Dual Canonization: A Study of the Identity and Cult of Li Zhong, the Protagonist of a Chinese Scroll Held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Abstract

Dual Canonization:A Study of the Identity and Cult of Li Zhong, the Protagonist of a Chinese Scroll Held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art Mengxiao Wang This study investigates the historical background of a deity named Li Zhong 李忠, the protagonist of a Chinese scroll held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (hereafter the Met) with colophons dated 1641. Previous scholarship has examined the Daoist ritual of canonization presented on the scroll and its pictorial treatment of time and space,1 but has not yet identified its main figure, Li Zhong (Figure 1). This lack of knowledge about Li Zhong's identity has led to some misinterpretations of the presence of a controversial Song date on this Ming scroll (Figure 2). The multiple titles that it has borne over time best illustrate the challenges involved in interpreting this piece of artwork and identifying its protagonist. One of the colophons dated 1641 [End Page 429] indicates its possible original title, Xianhou shoulu tujuan 賢候[侯]受籙圖 (Figure 3),2 which literally means "picture scroll of a worthy marquis receiving [Daoist] registers." Since the scroll first arrived at the Met in 1938,3 it has had at least four different English titles: Li Chung Receives a Mandate,4 Investiture of a Local God,5 Investiture of a Daoist Deity,6 and Canonization Scroll of Li Zhong.7 Is Li Zhong a local god, a Daoist deity, a noble marquis, or all three? Drawing on a comparative reading of the colophons on the scroll and related historical accounts, this study will uncover the identity of Li Zhong and illuminate the evolution of his cult from the middle period to the late imperial period. I argue that as a local god, Li Zhong experienced a dual canonization, first receiving the official title of marquis (hou 侯) from the central government during the Song dynasty and then being granted Daoist registers by a Heavenly Master in the Ming dynasty. I will start with a brief introduction to the scroll and then closely examine one of its colophons alongside a gazetteer entry concerning Li Zhong. After this, I will review the current scholarly opinions about the Song date on this Ming scroll and propose a new potential explanation for it based on the discovery of Li Zhong's identity. Finally, I will [End Page 430] contextualize this scroll within the dynamics of state canonization and the investiture by Daoist clergy from the Song to the Ming dynasties. Uncovering Li Zhong's Identity from a Local Gazetteer The scroll comprises a painting, an inscription, and two colophons, on the basis of which recent scholarship has constructed the narrative that Li Zhong received a canonization from Daoist institutions. The painting portrays Li Zhong and his attendants processing into the celestial court where the Jade Emperor (Yuhuang 玉皇), the ruler of Heaven in Daoist cosmology, and other Daoist deities dwell.8 Following the painting, an inscription celebrates Li Zhong's merits as a local deity and describes the procedure by which he was invested into the Daoist pantheon. It lists three Daoist registers conferred on him by the fiftieth Heavenly Master through a proxy, a local priest named Li Daoqing 李道清.9 Given the biographical information of the fiftieth Heavenly Master, Zhang Guoxiang 張國祥 (titled 1577, d. 1611), this Daoist canonization ritual should have occurred between 1577 and 1611, and the scroll was probably created contemporaneously with the ritual.10 This inscription also functions as a textual certificate,11 which records that the Jade Emperor promotes Li Zhong to the position of "Minister of the Thunder Bureau in the Golden Palace of the Three Heavens" 三天金闕雷部書 and the "Perfected Man of Illustrious Response and Numinous Assistance Who Ensures Security" 保安顯應霊濟人, assigning his duty as "taking charge of the twelve City Gods' affairs" 提舉十二城隍事. [End Page 431] Two colophons were added later after the inscription. The first of these was inscribed in the seventh month of 1641 by a Ming imperial descendant named Zhu Zhongsu 朱中梀 (n.d.), who was appointed to Shicheng 石城 county in Jiangxi province.12 In this colophon, Zhu praises Li Zhong's protection of the local people and records how this scroll was produced and renewed. According to Zhu's record, his fellow townsmen had fashioned the...