This article discusses how Cinnabar Stupa, created in China during the Qing dynasty, possesses the original form of a stupa, combines modern symbols of spiritual enlightenment and is an example of Chinese craftsmanship. This sacred art relic belongs to the collection in the Tibetan art museum of Jacques Marsh on Staten Island in New York. A stupa is a Buddhist monument that uses an architectural form to describe the path of the Buddha-Dharma or to reach the enlightened mind. Its structure has evolved over the centuries from the monumental earth mounds to the more complex devils of the esoteric Tibetan Buddhist sect, where the influence of patriarchal domination is considered. The ancient art of lacquer provides an exceptional environment for the expression of both secular design work and religious symbolism in the ancient religion of Buddhism.
The mortar Cinnabar (XVIII-XIX centuries. China) is a carved red lacquer above the tree, which is in full round shape, approximately 48 inches x 14 inches in the widest place. Made from seven separate sections, put together, the red is a rather dull reddish brown, with in-depth areas looking almost black. Although he was not part of the original stupa, the small golden Buddha was placed in the sanctuary of his vessel in the form of a stomach (s) to show the scale and emphasize his frontal view. The thickness of the carved relief is about 1/8 ", as it was difficult to get close, as it was enclosed in a glass box. If it were possible to look at it from a bird's eye view right above, I would assume that I would see a symmetrical round shape resembling a mandala (sacred circular design used for meditation).
From prehistoric times, cumulative arrays were built, initially in the form of earthen mounds, and then hemispheres, pyramids, cones, and other symmetrical bodies — built to house relics of deceased heroes, saints, kings, or other great personalities. Mounds and the cult of the dead, worn out outside the village life, and inside the village, simple altars were usually established with vital forces such as the sacred fire (symbol of the family) and the Tree of Life. The Buddhist stupa combined these two basic aspects of humanity, combining elements of a village sanctuary with the monumentality of an ancient domed mound, recognizing that life and death are two sides of the same reality. The original Buddhist stupas were traced to India, which has a dominant dome shape called the “all-encompassing dome dome, which includes both destruction, creation, death, and rebirth.” 1 This archaic form of stupa was mainly preserved through schools centered around the Buddha or the historical Buddha, as well as in the 12th century, when followers relied on this architectural style to most adequately express their mental and religious ideal. The stupa and other images represented the Buddha himself, since no images of him were allowed until two hundred years after his parinirvana (final enlightenment).
The Buddha gave a new meaning to the stupas in that they are authenticated for the Awakened, the Tathagat, and become more like memories in order to convey their tranquility to the hearts of those who visit the stupa. Instead of stupa serving the dead, focusing on relics or deceived personalities, its purpose was then elevated to the service of the living. Buddha did not want a stupa for him and his students, but for all the Awakened and their students, to symbolize nirvana or enlightenment, speaking to his student Ananda: “This is the pyramid of this Enlightened One” (or the pyramid of this Paccekabuddha, etc.), the hearts of many will become calm and happy, and since they have calmed and satisfied their hearts, they will be revived after death, when the body is dissolved, in the happy kingdoms of the heavens ”2.
A stupa architecture is based on the most important attributes of a fully conscious person through the symbolic representation of the Dharma of the Buddha or the Noble Eightfold Path (right: action, thought, understanding, livelihood, speech, action, concentration and attentiveness). All these enlightened qualities create a sacred device called the mandala, of which they symbolize a stupa. The architecture begins with a circle, a symbol of concentration, which forms the circular platform of Cinnabar Stupa. The most important feature, being the andean or dome, was originally closed from the outside world, encompassing relics in its center or containing the cosmic universe, many times referred to as a cosmic egg. Around the 1st century AD, in the land of Gandhara (now Pakistan), many small stupas were found surrounded by relic centers in the large domed Abba Sahib tower in China. These smallest, but still monumental stupas are complex, similar in size and detail to Cinnabar Stupa, and some also have an open entrance to their empty stomach and to denote an inner cosmic universe that is complete and empty. A stack of umbrellas under a single honorary umbrella on top of a vanda, originally standing on the royal court, but becoming more significant in subsequent adaptations, meaning the tree of enlightenment, is a symbol of the center of the Buddhist world. Also, as the Tree of Life at the top of Mount Meru, it was believed that umbrellas, appearing in the form of parallel rings, decreasing upwards in the shape of a cone, were later interpreted according to scenarios as ascending levels of consciousness. Mount Meru is a sacred mountain in Buddhist cosmology, which is considered the center of all physical and spiritual universes. Cone denotes vertical direction and one-pointedness.
