Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Traditional China

摘要

If Daoism is the most elusive of China's philosophical systems, Daoist art is more elusive still. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that the last scholarly study of Daoist art in English, as noted by the author in her introduction, was Stephen Little's pathbreaking exhibition and catalogue of 2000, Taoism and the Arts of China. The 150 objects in that exhibition have been central to the study of Daoist art since then. Shih-shan Susan Huang's expansive and erudite investigation of Daoist art presents the subject with a breadth and depth never before achieved under one cover. The book offers a true introduction to the subject and at the same time takes certain topics to the level of research scholars.