Taoism in Mt.Wudang has very close relations with traditional culture and art. In history, both art and religion belong to the fields of fantasy and emotion on the made of thinking. In these ways people can extricate themselves from reality, surpass ordinary life's feelings,chase spirit happiness and finish self-molding. As far as religious art is concerned, art aesthetic and religion fanaticism cannot be parted. Art aesthetic and religion fanaticism cannot be parted. Art and religion influence each other and learn from each other. Therefore they have the same tendency on perception, image, association and emotion. In another word, religion is the hotbed of art, and art improves the development of religion on the other hand. Not an exception is Taoist art in Mt.Wudang. The Taoist relics such as sculptures, paintings and sacrificial vessels are the main manifestation of thinking in images' art of Taoist culture in Mt.Wudang.

        The Taoist art works in Mt.Wudang were mainly from devotions of pilgrims or made with social donations. During the period of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, royalties often sent envoys to build altars in Mt.Wudang, leaving numerous idols and carved stones. During the period of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Taoist rites in Mt.Wudang got fame increasingly. It became popular among royalties to go on a pilgrimage to Mt.Wudang. especially in the Ming Dynasty, after Emperor Chengzu had bestowed "Grand Mountain" on Mt.Wudang and taken it as one of the imperial temples, the successive emperors all offered many sacrifices. Gradually Mt.Wudang becomes a huge Taoist art museum. At present the registered relics amount to 7,760, including idols, carved stones, tablets, Taoist scripture books, frescos, colored paintings, Taoist instruments and vessels etc. the qualities include gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, wood and stone. Many of them are precious relics rarely found indoors and overseas.

        Among these art works the Taoist idols are the most characteristic and have the highest art value.

        The Taoist idols are the core of Taoist-god creation theory. Chinese Taoism has an integrated god-pedigree. According to "The Taoist Scriptures" written before the Song Dynasty, there are more than 400 immortals in Taoism classified into seven ranks. Each rank has a god. Taoist Trinity includes Beginning God, Treasure God and Morality God (Lao Tsu). Four Emperors are the Jade Emperor, the Northern-pole Emperor, the Heaven Emperor and the Earth Emperor.

        Emperor Zhen Wu is the primary worship by Wudang Taoism. Hence comes a specific god-pedigree, that is, Emperor Zhen Wu as the highest god, Golden Boy and Jade Girl, two commanders of Fire and Water as assistant Fortune God as attendant gods, holy Father and Mother as esteem gods etc. the pedigree mixes all kinds of deities from heaven, hell and Spirt World together, which has unlimited supernatural power.

        About 1,700 idols are left in Mt.Wudang, including 450 bronze statues and 530 iron ones. Almost all the idols are the consecrations from pilgrims. Most of them are grants from the Ming royalties. In Yongle 16 th (1418) emperor Zhu Di had 33 Taoist temples and palaces built in Mt.Wudang, in which were placed many idols, Taoist temples and palaces built in Mt.Wudang, in which were placed many idols, Taoist instruments and vessels, sacred flags, tents and shrines. In Chenghua 9 th (1473), under imperial governments consecrated 93 idols (including 7 with gold foil, 53 glided bronze ones, and 19 wood ones covered with gold foil and colored make -up), 185 sacrificial vessels (including 14 glided bronze ones) and a lot of Taoist instruments to Mt.Wudang. incomplete statistics indicate that the emperors in the Ming Dynasty had sent consecrations 369 times. We can imagine the large amount of the them.

        The religious offerings by the Ming royalties were mainly transferred from Beijing to Mt.Wudang by land or by water. When the Grand Canal was dredged, ships carrying idols and other offerings voyaged through the Grand Canal, the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River to Mt.Wudang. water transportation was not only fast and comfortable but also safe for idols.

        After 200 years' accumulation in the Ming Dynasty, Mt.Wudang became "the richest place under heaven". Writers and poets at that time left many essays and poems describing the splendor of Mt.Wudang.

