Many of the symbolical ornaments on porcelain have a Buddhistic significance, such as the eight emblems (see p. [298]), the crossed dorjes or thunderbolts of Vajrapani,[499] the Buddhist jewel in a leaf-shaped halo of flames; and Sanskrit characters of sacred import are used as decoration for bowls and dishes, made no doubt for the use of the faithful. The principal animals associated with Buddhist designs are the elephant, who carries the jewel vase on his back, the white horse (pai ma), who brought the Buddhist scriptures across the desert from India, the hare, who offered himself as food to Buddha, and the Chinese lion who, under the name of the “dog of Fo” (Buddha), acts as guardian of Buddhist temples and images.
But the religion which has taken the greatest hold on Chinese imagination and which consequently has supplied the largest number of motives for their decorative art is undoubtedly Taoism. As originally taught by Lao-tzŭ, a contemporary of Confucius, in the sixth century B.C., the doctrine of Tao (the Way) pointed to abstraction from worldly cares and freedom from mental perturbation as the highest good. But just as the later but closely analogous doctrine of Epicurus degenerated into the cult of pleasure, so the true teaching of Lao-tzŭ was afterwards lost among the adventitious beliefs and superstitions which were grafted on to it by his followers. The secret of transmuting metals into gold and of compounding the elixir of life became the chief preoccupations of the Taoist sages, the latter quest appealing particularly to the Chinese with their proverbial worship of longevity; and a host of legends grew up concerning mortals who won immortality by discovering the elixir, about fairies and the denizens of the Shou Shan or Hills of Longevity, about the Isles of the Blessed and the palace of Hsi Wang Mu in the K’un-lun mountains. It is this later and more popular phase of Taoism which figures so largely in porcelain decoration.
Lao-tzŭ is represented as a venerable old man with bald, protuberant forehead, who rides upon an ox, the same in features as the god of Longevity, Shou Lao, who is in fact regarded as his disembodied spirit. Shou Lao, however, is more commonly shown enthroned upon a rocky platform in the Hills of Longevity, holding in one hand a curious knotted staff, to which are attached rolls of writing, and in the other a peach, and surrounded by his special attributes, the spotted deer, the stork, and the ling chih fungus. Thus seated he receives homage from the Eight Immortals and the other Taoist genii or hsien, who are as numerous as the fairies of our countryside. Other designs represent Shou Lao riding on a deer or flying on the back of a stork, or simply standing with his staff and peach, his robes embroidered with seal forms of the character shou (longevity). In this last posture he is often grouped with two other popular deities, one in mandarin robes and official hat holding a ju-i sceptre, which fulfils every wish, and the other also in official robes but holding a babe who reaches out for a peach in his other hand. Together they form the Taoist triad, Shou-hsing, Lu-hsing, and Fu-hsing, star-gods (hsing) of Longevity, Preferment, and Happiness. Fu-hsing in addition has sometimes two boy attendants carrying respectively a lotus and a hand-organ.
The Eight Taoist Immortals (pa hsien) are:—
1. Chung-li Ch’üan, also known as Han Chung-li, represented as a fat man, half-draped, who holds a ling chih fungus in one hand and a fly-whisk or fan in the other.
2. Lü Tung-pin, a figure of martial aspect armed with a sword to slay dragons and evil spirits. He is the patron of barbers.
3. Li T’ieh-kuai, Li with the iron crutch, a lame beggar with a crutch and pilgrim’s gourd from which issue clouds and apparitions. He is patron of astrologers and magicians.
4. Ts’ao Kuo-ch’iu, in official robes, wearing a winged hat, and carrying a pair of castanets. He is patron of mummers and actors.
5. Lan Ts’ai-ho, of uncertain sex, carrying a hoe and a basket of flowers. Patron of gardeners and florists.
6. Chang Kuo Lao, the necromancer with the magic mule, of which he kept a picture folded up in his wallet. He would make the beast materialise from the picture by spurting water on to it; and at other times he would conjure it out of a gourd. His attribute is a musical instrument consisting of a drum and a pair of rods. He is patron of artists and calligraphers, and ranks as one of the gods of Literature.