“Groundedness” at the Ganlu Monastery Pagoda in Zhenjiang

In sources of the Tang and Song dynasties, the word ground (di) could refer to both the physical earth and to the figurative background against which images are formed. During this period, relic pagodas—multi-story buildings in which Buddhist relics were deposited—frequently played upon both of these meanings. On one hand, these buildings covered the relics physically interred beneath them. On the other hand, they also rose from intricately sculpted bases, which mediated the relationship between the pagoda and the ground on which it necessarily stands. Building on recent research in geoaesthetics, which has called attention to the ways in which the earth and the environment have shaped artistic practices throughout history, this paper examines the concept of “groundedness,” or the mediating roles played by the ground, in the practice of building relic pagodas in China. My focus is on one site, the Ganlu Monastery Pagoda in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, built in the 820s and rebuilt in the 1070s. My analysis proceeds first toward the base of this pagoda. This base, sculpted with tiered images of mountains and seas, draws on earlier representational conventions in sculptural and architectural bases yet, at the same time, departs from these conventions to visually suggest that the pagoda is emerging from the ground. Second, I examine the inscribed objects deposited beneath the pagoda. The inscriptions on these objects engagingly record how the ground was understood as a unique physical space with the capacity to preserve objects over time.