Liberating The
Soul From The Netherworld (detail)
Liang Kai (active early 13th century)
Southern Song dynasty, early 13th century
Handscroll; ink on paper 26 x 73.9 cm
Mr. and Mrs. Wan-go H. C. Weng Collection cat. no. 37
thank you to the Art
Institute
of Chicago Taoism in Art exhibit
and
lessons
Liberating the Soul from the
Netherworld
The large central scene of this handscroll shows a Taoist priest,
kneeling on the lower left, in the presence of a powerful deity, the
large central figure with a halo known as the Celestial Worthy Who
Saves the Suffering. Here, the priest requests the god's assistance on
behalf of the soul of his patron. The scroll illustrates one of the
most fundamental beliefs of Taoism: the role of the Taoist priest as a
bridge between the human and divine worlds.
The
right and left
sides of the painting depict the good deeds of the patron. Those on the
right take place in a Taoist temple: in the upper scene, the patron
donates money to make Taoist objects of worship; in the middle scene,
he sponsors a vegetarian meal for the priests of the temple; and in the
lower scene, he participates in a ritual for his ancestors. These
scenes correspond thematically to those on the left, which take place
in the secular world: in the upper scene, the patron gives alms to a
beggar; and in the middle scene, he commands the release of birds. The
title of the scroll is based on the lower left scene, which shows the
god descending into hell to liberate the soul of the patron because of
the patron's good deeds and the priest's intervention. The inhabitants
of hell bow in awed reverence to the god.
The
signature of the
artist, Liang Kai, indicates that this handscroll was commissioned by
the emperor. A rare and important work by one of China's most
innovative painters, this handscroll is also one of the finest examples
of Taoist painting from the Southern Song dynasty.
THE LESSON:
THE TAOIST CHURCH
The Beginnings of Religious Taoism
In
the second century A.D., as the Han dynasty gradually lost control of
China, large-scale religious movements sprang up all over the country.
Between the second and sixth centuries, religious Taoism developed out
of these movements, coming into maturity in the Tang dynasty. The most
important of these early movements was the Way of the Celestial
Masters, which began in Sichuan province. Zhang Daoling, founder of the
Way of the Celestial Masters, supposedly received divine revelations
from Laozi himself. Following this experience, Zhang developed a
distinct system of religious beliefs based on the Classic of the Way
and Its Power.
In the centuries after the
fall of the Han dynasty, China was often fragmented politically.
Non-Chinese rulers eventually took control of the north, while Chinese
rulers still governed the south. This was a fruitful period for both
Buddhism and religious Taoism, which developed in response to the
increasing spiritual needs of the people during this unstable time. The
beliefs that developed during this period would form the core of the
Taoist worldview.
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