Written by Alahna Jones 2025 Boone Scholar for East Asian Studies
During the Qing dynasty, grand celebrations of the emperor’s birthday became commonplace. In 1909 Berthold Laufer acquired masks from the Imperial Birthday celebration of the child Emperor Xuan Tong 宣統帝 or Puyi. These masks were used in a procession where important figures in China’s culture came and blessed the emperor. These groups of figures ranged from gods to characters from some of the most famous plays in China.
The first group in the procession was the 28 patriarchs who were priests native to India spreading the word of Buddhism (Laufer 30). An important feature of the mask is the crown which shows a drawing of the priest that the mask represents.
Second in the procession were the 28 Lunar Mansions who represent the different constellations. The 28 Lunar Mansions can be sorted in two different categories: the first is the cardinal location of the constellation and the second the its element. The cardinal locations represented not only the location but also the different seasons as well as animals. The East is Spring and Azure Dragon, the South is Summer and the Vermilion Phoenix, the West is Autumn and the White Tiger, and the South is Winter and the Black Tortoise (Chu 71). Along with the cardinal direction you can also separate the 28 lunar mansions into six different elements: wood, fire, water, earth, sun, moon, and metal (Kim 10). On the masks in the Laufer collection you can also see the animal representatives that are associated with each constellation.
East
North
West
South
Third in the procession are the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas. They are believed to reign over various water sources and bring rain to the area. Not only did they bring rainfall but they also were protectors of Buddha. Chinese dragon legends were adopted from Indian mythological creatures called nāga the Sanskrit word for cobra (Chao 57-59).
Next came the Eight Fairies or Eight Apsaras. Known as the flying apsaras they originated in India within Hindu and Buddhist religions and were seen as heavenly figures. As Buddhism spread, China would create their own depictions of apsaras where they were seen as beautiful, graceful, and musical figures who guarded Buddha (Jing, 75). Taoist influences can also be seen in how Apsaras were interpreted in China with an emphasis being made on the beings' connection to nature. This can be seen in the names of the different apsaras and them all relating to nature like the Fairy of Autumnal Moon and Fairy of a Thousand Flowers. Some of the oldest depictions of these creatures can be seen in the Mogao caves where drawings of them were created around the Northern Wei period (Zhang 6).
The three star gods also known as the gods of happiness have been around since the Yuan Dynasty but gained popularity during the Qing dynasty. The gods represent different blessings with Fuxing giving happiness, Luxing employment, and Shouxing longevity. People would worship the gods in their home rather than at a temple.
The Eight Immortals legend appeared around 978 CE (Yang 2) in an anthropology of Chinese mythologies T’ai P’ing Kuang-Chi by Li Fang. The individual members of the Eight Immortals would continue to appear in a number of stories but would not be grouped together until the Yuan dynasty. The first time they would appear as a group would be in the Yuan drama where Lu introduces himself and the rest of the immortals in song. (Yang 3). The Eight Immortals would continue to be mentioned in different plays but they would not always be named or be the same eight people. During the late Ming dynasty the Eight Immortals would be identified as how they are known today with the play Han-Tan Meng (The Dream at Han-Tan) by T’an Hsien-Tsu.
The last group of masks in the procession is the cast of the Investiture of the Gods (封神演義 Fengshen Yanyi) . A popular mythological story that blends Buddhism and Taoism elements together to create a story about Wu Wang overthrowing the Zhou dynasty (Laufer 32).