Beliefs about Sculpture: The Marble Guardsmen of the Court Eunuch Yang Sixu

Tang Studies 25 (2007) BELIEFS ABOUT SCULPTURE: THE MARBLE GUARDSMEN OF THE COURT EUNUCH YANGSIXU AMy McNAIR UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS In]ulyof1958, workingjust ahead of the construction workers, archaeologists of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Archaeology managed to excavate an underground tomb to the east of modern Xi' an, in what had been the eastern suburbs beyond the Chunming Gate of the Tang-dynasty capital of Chang'an.1 The occupant turned out to have been Yang Sixu t18JiStjJJ (654-740, surnamed Su fi at birth), the first court eunuch to attain a position of power in the Tang dynasty.2 His tomb had been looted early and was already stripped clean of all items of value, including even the skull of the deceased. What remained was a large mound of smashed ceramic tomb figures, a stone outer coffin, a stone epitaph, and, mostly remarkably, a pair of marble statues of men in palace military uniforms, elaborately outfitted with weapons (figures 1a-b). 3 These figures are unique; nothing like them has been seen in any other Tang tomb excavated to date.4 Needless to say, such unusual objects beg a host of questions. Who do they represent? What was their intended social purpose or spiritual function? Who ordered their manufacture and why? At his death, Yang Sixu held the prestige title of Cavalry General-in-chief (rank Ib), the merit title of Supreme Pillar of State (rank 2a, the highest possible), and a rank 1b title of nobility, Duke of Guoguo Wm~ /};;. His official post was General-in-chief of the Left Courageous Guard, one of the imperial bodyguard 1 See Tang Changan chengjiao Sui Tang mu m:Bt~~5 J&~), where were the extraordinary marble statues made? Comparable objects extant from this time period are the marble Buddhist divinity images likely made for a three-dimensional Esoteric mandala installed in the Anguo Monastery 1:; ~ ~ . Situated in Changle Ward, near the Darning Palace, the monastery was established by Emperor Ruizong (r. 684-690, 710-712) with the gift of his residence, and so it was called after his earlier title, Prince of Anguo. Anguo Monastery was also patronized by Emperor Xuanzong, whose antipathy to the Buddhist establishment was set aside in the case of Esoteric practice. According to Annette Juliano, some of the marble figures found buried at the former site of this monastery were produced in the mid-eighth century.58 They are exquisitely carved, with careful attention to detail and verisimilitude in the treatment of flesh and fabric. If these Buddhist figures were donated by the throne, and quite likely they were, then they were probably produced in the imperial workshops. Did the imperial workshops also make the marble guardsmen? 58 See the entries on the Anguo Monastery figures in Juliano, Buddhist Sculpture from China, cat. nos. 56-58. Jin Shen considers the figures to be Middle Tang, by which he seems to mean post-756. SeeJin Shen 31Z$, "Xi' an Anguosi yizhi de mijiao shixiang kao" ®~~~~m:f:Jf:I3~W~E{~~, Dunhuang yanjiu 2003.4: 34-39, esp. 38. Several of these figures are reproduced in Katherine R. Tsiang, "Chinese Images of the Dharma: Regional Formulations and National Revisualizations," Orientations 29.2 (Feb. 1998): 71-82, as figs. 13-18. Tsiang would date them to the second half of the eighth century, sponsored under the reign of Emperor Daizong (r. 762-779). Angela Howard dates them to between 750 and 770 in Chinese Sculpture, 313-14. 174 Tang Studies 25 (2007) The third voice in Yang's epitaph is that of Emperor Xuanzong. The emperor is quoted twice. The first time is from an encomium of praise for Yang issued from the throne some years before his death, which reads: Such resoluteness, with such an air of determination! He has given his life as an offering of loyalty and lost himself to die a virtuous death for the state. He comes into the palace to wait upon the Emperor; he leaves it to clear up all manner of calamities. Straightforward in manner and blunt in speech; through the years he remains an ardent patriot.59 The second occurs when the epitaph describes Yang...