The Taoist Pantheon In The Mural Images Of The Five Holly Mountains

As a unique historical and cultural phenomenon, the Five Holly Mountains have been playing important roles in the society of ancient China. As an important expression, the Taoist mural paintings of the Five Holly Mountains are dynamic carriers of social culture of different periods. This dissertation studies on the Taoist pantheon in the mural images of the Five Holly Mountains. It tries to construct the preliminary pantheon of the Five Holly Mountains in the existing temples by sorting out and analyzing their status in the mural paintings. By discussing their status, this dissertation tries to explain the thinking system and logical conception behind the paintings. This is a question about the thinking of the construction of ancient mural paintings.This dissertation includes three chapters.Chapter One sorts out the historical materials and the conditions of the existing mural paintings of the Five Holly Mountains. This chapter discusses the origin of the name of "Wu Yue" (the Five Holly Mountains), and defines the time of its emergence. It also points out that the origin of this concept is closely related to the primitive religion and the idea of the united nation. This concept brought about the images of the gods of the Five Holly Mountains directly.Using the murals of six Taoist temples such as Yongle Palace as examples, Chapter Two mainly discusses the status of the gods of the Five Holly Mountains. Considering the characters of the murals and the architectures, this dissertation constructs the preliminary pantheon of the five Holly Mountains in individual Taoist temples. When discussing the identities of the eight chief gods in the mural of Sanqing Temple of Yongle Palace, this dissertation pays much attention to the relation among the murals, the architectures, and Quanzhen School, and makes a new explanation about the layout of the gods in the murals.Chapter Three explicates further on the basis of Chapter Two. By the description and analysis of the status of the gods discussed in Chapter Two, this chapter constructs the preliminary pantheon of the five Holly Mountains. The main body of the pantheon is composed by the Chaoyuan system, the national holly mountain sacrificing system, and the folk holly mountain sacrificing system. The specific gods are induced into a framework by their distinguishing features. As a result, an overall Taoist pantheon of the Five Holly Mountains including the Gods of the Five Holly Mountains, the Gods of Offering a Sacrifice to Heaven, the Gods of Directions, the Gods of Time, the Gods of Blessing, and the Gods of Hell is constructed. The construction of this pantheon is the result of the interaction among nation, religion, and people. It reflects the intention of seeking an ideal socially structured pattern with the harmonious existence of many aspects, including the three worlds of heaven, earth, and water, the four seasons, the five directions, etc.