Images, Legends, and Relics Worship in Southern Song Mingzhou: Interpretating “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” from the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings

Abstract

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings 五百羅漢圖, painted by Southern Song Mingzhou 明州 artists Lin Tinggui 林庭珪 and Zhou Jichang 周季常, have become a focal point in recent studies on the Chinese Buddhist material culture of the Song Dynasty. Among the 500 Luohans series, five paintings are related to the ancient Indian legend of Emperor Aśoka’s creation of 84,000 stupas. These paintings include “Building a Stupa” (No.78), “King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light” (No.79), “Precious Stupa on the Rock” (No.80), and “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics” (No.81), which are currently housed in the Daitokuji 大德寺 in Kyoto, Japan, and “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light” (B5), which is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the US. However, the way in which the “King Aśoka Stupa” 阿育王塔 and “Relics’ Light” 舍利光 series were integrated into the overall visual narrative of the 500 Luohans in the Daitokuji and Boston collections, as well as the profound meanings and social-cultural contexts embedded in these images, have been rarely studied in depth. The introduction of the miraculous relics theme into the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings originates from an earlier version by the monk Fa Neng. However, Fa Neng’s version recorded by the Northern Song literati Qin Guan 秦觀 does not mention the King Aśoka Stupa. The artists had considerable freedom in depicting miraculous relic phenomena and King Aśoka Stupa. The specific details of King Aśoka Stupa’s background in Tiantai Mountain 天台山, such as rock bridges, waterfalls, and rock caves, as well as the craftsmanship of King Aśoka Stupa, reflect particular contemporary ideas. The vivid depictions of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” in the Daitokuji Present Collection and the Boston Collection of the 500 Luohans may indicate a close connection between the creation of these images and the fervent Relics Worship at King Aśoka Temple 阿育王寺 in Mingzhou during Southern Song. This paper synthesizes these images, ancient Chinese and Japanese manuscripts, and fieldwork insights to interpret the sources and significance of these images.

1. Introduction

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings is the collection of 100 paintings commissioned by the monk Yi Shao 義紹 from Hui’an Temple 惠安院 on the northwest shore of Dongqian Lake 東錢湖 in Mingzhou (modern-day Ningbo 寧波, Zhejiang Province 浙江省) and created by the artists Lin Tinggui 林庭珪 and Zhou Jichang 周季常over a period of ten years, starting in the fifth year of Emperor Xiaozong’s Chunxi’s 孝宗淳熙 reign (1178). This series will be referred to hereafter as the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings.1 Six of these paintings were lost in the early Edo period 江戶時代. The remaining ninety-four paintings were divided between Japan and the US: eighty-two are housed in the Daitokuji in Kyoto, Japan; ten are in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the US; and two are in the Freer Gallery of Art in the US. The six lost paintings were recreated by the Buddhist painter Kimura Tokue 木村德應 (fl. seventeenth century) of Kyoto in the fifteenth year of Kan’ei 寬永十五年 (1638) and are currently held by the Daitokuji (NNM 2009, p. 254). Each painting depicts five Luohans, resulting in a total of 500 Luohans. The transfer of this series from China to Japan is possibly linked to the invitation for the monk Lanxi Daolong 蘭溪道隆 (1213–1278) and his disciples to Japan to spread Buddhism in the sixth year of Emperor Lizong’s Chunyou 理宗淳祐 reign (1246). During the Kamakura period, it was housed in Jufukuji 壽福寺 and was transferred to the Daitokuji in the sixteenth century (NNM and TCPRI 2014, pp. 290–91).

The academic history of the transmission of the 500 Luohans to the Daitokuji has been thoroughly examined by scholars. In recent years, there has been a continuous publication of foundational materials and research monographs related to this topic, attracting significant attention from the academic community through related museum exhibitions and international academic conferences. In 2009, Nara National Museum held an exhibition titled “Sacred Ningbo: The Origins of Japanese Buddhism Over 13,000 Years”, which, for the first time, publicly displayed the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings and published a catalog (NNM 2009). Subsequently, the Nara National Museum, in collaboration with the Tokyo Cultural Property Research Institute, used the latest optical aids to decipher the inscriptions on forty-eight of the paintings, publishing the Survey Report on the Inscriptions of 500 Luohans Paintings Transmitted from Daitokuji in 2011 NNM and TCPRI 2011). In 2014, Nara the National Museum and the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties jointly published 500 Luohans Paintings Transmitted from the Daitokuji (NNM and TCPRI 2014). In June 2018, Professor Ide Seinosuke 井手誠之輔 of Kyushu University in Japan organized a symposium focused on these paintings, and in March of the following year, published proceedings titled A Comprehensive Look:The Cultural Biography of the Daitokuji 500 Luohans from Local to Global Contexts(Ide 2019).

The accumulation of these research findings has provided a foundation for further interpreting the previously unresolved issues concerning the “500 Luohans.” This paper focuses on the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” images within the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings. A total of 5 paintings in the 500 Luohans Paintings series relate to this theme: “Building a Stupa” (No. 78, Figure 1), “King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light” (No. 79, Figure 2), “Precious Stupa on the Rock” (No. 80, Figure 3), and “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics” (No.81, Figure 4), which are currently housed in the Daitokuji in Kyoto; and “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light” (B5, Figure 5), housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The “King Aśoka Stupa” appears in paintings No.78, No.79, No.80, and B5. The original 100 paintings of the 500 Luohans Paintings did not have titles. The catalog’s names seem to have placed particular emphasis on the theme of “Relics’ Light”, which is quite rare in ancient Chinese paintings, naming two of the images “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics” and “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light” with the stupa also emitting light. I consider these to be themes related to the miraculous nature of relics or Relics Worship, closely associated with the image of King Aśoka Stupa. Why did the images of “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” make their way into the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings? How should these unusual images be interpreted, and what is their relationship with the overall imagery? What do the subtle details within these images, which may not be immediately noticeable, suggest?

