Taoism And The Arts of China Little

Taoism And The Arts of China Little Examining the significance that artistic creations have had throughout Taobao's history from the late Han (second century) to the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties is the aim of this exhibition. The least well-known in the West of the Three Teachings (Sanjiao) of ancient China are Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. The distinction between Buddhism, an Indian religion, and Gonlucianlsnri, a mostly secular philosophy, is now much evident to us. Taoism is native to China, in contrast to Buddhism. With a history spanning more than two millennia, it had a profound impact on a wide range of Chinese cultural fields, including political theory, medicine, calligraphy, painting, and even Chan (Zen) Buddhism. But not much is understood about the connection between Taoism and Chinese art. The scant research on Taoist art that has been done thus far contrasts dramatically with the numerous academic studies and displays of Chinese Buddhist and secular art that are conducted in China. The common misconception among Western art historians and sinologists in general that religious Taoism is only folk religion and superstition exacerbates this ignorance. By analyzing the symbolism and purpose of artwork created in the service of Taoism, this project seeks to acquaint Western audiences to the main indigenous religion of China. The exhibition, which conveys a new understanding of how Taoists have defined the structure of the natural and divine worlds and situated humanity in the resulting matrix, was prepared using an interdisciplinary approach that draws upon architectural history, religious studies, literature, cultural history, and the history of science. The exhibition delves into the origins of Taoist philosophy during the late Bronze Age, spanning the fifth to third centuries B.C., the evolution of Taoism into a structured religion, the Taoist pantheon of gods residing in the stars and heavens, ritual and visualization techniques, the worship of the immortals, and the significance of landscapes as symbols of cosmic structure and processes. The way woria often operates in a religious environment is examined in this show. Over its long history, Taoism has experienced significant transformations, much like all major world religions. We must be aware of Taoism's evolving character as well as the social, political, economic, and cultural shifts that occurred in China and had an impact on Taoism's framework and belief system when studying its history and art history. While Taoism as a tradition in China is the main focus, it is hoped that visitors will learn that Taoism is a living religion that is currently experiencing a significant resurgence in mainland China and is practiced in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and many other Chinese communities abroad. Basic human needs, such the urge to comprehend the universe and one's role in it, are met by taoism. Chinese artists have produced works of the highest artistic level for usage in a Taoist environment in order to meet these objectives for corporations. Tao (pronounced "dao") is a road; it is also sometimes rendered as "the wayway." The Tao is said to be the emptiness from whence all reality arises; it is so vast that words cannot adequately capture it. It has been called "the structure of being that underlies the universe," existing outside of space and time. Interestingly, Taoism does not believe in a supreme entity. Rather than that, reality is undermined and penetrated by the Tao itself. Paradoxically, Taoism as a religion also revolved on a multitude of gods. The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi tianzun) and the Perfected Wanior (Zhenwu), Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven, are examples of Taoist high gods, although in the end, they are just pneuma that exist to give the Tao itself a recognizable face. According to the Taoist theory of cosmogenesis, the Tao existed initially. void and motionless as ever. Subsequently, yuan qi, or gradual primary energy, emerged naturally from the ite. the ite. This mysterious energy whirled in a state of chaos known as hundun for a great number of cosmic eons. Hundun. The complementary forces known as yin and yang were then produced by the Tao. The primordial energy was guided by the imaginative interplay of these forces into patterns of motion and transformation, giving rise to the universe's machinery. The philosopher Laozi is generally credited with this process, which is symbolically expressed in the Daode jing (Tao-le-ching; Claiisic of the Way [Tao] and its posver): The Way (Tao) gave rise to the one, and the one gave rise to the two. The three resulted from the two. This interpretation of the Tao and its principles includes the idea that "the three gave rise to all the ten thousand things." This idea of universal order provided structure to people's daily lives in traditional China. Every natural occurrence was perceived in terms of yin and yang. The variations of these two energies explained the changes in the seasons (winter being the season of y/Vi, summer the sea-sea-son of yong) and the genders (yin = female, yang == male). Furthermore, it was thought that the fluctuating balance between yin and yong controlled the altering patterns of energy that defined phenomena like the cycles of the Five Phases (or Five Elements: wood, metal, fire, water, and earth). According to