An Early Qing bowl with the "Magic Square" motif
Few years ago, I
acquired the below bowl decorated with Islamic inscriptions from Moongate, an
antique shop in Tanglin. Moongate was a long established antique shop
which was in business since the 1970s. After the end of
confrontation, many excavated and shipwreck Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramic
wares from Indonesia flooded the Singapore antique market.
There were also some treasured heirloom pieces which were passed down for many
generations by the natives. According to the dealer Mr Goh, many members of the
Singapore Southeast Asian Ceramics Society used to visit his shop and held
frequent discussions. Many of the collections of the early Singaporean
collectors consisted of such export wares which were highly demanded by
consumers from Southeast Asia since the Tang dynasty. Chinese
ceramics constituted an important export items which were gathered at ancient
Chinese ports such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou and shipped along the ancient
maritime trade route to region as far as Eastern Africa.
Chinese export
ceramics with islamic koran inscription first appeared on Tang Changsha wares.
The Persian and Arab traders played a key role in the shipment of Chinese
products along the ancient overland and maritime trade routes. There were
large community of Persian and Arabs in cities such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou
during Tang Dynasty. Ancient ceramics such as Yue, Xing and Changsha wares
had been excavated in ancient sites such Fustat in Eygpt, Basra and Siraf
in the Middle East. Many of the shapes and motifs found on those
export wares drew their inspiration from Middle Eastern wares.
The Tang cargo from the Belitugn shipwreck was purchased by the Singapore
Government and some of the fineness pieces are now on display at the Singapore
Marina Sands ArtScience Museum. The wrecked ship called a dhow
is of Middle Eastern design, and is quoted as the first physical proof of
Persian/Arab direct involvement in shipment of Chinese goods along the maritime
trade route. After the the Tang period, Chinese ceramics with
Islamic inscriptions were apparently not produced. It resurfaced again
during the Zhengde period (early 16th century) and formed part of the
decoration for blue and white wares. Many of such items were ordered by
Eunuchs who embraced Islam. Islamic inscription constituting part or whole
of the design, in underglaze blue or overglaze enamelled form, was particularly
popular during the 17th/18th century and could be found in collections in the
region with Islamic world such as Indonesia, India and Turkey.
Tang Changsha Jar with Arabic script found in Yangzhou
The symbolic
significance of the motif on the bowl intriques me. The shape and fine
paste pointed to a 18th century dating for the bowl and is a product of
Jingdezhen kiln. I was very happy when I finally found an article entitled
"Some Chinese Islamic "Magic Square" Porcelain" in the book "Studies in Chinese
Ceramics" by Prof. Cheng Te-kun. He learnt from a Singapore collector Mr
Tan Yeok Seong that a group of Chinese export wares decorated with Islamic
inscriptions and magic square surfaced in the Singapore antique market in 1969
and were eagerly snapped up by local collectors. Such items appeared to be
rather rare and we could hardly find one in the antique market nowadays.
In his article,
Prof. Cheng discussed the significance and the origin of the magic square and
also the meaning of the inscriptions. He did research on a porcelain
plate with the magic square encircled by bands on of inscriptions, similar to my
bowl in terms of design layout, which was presented to Queen Mary of UK
when she visited Hyderabad of India in 1906 A.D. It was a treasure of
Golconda Fort. The plate was subsequently housed in the Victoria and Albert
Museum. The plate was a product of Jingdezhen kiln and dated to the
18th century. The verses found in the bands on the inner wall of the plate
were verses from the Koran and some Islamic prayer books. He enlisted the
help of Dr. Hassan Javadi from the University of Teheran to decipher the
inscriptions. There were mistakes in the writing as can expected.
The Chinese potter who wrote the inscriptions did not know the Arabic language
and simply copied the text from some samples. In the case of the plate,
Dr. Hassan was still able to decipher majority of the inscriptions.
For eg. the first band near the rim was from verses 256 and 275(2) from the
Koran. It reads :"(In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compssionate
God,) there is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes
Him not, neither sleep: to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth.
Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies
before them and what is after them, and they comprehend not anything of His
knowledge save such as He wills. HIs throne comprises the heavens and
earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not: He is the All-high and the
All-glorious".
Surrounding the
square, there are inscriptions which is translated as follows: "There is no man
like Ali (Cousin of MOhamed). There is no sword like Zulfakar (his
sword)".
The square is
sub-divided into 16 small squares. Each has 2 digit number in black.
The magic square in the plate is of the order 4. There are 4 squares
either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The sum of the number in
any of the direction added up to the same amount. In the case of that on
the plate, it added up to 194.
The magic square
originated from China. According the the ancient Chinese literature dating
to about 650BC, During the time of the mythical king Yu (禹),
there was a great flood. He tried to channel the water out to sea
where then emerged a turtle from the river Luo. It's shell has a 3 by 3
grid pattern with circular dots of numbers. The sum of
the numbers in each row, column and diagonal added up to 15. It is
the number of days in each of the 24
cycles
of the
Chinese solar year. The square was called the
Lo Shu or
"scroll of the river". The magic square pattern is said to be
used by the ancient people in controlling the river.
During the ancient
time, magic squares were believed to possess
astrological
and divinatory qualities, their usage ensuring longevity and prevention of
diseases. Magic squares were known to Islamic mathematicians, possibly as early
as the 7th century, when the
Arabs came in
contact with Indian culture, and learned Indian mathematics and astronomy. It
has also been suggested that the idea came via China.
For more on the
Magic square, please read
this.
According to Prof.
Schuyler Cammann of the University of Philadephia, the magic square was
used to express symbolically the essence of Islamic thinking in cosmology.
The magic square is considered to be a model of the universe and is said to be a
graphic illustrations of the Islamic concept that Allah is both the Source and
the Destination of all things.
Those plates and bowls with the magic square were used as medicine bowls in the Islamic world. The korean inscriptions and the magic square is believed to impart magical power to ward off evil. Such bowls and plates were previously treasured heirloom. After passing down for generations, the significance were forgotten by most of their descendants and many were sold as antiques to eager collectors.
Reference:
Some Chinese Islamic "Magic Square" Porcelain" in the book "Studies in Chinese Ceramics" by Prof. Cheng Te-kun