Heron Club: Watch over the common earthly homeland
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Hu Ren riding beasts in Guokeng Jingliang Building, Zhangzhou (photographed by Guo Junshan)
In the type of ornamentation of the Southern Fujian culture, there are two main types of prayers for blessings, one is a bat pattern and the other is a Huren pattern. Bat patterns are the most common, Hu people stripes are relatively rare, which are mostly riding animals (lions, elephants, cattle, etc.) and are also the image of treasure offerings, so it is also called Hu people riding beasts, Hu people offering treasures, etc., of which Hu people riding lions are the most common. The combination of Hu people and lions, in addition to riding lions, there are also lion pulling, lion playing, lion taming---, no matter what combination method, it means blessing and calming. In southern Fujian, with the advent of the Era of European Navigation, the image of Hu people in the Ming and Qing dynasties gradually evolved into foreigners and Fan people, but in the folk sense, it is still appropriate to call Hu people.
As far as the Hu people are concerned about lion riding, as early as BC, they have appeared on ancient Egyptian amulets, embodied in the pharaoh standing on the back of the lion, and similar forms also appeared in West Asia and India. After Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty sent an envoy to the Western Regions, the countries of the Western Regions paid tribute to China with lions. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, at the same time as Buddhism was introduced, lion culture also began to influence the Eastern Lands. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the lion statues of the Hu people in the Central Plains were mainly embodied in some bronzes and porcelain. In Shaanxi, there are still many ancient tethered horse pillars with carved statues of Hu people riding lions on the pillars.
Turtle Mountain Hall (Photo by Lin Hongdong)
Guishan Hall "Hu Ren Riding a Lion" (Photo by Lin Hongdong)
Guishan Temple Hu people riding lions (Photo by Lin Hongdong)
On July 5, 2020, when I was collecting wind in Dongshan Village in the U.S. and Taiwan Investment Zone in Zhangzhou Jiao, I happened to visit the Guishan Hall (it is said that it was built in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties). On the concave wall of the Guishan Temple, I accidentally saw two reliefs carved in stone by Hu people riding lions. The Hu people in these two Hu people riding lions have masters and servants, which are no longer traditional Western Hu portraits, but European foreigners, which reflects the new background of Sino-foreign exchanges in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Zhengyigong Hu people taming elephants (photo by Zhuang Guoqing)
Zhengyigong Hu people taming lions (Photo by Zhuang Guoqing)
Coincidentally, more than 30 kilometers away from the Guishan Temple, zhengyigong in Datong Town, Tong'an District, Xiamen City, has also found two similar reliefs. Zhengyi Palace, also known as Xuantan Palace, was built during the Ming Jiajing period. The Costumes of the Hu people in the relief are very similar to the Guishan Hall, both are treasure offering themes, the difference is: the Guishan Hall is riding, the Zhengyi Palace is tamed; the Guishan Hall is a double lion, and the Zhengyi Palace is a lion and an elephant. Because similar "Western statues" are extremely rare in Xiamen, Tong'an scholar Chen Jincheng praised these two reliefs as "priceless treasures in Tong'an area", and Yan Lishui pointed out that "as a traditional Taoist palace temple, the practice of decorating traditional Chinese palace temples with foreigner images is still the first time in Xiamen." The relevant staff of the Tong'an Cultural Relics Department also said that "at present, in the palaces and temples under the jurisdiction of Tong'an, only the Zhengyi Palace still has preserved Reliefs of Western figures."
Zhaoying Palace (Photo by Lin Hongdong)
Stone sculpture of Hu people riding lions in Zhaoying Temple (photo by Lin Hongdong)
Stone carving of Hu people riding cattle in Zhaoying Temple (photo by Lin Hongdong)
Stone carving of Hu people riding elephants in Zhaoying Temple (photo by Lin Hongdong)
Zhaoying Temple Hu people riding a lion (Photo by Lin Hongdong)
Interestingly, in December 2020, I suddenly found four pieces of Hu people riding beasts in Zhaoying Palace, which was founded in the Ming Dynasty in Tong'an Bingzhou, of which two were "Hu people riding lions", one was "Hu people riding elephants", and one was "Hu people riding cattle". This discovery is the "second discovery of Xiamen" ("Hu people riding cattle" is the first discovery) of "Hu people riding lions" and "Hu people riding elephants" after the continuation of the Zhengyi Palace, which overturns the above-mentioned statement that "only the Zhengyi Palace still exists". The statue of the Hu people riding the beast in Zhaoying Palace also has the characteristics of the Hu people offering treasures.
On February 9, 2022, Zhangzhou photographer Guo Junshan found two statues of Hu people riding beasts on the drum stones of The Jingliang Building (which seems to be a Qing Dynasty building) in Guokeng Village, one for riding a lion and one for riding a beast, and the theme also has the meaning of offering treasure.
I believe that as long as you have the patience to find it, you will definitely find it.
The common features of the Hu people riding animal statues or Hu people sacrificing treasures found above are: first, they all appeared in the Ming and Qing dynasties; second, they are all located in the dock area at the mouth of the Jiulong River; third, the Hu people in the reliefs are all Western characteristics.
Hu ren ornamentation also does not ride beasts and offer treasures.
As early as 2010, a newspaper in Xiamen reported that there was a foreigner image in the "Wang Chunkai Wife Chen Family" festival filial piety arch next to the Tong'an Old Film Theater. According to the report, this "foreigner stone" appeared for the first time in Xiamen's traditional filial piety stone arch. The "Wang Chun Kai Wife Chen Clan" Festival Filial Piety Stone Arch was built in 1807 (Qing Dynasty). A 2017 Zhangzhou news article reported similar events, such as the "brave and simple" stone arch built in 1707 (Qing Dynasty) in Yuekou Street on Xinhua East Road, and similar "foreigner stone carvings" (at least two pieces) were also found. On April 23, 2021, I also found a "foreigner stone sculpture" on the wall of Yang's Dafudi in Shima Town, Longhai District, Zhangzhou City. This doctor was built in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty.
All in all, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the figure of "Huren stone carving" (foreigner stone carving) appeared in the architectural decorations of Xiazhang, including palace temples, archways, and residential houses!
Statue of Dr. Yang's Doctor Di Foreigner (Photo: Lin Hongdong)
The statue of a foreigner in Dr. Yang's Doctor (Photo: Lin Hongdong)
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