Deviant Viewers and Gendered Looks: Erotic Interactions with Images and Visual Culture in Song Popular Religion

Abstract

Abstract:This article examines popular anecdotes about erotic responses to religious images during the Song dynasty (960–1279). It first compares three interrelated traditions in order to see different agents at work: discussions of living images in art criticism, stories about miraculous icons in religious accounts, and erotic encounters with nonhumans in tales and anecdotes. In comparison with these traditions, narratives of erotic interaction with religious images often emphasize the agency of the viewer. For cases in which images are said to have responded, the narrative often displays deliberate efforts toward justification and interpretation. This article then examines the materiality of religious imagery in Song anecdotes and compares it with the nonreligious images and objects that become jingguai 精怪 (transforming creatures). Finally, through analyzing the depiction of female beholders and their desire in anecdotes and medical treatises, this article argues that a changing discourse on female sexuality took place during the Song-Yuan period.摘要:本文分析宋代（960–1279）筆記資料中，觀者對宗教造像心生遐想、甚至做出褻慢舉動的民間軼事。首先比較觀者、畫家或工匠、和神佛精怪在以下三個相關的傳統中所扮演的角色：畫史中關於感神通靈的討論，宗教造像顯靈的故事，以及與妖精鬼怪邂逅的傳奇軼事。與這些傳統相較，觀者與宗教造像發生親密互動的故事往往強調觀者的主動性。如果造像本身有所回應，敘事中往往可見刻意解釋或正當化神靈舉動的痕跡。本文接著探討宋代故事中宗教造像的物質性，並與化為「精怪」的物品作比較。最後，透過分析宋元筆記和醫書對女性觀者和慾望的描繪，本文指出宋元之際對女性慾望論述的轉變。