Frontispeces to the Ming Daoist Canon

The aim of the project is to investigate the frontispiece to the Ming-dynasty Daoist Canon and its different editions since its first printing in 1447 so as to bring to light the formation and changes in composition, artistic images and affiliated traditions of the imperially patronized Daoist pantheon in late imperial China. The Daoist Canon of the Ming dynasty was the only extant imperially sponsored woodblock edition of Daoist works collected from all parts of China. In sharp contrast to the texts of the Canon that were the subjects of critical analysis in the past century, its frontispiece has been neglected. The frontispiece of 1447 is a highly important historical document pictorially representing the Daoist pantheon endorsed by the imperial court of the fifteenth century. Its subsequent editions resulting from re-carving and reprinting of the Daoist Canon also shed light on the changes in conception and imagery of the orthodox Daoist pantheon among various circles in later times. This project explores the formation and organization of the imperially endorsed Daoist pantheon as shown in the frontispiece of 1447 and to explicate visual variations among different editions of the frontispiece so as to establish the histories of extant copies of the Ming Daoist Canon and their frontispieces from 1447 to the present day.

This project is funded by RGC General Research Fund (CUHK 451513)