Although scholars from Japan, China, and America have noticed the images of King Aśoka Stupa and relics in these paintings, they have rarely delved into their visual and textual origins or the religious historical background. (Ide 2019, pp. 5–529; Phillip 2016, pp. 32–53) Ide Seinosuke pointed out that the depiction of this subject reflects the Relics Worship associated with King Aśoka, with the Luohans receiving Shakyamuni’s teachings and taking on the role of protecting the relics (NNM 2009, pp. 255–56). He had long linked these images with the relevant records in the FoZu TongJi 佛祖统纪 and the political background of the Southern Song Dynasty.He considered that the whole Daitokuji old collection may imply the intention of seeking to eliminate disasters and crimes for the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty. However, Ide Seinosuke did not examine in detail the source, details, and socio-religious context of the images of the King Aśoka Stupa and relics in these paintings NNM and TCPRI 2011, pp. 244–46). In August 2009, the Nara National Museum held an academic seminar entitled Relic and Luohans: Art in the Sacred Ningbo 舍利與羅漢：聖地寧波的美術; the final academic results and discussions were partially included in the appendix of “A Comprehensive Look:The Cultural Biography of the Daitokuji 500 Luohans from Local to Global Contexts.” Ide 2019, pp. 386–529). Nonetheless, few scholars have directly addressed the specific details of Relics Worship in Southern Song Mingzhou and analyzed them with these images. It is worth mentioning that Liu Shufen’s 劉淑芬 two papers published in recent years have given me a lot of inspirations (Liu2015, pp. 679-775; Liu2022, pp. 761-877), although these two papers do not directly address Relics Worship or the King Aśoka Stupa images. However, the interpretations of the legend of the “500 Luohans of Tiantai Mountain” and the meaning of the Luohans’ cave images have greatly promoted my study of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings.

The following analysis will proceed from multiple perspectives, including an overview of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” images, the sources of these images and legends, the syncretism of the legend of the “500 Luohans of Tiantai Mountain”, and the Relics Worship at King Aśoka Temple in Mingzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty. The vivid depictions of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings may indicate a close connection between the creation of these images and the fervent Relics Worship at King Aśoka Temple 阿育王寺 in Mingzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty. This paper synthesizes these images, ancient Chinese and Japanese manuscripts, and fieldwork insights to interpret the origins and significance of these images.

2. Overview of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” Images in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings feature a total of five paintings depicting the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light.” Only paintings No.79 and No.81 bear inscriptions dating back to the Chunxi era 淳熙年間. While The 500 Luohans from the Daitokuji provides a detailed interpretation of each painting, I note discrepancies in certain interpretations compared to this book. Based on the dimensions and inscription details compiled from The 500 Luohans from the Daitokuji, I have created the

Table 1. “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” images from the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings.

Number	78 (Figure 1)	79 (Figure 2)	80 (Figure 3)	81 (Figure 4)	B5 (Figure 5)
Titles given by the Daitikuji collector	起塔	阿育王塔放光	岩上的阿育王塔	舍利光奇瑞	觀舍利光
Translated titles	Building a Stupa	King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light	King Aśoka Stupa Perched on a Rock	Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics	Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light
Production year	Southern Song	Chunxi, 6th year (1179)	Southern Song	Chunxi, 5th year (1178)	Southern Song
Painters3	Attributed to Zhou Jichang	Zhou Jichang	Attributed to Zhou Jichang	Attributed to Zhou Jichang	Attributed to Zhou Jichang
Dimensions (H × W)	112.2 × 52.9	110.5 × 52.4	108.8 × 51.6	110.2 × 52.8	110.6 × 52.5
Inscription (inscription number)		(26)		(19)
Collection locations	the Daitokuji, Japan	the Daitokuji, Japan	the Daitokuji, Japan	the Daitokuji, Japan	Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the US

summarizing the basic overview of these five images.2 The Chinese and Japanese titles used by Japanese scholars to name these artworks primarily reference the descriptions found in the Record of the 500 Luohans 五百羅漢圖記 written by the great Northern Song Literati Qin Guan (1049–1100), which will be examined in detail later (Qin 1994, pp. 1215–19).

The painting “Building a Stupa” (No.78) depicts the legendary scene of King Aśoka commanding spirits and demons to construct the King Aśoka Stupa. On the right side of the image (Figure 6), a waterfall from above, while on the left, the sacred ground of Luohans on rocky terrain is depicted with swirling clouds in the upper left corner. Near the waterfall’s edge, three small demons are assembling King Aśoka Stupa. A robed Lohan on the left appears to be directing them with a gesture while two Luohans behind him are preparing incense. Two other Luohans in the background—one holding a cloth and the other with folded hands—are paying homage. The material of King Aśoka Stupa in the image is difficult to discern but appears to be stone, roughly half the height of a person. The base of the stupa resembles a lotus pedestal carved with overlapping lotus petals. The square stupa’s body has niches on all four sides, containing a seated Buddha figure in the lotus position on a pedestal. On the ground, there are four banana leaves and the spire of the stupa, which has yet to be installed, with five tiers of rings. Two small demons are shown moving a cover plate, which even depicts slots for dowels.

The painting “King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light” (No.79) depicts a scene where five Luohans are paying homage to King Aśoka Stupa. In the image (Figure 7), a Lohan draped in a yellow kasaya holds King Aśoka Stupa with both hands, emitting radiance that pierces through the clouds. Unlike the large stupa depicted in No.78, “Building a Stupa”, this King Aśoka Stupa is small, palm-sized, and its material is unclear, but it conforms to the basic characteristics of the stupas built by Qian Chu 錢俶, the King of Wuyue Kingdom 吳越國, which continued into the Southern Song period. It features banana leaves, spires, and tiered rings on all four sides, but it does not depict Buddha figures inside the niches, possibly due to its small size and non-narrative focus. In the middle right section of the painting, there is an inscription: “Wan Lingxiang Zhengjie Shuangqiao Houbao disciple Shen Jingjun’s wife, Zhang Baniang, donated funds to paint this and offer it to Huian Temple for permanent worship, wishing for complete fulfillment of merit. In the year Jihai, the sixth year of Chunxi, inscribed by the monk Yishao 義紹, painted by Zhou Jichang”. “萬令鄉正界雙橋後保弟子沈景濬妻張氏八娘/施財畫此入惠安院常住供養功德隨心圓滿/己亥淳熙六年幹僧義紹題周季常筆”. It is known to have been commissioned by the lay Buddhists, Mr Shen Jingjun and his wife, Mrs Zhang Ba Niang of Wanling village, and painted by Zhou Jichang in the sixth year of Emperor Xiaozong Chunxi 孝宗淳熙六年 (1179).

