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Lot Essay
Daoist believed in the concept of sacred peaks connecting heaven and earth, and the cosmology of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) incorporated the worship of the Five Sacred Peaks Wu yue - symbolizing the four cardinal directions and the centre, as well as other sacred mountains..
The symbols on the reverse of the current screen are Daoist talismanic diagrams or insignia known as the 'True Forms of the Five Sacred Mountains', Zhenxing Wuyue. Legend says that the 'true forms' of the Five Sacred Mountains were first given to the Han dynasty Emperor Wudi (r. 140-87 BC) by Xiwangmu (the Queen Mother of the West), and that he had them mounted and encased in precious materials. However Emperor Wudi's character was not suited to Daoism and Xiwangmu is believed to have caused the scriptures, together with the building in which they were housed, to be burned. Legend also says that the Emperor had given a copy of the 'true forms' to one of his ministers, although the latter is known for his promotion of Confucianism as an instrument beneficial to governance. All subsequent transmissions of the 'true forms' were believed to be based upon this one. A Map of the Five Sacred Mountains is reproduced in the 4th Daozang (Daoist Canon) published between AD 1436 and 1449. This more closely resembles a real map of the mountains, which identifies areas of particular sacred importance within each mountain, and was probably copied from an earlier Daozang. A somewhat different version of the 'true forms' appears carved on a stone tablet dated to AD 1574, a printed version of the 'true forms', showing similar forms to those on the current screen, with a short explanatory inscription and identifying the mountain that each symbol represents, appears in Luo Wangchang's 1606 Qin Han yin tong, juan 8. By the Wanli reign (1573-1619) of the Ming dynasty these symbols were regularly engraved on stone stelae, and a rubbing from a stone stele dated to 1604 is kept at the Zhong-yue Miao, or Temple of the Central Peak, on Mount Song in Henan province (illustrated in Daoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, p. 358, no. 137). This stele has much longer inscriptions accompanying each form, which provide not only the names and locations of the mountains, but also the gods who rule over them. The stele inscriptions also provide references to the peaks in classical literature, the titles conferred on each of the gods in the Tang dynasty Kaiyuan period (AD 713-41), and the changes that were made to those titles during the Song dynasty (AD 960-1279
Daoists believed that, when ascending these mountains, if they wore representations of the 'true forms', or even ingested something on which they were drawn, they would embody the powerful energy of the mountains. This would, in turn invoke protection from the gods of the mountains, and thus help the wearer to fend off danger from lesser unwelcome spirits.
The symbols on the reverse of the current screen are Daoist talismanic diagrams or insignia known as the 'True Forms of the Five Sacred Mountains', Zhenxing Wuyue. Legend says that the 'true forms' of the Five Sacred Mountains were first given to the Han dynasty Emperor Wudi (r. 140-87 BC) by Xiwangmu (the Queen Mother of the West), and that he had them mounted and encased in precious materials. However Emperor Wudi's character was not suited to Daoism and Xiwangmu is believed to have caused the scriptures, together with the building in which they were housed, to be burned. Legend also says that the Emperor had given a copy of the 'true forms' to one of his ministers, although the latter is known for his promotion of Confucianism as an instrument beneficial to governance. All subsequent transmissions of the 'true forms' were believed to be based upon this one. A Map of the Five Sacred Mountains is reproduced in the 4th Daozang (Daoist Canon) published between AD 1436 and 1449. This more closely resembles a real map of the mountains, which identifies areas of particular sacred importance within each mountain, and was probably copied from an earlier Daozang. A somewhat different version of the 'true forms' appears carved on a stone tablet dated to AD 1574, a printed version of the 'true forms', showing similar forms to those on the current screen, with a short explanatory inscription and identifying the mountain that each symbol represents, appears in Luo Wangchang's 1606 Qin Han yin tong, juan 8. By the Wanli reign (1573-1619) of the Ming dynasty these symbols were regularly engraved on stone stelae, and a rubbing from a stone stele dated to 1604 is kept at the Zhong-yue Miao, or Temple of the Central Peak, on Mount Song in Henan province (illustrated in Daoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000, p. 358, no. 137). This stele has much longer inscriptions accompanying each form, which provide not only the names and locations of the mountains, but also the gods who rule over them. The stele inscriptions also provide references to the peaks in classical literature, the titles conferred on each of the gods in the Tang dynasty Kaiyuan period (AD 713-41), and the changes that were made to those titles during the Song dynasty (AD 960-1279
Daoists believed that, when ascending these mountains, if they wore representations of the 'true forms', or even ingested something on which they were drawn, they would embody the powerful energy of the mountains. This would, in turn invoke protection from the gods of the mountains, and thus help the wearer to fend off danger from lesser unwelcome spirits.