Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
AND
HIS CONTRIBUTION TO
Introduction
Nepal has produced stars of brilliant personalities who contributed a lot to humanity and society
through their arduous travels, skills and knowledge. But some of these personalities are not
recorded in annals of our country due to utter negligence and simply due to lack of information
about them. Although Arniko is one of the key figures in the arts of Nepal, Tibet and Yuan China
he is still poorly understood.
According to Chinese sources his legendary life and career over nearly sixty years had a
lasting artistic and spiritual influence on Asia and on China in particular. The magnitude of his
accomplishments rivals those of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and Leonardo in the West. In spite
of his great contribution in China and Tibet his name is not even mentioned in the annals of
Nepal. Little is known about his contribution on his Buddhist artistic skills. He built White
Pagoda in Beijing, Wu ta'i Shan, Golden Pagoda in Tibet and constructed a great deal of
monasteries, shrines, paintings, portraits, artifacts and even scientific equipments.
The present study has planned to throw light on the contribution of Arniko for the
development of Buddhism and artistic heritage in China. He not only built Buddhist monasteries
but also Confucius shrines, wall paintings and numerous images of this tradition. Arnikos ten
accomplishments at the court were enumerated. The first six of his achievements include his
mastery in gold, Jade, terracotta and the like. The last four mention four specific textile artist
embroidery and three types of weaving namely damask, brocade and tapestry.
While Nepalese history is scantily recorded, there is one exception: substantial information
on Arnikos life is found in Chinese historical sources, which provide a rare glimpse into the
Nepali artist's society, family, career, and art.
Names
A word of note concerning the name of this great Master must be mentioned before commencing
biographical notes of this master. Great French Savant Sylvain Levi mentions from Yuanshi-203
about his name as follows:
A-r-ni-ko was a native of Native of Nepal. The people of kingdom of Nepal call him as Pa-lepou.
P. Peliot, the eminent Mongolian scholar and Yuan specialist was intrigued by the name of
Aniko. His research left him to the opinion that the cognomen was neither a Mongolian
pseudonym nor proper Newari but Hindi not Sanskrit and a variant of Anango, one of the 84
Mahasiddhas. He could not decide this even.
P. Pelliot suggested that Pa-le-pou is Bal-po, the Tibetan name for Nepal spelt as Pa-le-pou
in the biography of A-ni-ko.
According to the Chinese epitaph written Chengjufu it is mentioned as The Masters name
is Anige. He was one of the descendants of a king of Nepal
Luciano Petech interprets that A-ni-ko is the correct form of the name, as attested by the
funeral inscription and by the early editions of the Yuan shih
i.e of lineage of Sakya. The names of his wife and grandmother suggest Sakya family of the
Patan city at present time as well.
Arniko, with the ancestral home in Patan in Nepono was called as Balubu by the people at
that time as an architect.3
Mr. Thomas L. Guta in his article on Aniko: Image weaver mentions:4
But first one similarity among all the accounts the mention of Anikos royal Nepalese ancestry.
This glaring improbability need not be accepted at face value nor rejected out of hand for it tells
us more about social institutions than artistic traditions. It was not an uncommon de-facto
assignation to legitimize marriage to royalty, in this case a Mongol Princess.
Satyamohan Joshi in his " kalakar Arniko: The Well-known architect Arniko"Kathmandu,2044 (1987 A.D) pp.93
Contribution to Nepalese Studies, Vol.24,No.1 ( January 1997), 72
5
Ibid.pp.90
6
ibid.pp.91
4
In Cheng Jufu, ChengXuelou wenji (The Collected Works of Cheng Jufu), I: 313-ZO. Taipei:
Zhongyang tushu guan, 1970.