Taoism, everything is composed of \/. Thus, matter and energy are convertible, which is a fundamental tenet of contemporary nuclear physics. Taoism teaches that in order to be happy as a human, one must acknowledge that everything is connected in the Tao and that change (transformation) is the only constant in reality. For example, the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine is the idea of qi, or vital energy or breath, which holds that blocks in the free flow of qi throughout the body originate from yin and yang imbalances. The goal of acupuncture and other conventional treatments is to correct the flow of life force, which in turn restores health. The idea that everything is related to everything else is a central tenet of Taoist philosophy and ancient Chinese thought. Specifically, microcosm is a reflection of macrocosm and vice versa. For instance, it was once thought that the structure of the human body mirrored both the structure of the cosmos and the natural world. According to religious Taoism, the human body is pictured as a landscape with various portions inhabited by gods that are metaphorically represented as dwelling in the heavens above. Of the several concepts that have persisted throughout religious Taoism's evolution, this notion of divine connection is one of the most prevalent! progress! Not at all. The Four Four Sacred Peaks, the Five Planets, and the Five Directions (the four cardinal directions and the north and south) are corresponding to the Four Four Elements. The intellectual foundations of traditional Chinese physiognomy are derived from the correspondences between the components of the human body and the natural world's structures. Early Taoist philosophy also stressed the value of cultivating virtue (de) and living in harmony with the environment. Harold Roth has translated de as "inner power": "This inner power can be thought of as a psychological condition of focused and balanced awareness from which the adept is able to respond spontaneously and harmoniously to whatever arises."* These concepts, along with the significance of always being in tune with the Tao, are first expressed in the Daodejing (also called the Laozi), the classic text attributed to the sage Laozi (Laotzu). Laozi is thought to have lived in the sixth century B.C., and the Daodefing is thought to have achieved its final form in the fourth or third century B.C. B.C. Taoist tradition tradition states that this text was first revealed to the first-tierfirst-tier guardian, guardian, Yin Xi,Xi, as Laozi left China for the western regions (see FigFig. i). Archaeologists uncovered a late 19th-century building in 1993 and 1993. The oldest known Laori manuscript was found in a tomb in Cuodian, Hubei region (see fig.fig. 2).2). "This manuscript from the Warring States period, which consists of three bundles of inscribed bamboo slips, is approximately 150 years older than the versions of the Loozie discovered in 1973 among the silk manuscripts at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan province (dating to c. 168 BX.)." The Cuodian Laozi lacks chapter titles, just like the Mawangdui manuscripts. The Guodian manuscript could contain transcriptions from a later book or it could be an earlier version of the text. In addition, fifteen other documents were found in the tomb at Cuodian. These included writings by Confucians and the cosmic text Supreme Unity—which produces water—(Flbryr(Flbryr* sfwngshuij). sfwngshuij). The next two passages, which are part of the Cuodian slips, exhibit the famously paradoxical language of Laozi. There is one text in bundle A. closely parallels the thirty-second chapter (zhang) of the Daodejing that was received: Heaven and Earth would work together to send Sweet Dew, and if kings and ifbtrans would only possess themselves of it, ten thousand creatures would swarm to pay them honor. Men would live in peace if there were no rules or commands. The Mowirtg passage, also from bundle A, corresponds somewhat to part of the SeoMd chapter of the received Daod*. It is because everyone under Heaven recognizes beauty as beauty, that the idea of ugliness exists. Similarly, if everyone recognizes virtue as virtue, this would merely create fresh conceptions of wickedness. For truly being (fou) and non-being (mi) are bom of each other. Ofwc (the Bloci4) it carved, there will be names. And as soon as there are names, Know that it is time to stop. Only by Knowing when it is time to stop can danger be avoided. To Tao all under heaMH wiH come. As streams and torrents flow into « river or sea.* Here the Tao represents the empty yet infinitely pregnant void out of which the world emerges. Easy and difficult complement one another; lengthy and brief evaluate one another; and lofty and low ascertain one another. Pitch and mode complement each other harmonically. Sequence is imparted to one another via and back. Sage therefore depends on inaction (iMnMtzllisili). emphasis on silent instruction. ....The Cuodian Laozi contains twenty-four sections that corre- spond to sections of the eighty-one chapter Daodejing." One of the most complicated aspects of Taoism is its transfor- mation from a philosophy to a religion. The West !S lust beginning to beconne aware of the long history of religious Taoism. Even scholars who are familiar with Laozi and the Daodtjkng are generally unaware of the later history of religious Taoism from the Eastern )ln (317-420) and Six DynastiC) (420-589) periods onward, or of the