Prehistoric lunar and solar elements left their influence on the sun and lunar symbolism of honoring the principles of mother and father through the design of the stupa: the maternal / terrestrial lunar aspect of the dome, transformed through the centers from the bell to the water pots in Tibet and China, and once the minimum height of the umbrella spire in height and fame as the solar aspect of the father / sky, when civilization developed from the patriarchal to the patriarchal leadership. This Tibetan “chorten” form of Cinnabar Stupa, supports these lunar / solar objects on top of an umbrella cone, projecting the partially overshadowed sun to the top of the moon, with a flaming fall on a ridge. This sunrise / moon reveals the mystical union of knowledge (the sun) and sympathy (the moon), reaching its zenith, from which the flame of enlightenment breaks out from the seed of the thousand-petalled lotus. The Chinese symbol for the moon is carved in the sun, at the top, confirming this cosmic union in symbolic form. The change of this architecture from the dome or bell, which opens to the earth, to the shape of the vessel, which opens to the sky, changes its nature from the earthly goal to the heavenly goal.
Red is considered a sacred color in Tibetan culture, having protective qualities, being one of the colors of the five Buddhas, the color of monks. clothing and the presentation of fire turning from illusion to wisdom. As an interesting comparison, the Chinese have long associated the color red with favor, happiness, beauty and royalty, making red lacquer a beautiful, profitable and natural material for creating Chinese Buddhist religious objects. Varnish is obtained from the juice of lacquer trees grown through China, where the resin is extracted and collected. Carved lacquer began in China in the 3rd century BC, but this painstaking process of layering and carving reached its perfection in the XIV century and has since been transferred. The polished red varnishes of the Ming dynasty had a purple hue, but the Qing dynasty had dullness, but a bright color of darker red or reddish brown. Starting from a structured wooden base or sculpture, the covering of the entire fabric laid with varnish is attached to the entire surface. Then a layer of thick black composite containing ash is applied to a smooth, solid base for the following layers. On top of the ash composite, several layers of yellow are applied, then red layers, which are interrupted by narrow black stripes from three to four layers. This painstaking process required each layer, approximately 0.05 millimeters, to be completely and completely dried, and then polished before applying the next layer. Since the carved, recessed areas of Cinnabar Stupa were very dark in color, it is possible that the depth of the thread reached one of the black layers, since the layers made in the Ming and Qing dynasties were very thin about 0.03 mm or less. Carbon and ocher were commonly used as pigments by mixing in lacquer along with cinnabar, which is red mercury sulphide.
Decorative borders became popular in the 16th century, and many 15th-century secular and Buddhist lacquer art revealed compositions of geometric patterns mixed with organic Chinese plants, similar to the motifs of Cinnabar Stupa, especially the anda and lotus petals. The Qing street relief, which emphasizes a solid line, is combined with Buddhist symbols that are visible in various projects of this stupa: cloud patterns that cover the upper part of the moon are usually found in Tibetan paintings of Thankas as symbols of air or akash (ether) element showing higher spheres minority mind; the base of the lotus - the lotus symbolizes the purity of the enlightened mind; swastika signs, standing for well-being, mixed with geometric patterns along the rings of a conical tower and base; a row of kirtimukh heads strung on top and depicts angry deities who are protectors of the Dharma. The extensive grid of diamond squares that match each other, found in many secular and religious lacquerware from the 15th to the 18th century, provides an extensive background design in most places from which other designs are projected on top. These diamond squares could represent an aerial view, looking at hundreds of four-sided stupas, or might mean a “diamond vehicle.” Tibetan Buddhist sect of Vajrayana.
Red lacquered and Tibetan Buddhist objects were widespread during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, who was an outstanding force underlying the combination of Chinese culture and Tibetan Buddhism. Considering Tibetans as a powerful force during the Qing dynasty, the Mongol invaders strengthened their alliance by absorbing Tibetan Buddhism. The emperors of Qing considered themselves to be the protectors of the Tibetan lamas, and under the emperor Qianlong, Tibetan Buddhism was established as the official state religion. Emperor Qianlong considered himself a writer and had extensive collections of works of art with a huge amount of lacquer created for the court. As the ruler of the largest Chinese empire in history, this emperor lived a different life alongside the court as a follower of Tibetan Buddhism under the tutelage of his "Tibetan" Mongol guru. He had many magnificent temples built inside and outside the Forbidden City, and he was dedicated to creating the best Tibetan Buddhist ritual tools with a few objects of objects created in the imperial workshops for specific ceremonies.
The artistry of carefully carved Chinese lacquer achievements is a meditative and sacred quality, as shown by Cinnabar Stupa, as well as the creation of a style of Buddhist objects. The question is whether this spire portrays the Tibetan chorten from the father / sky over the Buddhist ideal or distracts it from the mother / earth principle, as the dome (ia) is smaller in size, making it appear that the earth is less important. It is difficult to say that religious dogs have also evolved over the centuries along with the constantly changing political leadership, as well as the different spiritual emphasis of the three main Buddhist sects of the Mahayana, Vajrayana and Theravadan. Although this phallic design of a stupa seems suitable for a patriarchal climate amidst the upheavals of a culture captured by foreign invaders, especially during the Qing dynasties, this means the closure of the Chinese empire under the auspices of Chaos.