The painting “Precious Stupa on the Rock” (No.80) depicts three small demons carrying a massive rock. At the top of the rock, there appears to be part of a rock bridge, upon which rests a small King Aśoka Stupa (Figure 8). This stupa resembles the Wuyue-style King Aśoka Stupa, similar to the one in No.79 but much smaller in size, with an unknown material that emits several red rays of light. The rock bridge atop the rock is reminiscent of the rock bridges on Tiantai Mountain 天台山. All five Luohans in the painting are looking up at the sky, indicating that the demons are transporting the giant rock through the air. In the lower-left corner, two Luohans are holding censer-shaped incense burners, while in the lower right corner, three Luohans are bowing in reverence to King Aśoka Stupa on the rock.

The painting “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics” (No.81) depicts Luohans gathered outside a building. At the center, above the hands of one Lohan, there appears to be a transparent blue triangular glass bottle (which may not be glass but rather a blue light enveloping the relics). Inside the blue glass bottle, several red relics are clearly visible, speculated to be Buddhist relics (Figure 9). The blue glass bottle emits a strong beam of light into the sky, piercing through the clouds. The surrounding Luohans, upon seeing the “Relics’ Light”, are all bowing in reverence with their hands folded. The compilers of the catalog suggest that the two figures in the foreground may also appear in the 41st painting of the Daitokuji collection, possibly representing non-Buddhists. Notably, this painting does not feature King Aśoka Stupa. There is an inscription in the painting as follows: “Gu Renrui, Gu Renzong, and Gu Renxun from Xiangfeng Township【 】 donated funds to paint this and offer it to Huian Temple for permanent worship, wishing for【 】 merit. In the fifth year of Chunxi, inscribed by monk Yishao.”4 “翔鳳鄉顧仁瑞顧仁璁顧仁珣【 】施(財)/畫此入惠安院常住供養功德【 】/淳熙五(年)幹僧義紹題”. It is known that it was painted in the fifth year of the Chunxi reign of Emperor Xiaozong 孝宗淳熙五年 (1178).

The painting “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light” (No.B5) depicts scenes where robust winged spirits, holding small King Aśoka Stupas, descend along four beams of light from the clouds above the mountains, rocks, and waterfalls. One beam of light directly descends into the valley where the Luohans are situated (Figure 10). This scene likely represents the legend of distributing King Aśoka Stupas after their creation in ancient India, albeit with a spatial reinterpretation. Three Luohans lean against pine trees, looking up at the winged spirits in the clouds. Two other Luohans either lean against rocks or stand with staffs, gazing upwards.

Whether there exists a sequential narrative linkage among these five paintings is not yet clear, but the themes of “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” images consistently accompany each other. The numbering in the Daitokuji collection does not imply a specific order of events. It seems challenging to interpret the sequence of these five images along a timeline.5

3. Sources of Images and Legends: A Study of the Wu Monk Fa Neng’s Version and Zhi Pan’s 志磐 FoZu TongJi 佛祖統紀

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings reflect a rich depiction of Buddhist temple life in the Southern Song Dynasty. However, why do images of “Relics’ Light” and the “King Aśoka Stupas” appear? What are their textual and visual origins?

3.1. The Wu Monk Fa Neng’s Version in Qin Guan’s Record of the 500 Luohans and the Theme of “Relics’ Light” 舍利光

According to Mr. Fang Wen’s study published in 1956, the basic plot of the Daitokuji version of the 500 Luohans reflects a close relationship with the content of the 500 Luohans painted by the Wu monk Fa Neng, as recorded in Qin Guan’s “Record of the 500 Luohans” and the Patriarchs and the Patriarchs (Fang 1956, p. 275). This assessment has been widely acknowledged by scholars such as Ide Seinosuke.

On 15 January 1079, during the second year of the Yuanfeng 元豐 era in the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Shi’s 蘇軾, famous poet friend and younger brother Qin Guan encountered a widely circulated painting attributed to the Wu monk Fa Neng, entitled 500 Luohans Paintings. Following the example of Han Yu’s 韓愈 Record of Paintings 畫記 from the Tang Dynasty, Qin Guan wrote a detailed account of the Record of the 500 Luohans spanning nearly a thousand characters, imbued with the spirit of the Northern Song-era investigation of things with which to attain knowledge (Qin 1994, pp. 1215–17). The Fa Neng’s version is a single hanging scroll depicting a central triad of Shakyamuni Buddha surrounded by five hundred Luohans, ten great disciples, sixteen Luohans, bhikkhus, and heavenly beings, among others. Besides the record by the prominent Northern Song literatus Qin Guan, it is noted by Ryusuke Masuki 增記隆介 that the Japanese monk Chengxun 成尋 also mentioned Fa Neng’s version of 500 Luohans Paintings in his Can Tian Tai Wu Tai Shan Ji 參天台五臺山記. This indicates that Fa Neng’s version held significant influence during that time. (NNM and TCPRI 2014, p. 281)

Qin Guan’s Record of the 500 Luohans consists of nearly a thousand characters. The following is an excerpt that mentions “Relics’ Light”:

“A single scroll of the 500 Luohans. One person in meditation within a niche. Under the shade of a tree, one seated in the lotus position expounding the Dharma, with eight attendants listening attentively on both sides. Six persons reciting sutras. Six persons studying scriptures. After study, one person collecting scriptures and another leaning on a staff while reciting. Six persons discussing the painting by pointing, gesturing with a whisk, staff, or supporting their chin. Five persons bowing to the stupa. Six persons in harmonious meditation. Eight persons bowing to the light of the relics. Four hungry ghosts. Five persons offering food to crows and kites, and five persons giving fish and turtles. Six persons ascending into the clouds. One person showing five-colored lights. One person with a bowl emitting white light. One person with a spring gushing from their head. One person with fire burning at their heels. One person washing with bared torso, wearing gold earrings, and standing with hands open.”

