Ink Treasure of Wu Daozi, Daozi mobao 道子墨寶

The Daozi mobao 道子墨寶 album is a sketchbook of 50 large ink drawings, representing the totality of the Daoist pantheon. The images may have been copied (partly or in full) from pre-existing temple murals and/or intended to be used as templates for the production of such murals. The album traditionally is attributed to the Tang dynasty painter Wu Daozi 吳道子 (8th century), but it probably dates to the late Song dynasty (13th century), and it may well have been produced by several artists over an extended period of time.

The album drawings were reproduced and published in 1913 by the German art publisher F. Bruckmann, A.G., under the editorship of F. R. Martin. The digital images for the project were scanned from this reproduction. The original album was acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2004.

This album leaf shows the Earth Official, Diguan 地官, one of the Three Officials who preside over human destinies, on his tour of inspection through the world.

Ink Treasure of Wu Daozi | Scripture of the Jade Pivot | Chen Rongsheng Collection | Copenhagen Scroll | Honolulu Collection
home | database | collections
Copyright © Daoist Iconography Project, 2005–2012. All Rights Reserved.