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Zavidovskaya E., Rud P. Origins and Religious Functions of the Chinese Paper Icons “Zhima” and Their Collections at the MAE RAS

E. Zavidovskaya
Institute of China and Modern Asia RAS,  Briansk State University
Moscow, Briansk, Russian Federation
ORCID: 14 0000-0002-8369-7776
E-mail: katushaza@yahoo.com   

P. Rud
Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-1596-5924
E-mail: prud@kunstkamera.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. This study seeks to systematize the Chinese terminology for such a distinctive phenomenon in Chinese religious life as woodblock paper icons zhizma (紙馬, “paper horse”), tracing their origins in religious practice, the changes in their content, and role over the centuries in the system of domestic worship. Additionally, the paper introduces into scientific circulation little-known collections of paper icons from the MAE RAS (the Kunstkamera) in St. Petersburg, amounting to about 100 sheets. Scholars debate whether the first paper icons should be dated back to Tang (618–907) or Song (960–1279) dynasties. Tang sources mention paper icons jiama and paper money chuma, but the single material object identified as zhima dates back to the Northern Song period. The presence of the word “horse” in the name of this attribute of worship is associated by some scholars with the ancient horse cult during Han times and before; the horse was believed to commute between heaven and earth as an envoy capable to deliver pleads to the deities in heaven or transport deities from the mundane world to heaven. MAE RAS boasts a unique collection acquired by several enthusiasts and experts (funds No. 2315, 1090, 1221, 2469, 3653, 2054, 1042). These paper icons were produced mainly in northern China, primarily in the Peking area, in the first decades of the 20th century. Among them are rare prints from the Suzhou area acquired by the renowned Russian sinologist V. M. Alekseev in 1912. The icons from the Fund № 1090 differ from other pieces in style and coloring, and their attribution is still pending. A large portion of zhima is stylistically similar to those on collection in the State Museum of the History of Religion (GMIR) and the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

 

KEYWORDS: China, popular religion, paper icon zhima, origins, burning, Russian collections, MAE RAS

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-86 0 0-2022-3 (17)-121-148
УДК 069.5(470.23-25

 

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