“五百羅漢圖一軸。入定於龕中者一人。蔭樹趺坐而說法者一人，左右侍聽者八人。說經者六人。課經者六人。課已而收經、與誦而倚杖者，各一人。環坐指畫而議論者，麈揮、手杖、支頤相向而談者，各六人。歸依寶塔者五人。和南合座者六人。稽首舍利光者八人。飯餓鬼者四人。食烏鳶者，施魚鱉者，各五人。雲升者六人。指現五色光者，缽現白光者，泉湧於頂者，火燃於踵者，袒而洗、耳金環、手隨求而立者，各一人。……”

(Qin 1994, pp. 1215–16)

From the excerpt, it is clear that Qin Guan meticulously described various postures, actions, and miraculous behaviors of the Luohans, detailing their quantities. However, he did not narrate the spatial relationships and layout of different types of Luohans within the image. Although the original Fa Neng’s version is lost, preventing a direct observation of specific visual details, textual descriptions such as “歸依寶塔者” (those bowing to the stupa), “稽首舍利光者” (those bowing to the Relics’ Light), “指現舍利光者” (those pointing to the Relics’ Light), and “缽現白光者” (those with a bowl emitting white light) closely parallel the narratives depicted in Table 1 of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s No.79 and No.81 scrolls, as well as the Boston Collection’s B5. However, Qin Guan’s record of the “Fa Neng’s version” does not mention “King Aśoka Stupa” or the legend of “King Aśoka building 84,000 stupas”, and only refers to a single instance of “歸依寶塔者五人” (five persons bowing to the stupa), leaving the specific form of this stupa undetermined.

Sun Bo analyzed the similarities and differences between Fa Neng’s version and the Daitokuji versions, categorizing the 500 Luohans in both versions into nine types: those focused on appearance, the recitation of Buddhist scriptures, miraculous stories, offering food to the deceased, and others. According to Sun Bo, the Luohans associated with the themes of “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” can be classified under the “miraculous stories” category. Therefore, in Fa Neng’s version, the “miraculous stories” category includes descriptions such as “entering into meditation in a niche”, “bowing to the stupa”, “bowing to the Relics’ Light”, “pointing to the Relics’ Light”, “bowl emitting white light”, “spring gushing from the top”, and “fire burning at the heel”, “入定於龕中者” “皈依寶塔者” “稽首舍利光者” “指現舍利光者” “缽現白光者” “泉湧於頂者” “火燃於踵者”, totaling eighteen Luohans (Sun 2023a, pp. 116–17). This viewpoint is insightful but remains speculative, as there is still no definitive consensus on the logical arrangement and combination of internal images in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings.

However, the frequent mention of “Relics’ Light” in Fa Neng’s version aligns closely with the depiction in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings, highlighting the significance of portraying this miraculous phenomenon during that period. The emphasis on “Relics’ Light” will be further speculated upon in subsequent sections. At present, we cannot know what kind of artistic means Fa Neng’s version used to express “Relics’ Light”, nor can we speculate how this theme might change from the Northern Song to the Southern Song. It is worth mentioning that the Daitokuji Old Collection blends the image of “Relics’ Light” and “King Aśoka Stupa” in several places, while Fa Neng’s version does not directly mention “King Aśoka Stupa”, which may be a more critical change.

3.2. The Legend of “King Aśoka Building 84,000 Stupas” in Chinese Buddhist Literature and Its Relation to Zhi Pan’s “FoZu TongJi”

What are the textual sources and visual references for the “King Aśoka Stupa” imagery not found in the Wu monk Fa Neng’s version?

According to Table 1, the “King Aśoka Stupa” imagery appears in scenes from No.78, No.79, No.80, and B5 of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Painting. Only the No.79 scene bears an inscription dating it to the sixth year of Chunxi 淳熙六年 (1179), while the creation dates of the other scenes remain unclear. However, these images closely correspond to the legend of “King Aśoka building 84,000 stupas”.

King Aśoka of ancient India (Aśoka, transliterated as Aśvaka 阿輸迦, meaning “without sorrow 無憂”, hence known as the “King without Sorrow” 無憂王) was recorded in various Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and other languages concerning his building of stupas (Li 2000, pp. 363–77). As early as the 4th century, stories about King Aśoka appeared in texts such as Fu Fa Zang Yin Yuan Zhuan 付法藏因緣傳 and Za A Han Jing 雜阿含經, which were also found in the five-volume work A Yu Wang Jing 阿育王經 translated by the Parthian monk An Faqin 安法欽 during the early Western Jin Dynasty 西晉, from the second year of the Taikanng 太康 era to the first year of the Guangxi 光熙era. In 512 AD, Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty 梁武帝 sponsored Saṅghavarman 僧伽婆羅 (456–520) to translate the A Yu Wang Jing into Chinese. A Yu Wang Zhuan 阿育王傳 was more popular in Chinese history than A Yu Wang Jing. Zhi Pan’s FoZu TongJi also briefly mentions King Aśoka. Buddhist scriptures contain numerous accounts of King Aśoka’s deeds, including his construction and delivery of stupas, his battles leading the Fourfold Army, the tragedy of the Aśoka tree, creating a hell on Earth, retrieving the relics of the Buddha to build 84,000 stupas, military expeditions to the seashore and the casting of the Golden Dragon King statue, meeting with Upagupta, hosting Buddhist councils, and his younger brother’s ordination story (Wu 2021, pp. 243–44). This article focuses solely on King Aśoka’s construction and delivery of stupas.