role of this religion In Chinese political history. That our increasingly sophisticated knowledge ofTaoism is so recent a phenomenon is due in large measure to a tendency among Chinese intellectuals in the early and mid-twentieth cen- tum to equate Taoism with folk religion and superstition, both seen as obstacles to modernization and social raferm. It was not until the 1920s that the Taoist Canon (Daanuifj, a rich re- pository of philosophical and ritual texts, became avaifable for Study through a photo-lithographic reprint of a iifteenth-century Ming woodblockprinted edition. In contrast, the East Asian Buddhist Canon has been accessible to scholars for centuries in the form of multiple woodblock-printed versions in China, Korea, and Japan. The fact that there is still no comprehensive history ofTaoism available in any Western language has only contrib- uted to this lack of awareness. Nonetheless, Taoist studies are proliferating in the West, and the practice of re! igiOUS Taoism iS rebounding in mainland Chma Religious Taoism is the principal (bCM oftMs eidlibition. Despite the seemingly elusive nature ofTaoist art. such arts as painting, sculpture, calligraphy, and textiles have se-ved reli- gious Taoism from its inception. Between the late Zhou (fifth- third century b.c.) and Tang (618-906) dynasties, Taoism underwent a profound change from the relatively straightfor- ward philosophy expressed in the Daodejing to a complex reli- gion with a vast pantheon of deities and immortals (adeots), a highly structured church, and an enormous compendium of sacred texts known as the Oaom% consisting since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) of some fifteen hundred scriptures. In the course of this transformation, Taoism absorbed several currents that played important roles in the intellectual and religious life ofthe late Bronze Age, indudir^ the belief in yiVi and yang; the symbolism ofthe Eight Trigrams from the Yifing. or Book of Chongi'i: the cyclica' activ t-es of the Five Phases (Eler^ients): the worship of sacred peaks; the belief in a vast realm of star gods; and concepts of aflerworlds and heavenly paradises. By the end ofthe IHan dynasty^ the sage Laozi had been de'ifiBd, and from this time onward was worshipped as a god by both the emperor and common people." Scholars have traditionally seen the beginning of religious Taoism as having occurred in the late Han dynasty (second century), with the formation of the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tiar^hi Dao) in Sichuan province. Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master, saw the deified Laozi in a.o. 142, which disseminated a novel understanding of humanity worldwide. Celestial Master Taoism was centered around two main ideas: moral standards and rituals of petition, when priests would formally ask the gods (and hence the Tao) to act in a charitable manner for the good of their church or deity. However, Taoists did not refer to their tradition as "Daojiao" (also known as "Taoist religion" or "Taoist teaching") until the fifiJi century. The precise starting point of the Taoist religion is still up for debate, despite the fact that many academics agree that Zhang Daoling's vision of the deified Laozi marked the beginning of religious Taoism. Some academics believe that leligious Taoism has a continuous genealogy that stretches back to the earliest Jaoist literature, the Zbufffigai and the Doodefing, which date to the Bronze Age. Some scholars, among tliem Anna Seidel, have used the term "proto-Taoist" to describe the Han dynasty religion(s) that provided the immediate antecedent to religious Taoism, and such vvorks of sacred art as talismans that were used in the service of the Han religion." The difficulty in characterizing religious Taoism before the Six Dynasties period (420-589) is illustrated by the example of the cult ofXiwangmu, the Queen IMother ofthe Wbst Many scholars consider Xhrangmu an eartyTaolst goddess, but it is by no means clear that early images of Xiwaigmu, such as are found in abundance in northeast and southwest China in late Han (first-seoond century) (uneraiy contexts, can or should be called Taoist. Xiwangmu is not mentioned in any religious Taoist text until the Six Dynasties period (fourth century), and there is no concrete evidence that she was worshipped by the Ceiestlal Master movement of the late Han dynasty, even though, as VMi Hung has shown in his essay in this catalogue, such images in Sichuan are found in areas In which the Celestial Master sect was active in the second and third centuries. The study of War ring States and Han religion is still in its infancy, and the artistic traditions associated witii the reiipous traditions ofChina in these periods are so rich and yet still so poorly understood that they wou'd leg'timately constitute the subject of a separate exhi bition. The astonishing Chinese archaeological discoveries of recent years have only made this situation more complex. If one were to trace the history of relig f^us ''':inism to -t". origins, one would discover that Taoism is a river that has been nourished by numerous streams. Numerous lines of reasoning can be traced back to the Bronze Age. These divergent traditions include the self-cultivation leading to "achievement of the Tao" (cheng Dao), the worship of deities such as Taiyi (Supreme Unitfy) and Xiwangmu (the Queen Mother of the West), the veneration of adepts (xian) who achieved spiritual perfection (zhen, literally, "realization"), and the philosophical tradition of the Dacde jing. the worship of local gods and sophis ticated traditions of shamanism in the Warring States period (475-221 a.c.), the philosophy of the Sooic ofChangis, which can itself be traced to the Western Zhou dynasty (c. 1050-771 B.C.), and the use of talismans as forms of sacred calligraphy that have the power to transform reality." It should be clear from the sheer variefy ofthese traditions out ofwhich religious Taoism emerged that any attempt to generalize about the nature of ancient Chinese reli^on should be tempered by the need for a profound awaretiess ofthe structure and development oftaeh ofthese streams ofbelief and practice. Over the long course of Its development, however, fondamental aspects ofTaoism remained constant. Sections 1.2 and I.3 of this exhibition and catalogue, entitled "Heaven and Earth: Taoist Cosmology" and "Sacred Mountains and Cults of the Imnnortais," respectively, explore vital concepts that predate the emergence of religious Taoism, but that formed part of the complex world out ofwhich the later religious tradi- tion developed from the Han dynasty onward. Among these concepts was the multivalent image of the mountain." The worship of sacred peaks can be traced as far back as the Shang dynasty (c 1600-c lOjo B.C.). For example, during the late Shang dynasty, Mount Song (Song Shan, the central of the Five Saaid Peaks) was already worshipped as a god. Sacred mountains were also thought to be locations where an adept could meditate, see visions of oerfected deities of the celestial realm, and find the herbs and minerals needed to prepare elixirs that would prolong one's life. The celestial realm's thirty-six heavens were reflected in the cavern-heaven system. Excavated in 1968 from the tomb of Han dynasty ruler Liu Sheng, the big incense burner, or boshanlu, conveys with amazing beauty the image of the sacred mountain streaming with life force (cat. no. 20). This unique artifact highlights the profound importance that mountains held both in preHan and post-Taoist times, as well as in later times. The widespread belief in the immortals' sacred islands, which dates back to the third century B.C., was also influenced by this concept. by Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor, and Empeiw Wu (Han Wudi), the Western Han dynasty's successor (r. 140–87 B.C.). The fact that the human body and the ritual altar are both pictured as mountains in religious Taoism is particularly noteworthy. In addition, the interior topography of the human body is said to be inhabited by gods who, as shovm above, connect to celestial deities. The Scripture of the Yellow Court (Huanpingjmg) contains the foundational imagery of the Inner Alchemy (neidan) tradition. a manuscript written in the fourth century by the renowned calligrapher Wang Xizhi (307–365) (cat. no. 128). Thus, the global order included in the Tao is reflected in the structure of the human body. A basic and ongoing component of the entire religious Taoist tradition is this concept of divine correspondences between the human microcosm and the celestial macrocosm. The Eastern Jin (317–420) and Six Dynasties (420–589) periods are credited with producing the earliest works of art that can be legitimately referred to as Taoist. The Taoist faith reached its zenith at this time. The fundamental texts of the Shangqing (Highest Purity) lineage were revealed to the adept Yang Xi (330–c. 386), through a sequence of visions from zher (realized beings) from the Shangqing Heaven in the late 4th century. Yang was supported by the Xu family, one of the prominent families of the Eastern Jin dynasty, and lived in Jurong, close to Nanjing. A scholar of the Liu-Song dynasty (420– 479), Lu Xiujing (406-477) assembled the first Taoist canon less than a century later. Lu dubbed the three sections of the canon the Three Caverns (Sandor\g). These were known as the Cavern of Perfection (Dor)gzhen, the Cavern of Mystery (Dongxuan), and the Cavern of Divinity (Dongshen). They contained scriptures from the Shangqing (Highest Purity), Lingbao (Numinous Treasure), and Sanhuang (Three Emperors) traditions. * During this time, Taoism began to incorporate some aspects of Buddhist doctrine and ritual. The Lingbao passages that Lu Xiujing gathered best illustrate this. These scriptures were said to have been originally revealed to the adept Ce Xuan (flourished 238-50) in the third century." Stephen Bokenkamp has written as follows on the Lingbao scriptures: First, they were meant to represent the synthesis of all the impor tant religious traditions of the time—most prominently. Celestial Master Taoism. Shangqing Taoism, and Buddhism. They are thus the first Taoist scriptures to incorporate and redefine Buddhist beliefs, practices, and even portions of Buddhist scripture. They do this quite openly, positing the temporal priority and spiritual superiority of their message against any charge of plagiarism. The very name of the scriptures (ling, "spirit-endowed," representing the heavens, and yang, joined to bao, "jewel," representing Earth and yr'n) refers to the claim that these scriptures are translations of spirit-texts that emerged at the origin of all things when the breaths of the Tao separated into the two principles of yrn and yong, thus giving the Lingbao texts priority over texts composed later.'