20. Christian Headstone with Canopy Yuan dynasty (1272—1368)
Quanzhou Maritime Museum Ricci 20 KP 020 Z24 A canopy or parasol
was used in ancient India to protect kings and other royals from
the sun, and it subsequently became a symbol of power and
prestige. It was natural to use a canopy in association with the
Buddha as he had been a prince before attaining enlightenment.
It can be seen in the early Buddhist art of India, and was
transmitted to Central Asia and China where it appears, for
example, at Dunhuang. A similar canopy to the one shown on this
tombstone can be seen on a panel relief on the Eastern pagoda of
the Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou, completed about 1250. The
discovery of the canopy’s presence on Christian tombstones of
the Mongol period is quite remarkable, and yet explicable in the
context of the multiculturalism of Quanzhou. The canopy has
tassels or streamers dangling from it and protects the cross
emerging from an open lotus flower.