An Faqin 安法欽 of the Western Jin Dynasty translated A Yu Wang Zhuan into “Chinese”, providing a detailed description of King Aśoka’s construction of stupas, but did not mention the specific design of the “84,000 reliquary stupas” made by King Aśoka, only vaguely stating, “They were adorned with gold, silver, and crystal. Each reliquary stupa contained one relic”. （T50,No.2042, p. 102a14-b8.）

The 33rd volume of Zhi Pan’s FoZu TongJi in the Southern Song Dynasty, Fa Men Guang Xian Zhi Di Shi Liu 法門光顯志第十六, broadly follows the account of A Yu Wang Zhuan: “King Aśoka obtained the Buddha’s relics, and through night efforts, celestial beings and spirits crushed seven treasures to create 84,000 stupas. Venerable Ye She 耶舍 manifested 84,000 rays of light, directing each Yu Fei Gui 羽飛鬼 (a ghost with feathered wings) to build a stupa at the end of each light, spreading throughout the lands within a single day, totaling nineteen locations in the region of China”. “阿育王取佛舍利，夜役鬼神碎七寶末造八萬四千塔。尊者耶舍舒指放光八萬四千道。令羽飛鬼各隨一光盡處，安立一塔。于一日中遍贍部界。在震旦國者一十九所”。（T49,No.2035, p. 318b17-21.）

The Fozu tongji is the textual source closest from the era to the creation of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings. Its basic plot, such as “instructing the Yu Fei Gui to each follow a light and erect a stupa”, corresponds to the Song Dynasty’s “500 Luohans”, yet neither King Aśoka nor Buddhayaśas 尊者耶舍 appears in the images. The combination of Luohans and King Aśoka’s stupas does not appear in Buddhist scriptures. The imagery of “King Aśoka Stupa Emitting Light” in Daitokuji’s No.79 and “Precious Stupa on the Rock” in the No.80 paintings cannot be effectively explained by An Faqin’s translation of A Yu Wang Zhuan and the Fozu tongji. The painter’s depiction seems to have a deeper meaning. Although King Aśoka’s image does not appear in the five images listed in Table 1, Kazunari Kondo 近藤一成 speculated that in the No.8 “Long-eyebrowed Lohan” 長眉羅漢 of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings, there was a man who looked like an official who might be King Aśoka. And long-eyebrowed Lohan is performing a ritual of initiation for King Aśoka. (NNM and TCPRI 2014, p. 17)

In addition, this passage only mentions the materials “ Qi Bao Mo” 七寶末 used by King Aśoka in building the 84,000 stupas, without specifying their exact form. Descriptions of the “King Aśoka Stupa” in Buddhist texts and monastic historical narratives are relatively vague, leaving significant creative space for designers and makers of later papers, silk, and sculptures. Its imagery source may need to be sought from contemporary Buddhist temple cultures of the time.

It should be noted that the Fozu tongji compiled by the Tiantai monk Zhi Pan 志磐 during the Xianchun 咸淳 era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1269) was completed nearly eighty years after the Song Dynasty 500 Luohans was finished in the Chunxi period (1188). Therefore, it is impossible for the Fozu tongji to have been a reference for the creation of the Song Dynasty 500 Luohans. The Fozu tongji does not serve as the textual source for the Daitokuji and Boston versions, having different origins. Scholars generally consider The Southern Song Zong Jian 宗鑒’s Shi Men Zheng Tong 釋門正統 and Jing Qian’s 景遷 Zong Yuan Lu 宗源錄 as its foundation, though the Shi Men Zheng Tong was completed in the first year of Jiaxi 嘉熙元年 (1237), later than the Daitokuji version. Zhi Pan was ordained at the Cibei Puji Temple 慈悲普濟寺 on Yuebo Mountain 月波山 in Dongqian Lake 東錢湖, studying under the abbot Zong Jian. Shortly after the completion of the Song Dynasty 500 Luohans, it was enshrined at Huian temple on the north bank of Dongqian Lake, where Zhi Pan and the benefactor Yi Shao 義紹 had access to similar literary resources. With the popularization of woodblock printing, major Southern Song temples had scripture and manuscript repositories. Mingzhou possessed the King Aśoka Temple 阿育王寺, Tiantong Temple 天童寺, and Xuedou Temple 雪竇寺 among the Wushan Shicha 五山十刹. Both the King Aśoka Temple and Tiantong Temple were located not far from Dongqian Lake and were repositories of knowledge for Yi Shao and Zhi Pan. The depiction of temple life in the 500 Luohans was based on many of Mingzhou’s major temples. (Sun 2023a, pp. 119–20) From the analysis of themes of “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” in this text, it appears that there may be earlier or more diverse legendary texts and social foundations.

4. The Syncretism of the Legend of the “500 Luohans of Tiantai Mountain” 天台山五百羅漢: Rock Bridges, Waterfalls and Caves

From the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, under the active misunderstanding and transformation of later generations, the 500 Luohans experienced a migration process from “Tianzhu” 天竺 to “Tiantai” 天台. The saying that Tiantai Mountain 天台山 is the residence of Luohans originated from the story that the Eastern Jin monk Zhu Tanyou竺曇猷 crossed the Tiantai Rock Bridge and saw the holy monks of the holy temple. While Zhu Tanyou’s legend passed through from the Southern Dynasties, Sui and Tang, to the Song Dynasties, the name “Zhu Tanyou” gradually changed to “Bai Daoyou” 白道猷. As for the saying that the Tiantai Mountain Luohans lived in Fanguang Temple, this was relatively late (Liu 2015, p. 692).

