Artist: Court Painter(s)Nationality: ChineseCreation date: 1493Creation place: ChinaDescription: 15th century China Painting HandscrollMedium and Support: Ink, color and gold on paper, handscrollCredit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John JeffersAccession Number: 1961.94Court: Ming dynastyDimensions: 21 1/2 in. x 1080 in. (54.61 cm x 2743.2 cm)Label Copy: Asia Crossroads installation October 2003 This handscroll certifies the ordination of the empress Zhang as a priestess in the hierarchy of religious Taoism, a rank emblematic of both political and religious status. The event is witnessed by a array of fifty-two gods and immortals, each named in small gold calligraphy, making the scroll a kind of “who’s who” of Taoism. In the section of the ninety shown here, several kinds of guardian figures are shown together with Celestial masters and gods. The guardians of the four directions, identifiable by their tiger mounts and banners representing the four directions—blue for the east, red for the south, green for the west, and black for the north—are dressed in robes over armor. They are imaged as mighty warriors (compare their attire to the less supercharged generals that follow them) with scarves that bristle excitedly around them.
Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. University of Tokyo Press. Tokyo, Japan , 1998. Page Number: I-240 - I-241. Figure Number: A49-022
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Principles of Meditation: Eastern Wisdom for the Western Mind. Charles T. Tuttle Co., Inc.. Boston, Massachusetts , 1996. Page Number: 32.
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Meditatie: Een Inleiding in Ontspanning. Vitgeverij BZZTÔH 's-Gravenhage. Amsterdam, The Netherlands , 1996. Page Number: opposite 64.
Ms. Yu Sung. Selections from the Chinese Collection. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 1999. Page Number: jacket. Figure Number: jacket (detail)
Ms. Yu Sung. Selections from the Chinese Collection. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 1999. Page Number: 136-137, 138-139. Figure Number: 136 (detail), 138-139
Shawn Eichman. Orientations. Orientations Magazine Ltd.. Hong Kong , December 2000. Page Number: 42, 43. Figure Number: 10 (detail)
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Simple Taoism:. Tuttle Publishing. Boston, Massachusetts , 1999. Page Number: 38, 175. Figure Number: 38 (detail)
Stephen Little. Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois , 2000. Page Number: 20, 28.
Stephen Little. Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois , 2000. Page Number: 208, 209-212, 213. Figure Number: 57
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Basisgids taoïsme:. Bosch & Keuning. Baarn, The Netherlands , 2000. Page Number: 48. Figure Number: 48 (detail)
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. El Tao Simple: El Camino del Equilibrio y la Plenitud. Océano Grupo Editorial, S.A.. Milano, Italia , 2000. Page Number: 53. Figure Number: 53 (detail)
Livia Kohn. Daoism and Chinese Culture. Three Pines Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts , 2001. Page Number: cover, iii. Figure Number: cover (detail)
Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. University of Tokyo Press. Tokyo, Japan , 2001. Page Number: 308, no. A49-022.
Dr. Caron Smith. San Diego Museum of Art,. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 2003. Page Number: 44-45. Figure Number: 44-45
Mr. James E. Miller, ed. Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. ABC-CLIO, Inc.. Santa Barbara, California , 2006. Page Number: 227, 229. Figure Number: 227 (detail)
Yu-Ping, Luk. The Empress and the Heavenly Masters
. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong , 2015. Figure Number: 1.1; 1.4;2.1;3.1;4.1-4.17; 5.1-5.3; 5.5-5.10; 5.12-5.15;5.17-19; 5.24; 6.1-3
Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. University of Tokyo Press. Tokyo, Japan , 1998. Page Number: I-240 - I-241. Figure Number: A49-022
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Principles of Meditation: Eastern Wisdom for the Western Mind. Charles T. Tuttle Co., Inc.. Boston, Massachusetts , 1996. Page Number: 32.
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Meditatie: Een Inleiding in Ontspanning. Vitgeverij BZZTÔH 's-Gravenhage. Amsterdam, The Netherlands , 1996. Page Number: opposite 64.
Ms. Yu Sung. Selections from the Chinese Collection. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 1999. Page Number: jacket. Figure Number: jacket (detail)
Ms. Yu Sung. Selections from the Chinese Collection. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 1999. Page Number: 136-137, 138-139. Figure Number: 136 (detail), 138-139
Shawn Eichman. Orientations. Orientations Magazine Ltd.. Hong Kong , December 2000. Page Number: 42, 43. Figure Number: 10 (detail)
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Simple Taoism:. Tuttle Publishing. Boston, Massachusetts , 1999. Page Number: 38, 175. Figure Number: 38 (detail)
Stephen Little. Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois , 2000. Page Number: 20, 28.
Stephen Little. Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois , 2000. Page Number: 208, 209-212, 213. Figure Number: 57
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. Basisgids taoïsme:. Bosch & Keuning. Baarn, The Netherlands , 2000. Page Number: 48. Figure Number: 48 (detail)
C. Alexander Simpkins and Annellen M. Simpkins. El Tao Simple: El Camino del Equilibrio y la Plenitud. Océano Grupo Editorial, S.A.. Milano, Italia , 2000. Page Number: 53. Figure Number: 53 (detail)
Livia Kohn. Daoism and Chinese Culture. Three Pines Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts , 2001. Page Number: cover, iii. Figure Number: cover (detail)
Teisuke Toda and Hiromitsu Ogawa. Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Paintings: Second Series. University of Tokyo Press. Tokyo, Japan , 2001. Page Number: 308, no. A49-022.
Dr. Caron Smith. San Diego Museum of Art,. San Diego Museum of Art. San Diego, California , 2003. Page Number: 44-45. Figure Number: 44-45
Mr. James E. Miller, ed. Chinese Religions in Contemporary Societies. ABC-CLIO, Inc.. Santa Barbara, California , 2006. Page Number: 227, 229. Figure Number: 227 (detail)
Yu-Ping, Luk. The Empress and the Heavenly Masters
. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong , 2015. Figure Number: 1.1; 1.4;2.1;3.1;4.1-4.17; 5.1-5.3; 5.5-5.10; 5.12-5.15;5.17-19; 5.24; 6.1-3
