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Created 16-Sep-07
Modified 1-Feb-24
92 photos
A selection of photographs, original and published/printed, related to Daoist sites and practice. The time frame of this collection will extend backwards as far as technically and topically feasible, and forward - hopefully - into the 1970s (through the end of the Cultural Revolution, that is). For more current photographs related to Daoism, see the galleries under "(Sacred) Mountains and Sites in China".

Images such as these are difficult to trace. Outside of Hedda Morrison's photographs of Mt. Hua, with its Daoist cloisters and sword-wielding masters, and Anne Swann Goodrich's study of The Peking Temple of the Eastern Peak: the Tung-yüeh Miao in Peking and its Lore (1964), there is very little coherent visual documentation of Daoism's late Qing and (post-)Republican era history, either published in print, or unpublished as unique mementos. To arrive at materials covering what was left of Daoist practice (or sites) during the CR is an even more fragmented undertaking. The photographs here represent these circumstances, by drawing from Perckhammer (1930), Osvald Siren (1924), Carl Kupfer (1911), Melchers (1921), Boerschmann (1906-09), John D. Zumbrum (1911-1929), Japanese expedition reports, early illustrated Chinese language journals, etc. Added - and of considerable interest - is a unique pair of photographs of Daoist Associations (Baoji & Jinan), and a photograph of a Daoist turned filial son-in-mourning who, according to the photograph's description, did not utter a single word over the entire mourning period of three years.

Thomas H. Hahn, Berkeley, CA
Last update: January 2024
Beijing Baiyunguan - main gate (1940s)Beijing Baiyunguan - Temple Festival 庙会 (1930s)Beijing Baiyunguan - Daoist monk (1940s)Beijing Andingmen, view of the Daoist Temple (1924)Beijing Dongyuemiao - Exterior gateway (1890-1900)Beijing Dongyuemiao - Exterior gateway (1890-1900)Beijing Dongyuemiao - Gateway opposite the entrance gate (1921)Beijing Dongyuemiao - Entrance (1921)Beijing Dongyuemiao - view of the western side hall in the main courtyard  (1921)Beijing Dongyuemiao - view of the eastern side hall in the main courtyard  (1921)Beijing Andingmen, gateyard of the Daoist Temple (1924)Beijing Deshengmen, gateyard of the Daoist Temple (1924)Beijing - Patriarch Lu Pavillion Luzuge 吕祖阁内吕祖神像Beijing - Pantaogong 蟠桃宫 (undated)Beijing - Daoist monk in the Pantaogong 蟠桃宫道士 (undated)Remnants of a Yuan dynasty Daoist temple in the Beijing Mentougou region (undated)Remnants of a Yuan dynasty Daoist temple in the Beijing Mentougou region (undated)The Fumo dadi gong 伏魔大帝宫 in Tongzhou  通州 (undated)Longhushan - General view (1911)Longhushan - Temple of the Jade (sic!) Emperor (1911)