^ The Six Dynasties period thus witnessed the mature develop- ment of the religious Taoist pantheon, canon, ritual, and art. We know from the writings and recorded actions of the northern Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi (d. 448) and Lu Xiujing that Taoist images (both sculptures and paintings) of the deified Laozi and the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi tianzun) were being made in the mid-fifth century, even though some spoke out against the use of images to give form to the Tao, considered ultimately formless." It seems clear from an exami nation of the earliest surviving Taoist sculptures depicting the deified Laozi that there was enormous influence from Buddhist art on early Taoist images. The earliest surviving artworks are from the Northern Wei dynasty (the fifth century), and they frequently show the deified Laozi surrounded by two flanking figures. This pattern is similar to the Buddhist imagery of a sitting Buddha with a bodhisattva on either side. The inscriptional evidence on a Northern Wei stele m the Field Museum, Chicago, collected in the Xi'an area by Berthold Laufer in 1909-10, suggests that the figures that flank the deified Laozi on these early sculptures may depict the frontier guardian (and later immortal) Yin Xi and the first Celestial Master, Zhang Daoiing (see fig. 3)." This is signific because Yin Xi was the first human being to receive the Ocrade jiingfioni Laozi, and Zhang Daoling was the first human being to have a vision of the deified Laozi. It is clear from Taoist texts of the Six Dynasties period that by this time the deified Lao2i was identified with the Tao Itself and credited vrith the creation ofthe universe. This conception ofLaozi was established by the late Han dynasty, a<; is documented by a stele inscription of a.o. 153, entitled the Shengmu bei (Stele of the Sage IMother), which reads in part: Laozi, the Tao: Bom prior to the Shapeless. Crown before the Great Beginning, He lives in the prime of the Great Immacuiate^ And floats freely through the Sm Voids," This view is again articulated in the fan>ous stele inscription of A.D. 165, The Laozi Ming: Laozi reigned as long as the sun, moon, and stars after emerging from primordial chaos. After making prophesies and observing the sides, he eventually arrived at the stars. He changed nine times, waxing and waning in accordance with the seasons, following the path of the sun. A new pantheon of gods emerged, including Taiyi (Supreme Unity) and the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu). He controlled the three lum ndnti and had the (bur) ethereal animals by his side. "He focused his thinldng on the Gmnabar Field; it AmtiaMjt** saw Gnat Uni^ p'sl/fSf in his Purple Chamber, became one with the lao, and transformed into an immortal." and the realized beings (zhenren) of the recently disclosed Heaven of Highest Purity, played a crucial role in the development of Taoism as a religion. The Xiarg'er zhu, a Taoist commentary on the DaodeJing, is an early book that parallels these developments (cat. no. 34). The text survives in a Northern Wei dynasty (early sixth century manuscript discov- ered at Dunhuang, and now part ofthe Stein Gillection in the British Library, London " The longevity and internal coherence of the Taoist liturgical tradition can be traced to the earliest fbrms ofritual established In the late Han and early Six Dynasties periods. Such compila tions as the Supreme Secret Eisetrtiali fWusfiong h'yoo) of the Northern Zhou dynasty (S57-581) contain the fundamental forms of many Taoist rituals that ant still used today." Among other things, the basic structure ofthe Taoist altar fidaotun) was established during the Six Dynasties per cd fsre fig, 4). On another level, the impact of Taoism on the theory and practice of painting and calligraphy, as seen in surviving Six Dynasties period texts, is clear. The idea of the correspondence between the inner vital energy (qi) of what is being depicted (be it a person, animal, mountain, god, or other entity), and the spirit-resonance ofthe artist*s response to this visual stimu lus, as manlfestKl in the movement of his brush, is articulated in the famous "Six Laws of Painting" by the scholar Xie He (active c 500-535)." There is a close correspondence between Xle He's Idets and earlier concepts oftht flow of ^f-energy through the human body." The first and most famous ofthe Sk Laws reads qiyun sherr^darg. or "engender [a sense] of movement (through] spirit consonance."" The great painter Gu KaizhI (c 345-c. 406) was a follower ofthe Celestial Master sect; his de piction ofZhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master, at the Cbud Terrace Mountain is one of the first recorded Taoist paintings.*^ Similarly, early texts on calligraphy from the third and fourth centuries stress the importance of calligraphy not only as a means ofcommunication, but also as an art that, when prop erly executed, has the force to transform reality itself** Calligra- phy enjoys a special position in religious Tao'sm In both the Shangqing and Lingbao schools of Six Dynasties Taoism example, sacred scriptwes (fingf were believed to have existed as cosmic texts even before the creation ofthe world. Written in "cloud-seal" script, these texts were generated "when sound first issued from the protoplasmic Brahma-ether, Itself the ear liest emanation ofthe primordial Tao."