Nun of Taoism

This artwork depicts a nun (female monk) of the Chinese Taoism (Daoism). Just like Buddhism, there are temples and monasteries for those who follow the Tao (Dao) which translates as "The Way" in English. This is "the way" of all things, as laid out in the teachings of Lao Tzu (Laozi) in the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing). People like Mencius and Confucius also had a part in forming some of the Taoist ideas and philosophies.

Within a strict definition, Taoism is not actually a religion, as much as it is a philosophy of life, and a way to conduct oneself and live.

During the Cultural Revolution, Taoism suffered the same fate as Buddhism and Christianity in China. Temples were razed and burned to the ground, while monks, nuns, and church-attenders were sent to the fields to become peasants.

In recent years, Taoism has seen a small resurgence in China. Temples have been rebuilt, and visitors are welcome to come and get a glimpse of the Taoist lifestyle.

In the temple grounds, you will find many true-Taoists who dress in much the same way that the great sages dressed. In contrast with Buddhist nuns and monks, Taoists tend to have long hair, and often a wooden hair fixture or cloth atop their head.

The artist of this work is Qi He of Guilin. He's a younger but talented artist. He actually creates this artwork with the help and collaboration of a couple of his artist friends. One of the three likes to do backgrounds, one specializes in faces, and the other does the bodies and dress. So while the painting is signed "Qi He", it's actually a combination of artists that did the real work on this.

There is a lot of meticulous detail that goes into these, so while I asked for a batch of paintings in February of 2006, it took until the next year before they were completed. Once the paintings arrived in Beijing from Guilin, we built them into handmade silk scrolls.

I have a picture of the main artist, and it will be added to this listing soon (as soon as I find it).