3. Gendai no Kogeika Neparu no Ozoku Anika no den ni tsuite A standard study of Arniko is
done by M.Ishida: (On the biography of Aniko, artist and member of the Nepalese royal family
during the Yuan dynasty), in Moko Gakuho,II ( 1941),pp.244-260.7
4. History of Yuan dynasty pt.203
5. Arnikos official biography in the Yuan-shi, ch.203, ff.11b-12b, is also translated by Sylvain
Levi, Le Nepal, II, pp.187-189.8
6. Tibetan Painted scrolls by G.Tucci-1949:
G.Tucci has discussed thoroughly on the whole problem of Nepalese influence on Painting and
sculpture in Tibet in his Tibetan Painted scrolls, Rome 1949,pp.272-280.Especially, he
describes about the activities of Arniko and his influence on Tibetan art and in China. (p.277)
7. Kalakar Arniko: The Well known architect Arniko
A major study on the biography of Arniko and his contribution has been made by Mr. Satya
Mohan Joshi, in " Kalakar Arniko: The Well known architect Arniko Kathmandu, 2044 (1987
A.D.).But here the information on Arnikos construction of White Pagoda and other monasteries
in Wutai Shan are wholly missing.
8. Portraits of Kublai Khan and Empress Chabi by Anning Jing
A well researched article on the biography and especially on Arnikos two portraits which are
housed in National Palace Museum, Taipei are discussed thoroughly.
9. Anige, Himalayan Artist in Khubilai Khans Court by Anning Jing
Mr. Anning Jing has treated in this article about the importance of the treatise Tsao-hsiang-tuling-ching (Iconometric treatise or Pratimalaksana sutra)-Peking.
10. Yuandai Huasuji: a part of History of Yuan dynasty which describes the artistic tradition of
Yuan dynasty a portion of it relating to Arniko because it was widely used as a textbook on art
materials. These materials have occupied scholars from Sylvain Levi to the present in the
Nepalese history.
11. K. Luciano Petech: Medieval History of Nepal
7
8
ibid.f.n.3
Medieval History, L Petech pp.99-100
Luciano Petech published the book, Mediaeval History of Nepal (Rome: Is. M.E.O., 1958), PP.
90-91.Based on funeral inscription he analyzed some of the features in Arniko's life
12. L. Herbert Frankes "Consecration of White Stupa in 1279"
The article describes in detail the origin of the White stupa and the tantric rituals performed for
its consecration in 1279. It also gives the description of the White stupa.
(In www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/1994a/155.pdf)
Based on inscription in the tomb of Arniko (found in the collection of Syue lau chi texts)
a post, pillar,column or a yasti
11
bhumi is basically thirteen rings placed on the top of the dome or anda or garbha
12
(c/o anning Jing at www.jinganige.htm)
13
Cheng Jufu," Liangguo Minhui," 315.
10
Arniko was a native of Nepal. The people of that kingdom call him Pa-le- pou.When quite
young he displayed a bright intelligence of superior kind to that of ordinary children. When
he grew a little older he could recite from memory the Buddhist texts and at the end of a year
he understood them all. Among his school fellows there was one who was a sketcher, painter,
modeler, decorator and who recited the Law of Measurements. He only heard it once and
Arniko was able to repeat it. On growing older he became an expert sketcher himself and
excelled in the art of modeling and melting into shapes, images in metal.
Before he left Nepal for Tibet, he was already an expert in painting, modeling and casting
images.14 He has learnt Sanskrit language as well in his childhood and writes the letters very
nicely. Even the old man of his time used to be jealous of his learning. He had also learnt the
texts like Buddhapratimalaksana shastra15 concerning iconometrics. It seems that he had the
capacity of memorizing the texts once he had heard. Other signs of Aniko's genius are cited in
the epitaph:
He is described as mature and contemplative like an adult. He is a brilliant student. Endowed with
an acute mind, he quickly comprehends his textbooks and becomes a good calligrapher. His work
is admired even by venerable elders, who readily acknowledge their inferiority. By nature he has
a keen interest in treatises on art. No sooner has he heard them read than he has them memorized.