Due to the popularity of the legend of the “500 Luohans on Tiantai Mountain”, many scenes in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings have been interpreted as depicting natural landscapes of Tiantai Mountain. For instance, F2 “Rock Bridge at Tiantai Mountain” (Figure 11), housed at the Freer Gallery of Art in the US, directly portrays the rock bridge and cascading waterfall of Tiantai Mountain (Figure 12). Ide Seinosuke points out that in the No.80 scene “Stupa on the Cliff”, the rock bridge depicted on the cliff also evokes the image of the rock bridge at Tiantai Mountain (NNM and TCPRI 2014, p. 89). Sun Bo interprets the scene of B5, “Luohans Watching the Relics’ Light”, as depicting an auspicious light falling into the valley of Tiantai Mountain, with two other rays extending into the distance, indicating that the falling light represents King Aśoka Stupa at Siming. His reasoning is based on FoZu TongJi, where it is stated that Yu Fei Gui erected a stupa wherever the auspicious light ends, with nineteen such places in the Chintan Kingdom. Among them, five are known in China, including the King Aśoka Stupa at Siming (Sun 2023b, p. 49). While imaginative, it remains speculative whether the depicted valley is specifically that of Tiantai Mountain.

The charm of the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings lies in its integration of various legendary stories, reflecting the material culture of monasteries and brimming with boundless imagination. The spatial settings where these narrative plots unfold are filled with bamboo groves, cascading waterfalls, and cliff caves.

The rock bridge spans over a deep gorge with cascading waterfalls, hence why waterfalls frequently appear in the Lohan paintings, symbolizing another realm linked to sacred monasteries. In the context of Buddhist teachings, “observing waterfalls” also carries the meaning of enlightening sentient beings about the emptiness of all phenomena. In the No.78 scene “Building a Stupa”, a waterfall appears on the right side, with a large surge of clouds behind the Luohans, implying that the sacred realm exists at the end of the waterfall. King Aśoka Stupa is also constructed at this end of the waterfall, not in the human realm.

Ide Seinosuke and Kazunari Kondo pointed out that in the No.81 scene, “Miracle of Light-Emitting Relics”, there are structures or monasteries within caves (NNM and TCPRI 2014, p. 90). Liu Shufen further indicated that these depict the “Luohans’ Caves” 羅漢洞 where Luohans were worshipped since the Five Dynasties, sometimes leading to the construction of “Lohan Cave Monasteries” nearby or inside the caves in rural mountainous areas. Apart from natural Lohan caves, temples on flat ground or in urban areas also have artificial cave-like structures made of earth and stone to enshrine Luohans, representing a form of Lohan faith (Liu 2022, p. 806).

In summary, the scenes depicted in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings consciously relocate the birthplace of the 500 Luohans to Tiantai Mountain, including the depictions of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” series of images. The legend of “King Aśoka building 84,000 stupas” is also blended with the “500 Luohans of Tiantai Mountain” legend within these images. Ultimately, these themes appear in rituals such as the “Luohans’ Gong 羅漢供” and “Shui Lu Fa Hui 水陸法會” held in Buddhist temples in Mingzhou.

5. “Relics’ Light” and the Relics Worship at King Aśoka Temple in Mingzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty

To understand what kind of sensory experience the “Relics’ Light” that appears many times in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings and Fa Neng’s version is, perhaps we need to go back to Mingzhou society in the Southern Song Dynasty and examine the context of relic belief at that time.

The Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings installed in Huian Temple is located on the eastern foothills of Yangtang Mountain 陽堂山, northwest of Dongqian Lake東錢湖 in Mingzhou. The Huian Temple was founded in the third year of Tianfu during the Later Jin Dynasty 后晉 (938 AD). Before its establishment, on the middle day of the first year of Tianyou 天佑 in the late Tang Dynasty (904 AD), sixteen Luohans manifested on Qingshan. During the Southern Song Dynasty, it was known as the Lohan Temple due to this legend.

Yishao, a monk from Huian Temple 惠安院, and the painter Zhou Jichang both lived in Mingzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty. They were so close to Huian Temple in Mingzhou that they were likely very familiar with the legend of Liu Sahe 劉薩訶 discovering King Aśoka Stupa, and they possibly created images similar to King Aśoka Stupa housed in Huian Temple at that time, closely integrated with the Lohan theme. During the Southern Song period, people’s imagination of the ancient Indian Aśoka Stupas was often depicted in such images. When exactly this imaginative pattern became fixed, we do not know, but at least during the Song Dynasty, the depiction of King Aśoka Stupa in the 500 Luohans Painting was not unique.

King Aśoka Stupa and relic offerings at King Aśoka Temple in Mingzhou have a renowned historical significance. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the royal family gave a plaque to She Li Dian舍利殿 of King Aśoka Temple, ”Miao Sheng zhi Dian”妙胜之殿 (Figure 13). Most notably, they were first offered by Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty 梁武帝during the Southern Dynasties and by the founders of the Wuyue Kingdom, Qian Liu 錢鏐 and Qian Chu 錢俶, during the 10th century Qian Dynasty (Wu 2019). Zhou Jiongmei 周炅美 points out that during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the revival of the Buddha’s relics and King Aśoka Stupa at Mingzhou King Aśoka Temple played a significant role in the political propaganda aimed at enhancing the waning political status of the Southern Song imperial family. Emperor Xiaozong began to emulate the major emperors in the history of Jiangnan 江南 by comparing himself to the Buddhist righteous king and making offerings to King Aśoka Stupa and relics at Mingzhou (Zhou 2015, pp. 348–49).

Regarding the Southern Song Dynasty royal family’s offerings to King Aśoka Stupa and relics at Mingzhou, detailed records can be found in Zhi Pan’s FoZu TongJi and the Ming Dynasty’s Records of King Aśoka Mountain at Mingzhou 明州阿育王山志. This miraculous event was widely renowned in the Buddhist community at that time, carrying significant importance.