* As isabelle Robinet has written, Ihejr |lhe Tcoist scriptwes, orJing) are formed by tlie coagulation and tlie condertsation of this First Breath ()«iMn 4|i primordial energy|. ......Spontaneously born from the Void, they appeared as rays of lighi that came before the genesis of the world." The tradition of talismanic writing, which had appeared by at least the Han dynasty, developed into a sacred art that played a fundamental rale in Taeist ritual from the Six Dynasties period onward. Several Taoist talismanic texts from Dunhuang, datable to the Tang dynast)', are included in this exhibition; these derive from both the Shangqing and Lmgbao ritual traditions. In addi- tion to the importance oftheir talismans, these works are note- worthy because they highlight the complex blending ofTaoism and local religious traditions during the Six Dynasties and Tang periods." It should come as no surprise that the Eastern Jin dynasfy calligrapher W^ng Xizhi, the greatest master ofthis art in Chinese history, was himself a practicing Taoist* While his transcriptions of the Daodejing no longer survive {these are recorded in the Dynastic Histoiy ofthejin (JimhuJ)," his family's devotion to religious Taoism is well known. Wang Xizhi's tran- scription ofthe SerifiUm eftlie YiBm Court, a text that presages the Inner Alchemy tradition, does survive, in ink rubbings ofthe Song dynasty (960-1279; see cat. no. 128). Despite the fact that Buddhism flourished during the Six Dynasties period, enjoying strong imperial patronage In both northern and southern China during the Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and L ang d yi.ist es, Taoism also flourished in this period, in large measure because from its inception it provided a useful mechanism for estaUishli^ poRtkal legitimacy. Indeed, through- out its history, Taoism was perceived by many imperial families as representing the hiphcs! degree of spiritual and polit cal orthodoxy. Religious Taoism supplied a means by which emper ors could extend their control through both the human and divine realms. This Is clearly Illustrated in the Ming dynasty handscroll of 1493 in the S.nn Diego Museum of Art, the o'dlnn tion certificate (a comb ned paintmg and document) of Empress Zhai^wileofthe Hongzhi emperor (r. 1488-1505), madeon the occasion of her ordination as a Taoist priestess (cat. no. 57). It Is stgr^'ficant In this light, as Anna Seidel has shown, thatthe Chinese imperial investiture ceremony was based on an ancient Taoist ritual.^ The empress is depicted here as a goddess, illus- trating the fact that through Taoist ordination, a priest or priest- ess gained control over the gods. This control was transmitted through registers (/u; lists of gods and their attributes) and talismans. Empress Zhang's ordination came in a long tradition ofimperial ordinations that extended back to the Northern Wei emperor Tai Wud' who -i '.he fourth centur,' was ordained by the northern Ceiestial Master Kou Qianzhi." The Tang dynasty emperor Xuanzong (Minghuang; r. 712-56) also received a Tao ist ordination in the form of roisters and talismans; these were transmitted to him by the great Taoist master Sima Chengzhen. The Old Dynastic Recoak of the Tang (Jiu Tangshu) describes Xuanzong's devotion to religious Taoism as follows: During his long reign, Xuanzong demonstrated great respect for various tedhniqucs for achieving longevity and levitadon fttmii^mifqinijntU$h^ in the Datong [Great Unity] HsN (of the Xingqing Palace], [he] set up the statue of the perfected immortal \hmdan i.e., the deified Laozi]. [He] would rise at midnight to burn incense and perform the prostration ritual {dinglt}. In renowned mountains, [he] ordered eunuch officers and Taoist recluses to alchemize Jdnnabars] and to conduct the rite of Jiao. The road was teeming [with these oeople] The rites to appease the dragon [toulonff literally, "casting dragons j and to make jade offenngs {were conducted on his behalf or by He gathered elixirs, established Taoist monasteries [jingshej], and looked for the formulae of the perfected [zhenjuej]. and spent years tracking the remnants of the immortals [He was involved in these efforts]. Thus, Taoism as a religion developed under the Tang dynasty (618-906), partly due to imperial funding. The Tang royal house was one of the greatest sponsors of Taoism, both politically and spiritually. Laozl was accepted as the emperors' direct ancestor, and his surname (Li) corresponded with the imperial family's. Thus, the Tang dynasty linked its political success to its association with the god Lao. Candidates were tested on the Daode Jing for the first time as part of the civil service examination. and it was mandated that Taoist temples be constructed in each of China's principal cities. There was a Taoist temple in Dunhuang, a significant Buddhist hub during the Tang era, which explains why so many Taoist texts have been found in this somewhat isolated Silk Road town. This exhibition features a number of these rare manuscripts from the British Library's Stein Collection and the Pelliot Collection at the Bibliothique Napoleone in Paris. During the Taig period, the imperial ancestor Laozi is portrayed in numerous Taoist artworks depicting the deified sage, which are believed to have followed*. Some of these, like the magnificent MaiMe picture that is currently housed in the Xi'an Forest of Steele (Beilin) Museum, are long overdue and distinctly Tietropolitan pieces that capture the grandeur of the new imperial image. The trio of heavenly beings referred to as the Three Purities (Senqin^) also made their collective debut in the Tang era; these gods, acknowledged as unadulterated manifestations of the Tao, were