As he grows, he frequently produces art objects of exquisite quality. At school, he mastered his
text books and became a good calligrapher in such a short time that even the venerable elders 16
acknowledged their inferiority. He could memorize treatises on art as soon as he heard them
read.17He is particularly good at painting and sculpture. By the age of sixteen, he is one of the best
artisans of the country.18
patriarch of the Sa- skya sect of Tibetan Buddhism, to build a golden Stupa in honor of Chos
-rje pa Sakya Pandita Kun -dga' rgyal mtshan (1182-1251), the fourth patriarch of the sect.
In 1260 he was appointed Imperial Preceptor, the highest religious authority in the Mongol
empire. In 1260 Kublai Khan had requested the Lama Phags pa, his spiritual preceptor, to erect a
golden stupa in Tibet. Phags pa summoned artists from Nepal for this purpose.
King Jayabhimadeva of Nepal collected 80 artisans and chose to lead them Arniko, a descendant
of the royal family of Nepal. 19
Arniko in Tibet
Arniko and his team visit Tibet in Sakya monastery to construct Golden Stupa.
After receiving the decree to construct Golden stupa from Kubilai Khan, the emperor then
Phags-pa turned to Nepal for artists. Tibetan Buddhists had always looked toward Nepal, the
birthplace of the Buddha and Buddhism for religious and artistic inspiration. But by the late
twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Buddhism in India had declined. The last remnants of Indic
Buddhism were in the eastern Gangetic region, where the Pala artistic tradition had flourished,
though by 1260 those remnants had long since disappeared.' Nepal remained the only stronghold
where the Tibetans could still find Buddhist art of the Indic tradition.
According to the History of Yuan Dynasty, in 1260 Kublai khan, the great ruler of China and
suzerain of the Mongol states and Tibet, requested his spiritual teacher, the abbot of Sa-skya,'
Phags-pa (1235-80), to erect a "Golden stupa"20 in Tibet.
Phags-pa intended to recruit as many as one hundred artists for the project. The number may
not have been large by the standards of the Mongol empire, which had incalculable human and
financial resources. But for the small kingdom of Nepal, which had been devastated by repeated
wars, famines, and earthquakes, to find so many qualified artists in a short time was not easy.
One-hundred Newar artists were to be found and sent for the task, and the king of Nepal, Jaya
Bhima Malla (1257-71), managed to gather eighty of them. To head them he chose a member of
royal family, Arniko who, though, then aged only sixteen, had specifically requested to lead the
team.
Before sending them to Tibet, he received them personally and ordered them to select a
leader among themselves. Nobody was willing to take charge. Then Arniko, one of the youngest,
volunteered to take up the responsibility.' He nominated himself not with the rashness of
adolescence but with self-confidence.
19
When asked about his age, he answered, "Sixteen." The king hesitated and tried to discourage
the lad, for he was looking for someone more advanced in age and experience.
But the confident youth replied, "My body is young indeed, but my mind is not." In spite of his
young age, Arniko was already an accomplished draughtsman, model and metal caster. It appears
that he was also expert in painting and weaving in brocade.
Convinced of the young man's ability, the king entrusted him with the responsibility of
leading the team to Tibet. Arniko and the Nepalese artists arrived in Tibet in 1261.
Arniko in China
Arniko's success had been such that Lama 'Phags-pa insisted him and asked him to visit China.
Following Phags-pa, Arniko arrived in Dadu (Beijing) by the end of 1262. After arriving at
China, Arniko appeared in the presence of Emperor Kublai khan in the palace. The Emperor
having observed him for a long time before speaking and interrogated, "You arrived in the
celestial Empire. Do you not get frightened?" The Emperor interrupted, Why were you so? He
responded: Our stately trade is as a son of ten thousand countries. For a son to arrive before his
father, what reason is there to fear? He replied: My fatherland is in the country of the occident.