In the first year of Chunxi during the Southern Song dynasty (1174), Emperor Xiaozong dispatched the eunuch Li Yuwen 李裕文 to the King Aśoka Mountain to bring back King Aśoka Stupa to the Eastern Palace for worship. After burning incense and paying homage, “he saw layers of auspicious signs resembling crystal beads 見相輪累累然如水晶珠”. Subsequently, it was requested by the Crown Prince to be brought to the Eastern Palace for further offerings. Additionally, it was recorded that when the Prince of Wei魏王visited a temple on Mount Siming四明山to worship a stupa, there appeared miraculous lights of blue and red prompted the construction of a golden stupa to enshrine the relics. King Aśoka Stupa was again brought into the forbidden court of the Southern Song during the eighth year of Ningzong’s Jiading 嘉定 reign (1215). The dated inscriptions on the No.79 and 81st panels of the Daitokuji, as listed in Table 1, are estimated to be from the sixth year of Chunxi (1179) and the fifth year of Chunxi (1178), respectively, which are closely related in time to Emperor Xiaozong’s offering of the Mingzhou King Aśoka Stupa relics, differing only by four or five years.

The firsthand witness of the Japanese high monk Chōgen 重源 (1121–1206) can be considered the closest record to the observance of King Aśoka Stupa and relics at Mingzhou’s King Aśoka Temple. According to tradition, Chōgen, renowned as the “Advocate of Enshrinement” at Todai-ji Temple in Nara, made three pilgrimages to Song China seeking Buddhist teachings between 1167 and 1176. One of the documented instances occurred in the second year of the Nin’an era (1167). On 24 January 1183, Chōgen recounted his experiences at King Aśoka Temple during his pilgrimage to the Southern Song to Fujiwara Kanezane 藤原兼實 (1149–1207), the regent and Minister of the Left in the late Heian period, and this account was later recorded in Kanezane’s diary Gyokuyō 玉葉 Fujiwara 1906, pp. 593-94). Fujiwara Kanezane faithfully recorded the details of Chōgen’s visit to King Aśoka Stupa:

“The mountain of King Aśoka, that king, is one of the 84,000 foundational stupas. Upon placing that mountain, it is said that all four sides of the stupa are cut through, and on top of it, a gold stupa is enshrined (at that time, the emperor himself constructed it, and the fundamental stupa is about one foot four inches high), above which is a silver stupa, and above that, a gold and silver stupa, and so forth, layer upon layer of enshrinement. Various miraculous occurrences of relics were manifest: sometimes appearing as a big Buddha statue with Zhangliu(丈六)’s tall, sometimes as a small Buddha statue, or sometimes as radiant lights.”

阿育王山者，即彼王，八萬四千基塔之其一。安置彼山，塔四方皆削透云云，其上奉納金塔(當時帝王所造進云云，根本塔，高一尺四寸云云)，其上銀塔，其上金銀塔，如此重重奉納云云。舍利現種種神變。或現丈六攝之姿，或現小像，或現光明云云。

• The size of these miraculous occurrences is determined by the “severity of the sins”(罪之輕重) of the worshipers. Chōgen worshiped at King Aśoka Stupa twice and witnessed these miracles: once seeing a “small Buddha statue” and another time witnessing “small radiant lights”. He also marveled at how the people of Song, regardless of whether they were of the Dao or the secular world, devoutly paid homage to King Aśoka Stupa in Mingzhou:

“But the people of that country, prioritizing faith, whether Dao or secular, they gathered five hundred or a thousand people together and began their earnest journey together, with three steps and one bow completing their pilgrimage. Though the journey is not far, it may take three months or half a year. After completing the pilgrimage, they all chanted the sacred name of Shakyamuni, thoroughly enacting the thought of worshiping miraculous occurrences. Among them, depending on the severity of sins, whether miraculous occurrences manifest or not, it is truly a matter of great excellence.”

但彼國人心，以信心為先，或道或俗，徒黨五百人若千人，如此同時始精進，起猛利之淨信，三步一禮成參謁，其路雖不遠，或三月若半年之間，遂其前途，參著之後，皆悉奉唱釋迦之寶號，一向成奉禮神變之思。其中隨罪之輕重，有神變之現否云云，實是重殊勝之事也。

This account vividly describes the lively details of people during the Southern Song Dynasty paying homage to King Aśoka Stupa and its miraculous relics in Mingzhou. Particularly noteworthy is the description of the size of the “Relics’ Light”, which aligns closely with the emphasis on “Relics’ Light” depicted in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings. King Aśoka Stupa in Mingzhou and its miraculous relics held significant and auspicious meanings for both the imperial family and the common clergy and laity of the Southern Song Dynasty.6

Currently housed at Sho Myo ji in Kanagawa, Japan, the manuscript of Song ren can ye yi wang shan zhi shi li bai wen serves as further corroborative evidence (Figure 14). It recorded some details of Song people’s visits to King Aśoka Temple, with the text as follows:

“Prayer of Worship When Song People Visit King Aśoka Mountain/Namo A Single-mindedly Pay Homage to King Aśoka/84,000 Shakyamuni/True Body Relics/Stupa of King Aśoka 84,000/Shakyamuni True Body Relics/Stupas of King Aśoka 84,000/Shakyamuni True Body Relics/Stupas.”

宋人參謁醫王山之時禮拜文/南無阿一心敬禮阿/育王八萬四千釋迦/如來真身舍利耶/寶塔婆阿育王八萬/四千釋迦如來身真/舍利耶寶塔婆八萬/四千釋迦來身真舍/利耶寶塔婆。

(NNM 2009, p. 54)

Another piece of manuscript (Figure 15), also stored at Sho Myo ji, entitled She li li wen given by Nara National Museum, contains the following content:

“Prayer of Worship at Each Step on King Aśoka Mountain/Namo A Single-mindedly Pay Homage/King Aśoka’s 84,000/Shakyamuni True Body Relics Stupa/King Aśoka’s 84,000/Shakyamuni True Body/Relics Stupa/Shakyamuni True Body/Relics Stupa.”