the Celestial Mlibrthy of the Primitive Beginning (Yuanshi tianzun). the Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Power (Daode tianzun) and the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure (Ungbao tianzun). None other than the deified Laozi was the last of these. A new edition of the Taoist Canon was compiled during the Tang dynasty, but it did not survive. The earliest known image of this triad dates to 749 and is found in a Taoist cave near Niujiaozai, Renshou County, Sichuan Province. Emperor Xuanzong gave the command for this collection. In spite of the concurrent imperial support for Buddhism, Taoist doctrine and practice proliferated across China with a level of consistency never seen before. Tang rulers supported religious Taoism in the same way that the emperors of the Six Dynasties had supported Taoist priests. There is virtually little Taoist art that survives from the Tang era, despite the fact that Taoist art is known to have flourished during this time due to literary evidence. An sense of the richness of the artwork created in the service of holy Taoism that can only be imagined now is conveyed by descriptions of imperial Taoist rituals, such as the ordination of two imperial princesses as Taoist nuns in 711. Calligraphic writings and stone sculptures make up the bulk of the Taoist artwork that has survived from the Tang period. Sculptures ofthe deified Laozl are found in colkctions in China, and in museums in Japan and the West," The majority of Tang Taoist calligraphic texts that survive come from Dunhuang, and are now kept in London and Pans. The bulk of these texts were conveniently published and annotated by dfuchi Nin|i in 1978, and provide a remarkable resource for the study ofmedieval Taoism in China.** While no Taoist paintings survive from the Tang dynasty, literary accounts suggest that great muralists such as Wu Daozi (eighth century) were actively engag^ in the decoration ofboth Taoist and Buddhist temples in this period. Furthermore, the early twelfth-century Northern Song dynasty irnpcial painting catalogue of Emperor Huizong (the Xuanht huapu) records many Tang Taoist paintings, but none survh«. Such works as the Fm PkuMs tmd liiwnly-cfght Lunar Momhm (Osaka IMu nicipal Museun of Art), attributed to the Six Dvrjsties period artist Zhang Sengyou, were among the works in Emperor IHuizong's collection: this work can only peripherally be desig nated as Taoist, reflecting as it does images of planetary and star gods that entered China through the vehicle ofBudc^lsm, and that were absorbed into the Taoist pantheon during the Tang dynasty. Another important category ofTang Taoist art comprises bronze mirrors, cast with designs that by this time had been thoroughly incorporated into Taoist cosmology. Images of sacred mountains paradises, and the Eight Trigrams (Baguo) of the Book ofChanges are commonly found on bronze mirrors ofthis period.* The occasional importance of religious Taoism for even be lievers in Buddhism was highlighted by the discovery in 1982 on Mount Song (Song Shan, the central of the Five Sacred Peaks; see cat. no. 137) of a gold tablet (fig. 5) commissioned by Em press Wb Zetian (r. 690-705), a devout Buddhist who estab lished the short-lived Zhou dynas^ (696-705).** The inscription on the tablet is addressed to Mount Sore .md indicates that it was made for the benefit of the empress herself. The tablet Is dated to the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of700. It is essentially an official communication from Empress Wu's terrestrial npranntative. the Taoist priest Hu Chao, to the celes tial bureaucracy and the nctherworldly Nine Departments of the nine hells, which are governed by the Three Officials (Sanguan; see cat nos. 69-71). Hu requests that the empress's name be removed firom the records ofthose who will be Imprisoned In \hc hells afle' death, and transferred to the celestial registers of realized beings (zhenren). A very similar practice of "presenting golden tablets" (Un^an) developed into a Taoist ritual during the Six Dynasties period (420589), and a description ofthis ritual is preseivid In a scripture from the Highest Puri^ (Shang qing) corpus contained in the Taoist Canon." Very few works ofTaoist art survive firom befim the Song dynasty. But after that point on, there is more and more proof that artistic creations were produced in the name of the Taoist religion. A number of Song emperors were ardent supporters of Taoism, with Zhenzong (r. 997–1022) and Huizong (r. 1100–25) being the two most active. The most well-known painter of all the Chinese emperors was the latter, who assumed the title Daojun huangdi (August Emperor, Lord of the Tao). Patricia Ebrey examines in her essay in this volume the ways in which artistic creations aided Huizong's Taoist agenda. Huizong was a patron of Un Ungsu, a Taoist cleric who established a new Taoist order, the Divine Empyrean (Shenxiao) movement." The Song emperors recognized the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) as their imperial ancestor, just as the Tang emperors had claimed the deified Laozi as their own. Masterworks like Liang Kai's Liberating the Soul From the Netheru/Orld (cat. no. 37) and Wang Liyong's The Transformation of Lord Lao (at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, cat. no. 35) are examples of the high caliber of Taoist paintings that were imperially commissioned during the Song period. The outstanding quality of the twelfth-century