- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (11 Dec 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0520227840
- ISBN-13: 978-0520227842
- Product Dimensions: 31.5 x 24.9 x 3.9 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,341,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"The marvelous catalog might tide you over between visits . . ."--"San Francisco Examiner review of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum exhibition
Product Description
This text brings together a remarkable collection of art from one of China's most ancient and influential traditions. Produced to accompany the first major exhibition ever organised on the Taoist philosophy and religion, this book includes more than 150 works of art from as early as the late Zhou dynasty (fifth-third century BC) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Many of these works are paintings that show the breathtaking range of style and subjects that make the Taoist heritage so rich. Sculpture, calligraphy, rare books, textiles, and ritual objects are also represented. Like the exhibition, the book is organised thematically. It begins with the sage Laozi (to whom the Daode Jing is attributed), and moves on to explore the birth of religious Taoism and the interaction between Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. A wealth of subjects are covered: the gods of the Taoist pantheon, ritual, the boundaries and intersections between Taoism and popular religion, Taoist "immortals" and "realised beings", the role of alchemy, sacred landscape and its significance, and Taoist temples and their architecture. This book includes a series of introductory essays by scholars with a deep understandi
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2 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
The Magical Art of the Tao
20 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
The book Taoism and the Arts of China was compiled to accompany the first major exhibit of Taoist art, which I saw at the Art Institute of Chicago. These centuries-old works are astonishing. I couldn't get enough of the exhibit, and now I can't get enough of the book. Considerable scholarship went into both.
The curators begin with the sage Laozi and his cognition of an unmanifest source of creation, which is called the Tao, or "way." As the collection progresses, the viewer sees the universal principle of the Tao enter the weave of Chinese culture. The teaching becomes visibly more elaborate and eventually the Way becomes a religion, acquiring deities, priests, rituals, and magic elixirs. Like an alchemist in reverse, the cycle of time takes a transcendent reality and turns it into the denser element of doctrine, right before our very eyes.
Some say the artists that served Taoism mixed potent elixirs into the paints they used. Whether or not this is true, I couldn't stop looking at their work. I wish the printed page could capture the exquisite detail, color and charisma of the originals. Still, Taoism and the Arts of China achieves its purpose. I showed the book to friends at a dinner party. They huddled over it a while, then resolved to drive off that very night to reach Chicago by morning, the last day of the exhibit. It was the right idea. This art should not be missed.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
A scholarly and informative historical artwork survey
13 Mar 2001
Format:Paperback
Enhanced with 190 color illustrations and 50 b/w photographs, Asian art expert Stephen Little's Taoism And The Arts Of China is an impressive, erudite compendium of art from one of China's most ancient and influential philosophical and religious traditions. This scholarly and informative historical artwork survey begins with the Zhou dynasty (fifth to third century B.C.E.) down to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). With insightful essays by Kristofer Shipper, Wu Hung, Patricia Ebrey, and Nancy Steinhardt, Taoism And The Arts Of China is a core addition to any personal, academic, or community library art history, Asian Studies, or Taoism reference collection. This superbly presented art history is also available in hardcover (0-520-22784-0).
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