- 209
THREE 'ZHENWU' ALBUM LEAVES QING DYNASTY, LATE 18TH / EARLY 19TH CENTURY
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
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Description
- Reverse of each with descriptive inscription on yellow silk
- Silk paintings
- 24 1/4 x 29 3/4 inches
ink and color on silk, each delicately painted with a scene from an episode in the hagiography of Daoist deity Zhenwu, with the description of the full episode folded over and sandwiched between glass, framed (3)
Provenance
Collection of Max Meincke, acquired in Beijing circa 1900 and thence by descent.
Catalogue Note
The scenes portrayed are taken from the Xuantian Shangdi qisheng lu (The Record of the Emperor of the Dark Heavens), which tells the life story of the Emperor of the North, Zhenwu. The stories are believed to have been written during the Yuan dynasty.
The first leaf is titled Wu chu cheng zhen (Grinding the Bar of Enlightenment into a Needle). It portrays Zhenwu as a young man, discouraged by how long it is taking him to reach enlightenment. He encounters an old lady by a stream grinding an iron bar to make a needle. Inspired by her, he returns to his self-cultivation. It turns out the old Lady was one of the Three Pure Ones in disguise.
The second episode is titled Weizhang fen jian (Manifestation of the Powered Arrow). It depicts the day when a thick fog filled with pythons envelops General Nie Huqi and his army after they had been laying siege to the city of Yingzhou for three months. General Nie is shot in the eye by an arrow, which then turns to powder. It is later discovered that the arrow from a painting in the Zhenwu temple has disappeared and the people of the city realize that it was Zhenwu who saved them from the siege.
The third painting is titled Hengshan qu hu (Driving Tigers from Hengshan) and depicts Zhenwu in the guise of a Daoist priest surnamed Pei, driving the seven demonic tigers from Hengshan single handedly, while the officials and guards hide behind a rocky outcrop.
The first leaf is titled Wu chu cheng zhen (Grinding the Bar of Enlightenment into a Needle). It portrays Zhenwu as a young man, discouraged by how long it is taking him to reach enlightenment. He encounters an old lady by a stream grinding an iron bar to make a needle. Inspired by her, he returns to his self-cultivation. It turns out the old Lady was one of the Three Pure Ones in disguise.
The second episode is titled Weizhang fen jian (Manifestation of the Powered Arrow). It depicts the day when a thick fog filled with pythons envelops General Nie Huqi and his army after they had been laying siege to the city of Yingzhou for three months. General Nie is shot in the eye by an arrow, which then turns to powder. It is later discovered that the arrow from a painting in the Zhenwu temple has disappeared and the people of the city realize that it was Zhenwu who saved them from the siege.
The third painting is titled Hengshan qu hu (Driving Tigers from Hengshan) and depicts Zhenwu in the guise of a Daoist priest surnamed Pei, driving the seven demonic tigers from Hengshan single handedly, while the officials and guards hide behind a rocky outcrop.