hanging scroll triptych in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (catalog nos. 69–71) portraying the Taoist Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water (the Sanguan) suggests that it was likewise made under imperial authority. Emperor Huizong's painting Cranes of Good Omen (see Patricia Ebrey's essay in this volume, fig. 4) in the Liaoning Provincial Museum, Shenyang, is another image that blends Taoist imagery with an agenda that included political legitimation." That other masterpieces of Song painting, such as Chen Rong's Nine Dragons handscroll of 1244 in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (fig. 6), were perceived as Taoist images is clear from the content of the artist's inscription on the work, and the attached colophons of the Yuan dynasty, which include inscriptions by Wu Quanjie (1269-1346), Ouyang Xuan (1273- 1337)1 and the thirty-ninth Celestial Master, Zhang Sicheng (1287-1368). Sadly, none of the Taoist temple murals of this period sur vive, although echoes of their magnificence can be seen in sur- viving Buddhist murals of the Northern Song and jin dynasties, and particularly in the extant fourteenth-century (Yuan dynasty) murals of the Eternal Joy Temple (Yongle Cong) in Shanxi prov ince." We can obtain some sense of how the Taoist pantheon was visualized in the Song dynasty through such works as Wu Zongyuan's Procession of Immortals (cat. no. 74). a masterpiece of the eleventh century, and the great twelfth-century album of fifty leaves depicting Taoist gods in the Stephen Junkunc IV Collection." Significant numbers of paintings of Taoist x/an, or immortals (adepts), survive from the Song and jin (1115-1234) dynasties. The earliest image of the popular group known as the Eight Immortals (Baxian) is found among the ceramic sculptures decorating the interior walls and ceilings of )in dynasty tombs near Pingyang, Shanxi province; these date to the late twelfth or early thirteenth century." The best-known early image of the Eight Immortals, however, is found among the murals of the Hall of Purified Yang (Chunyang Dian) at the Eternal Joy Temple, dating to the fourteenth century.** Several Song dynasty paintings of Taoist immortals are included in this exhibition; among them are two fan paintings of Lli Dongbin (Lii the "Cavern-guest"), a patron saint of the Complete Realization (Quanzhen) sect, which rose to prominence in the Jm (1260-1368) dynasties. As Farzccn Baldrian-Hussein has shown, however, veneration and worship of Lii Dongbm was already widespread during the Northern Song dynasty (960-1126)." A more generalized image of an immortal Is Ma Yuan's Immor tal Riding a Dragon, painted at the Southern Song court in the early thirteenth century (cat. no. 28). Some of the most evoca tive depictions of Taoist mountain paradises also date to the Song dynasty. An excellent example is the monochrome ink handscroll in the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., tradi- tionally attributed to LI Conglin, and probably dating to the late eleventh or early twelfth century (fig. 7)." It seems clear from both historical and artistic evidence that the majority of the Song emperors patronized both Buddhism and religious Taoism, as had the Tang emperors before them (and as did the Ming emperors after them).*' In addition, the Taoist influence on the Neo-Confucian philosophers of the Song dynasty is clear, as has been pointed out by Sun K'o-k'uan and other scholars." The Song dynasty witnessed the rise of several new Taoist sects, among them the Great Law of Heaven's Heart (Tianxin dafa) sect, and the increasing popularity of Inner Al- chemy (neidan). In this discipline, the creation of the alchemical elixir was visualized by the adept within his or her own body. This practice was promulgated by such adepts as Bai Yuchan (flourished 1209-24). and achieved widespread popularity by the end of the Song dynasty." Images of Taoist adepts obtaining the elixir are often found on bronze mirrors dating to the Song, )ln, and Yuan dynasties. Inner Alchemy is most likely alluded to in these images (see Cat. nos. 135 and 136). Incorporating regional gods and popular religious deities into the Taoist pantheon was a significant development during the Song dynasty. This reflects changing attitudes among Taoists toward the gods of popular religion, since, in the Six Dynasties and Tang periods, a much clearer demarcation was drawn between Taoist deities and popular gods." By petitioning the emperor, a support group (for example, a local society of merchants) could acquire official recognition for a popular god. If the petition was successful, the god would be granted a new title.** This pattern continued into the Yuan dynasty. Later, in the Ming dynasty, such decisions were delegated by the emperors to the Celestial Masters of the Orthodox Unity sect. An example of such a petition, dating to the late Ming and comprising a long painted and inscribed handscroll, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (cat. no. 82). There was often an economic as well as a spiritual basis for such petitions: recognition of a local god tended to lead to national legitimation of the merchants and devotees who supported the god, leading in turn to increased opportunities for trade and economic development. Among the many popular gods who were absorbed into the religious Taoist pantheon was Guandi (Emperor Guan), originally Guan Yu, a military hero of the Three Kingdoms period in the third century.