北京，2019年，卷1，圖版147）。

蘭札文器物乃宮廷特別訂製，或作為皇家贈禮賜予西藏高僧，或作為佛教法器用於宮廷典儀。

朱伯謙曾引據明代史料，提到洪武二十六年（1393年）處州龍泉窰燒御瓷若干，而至1457年「明皇室已數次派遣內務官員至處州（龍泉一帶）督造龍泉青瓷」（詳見朱伯謙，《龍泉窰青瓷》，台北，1998年，頁47）。受宮廷資助，龍泉青瓷質量突飛猛進，出品普遍精良。

論質量，本件尺寸宏偉，釉層明潤，濃翠凝盈，可斷為明初，即宮廷對窰業資助已從江西景德鎮擴至浙江龍泉之時。早於元代，龍泉窰已產燒大盤，彼時以環形托具支燒，可令寬碩器底免於垂塌。經年累月，尺寸愈加碩大，而大如本件者則於明初該窰已為宮廷效力時乃成。此時期內，御製青瓷大件多與景德鎮所產同形同紋，且多獻予西亞統領，而本件不同，口沿外撇，腹深如盆，所貢之地應是別處。

整器僅見一字，引人注目。景德鎮產蘭札文瓷器多寫較長咒文。據佛教密宗教誨，諸佛菩薩各對應一「種子字」。種子字蘊涵咒文精要，薈萃佛法，一字之內含義無窮。此盤所見蘭札文音為hrīḥ，意為大慈大悲，對應阿彌陀佛及觀世音菩薩。

特供宮廷之龍泉青瓷佛器，如帶蘭札文者，則更殊罕。

此盤刻字刀法秀逸，應為孤品。一龍泉青釉盤略小（40.5公分），種子字不同且遠小於此，藏廣州博物館，亦斷代明初，錄趙自強，《青瓷、青白瓷珍品》，廣州，1997年，頁145底部，又作為重器展於該館《龍泉之美：館藏龍泉青瓷展》，廣州，2021至2022年（圖一）。同一種子字亦見另一小盤（17.2公分），斷代為元至明，展於《千声・万声と龍泉窯の青磁》，久保惣記念美術館，和泉，1996年，編號98，網絡有載。

有龍泉殘片六件，尺寸較小，應原為元代盌器，器心各印一蘭札文，或於浙江出土，李益炯、李熊熊網文有述。

另比一元代龍泉青釉大盤，同刻一字於器心，用八思巴文，見王梅生，〈試讀元瓷蒙古詞：談談元朝陶瓷上的八思巴文字〉，《中國文物世界》，1987年，編號4，頁62，圖三。為令蒙古帝國所說諸語互通，帝師八思巴創此文字；八思巴文一度成為元朝官方文字，可翻譯梵文咒語及佛教文本。

再比二盤，形制、尺寸與本件相仿，然器心飾孔雀及牡丹，其一錄康蕊君，《Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul》，約翰．艾爾斯編，倫敦，1986年，卷上，編號327；另一錄藤岡了一、長谷部楽爾《世界陶磁全集・明》，卷14，東京，1976年，頁263，圖131及132。