I had received the order of the sovereign to erect a stupa in Tibet. In two years I have executed
that order. There I have observed disorder and war; the people are incapable of protecting their
life, The emperor asked: What is that you know making? He replied: I know well how to
design, model and mould metals. The emperor tested Arnikos skill by asking to repair a bronze
statue that had been judged as damaged beyond repair by all the other court artists. Arniko
accepted the challenge. Then ordered to restore a statue of copper dedicated to the Song
Emperors Aniko becames supervisor-in-chief.
In 1273, Aniko became supervisor-in-chief of all classes of artisans. Under his direction a
department in charge of artisans was established in 1275. During Khubilai's rule, this was one of
the two most important artistic institutions of the dynasty.
As director of this grade, Arniko supervised thousands of artisans and was responsible for
religious images, imperial portraits, and other court projects. He cast gold seals for the heir to the
throne and several princes and cast gold- and silver-lettered roundels as travel passes.
He produced astronomical instruments such as an armillary sphere and a water clock. He
made new symbols of the emperor's sovereignty, based on designs from Nepalese culture such as
the dharmacakra (Wheel of the Law), which was used to lead imperial processions, and the
image of Garuda, the celestial bird that was displayed over the imperial throne.
The conception of these new symbols of imperial sovereignty did not originate with Arniko,
but it was his materialization of them that made them effective symbols of Khubilai's dynastic
power. Not limited to the court, their influence penetrated even to the lower levels of Chinese
society.
Anning Jing in The Portraits of Khubilai Khan and Chabi by Anige: A Nepali artist at the Yuan court, pp.51 fn 74.
c/oArniko society articles
dominating the view of the Wutai Mountains. Enclosed in two white stupas are a large number of
Buddhist images, texts, and other treasures. If their contents come to light in the future, they will
drastically change art historians' understanding of Arnikos style and the art of the period. 23P.
Landon states that at Wu Ta'i Shan there is still a structure 24 remotely resembling the shrines of
Bodhnath and Svayambhu and it does not appear that any other similar shrines is to be found in
China proper. This suggests that Nepalese Buddhist monks had influenced the life and manner of
monks at Wu Ta'i shan of China.25 For this second stupa, he was given ten thousand tassels of
silver and was married to a Mongol official's daughter.
10
1295-97
15. The Nanshan Temple: 1295-97 at Wutaishan
16. Puji Temple( 1302-1305) at Wutai shan
Arniko was a genius and versatile person. As far as the sculptures are concerned, all
statues in monasteries in Dadu and Shangdu were sculpted under his supervision. At that time,
the statues made by him became the standard art style of the Yuan dynasty.
Arniko introduced Nepalese artistic styles into Chinese culture Some of his outstanding
paintings and sculptures are:
1. Portraits of Emperor Kublaikhan and empress Chabi
(Preserved National Palace Museum, Taipei)
2. Painting of Green Tara: Now preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Art,USA
3. Mahakala sculpture: Dated 1292
Partially polychrome and gilded lithographic limestone
47 x 285 cm L. Fournier donation with usufruct
MA 5181 now in Musee Guimet, Paris
4. Lacquor Bodhisattva
5. Image of Manjusri ( 1305).Preserved in National Palace Museum,Taipei
They were A-seng-ko, who maintained the salary of a controller; and A-shu-la, who became Director General of
the artisans of all classes.
11
Last days
On November 10, 1305, Arniko received an order from the empress Buluhan but all the tantric
deities were destroyed in front of him. It was catastrophic blow to him.
27
About him P.Pelliot has described in detail in his work,Les grandes voyages maritimes chinois au debut du XV
sicle, in Toung Pao, XXX ( 1933),pp.195-197
28
Taisho n.1419; vol.xxi,p 939a.
29
(Chunggo Fo xiao -Buddhism in China pp.109)
30
Lo bue p.266
12
To Arniko, the order was more than destruction of the statues. It was the destruction of his
faith, his work, his dignity, and his unwavering loyalty to the Mongol dynasty.
