Portrait of Wenchang, the God of Literature, on His White Donkey,

A.D. 1177

Portrait of Wenchang, the God of Literature, on His White Donkey

A.D. 1177

Chen Shizhong 陳師中

Hanging scroll; ink rubbing on paper

image: 77 x 50 cm. (30 5/16 x 19 11/16 in.) 97.5 x 54.2 cm. (38 3/8 x 21 5/16 in.)

Gift of George Rowley

y1958-145

Asia, China

Top: 英顯武烈忠[佑]廣濟王像 吾本吳會人閒，生於周初，後七十三代為士大夫未 嘗酷民虐吏，性烈而行察同秋霜，白日之不可犯。後西 晉末降生於越之西，嶲之南， 兩郡之間，是時丁未禩 甲子辛亥二月三日誕生。祥光羃戶，黃雲迷野，居處地 俯近海，里人為清河叟曰：『君今六十而獲貴嗣。童稚 時不喜嬉戲，每慕山澤，往往語言若』有隱顯，晝誦群 書，夜避眾。予自笑且樂，身體光射。居民祈禱，則余嗤 而訕，長嘯曰：「土木而能衣人之衣，食人之食，享之而 有應，謗之而有禍，我為人而焉無靈乎？」自後夜之怪 夢，或為龍，或為王者天符，為水府漕，自怪而不甚信 為吉兆。後三農𠍴旱，膏澤無甦，舞雩祝神，恬然無驗。 餘思曰：「夜寢乖夢治水府」，今夕當驗。夜往 水際， 中官牒河伯，而驚魂尤恐，忸怩不能。忽爾之間，雲四 合，風飛雷震，一吏稽首余前運判徙居。余曰：「非我也。我 乃張戶老之子，名亞。」〈後緣水府得達故字霶夫〉吏曰：「奉命促子。」余曰： 「家人如何？」吏曰：「先到治所。」余皇皇未決。吏揖上一白 [驢][而]去。俯首里閈，風雨聲中， 頓失鄉地。到一山，連劍 [嶺而撐參]宮〈皇也〉，若鳳凰之偃。下 有古湫，引吾入一巨 穴，門[有數石]筍。吏曰：「民之祈禱， 祝此石而有應，曰雷 柱，吾方褰衣[入]穴。」吏曰：「君記周室為人七十三代，陰 德傳家，而迄今[否]？」余方大 悟，若夢覺也。吏曰：「君在《天 譜》得神之品，於[人]世少有知者。晉不日有中興之 兆，[君可尋方而顯化]。」余曰： 「謝天使響報也。」入穴，則若 墮千仞之[壑，近地而足]不 沾，若騰身虛空，有王者之 宮，有禁[衛。余入，遂見家人悉]都其間，改日作儒士，往 咸京講姚[萇][之故事]《[清][ 河內]傳》焚獻者切記。 Bottom right: 湻熙丁酉[1177]六月會 稽陳師中錢塘刻 In the 6th month of the dingyou cyclical year of the Chunxi reign, Chen Shizhong from Kuaiji had carved in Qiantang [present-day Hangzhou]. Sources that include variations of this text: 1. Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 (1726), 博物彙編 第十七卷 https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/欽定古今圖書集成/博物彙編/神異典/第017卷 2. 宋英顯武烈忠佑廣濟王像碑 recorded in Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764-1849), Liang Zhe jin shi zhi 兩浙金石志 (China: Zhejiang shuju, 1890), juan 9. https://books.google.com/books?id=wIgpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP213&lpg=PP213&dq=傳焚獻者切記&source=bl&ots=xWXmnrKC5H&sig=ACfU3U0_Ecl2hqVwdlErTJe9hMZ-WR_bgA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix-aWN0tfqAhWXmHIEHQAnDBQQ6AEwAHoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=傳焚獻者切記&f=false 3. Anonymous, Qinghe neizhuan 清河内傳 (Esoteric Biography of Qinghe) (Yuan dynasty), Zhengtong daozang 正統道藏 (Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Reign) ed. (1445), opening section. https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hans/清河內傳 - In the Qing dynasty, Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764-1849) records that there was a stele for 英显武烈忠佑广济王 in the Wenchang Ci shrine in Hangzhou. At the top was carved the opening section of the Qinghe neizhuan in standard-script calligraphy, below was a picture of Zhang Yazi [i.e., personification of Wenchang], and next to it a short inscription with the date 1177. If correct, this would date the Qinghe neizhuan text to before the Yuan period, but was this so? It was thought that the Qinghe neizhuan must postdate Song because know one knew about the stele and because certain sections of the later editions are dated to the Yuan dynasty, but these are supplemental sections that could have been added. See Wang Xingping 王兴平, “Liu Ansheng yu Wenchang jing” 刘安胜与文昌经 http://www.chinataoism.org/showtopic.php?id=173 据阮元《两浙金石志》记载，杭州吴山梓潼帝君祠(文昌祠)曾经刻立“英显武烈忠佑广济王像碑”(宋高宗绍兴二十九年加封张亚子“英显武烈忠佑广济王”)，上层刻楷书《清河内传》，下层雕张亚子像，旁镌“淳熙丁酉六月会稽陈师中钱塘刻”11。可见，南宋孝宗淳熙四年(丁酉，１１７７)即有《清河内传》行世，也许尚非初出时间。 学术界多认为此传“出于元明之际”，理由是传后有晚至元仁宗延祐三年七月的《加封宝诏》、《加封庙额》等。今见《清河内传》刻本的确如此，但这些都是下文的附录，为后来补加的。之所以认为该传出于元明间，定是由于未见《英显武烈忠佑广济王像碑》而误认为该传附录与正文产生于同一时间之故。该碑所镌《清河内传》只有正文，镌刻时间为“淳熙丁酉六月”，这就证明正文和最后的附录分别是宋元两个不同朝代的产物。 - Louis Komjathy, “Daoist Texts in Translation,” Centre for Daoist Studies website (2003), p. 27 https://web.archive.org/web/20110717124726/http://www.daoistcenter.org/texts.pdf Qinghe neizhuan 清河內傳: Esoteric Biography of Qinghe: DZ 169. 1a-2b translated by Terry F. Kleeman. “The Lives and Teachings of the Divine Lord of Zitong.” In Religions of China in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez, Jr., 64-71. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. “Dated to 1174, this text is part of a group of works concerned with the story of the Divine Lord of Zitong (Zitong dijun 梓潼帝君). During the twelfth century, this earlier Sichuanese viper cult figure was identified with Wenchang 文昌, the God of Literature, who became the central figure of a national cult and the patron of civil service examinations. Qinghe 清河 refers to a town in Hebei province whose residents were associated with a temple dedicated to Zitong since the 4th century. The text explains how Zitong undertakes a process of self-cultivation and merit-building before attaining godhood.”

