Friday, October 28, 4:30 to 6:30pm, CWAC156
The City God’s New Clothes: A Brief Study on the Articulated Living Image
城隍的新衣：軟架身神像初探
Tao Jin 陶金,
Architect, Tsinghua University Architecture Design Institute, Beijing
建築師，清華大學建築設計研究院
*the lecture will be delivered in Chinese
“The articulated living image”, a type of anthropomorphic icon with movable joints, can be widely found in all types of vernacular shrines throughout China. However, scholars have often neglected this important body of materials that could be traced back as far as the early medieval period (5-6th century). The articulated living images now housed in the famous City God Temple of Shanghai are the most-frequently-visited ones in China today. This study began with the robe-changing ritual for the icons in 2016, and then reports on an extended interview with the craftsmen who were responsible for creating the robes and icons since the 1990s. Through an investigation of the seven features of the articulated living image：human-scale, movable joints, actual attire, human hair, simulated organs, nine orifices, and buried animals, I argue that a deeper understanding of the cultural and ritual significance of such humanoid statues will allow us to gain a new perspective on the concept of human body and the relationships between soul and body, human and deity in ancient China. By employing anthropological research methods, I hope to reconstruct and retrace four major scenarios of the articulated living image: processing, feasting, holding official audiences, and dwelling, which define the spatial prototypes of Chinese anthropomorphic sacred architecture. I will also discuss the cultural relationship amongst a wide variety of cult practices related to the articulated statues, such as shamanism, magic substitute of sacrifice, tomb figurines, and Chinese medicine.
軟架身神像，約起源於南北朝時期，乃是一種以消息連接，周身關節活絡之仿人體神像，其在中國各處地方神祠之中均有供奉。然而，如此一種具有重要文化意義的材料，卻一直未能進入學界之視野。坐落在上海豫園南側的城隍廟是中國香火最為鼎盛的廟宇之一，廟內的一組軟架身神像重新製作於1990年代。本研究即由2016年端陽節、重陽節上海縣城隍老爺的兩次“換袍”儀式記錄開始，繼而深入蘇州太湖之濱，走訪了當年負責神像製作的木雕匠人以及為城隍神像長期製作袍服的繡莊。通過考察軟架身神像的七項特征（等身、關節、衣冠、毛髮、裝臟、九竅、安靈）背後的文化與儀式，我們將打開一個探索中國古代身體觀、魂魄觀、鬼神觀的集約化新視野。施用人類學的途徑，我們構建出以軟身像為中心的四類擬人儀式場景：【遊】、【宴】、【朝】、【寢】；這四類場景的外延固化，則形成了中國本土宗教建築中“擬人部分”的原型。此外，附體薩滿、法術芻靈、墓葬俑人、中醫銅人等與軟架身神像密切相關的文化概念及宗教實踐也將會在本研究中有相應的涉及。
Friday, October 28, 4:30 to 6:30pm, CWAC156
Persons with concerns regarding accessibility please contact Yunfei Shao(yunfeishao@uchicago.edu) or Zhiyan Yang (zhiyan@uchicago.edu)
