Gendered Visions of Faith: Lady Sun's Printed and Painted Buddhist Frontispieces

Ten scrolls of Buddhist scriptures scented with sandalwood were discovered with the body of Lady Sun (孫氏娘子, b. 995-1055), the daughter of a high-ranking Northern Song Dynasty official and the wife of a member of a rising local elite family in Jiangxi. Each scroll features frontispieces, painted with ink and gold or crafted through the woodblock printing technique, with several of them signed by Lady Sun. This study examines Lady Sun's visual preferences, her engagement with the materiality of these scrolls, and the sensory experiences she actively pursued within the constraints of medieval visual culture and gender norms. 

The collection includes ten scrolls of scriptures, including the Sūtra of Golden Light 金光明經 that spans four scrolls, resulting in seven sūtras. Previous scholarship has focused on the earliest printed Sūtra of Golden Light, but has not fully explored the significance of Lady Sun's collection with other illustrated scriptures found in the same burial context (Huang 2011; Zhang 2014; Gan 2015; Sudo 2021). This study will examine all privately owned illustrated scrolls from Lady Sun’s tomb as a unique collection, contributing to current studies of text-centered and illustrated prints primarily found in monastic collections. At a time of burgeoning print culture and popularization of landscape and baimiao painting in the Northern Song dynasty, all dominated by literate male elites, Lady Sun's illustrated sūtra scripture collection stands out. This study highlights how Lady Sun's collection reflects her personal agency she negotiated within the patriarchal structures of her time. 

Using transdisciplinary methods in history and art history, this study presents the intersections between Lady Sun’s agency in commissioning, signing, and using these illustrated Buddhist scriptures and her efforts to carve out a space for her social and religious identity within scholar-official families amidst the male-dominated religious and visual culture. Through a comparative analysis of contemporaneous prints and paintings across different collections and within Lady Sun’s own collection, it becomes evident that several printed and painted frontispieces from Lady Sun’s tomb are stylistically related to imperial commissioned Buddhist printing projects in the Northern Song dynasty. This stylistic affiliation not only enhances our understanding of Lady Sun's aesthetic preferences but also her strategic engagement with the visual culture of her time. The inclusion of the printed four-scroll scripture Sūtra of Golden Light, influenced by imperial prints, was produced before Lady Sun’s birth. Potentially, she possessed it when she stayed in the capital before her marriage, and she signed to claim it as her own. Several visual programs of these four-scroll scripture are found in later painted scriptures that she commissioned, highlighting her connection to and valuation of these frontispieces. It may be considered her most precious Buddhist illustrated scripture, reflecting the profound visual and emotional ties between Lady Sun and these scriptures.

The years 1013 and 1014 were extremely challenging times for the Ge family, the rising local elite family that Lady Sun had just married. Lady Sun’s grandfather-in-law passed away in the beginning of 1013, while the brother of Lady Sun’s grandfather-in-law was in serious medical condition that led to his death in 1014. Under such desperate circumstances, a printed scripture in Lady Sun’s collection was commissioned in the name of the brother of Lady Sun’s grandfather-in-law, aiming to cure his illness and to gain merits. Rather than being directed by this gravely ill elder, it is more likely that the commissioning of the large quantity of 5,400 copies was directed and supervised by family members. It is plausible that Lady Sun, who owned a printed copy of the imperial-style Buddhist prints, played a role in the commissioning process. It reflects not just a response to a family crisis but also an assertion of Lady Sun's role and agency within her new family. This is evidenced by the importance of this particular scroll in her life, which was buried alongside her, indicating its significance. Furthermore, decades later, she commissioned another painted copy of the same sūtra content with altering visual programs in gold pigment. By doing so, Lady Sun personalized her devotional practice based on her visual and sensory preferences, asserting her religious and social identity in a patriarchal society that often restricted women's access to visual and religious autonomy.

This case study of Lady Sun's illustrated scripture collection underscores the panel's theme of "gendered dilemmas," demonstrating Lady Sun's deliberate commissioning, signing, and use of these scriptures as a nuanced negotiation within established gender norms and the patriarchal structures of her time. Through her engagement with these scriptures, Lady Sun not only sought personal spiritual fulfillment but also carved out a space for herself within the male-dominated realms of religious and visual culture, contributing to our understanding of Buddhist art history. This case study exemplifies the intersection of gendered expectations and religious practices, offering insights into the complex dynamics of gender, authority, and knowledge production in medieval China through unspoken material cultures. By examining Lady Sun's collection, this paper contributes to the broader discussion on the "gendered dilemma," demonstrating how individual agency and the pursuit of personal devotion can reflect broader tensions and reconciliations among visual knowledge production, Buddhist practices, and societal gender constructs.

Works cited:

Gan, Xuefei 干雪霏. “Beisong Duangong ben jinguangming jing yanjiu 北宋端拱本《金光明经》研究.” MA thesis, Zhongguo meishu xueyuan 中国美术学院, 2015. 

Huang, Shih-shan 黃士珊. “Banhua Yu Huihua de Hudong—Cong Song Yuan Fojiao Banhua Suojian Zhi Song Hua Yuansu Tanqi 版畫與繪畫的互動－－從宋元佛教版畫所見之宋畫元素談起.” In Zhejiang Daxue Yishu Yu Kaogu Yanjiu: Songhua Guoji Xueshu Huiyi Lunwenji 《浙江大學藝術與考古研究：宋畫國際學術會議論文集》, edited by The Center for the Study of Art and and Zhejiang University Archaeology, 1–75. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press 浙江大学出版社, 2017.

Sudo, Hirotoshi 須藤 弘敏. “Sō no kyōe ni tsuite 宋の経絵について.” In Higashiajia: 3 Godai hokusō Ryō seika 東アジアⅢ 五代・北宋・遼・西夏, edited by Masaaki 板倉聖哲 Itakura and Maromitsu 塚本麿充 Tsukamoto, 67–94. Ajia Bukkyō bijutsu ronshū アジア仏教美術論集. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōron Bijutsu Shuppan 中央公論美術出版, 2021.

Zhang, Jianyu 张建宇. “Jiangyin chutu Beisong Duangong yuannian jinguangmingjing bianxiang yanjiu 江阴出土北宋端拱元年《金光明经》变相研究.” Najing yishu xueyuan xuebao 南京艺术学院学报, no. 5 (2014): 14-19+7.