At bottom is the scene of Wenchang 文昌, the god of literature and culture, riding his white donkey while looking back over his shoulder at soldier approaching from right. Accompanying Wenchang on foot are two attendants carrying travel packs on their backs, and a dog trots along below. In the dream-cloud that rises from the deity’s head are two small figures, male and female, riding a snake, which recalls Wenchang’s early beginnings as a local viper cult figure in Zitong 梓潼, Sichuan. Later, the deity was anthropomorphized into the war hero Zhang Yazhi 張亞子, who lived during the fourth century. After his death, he was re-embodied 73 times as a benevolent official and in the twelfth century, this figure became identified with Wenchang, who was the patron of civil service examinations, and whose popularity grew nationwide. At the right of the scene is a short inscription that Chen Shizhong had this stone carved in1177.

Above the pictorial scene is a heading in large clerical script and an inscription written in standard-script calligraphy. The heading joins the “Yingxian wulie wang” 英顯武烈王 title that the Northern Song dynasty Emperor Zhenzong 真宗conferred to Wenchang in 1001 with the titles “Zhongyou” 忠佑and “Guangji” 廣濟 bestowed during the Southern Song Shaoxing reign (1131-1162). The inscription text outlines how Wenchang practiced self-cultivation and attained merit before deification. This inscription was included at the beginning of the Qinghe neizhuan 清河内傳 (Esoteric Biography of Qinghe), an anonymous text that gathers together a group of works (with some supplementary materials dating to the Yuan dynasty) about the Divine Lord of Zitong (Zitong dijun 梓潼帝君, i.e., Wenchang). The pictorial stone from which this rubbing was taken was recorded as being in the Zitong dijun Ci 梓潼帝君祠 (Wenchang Ci 文昌祠) shrine in Hangzhou by the Qing dynasty scholar-official Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764-1849) in his Liang Zhe jinshi zhi 兩浙金石志.

Chinese

Song

rubbings

attendants, donkeys, figures (representations)