A rare album of illuminated Daoist sutra ‘Taishang xuanling beidou...

A rare album of illuminated Daoist sutra ‘Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng benming zhenjing’
Jiajing period, dated to the renyin year (in accordance with 1542)

illuminated manuscript on paper, 130 leaves, 25 paintings (9 double-page) with a colophon in the end states that it was commissioned the empress on the twenty-eighth day of the seventh lunar month in the twenty-second year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign (1543), bound concertina-style, yellow silk upper cover, cloth label on upper cover, housed in custom wood box

36.5 x 14 cm, 14⅜ x 5 ½ in.
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Rare album de sutras taoïstes enluminés 'Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng benming zhenjing', époque Jiajing, daté de l'année renyin (1542)

manuscrit enluminé sur papier, 130 feuilles, 25 peintures (9 à double page) avec un colophon à la fin indiquant qu'il a été commandé à l'impératrice le vingt-huitième jour du septième mois lunaire de la vingt-deuxième année du règne de l'empereur Jiajing (1543), reliure de style concertina, couverture supérieure en soie jaune, étiquette en tissu sur la couverture supérieure, conservée dans un coffret en bois personnalisé
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明嘉靖壬寅年(1542年) 《太上玄靈北斗本命延生真經》

對開本，紙本泥金彩繪，130頁(摺)，25幅插圖（9幅連頁），經摺式開本，黃絹封面，貼布題簽，附木製書匣

Condition Report:
The original manuscript has been remounted and the old paper laid down on a fresh carton ground at some stage of its life. The illuminated pages are generally well preserved with fresh pigments, as well as the calligraphy. The manuscript is complete. Some pages towards the end of the book are more torn and soiled, as well as the last dated colophon page which is also teared around and laid down on a dark blue ground paper.
The yellow fabric cover is somewhat stained and soiled, as well as the second carton wrapping which is distressed. The original wood casing is also worn as visible on the catalogue photo.

Catalogue Note:
This extraordinary manuscript contains an important scripture from the Daoist canon. Composed during the Song dynasty, the Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng zhenjing [‘True Scripture of Tai Shang Xuan Ling Bei Dou of Fate and Prolonging Life’], or Beidoujing, is one of a set of five scriptures recording a revelation of the legendary Laozi to Zhang Daoling (traditionally 34-156), generally considered to be the founder of religious Daoism. The text describes how the Northern Dipper (Beidou) constellation influences one’s fate and stresses the importance of rituals and chanting to improve one’s fortune. As the central illuminated pages explain, even simply owning the Beidoujing is purported to bring good fortune to the household:

“If one has the Beidoujing at home, one’s residence will attain peace and serenity / If one has the Beidoujing at home, one’s parent will live out long lives / If one has the Beidoujing at home, all that one dislikes will turn to dust…”

This message of redemption, skillfully written in bold calligraphy, is accompanied by 24 beautifully rendered illustrations. For a manuscript of this significance, consulted and treasured for almost five hundred years, the paintwork remains in remarkably good condition. With luminous, almost surrealist colours in detailed brushwork, the court painters masterfully blend a sense of mystical awe from clouds and natural imagery with the richly detailed opulence of court fabrics and pavilions. Ming dynasty manuscripts boasting this level of technical mastery are extremely rare.

Beyond its phenomenal beauty, this album is also a remarkable historical document, drawing back the curtain on life in the Ming court. Given the immensity of a project of this quality, it comes as no surprise that this album was commissioned to imperial orders. A colophon at the end of the manuscript notes that it was presented by the empress on the twenty-eighth day of the seventh lunar month in the twenty-second year of the Jiajing Emperor's reign (1543). The official records of the Jiajing Emperor’s reign, included in the Ming shilu (‘Veritable Records of the Ming’), note that this date was, in fact, the birthday of Empress Xiaolie. Looking at the body of the text itself, which notes that the manuscript was started on the same date a year prior (in the renyin year; 1542), the story of this manuscript’s creation reveals itself: a glorious celebration of an imperial birthday.

However, the imperial significance of this album poses further questions. Who was the empress presenting this album to? Why did she commission copies of the Beidoujing specifically? Diving further into the imperial annals, a clearer picture is revealed. The twelve-month period between this album’s commencement and completion was one of the most significant in the Jiajing Emperor’s reign. Known today as the ‘Palace Plot of the Renyin Year’, just three months after work had begun on this album, sixteen palace...