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THE TAOIST CHURCH

Taoist Ritual



  Taoist Ritual at the Imperial Court (Detail)
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Jiao Bingzhen (active c. 1689–1726)
Taoist Ritual at the Imperial Court (detail)
Qing dynasty, 1723/26
Hanging scroll; ink and colors on silk
358 x 157 cm
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.;
purchase, Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program, and partial gift of Richard G. Pritzlaff
cat. no. 44

    

Taoist Ritual at the Imperial Court

This hanging scroll depicts a Taoist ritual at the court of the Qing dynasty in Beijing. On the altar, an aristocrat kneels beside the Taoist priest leading the ceremony, who is shown under an umbrella. Four additional priests of lower rank stand to the sides. Below the altar, there is an orchestra of chimes, bells, and wind instruments playing music, an essential part of many Taoist rituals.

The most distinctive feature of this ritual is the altar, made from three levels of stacked tables. Taoist altars were usually made of pressed earth. These traditional earthen altars resemble the one shown here in that they were often temporary structures that would be dismantled after the ritual.

The ritual depicted here was probably a repentance (zhai) ceremony. In such a ceremony, the participants would confess their faults and perform different acts of contrition.


  


    




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