The Ming dynasty lasted almost three hundred years (1368-1644). During this long period the emperors held different religious beliefs and interests. Their personal inclinations influenced court ritual, temple patronage, and in many cases also the art produced for the palace, including porcelain and bronze ritual vessels. Throughout the Ming, the court religion was a mix of state Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, on top of popular cults. What changes from emperor to emperor is where their personal enthusiasm went, and that is what you see reflected in specific art programs: certain temple projects, types of images, inscriptions, and particular groups of porcelain or bronzes. The focus here is on emperors where there is a reasonably clear consensus about a religious inclination and a visible impact on art, especially ceramics.
Inclination: Very strict Confucian state ideology, strong suspicion of organised Buddhism, and selective support of Daoist ritual specialists. (Wikipedia)
In art: Emphasis on orthodox state ritual: altars, city walls, ancestral and Confucian temples. Court art tends to be conservative and moralizing. Buddhist and Daoist images continue, but there is no strong personal “Hongwu style” in porcelain besides a preference for durable, functional wares for the new court.
Inclination: Very strict Confucian state ideology, strong suspicion of organized Buddhism, and selective support of Daoist ritual specialists. (Wikipedia)
In art: Emphasis on orthodox state ritual: altars, city walls, ancestral and Confucian temples. Court art tends to be conservative and moralizing. Buddhist and Daoist images continue, but there is no strong personal “Hongwu style” in porcelain besides a preference for durable, functional wares for the new court.
Inclination: Continued strong support for Buddhism and also maintained Daoist and state cults.
In art:High quality bronzes and porcelain with Buddhist motifs, such as lotus, lions, vajras, and Sanskrit characters. Famous Xuande ritual bronzes used on both Buddhist and Daoist altars, showing how the court mixed the two traditions.
Mid Ming: mixed but with some strong figures
For emperors such as Chenghua, Hongzhi, and others, the record shows patronage of both Buddhism and Daoism, but not as sharply one sided as later Jiajing or Zhengde. Their religious interests are visible, but less dramatically programmatic in art, beyond the general use of auspicious motifs, Buddhist subjects, and Daoist immortals.
A short period of 15 years, slightly earlier than Jiajing. Religiously quite unusual.
Inclination: Wayward and eclectic, fascinated by foreign cultures. Sources mention his closeness to Muslims at court and his attraction to Tibetan Buddhist lamas; there is also evidence of bans on pig slaughter linked to Muslim influence, and of Islamic advisers and women in his circle. (Wikipedia, Nouah's Ark)
In art: Islamic influence in court porcelain: Arabic and Persian inscriptions, Islamic shapes (ewer forms, candlesticks, pen holders), and decorative bands that echo Islamic calligraphy and non figurative ornament.
Patronage of Tibetan Buddhist monks and a temple for them inside or near the palace, with associated Buddhist images and ritual objects. (Wikipedia)
Inclination: Devout and obsessive Daoist, especially interested in Daoist alchemy and longevity practices. He spent enormous energy on Daoist ritual and less on day to day government.
In art: Very distinctive Jiajing porcelain program: bagua (Eight Trigrams), Daoist talismans, cranes, Eight Immortals, shou characters, and other Daoist longevity symbols all over imperial wares.
Many ritual vessels were made specifically for Daoist jiao ceremonies, often clearly inscribed as such.
Daoist paintings and scriptures copied in gold on dark paper for his private devotional use.
Inclination is a complex mix. Inside the court he is linked with both Buddhist and Daoist patronage, and at the same time he is the emperor who first receives Jesuit gifts with Christian images. (Cambridge University Press & Assessment)
Buddhist side: large imperial projects to print and bestow Buddhist canons, and strong Buddhist patronage by his mother and consorts, including gifts of embroidered robes, gilded statues, and temple donations.
Daoist side: commissions of Daoist scriptures such as the Yushu jing with elaborate frontispieces and gold ink copies, intended to accumulate merit and divine protection. (Academia)
Christianity: Jesuits led by Matteo Ricci present clocks, Western paintings of Christ and the Virgin, crosses, and world maps to the Wanli court. These objects enter the imperial collection, and Western Christian iconography begins to circulate in elite circles, later echoed in some late Ming and early Qing artworks and porcelain. The emperor does not convert, but the visual vocabulary arrives at court at this time. (Wikipedia)
No Ming emperor is known to have become Christian, but by the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century some princes, officials, and literati convert. Christian motifs begin to appear in small numbers on Chinese objects, often in circles close to the Jesuits or in export contexts.
Islam has a longer presence at court as a community, especially among eunuchs and military officers. Zhengde is the clearest case where this leaves a direct imprint on imperial taste, but Islamic inscriptions and shapes in porcelain, metalwork and textiles also respond to export markets and diplomatic gifts, not only to the emperor’s private belief.
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