Page 171 - Sotheby's Junkunc Collection March 2019

his stele appears to depict Daode Tianzhu (Celestial Worthy of the Way and Its Virtue),
more commonly known as Laozi, recognizable by the full beard, distinctive hat and three-
Tlegged armrest. Stone stele from this period depicting Daoist deities are of great historical
importance as they demonstrate the fluid boundary and syncretism between Daoism and Buddhism
when their belief systems were first formalized. The form of the stele with its flame-shaped mandorla,
the representation of the Doaist deity in the meditative lotus position, and the format of the dedicatory
inscription on the rectangular platform are characteristics also found on contemporaneous Buddhist
stele. Furthermore, the round modeling of the figure’s body and the carefully incised lines to depict the
robe, suggest a dialogue between carvers of Daoist and Buddhist icons.

The collapse of the Han dynasty had a great impact on the development of Daoism, as it turned from
a philosophical current into a religion with a specific set of beliefs and practices. The transformation is
attributed in part to the spiritual leader Zhang Daoling, who lived during the Eastern Han dynasty, and
claimed to have had a revelation of the deified Laozi who ordered him to organize his devotees into a
movement, which later came to be known as the Tianshi Dao (Way of Celestial Masters). While the first
mention of Laozi is found in the Shiji (Records of Historians) by Sima Qian (145-86 BC), depictions of the
deity in sculptural form did not appear until the 2nd and 3rd century AD, concurrent to the appearance of
the earliest Buddhist images. It is also in this period that Laozi began to be thought of as the central deity
of the cosmos.

A stone stele of Laozi inscribed with a cyclical date corresponding to 588, was included in the exhibition
Chinese Buddhist Stone Sculpture. Veneration of the Sublime, Osaka Municipal Museum, Osaka, 1995,
cat. no. 131; one dated to 587, also featuring two attendants standing on lions, in the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston, was included in the exhibition Taoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago,
Chicago, 2000, cat. no. 32, together with a Tang dynasty example in the Field Museum, Chicago, cat. no.
42; a Northern Zhou stele dated by inscription to 566, also carved with the deity and two attendants in
the collection of the Tokyo University, is illustrated in Rokuchô no Bijutsu [The Arts of the Six Dynasties],
Osaka, 1976, pl. 255; another in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is published on the Museum’s website,
acc. no. 07.741; and a further example dated by inscription to the 29th year of Kaiyuan, corresponding
to 741, in the collection of the Ruicheng Museum, was included in the exhibition Ancient Taoist Art from
Shanxi Province, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, cat.
no. 79.

觀此像，面長鬚，束髮冠，扶三足托，應為道德天 比較一例，石質不同，紀588年，曾展於《中国の石
尊，即老子。此時期之道教聖像深富歷史價值，展示 仏 : 荘厳なる祈り》，大阪市立美術館，大阪，1995
當時道教與佛教信仰剛正式成形伊始，兩者之間分界 年，編號 131； 另一例紀587年，兩弟子立於獅上，
靈活變通，有時兼可合一。像碑背光尖頂、天尊結蓮 現藏於波士頓美術博物館，曾展於《Taoism and
花坐，以及於方形座上刻銘文等特點，亦見於同期佛 the Arts of China》， 芝加哥藝術博物館，芝加
教石碑。此外，從圓雕天尊像身、道袍以精細線條刻 哥，2000年，編號32，同展並包括一唐朝作例，
劃，亦可見道教與佛教造像工藝之交流對話。 現藏於菲爾德自然史博物館，芝加哥，編號42；北
周石碑例，刻天尊及兩弟子，紀566年，現藏於東
漢朝衰亡，對道教發展影響深遠，從道家哲學轉化成 京大學，圖見 《六朝の美術》，大阪，1976年，圖
宗教信仰，兼具特定宗教活動。其中變化，源自東漢 版255；波士頓美術博物館收藏另一例，載於該館
張道陵。張道陵自稱太上老君命其為天師，所創教派 網站，藏品編號07.741；再比一例，刻開元二十九
後來發展為天師道。首部提及老子之書乃司馬遷之《 年，即741年，芮城縣博物館，曾展於《觀妙觀徼:
史記》，刻畫老子為聖之造像，則出現於二及三世 山西省館藏道敎文物》香港大學美術博物館，2003
紀，與最早期之佛教造像出現於同期。在此期間，老 年，編號79。
子被奉為聖，尊稱太上。

19 MARCH 2019 SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK 169