Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Marvelous Words of the Supreme Jade Emperor (Kao-shang yu-huang pen-hsing chi-ching)

China

Date

c. 1500

Medium

Ink on white paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

These three royal edition volumes are from the discourse of the Supreme Jade Emperor on the essence of the universe, a fundamental Taoist text from the insight of truth ( tung-ch'en ) section of the Daoist Tripitaka. During the time of its printing around 1500, Taoist scriptures typically followed the format of Buddhist Sutras. There is, for instance, a large frontispiece followed by an inscribed stele and a portrait of a guardian deity at the end. The frontispiece illustrates the initial revelation of the scripture from the Celestial Worthy (the Supreme Jade Emperor). A Luminous Elder kneels before an altar in front of the Celestial Worthy as he receives teachings. Both are surrounded by a host of other deities of the Taoist pantheon. The guardian images, with multiple arms and heads, are adopted from Tantric Buddhism, while several flanking figures are dressed in court costume indicating the Taoist religion's relationship to Confucian society. The book contains red seals of the Liu Chu Taoist temple. China, Asia

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