Daoist Scripture Frontispieces and Their Archetypes

For over a thousand years, frontispieces for religious scriptures produced in China were based on two basic compositions: the diagonal composition and the symmetrical composition. The two compositions enjoyed persistent currency by offering great flexibility for religious sects to fill in the compos...

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Détails bibliographiques
Publié dans:Religion and the arts
Auteur principal: Wan, Maggie C. K. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill 2016
Dans: Religion and the arts
Année: 2016, Volume: 20, Numéro: 1/2, Pages: 197-230
Sujets non-standardisés:B Frontispiece scripture Daoism Buddhism Jade Emperor
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Résumé:For over a thousand years, frontispieces for religious scriptures produced in China were based on two basic compositions: the diagonal composition and the symmetrical composition. The two compositions enjoyed persistent currency by offering great flexibility for religious sects to fill in the compositions with their own patron gods and saints. Meanwhile they served different functions: while the diagonal composition illustrates the narrative of the scripture, the symmetrical composition focuses on the main deity and its pantheon, and engages viewer-worshippers in the assembly depicted. Daoism appropriated the two basic compositions and developed its own tradition of scripture frontispieces. This essay analyzes frontispieces for the Scripture of the Jade Emperor as a case study. By portraying deities of different natures in the frontispieces, Daoists specified the means whereby the main deity bestowed divine assistance upon the commissioners of the scripture, and distinguished Daoist scripture frontispieces from their Buddhist counterparts by placing extra emphasis on the frontispieces’ efficacy.
ISSN:1568-5292
Contient:In: Religion and the arts
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02001009