Homage to the Highest Power
Homage to the Highest Power (朝元圖) is a prime example of Daoist paintings in the
Daoist imagery
Homage to the Highest Power is a popular theme in Daoist pictorial art.
Description
The wall painting is one of a pair from the Pingyang region of southern Shanxi province. This work was created as decoration for the west wall of a temple hall or worship space. It is symmetrically balanced leading your eye first to the central figures and then fanning out on either side. It shows a procession of heavenly beings moving at a leisurely pace to pay homage to the Supreme Power.
The procession is led by a fierce warrior, the Lord of the Southern Dipper (Sagittarius). He leads nine star spirits, female attendants with plant offerings, three important deities, and personifications of the twelve
References
- ^ White, William C. (1940). Chinese Temple Frescoes: A Study of Three Wall-Paintings of the Thirteenth Century. Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, University of Toronto Press.
- ^ Tsang, Ka Bo (1992). Further Observations on the Yuan Wall Painter Zhu Haogu and the Relationship of the Chunyang Hall Wall Paintings to "The Maitreya Paradise" at the ROM. Artibus Asiae.
- ^ Zeng, Jiabao. December Zhongguo wenwu shijie, 52 Dno. 12: 109–21.
- ^ Giuffrida, Noelle (2008). Representing the Daoist God Zhenwu, the Perfected Warrior, in Late Imperial China. Master of Art Thesis. University of Wisconsin, Madison- 1999.