For more than forty years his works had been admired, praised, and regarded as models of
artistic and spiritual purity at the Mongol court and throughout the empire.
Suddenly, however, they were denounced and destroyed. He had never suffered such a
humiliation before. His health failed, and he fell ill after returning from a court session. Two
days later he died. Following Nepali custom, he was cremated, and his ashes were buried in a
stupa near the capital three months later. Before his incoming death, Arniko gathered his
disciples and said: When I was about to die, you put me in a bed and encircle me with a screen
and let me die in peace.
As he said, after bathing, he went to meet the emperor and returned to his home. He told his
servants about his crucial pain of death. As soon as the emperor came to know his illness, he sent
his royal doctor for the treatment. But it is of no avail. Palace envoys and doctors visited, but he
passed away in sleep on the eleventh. He died when he was 62 years old.
The emperor Temur grieved over his death after hearing the news and halted the court
session. He ordered palace officials to take care of his family and rewarded the family 25000
teals of silver. The emperor ordered the authorities concerned to make arrangements for the
funeral. That night a star fell into the courtyard. The next day saw icicles on the trees.
On next day i.e March 12th, his body was put on a palanquin or (New: khat) and cremated
and on the seventh day all the purification rituals were performed according to Newar Buddhist
tradition. Since his Newar wife was already in China she must have performed the death rituals
as per Newar Buddhist tradition. After five months, on the fifteenth day of July, a Caitya was
built in his name and his ashes were buried in a stupa at Gangziyuan, Wanping County near the
capital. Aniko's achievements at court are summarized in his Chinese epitaph: the construction of
three stupas, nine great Buddhist temples, two Confucian shrines, one Daoist temple, and
countless images and objects made for the emperor, his imperial family, the court, and private
persons.
Conclusion
He was a genius. While living in China for more than forty-five years he earned highest imperial
positions and honors in Yuan dynasty. His constructions and creations of arts and artifacts have
earned high appreciation and admiration for him from Chinese and other people all over the
world since hundreds of years. With contributions in developing arts and architecture in China he
earned great prestige and honor for Nepal and the Nepalese people. The Chinese people regard
Arniko as a symbol of Nepal China friendship. Arniko's biography is more than a story of a
Nepali artist's gallant adventure and phenomenal success in foreign lands. It is also a story of
13
how Himalayan Buddhist art became an international style. That style continued to thrive after
Aniko's death and eventually became the basis for the Buddhist art at the Ming (1368-1644) and
Qing courts and in Mongolia. Most of the Stupas built by Arniko are preserved as heritage
monuments.
Cheng Jufu (1249 - 1318), the writer of his epitaph saw a portrait of Arniko. He inscribed on
the portrait a poem praising Aniko's "noble appearance," diligence, and irreplaceable talent.
We have seen from above discussion that Arniko was not only acquainted with but had attained
mastery of the weaving arts traditionally associated with China. He was able to work in a number
of styles and media. As a number of old Newar sketch books illustrate they had no difficulty
imitating the Chinese or Indian styles.
Although some of his critics expressed their sentiments that his knowledge did not expand
beyond his profession Cheng Jufu appreciates his talents in this way in his epitaph:31
When the sage Kubilai rose, he came to the court in spite of thousands of mile. Seeing,
admiring, feeling and learning, he greatly widened his horizon. Therefore, he was able to
accomplish imperial orders and became the great Master of an age. Indeed, luck is also human
relationship. Otherwise how could he have received glory and prominence to such an extent?
Those who prepared and invented things for the benefit of the world were sages. The skilled
have been continuing the works. Although it is difficult to know if the master's skill surpassed
that of the skilled in ancient times, his fame certainly does. Is that wonderful?
31
The Sprit-way Stele for Minhui, the Duke of state of Liang, by Cheng Jufu,p.82
14