On The Images Of Stone-Carved Figures Of Taosim Before The Song Dynasty

Some foreigners regarded Taoism as the "essence of the sinology" , and there have formed three researching centers in Japan, France and America. However, the study of the Taoism in China is relatively lagging behind and much less in number. In China' s philosophical history, and among all the pholosophers, he was the one most mistakened, who opposed religions but later was regarded as the prime master of Taoism. The birth of Lao-tzu is still a mysterious, though there have been a great number of books studying it. However, there is a common acknowledgment that Lao-tzu was a historical figure. And the apotheosizing of him was a great . apotheosizing movement in China' s history. The study on Lao-tzu has been highly developed, while the study of his image, especially the one after he was entitled the master of Taoism. This paper will concentrate on the images of Taoism by going through the images in the periods from Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Song dynasty, and by analyzing the underlying factors with combination of documents. The author believes that the creation of the images is influenced as a whole by the Buddhism, but the individual figure was influenced mainly by Taoism and its culture.The creation of Lao-tzu is the combination and elevation of the images in literature, history, and classics, and finally confirmed in the enrichment from common people. Its spirit not only represents the mind of ancient scholars but also the simple religious senses and feelings. This paper goes into discussion from Lao-Tzu's dressing, facial expression and other instruments used by him. There is another law in the creation that the image is more and more humane, rather than mysterious and inhumane. Since Song, this trend is more obvious. The image of immortal is fading away while the image of man is evidently lifting.