醫王山參謁一步一禮文/南無阿一心敬禮/阿育王八萬四千/釋迦如來身真舍利耶寶塔婆/阿育王八萬四千/釋迦如來身真/舍利耶寶塔婆/釋迦如來身真/舍利耶寶塔婆

(NNM 2009, p. 54)

These were the prayers and relic hymns that the people of the Song dynasty needed to chant when worshiping the Buddha’s relics at the King Aśoka Temple. They repeatedly chanted the name “King Aśoka’s 84,000 Shakyamuni True Body Relics Stupa” 阿育王八萬四千釋迦如來身真舍利耶寶塔婆. The term “Shi Jia Ru Lai Zhen Shen She Li” 釋迦如來真身舍利 (True Body Relics of the Tathagata) was written as “Shi Jia Ru Lai Shen Zhen She Li” 釋迦如來身真舍利, possibly a transcription error. The term “King of Medicine”医王mimics the Chinese pronunciation of “King Aśoka” (いおう), which is an abbreviation of “King Aśoka.” The contents of the two manuscripts are almost identical and are marked with various symbols indicating “Flute hole sounds” 笛孔音 (musical scales) and “Hakase” 博士 (a linear system of notating chant melodies). “Hakase” are symbols used to mark the pitch and melody of the chant in Buddhist ceremonies. The “Relic Hymn” was created by Myonin-bo Shitsu A 明忍房釰阿 (1261–1338), the second abbot of Shomyo-ji 稱名寺 in the Kanto region, a great master of the shomyo (Buddhist chant). It includes markings of “Hakase”, “Flute hole sounds”, and Song dynasty pronunciations, leaving important historical records.

It is unknown when these manuscripts were brought back to Japan by Japanese monks. This information also reflects the deep reverence for the relics of King Aśoka Temple in the society of Mingzhou during the Southern Song dynasty, leading to the interaction of “Relics’ Light” and chanting. The Luohans depicted in the paintings are often preparing incense, offering incense, or murmuring softly when seeing the “Relics’ Light” and the “King Aśoka Stupa”, perhaps reciting the “She Li Li Wen” 舍利禮文.

6. Conclusions

Many scholars have noted the close relationship between the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings and the daily life of Mingzhou temples during the Southern Song period, conducting in-depth analyses from perspectives such as tea offerings and the diet of the Luohans. However, scholars have yet to reveal the specific aspects of Relics Worship within Mingzhou society, both among the monks and the laity, through these images. The preceding discussion has extensively employed insights from these images, ancient Chinese and Japanese manuscripts, as well as field investigations, collectively demonstrating the origins and significance of the “King Aśoka Stupa” and “Relics’ Light” series in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings.

The “Relics’ Light” images in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings inherit themes from the Wu monk Fa Neng’s version. The “King Aśoka Stupa” images blend legends of “King Aśoka building 84,000 stupas” with the legend of the “500 Luohans of Tiantai Mountain”, transplanting these legends into specific scenes that evoke the natural landscapes of Tiantai Mountain, such as its rock bridges, waterfalls, and caves. This spatial-temporal shift in the paintings portrays the journey of the 500 Luohans from “Tianzhu” to “Tiantai Mountain.” Whether depicting the “King Aśoka Stupa” or “Relics’ Light”, I speculate that there is a connection with the fervent Relics Worship in Mingzhou society during the Southern Song period. This speculation is closely linked to a renewed wave of faith in the relics of King Aśoka Stupa in Mingzhou, sparked by Emperor Xiaozong’s offering of relics from the Mingzhou King Aśoka Temple to the Eastern Palace東宮 in the first year of Chunxi (1174). The relationship between the political subtleties of the Southern Song Dynasty and the “renewed wave of faith” is also difficult to answer. This speculation is not the focus of this paper for the time being, but I will continue to study it in the future. My question is, to what extent did the changes in political and social factors affect the creation of artists at that time? This is also a reminder not to make too definitive assumptions, so I will refrain from making a direct point here.

In addition, the discussion above raises an interesting problem of Original Context原境 in art history: how did the monks and the laity of the Southern Song Dynasty observe and experience the miraculous phenomenon of relics, and how did they relate it to their own karma and morality? Drawing on records from the Heian period minister Fujiwara Kanezane’s “Gyokuyō” 玉葉, as well as the Kamakura period through paper ink manuscripts Song ren can ye yi wang shan zhi shi li bai wen and She li li wen, preserved at Kanagawa Sho Myou Ji 神奈川稱名寺, I have reconstructed the visual and auditory experiences of Relics Worship in Southern Song Mingzhou society.

This final, brief note concerns a perplexing phenomenon in the Daitokuji Old Collection’s 500 Luohans Paintings. Daitokuji’s No.78 scroll fully reconstructs the construction process of the King Aśoka Stupa: small demons cast mountain plantain leaves, stupas, and five-tiered wheels separately, then assemble them. This method of construction perfectly matches the silver stupas unearthed from the underground palace of Hangzhou’s Leifeng Stupa 雷峰塔 and the casting methods used by folk monks in the Wuyue Kingdom 吳越國, where mountain plantain leaves were inserted into additional slots, allowing the base to be detached from the stupa itself. However, in this case, the stupa’s four sides are no longer adorned with Jataka tales but replaced with seated Buddha statues, possibly aligning with the contemporary Mingzhou trend in the form and imagery of King Aśoka Stupa. In the No.78 scroll, there is a half-human tall King Aśoka Stupa, but in the No.79, No.80, and the Boston Collection’s B5 scrolls, it suddenly transforms into a small stupa held in the palm. The painter could have easily replicated the same form and size of King Aśoka Stupa across different images, yet he chose to act spontaneously. Could the painter be hinting that King Aśoka Stupa is not an ordinary object—like Sun Wukong’s孙悟空 magical “Jin Gu Bang”(金箍棒,long gilded stick)—capable of changing size at will? Another possibility is that in the Southern Song society where the painters lived, there existed two sizes of King Aśoka Stupas, and he may have witnessed the production process of both sizes, thus depicting them in his paintings. This insight might suggest that it is not always necessary to scrutinize every detail of the images in such a literal manner; perhaps the apparent contradictions and supernatural manifestations are precisely the painters’ craftsmanship and original intentions.