Objects of popular devotion : Longquan ceramic religious figures during the Song-Yuan-Ming period

• Main Author: Youn, Heena
• Published: SOAS, University of London 2015
• Subjects: 951
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665098

This thesis investigates ceramic figures portraying religious images made at the kilns of Longquan in Zhejiang province, China between the Song and the Ming periods. Through a thorough examination of the images' iconography alongside further related sources drawn from diverse areas of study, the thesis offers a new understanding of the cultural and religious importance of the figures and examines how they became prevalent in Longquan and how they were used and valued within and beyond the Chinese mainland. The range of figures examined, including Buddhas, bodhisattvas, deified monks, Daoist deities, immortals and popular gods, allows an exploration of religious beliefs and practices in Zhejiang at that time and demonstrates in particular the significance of the medium of ceramic in the development of popular devotion and its visual imagery in late imperial China. Small ceramic religious figures have so far gone unnoticed, in both the fields of Chinese ceramics and Chinese religious sculpture. Notwithstanding, they are an important part of the long, rich history of Chinese ceramic sculpture. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this exploration of Longquan figures demonstrates that small ceramic religious figures are illustrative of the rich visual and material culture of Chinese religion and provides a glimpse into the spiritual lives and religious customs of the Chinese in the pre-modern period.