Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Sculptures, Yuhuang Temple, Jincheng晋城府城玉皇庙二十八宿彩塑

Type

Steles and Inscriptions

Location

China · Shanxi · Zezhou, Jincheng · Hall of the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, west side of the third courtyard of Yuhuang Temple, Fucheng village, Jincun town

Coordinates

35.5464, 112.9367 Map ↗

First built

Dating disputed: traditionally dated to the Yuan, though some scholars argue for the Northern Song · Two views also exist on the sculptor: the traditional view attributes the work to the Yuan-dynasty sculptor Liu Yuan, while researchers at the School of Fine Arts of Zhengzhou University argue for Liu Luan and a Northern Song date. The two views coexist and should not be conflated

Heritage status

Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, 3rd group (1988)

Overview

The polychrome sculptures in the Hall of the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, on the west side of the third courtyard of Yuhuang Temple, Fucheng, are the pinnacle of Chinese Daoist images of the constellations, and have been hailed as an "ancient gallery of astronomical art." The sculptures personify the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions as deities, each juxtaposed with one of twenty-eight animal figures; beneath each mansion's name is added the sun, moon, and five planets, and the single-character names of the mansions are expanded into three-character names (such as "Jiao the Wood-Flood Dragon" or "Kang the Metal Dragon"), fusing the system of star officials, animal symbolism, and the correspondences of the Five Phases into a single whole — a unique case in the history of both Chinese sculpture and astronomical imagery. Both the dating and the attribution of the sculptor are disputed: the traditional view holds that they were made by the Yuan-dynasty sculptor Liu Yuan, while researchers at the School of Fine Arts of Zhengzhou University argue that the sculptor was Liu Luan and that the statues date to the Northern Song rather than the Yuan; the two views coexist and should not be conflated into a formulation such as "the Yuan-dynasty sculptor Liu Luan." The date Yuhuang Temple was first built is unknown; a Sanqing hall already existed in the Sui, it was expanded into Yuhuang Temple in the ninth year of the Xining era of the Northern Song (1076), renovated in the seventh year of the Taihe era of the Jin (1207), and rebuilt in the first year of the Zhiyuan era of the Yuan. The Yuhuang Hall is a surviving Northern Song structure, while the Chengtang Hall was built under the Jin. The temple preserves more than three hundred sculptures from the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. It was listed as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in the third group on 13 January 1988 (item no. 3-0113-3-061).

Highlights

• The Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions personified as deities alongside animal figures
• Hailed as an "ancient gallery of astronomical art"
• More than three hundred Song, Yuan, and Ming sculptures
• Two coexisting views on the dating and the sculptor's identity