Heirloom and Exemplar: Family and School Portraits of Confucius in the Song and Yuan Periods

The Song-Yuan period was a crucial time in the formation and circulation of several kinds of visual representation of Confucius. Sculptural images in temples where Confucius received official sacrifices displayed imperial garb and paraphernalia related to the posthumous honors bestowed on him by successive Tang, Song and Jin emperors, which remained standard until 1530. In addition to temple icons, whose attributes did not reflect Confucius's social status in life or convey his personality, several pictorial compositions evolved during the Song from portraits possessed by his alleged descendants, the Kong lineage of Qufu, Shandong. Members of the Kong lineage played important roles in creating, preserving, and transmitting pictorial representations of Confucius. In the late Northern Song, they began reproducing images on stone tablets from which rubbings could be made, and these in turn were used to carve new stones elsewhere. Reproductions of various depictions of Confucius were also disseminated and inscribed by the educated elite. Although these pictures played no role in official sacrifices, they were venerated in other ways. Perhaps the most significant portrayal was a three-quarter-profile depiction of Confucius as an elderly, slightly stooped figure, standing with his hands clasped together at his chest and a sword tucked under his arm. In the early Southern Song, this image was incised on a large stone portrait stele erected at the Kongs' provisional temple in Quzhou, Zhejiang. It was subsequently reproduced at schools and academies, and also spread through reproductions in woodblock-printed popular encyclopedias. This portrayal of Confucius is often labeled a "legacy portrait" (yi xiang), which suggests that it was transmitted down through the ages from his own lifetime. The depiction was repeatedly revived in later centuries and has recently inspired artifacts ranging from monumental statues to popular votive prints. Keywords: portraits of Confucius, visual representations of Confucius, legacy portrait, Kong descendants, Qufu, Quzho