Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk
This large painting depicts a magnificent procession featuring the three Taoist deities: the Heavenly Official, the Earth Official, and the Water Official. Such a composition, introducing the combined procession of the three deities, is relatively rare among the surviving depictions of the Three Officials, making this painting particularly unique. Images of the Three Officials first appeared in the Tang dynasty and later circulated in various forms such as murals, scrolls, and scripture illustrations. According to records, Taoist followers would hang images of the Three Officials in Taoist altars for meditation and to invoke the deities’ presence during large-scale universal salvation ceremonies. This painting may have been used for related purposes.