Simmons Lecture: Buddhist Stupas in Maritime East Asia

Title From Buddhist Reliquaries to Navigational Aids: Stupas in Maritime East Asia, ca. 900–1300

Abstract

How did Buddhist art objects acquire new meanings in the early era of maritime trade across the East Asian “Mediterranean”? What is the role of seafaring ports in object mobility and in forming a Buddhist art different from that derived from the land routes of transmission? This lecture examines a particular type of reliquary stupas and argues that originated in the 10th century Wuyue Kingdom, it acquired new meanings along the southeastern coast of China during the Song period due to China’s increased maritime engagement. It will show that by the mid-11th century, large-scale, stone-carved versions were created and erected at strategic points to guide and safeguard ships and mariners in the Fujian-Guangdong region. At their adopted locations south of Wuyue and removed from their original temple context, stupas no longer served as the resting place of sacred relics. Rather, they were entrusted with protecting the maritime activities so vital to the prosperity of their newfound homes.

Bio

Dr. Hsueh-man Shen is the Ehrenkranz Associate Professor in World Art at the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA), New York University. She received her D.Phil. from Oxford University. Dr. Shen’s research is concerned with how the practice, theorization, and perception of art in China changed over time as a result of China’s contact with the outside world. She has published extensively on a variety of topics, ranging from Buddhist reliquaries and sculptures, the intersection between mortuary and religious practices, ceramics at court and in the marketplace, to political implications of the underwater archaeology conducted in contested waters. Her Book, Authentic Replicas: Buddhist Art in Medieval China published by the University of Hawai'i Press in 2019 focuses on Buddhist images, scriptures, and relics that were duplicated to satisfy the needs of increasing numbers of the faithful. It addresses how these countless copies of sacred objects are able to retain their efficacy, thus contributing to the scholarly discourse on authenticity and originality.  Her peer-reviewed articles appear in Archives of Asian Art, Artibus Asiae, and Proceedings of the British Academy among other leading journals in the field. She has received numerous honors and awards from institutes in the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and Taiwan. Dr. Shen is also actively in the museum world, guest-curating exhibitions at the Asia Society Museum and the Getty.

This lecture is supported by the Terry K. Simmons Lecture Fund and Tulane Liberal Arts Center for Scholars.