        Generally speaking, religious rites are usually the specific expression style of religious belief. People worship, pray to, offer sacrifices and praise in hymns to idols to express their reverential fear, devoutness and loyalty to the gods. Hence, it was the most sacred thing in a district to build idols. Only highest skilled craftsmen were chosen to try their best to do the job reaching the need of religion.

        The highly finished Taoist idols with fine materials in Mt.Wudang reflect the outstanding sculptural arts standard of the Ming Dynasty.

        The sculpture of Zhen Wu in Golden Palace looks calm and restrained. He sits in an imperial chair with golden armor and battle dress, bare his feet, with his hair showing power and mercy. Being a trust worthy guide god, he seems to suggest to all the pilgrims that he is willing to help free them from sufferings and reach paradise.

        With Zhen Wu sculpture in the same palace are idols of Golden Palace is unlike Buddhism statues that are always built very huge, sometimes even as high and large as a mountain. It shows greatness and prestige of Buddha through the sharp contrast between statues and human beings. On the contrary, Taoist statues in the palace were built only as big as real. Their shapes, clothes and accessories were the same as thone of imperial guards in the Ming Dynasty. As if coming from history, they always bring people kindness and human touch. Taoist gods are not dictators deciding humanity's destiny but patriarchs who manage the world and of whom people can ask favors.

        Among the sculpture art works, we'd like to mention a group of gilded bronze ones of thunder gods. Most of them are 0.5 meter high and shaped vividly. The thunder God statue belongs to the highest grade. Thunder God brings rain and storm to the folk. In Taoism he is the spokesman on behalf of the Supreme God. The idol is dressed like a warrior, with a hammer in one hand and a graver in another hand. Glaring eyes, bare teeth and strong muscles make him look fiery, mighty and powerful. Some great power seems in his waving dress and arching feet. Unlike Zhen Wu and attendance gods, thunder gods execute decrees of Supreme God by force power.

        These sculptures have not only high art value but also high scientific value. The bronze ones were made by lost-wax-casting, the most advanced technological method at that time in the world. Firstly, a wax mold was made and fire-proof materials were filled inside and outside. Then the wax mold was heated up and dissolved, making the whole casting an empty shell. At last molten copper was poured into the shell. The wax-losing method can not only keep the integrity of the casting, but also reflect vividly the dedicate parts of it. After gilded from head to toe, the idol looks shining and exquisite.

        Another important part of Taoist culture in Mt.Wudang is Taoist drawings and colored paintings.

        The fairly early Taoist painting in Mt.Wudang having been discovered by now is the Records with Drawings on Auspicious Omen by God Xuan Tian in the Great Ming Dynasty included by Taoist Collections. They were drawn by royal painters by the decree of Emperor Chengzu (Zhu Di) in Yongle times. The book has two parts (the heaven and the earth), seventeen depicts souls on hills and mountains and gods and spirits in water. The heaven part depicts the phenomena of Zhen Wu making himself seen in clouds for eleven times. The epiphany dates were once on lunar May 6 th , 21 st respectively, twice on lunar May 25 th , five times on lunar August 17 th , twice on lunar August 19 th , such layout is rhythmic, inspiring and favorable to religious information's spread.

        The records with Drawings, the earliest comic book discovered in China, has great significance in the history of Chinese fine arts.

        The frescos and colored paintings in Mt.Wudang are mainly kept in such places as the Purple Heaven Palace, the South Palace, the Fuzhen Temple, the Needle-grinding Well and the Yuanhe Temple. Those in the purple Heaven Palace are Preserved the best. The fine colored painting works, including the-Eight-Immortal-Sending-Fortune, Qin-Gao-Riding - a -Carp, Crown-Prince-Practicing-Taoism, and the Twenty-four Examples of Filial Piety, possess high art value for their well-knit composition, vigorous strokes, beautiful colors and vivid figures.

        Among the articles granted by emperors, an inscribed board cut with an imperial decree in Yongle 11 th (1413) is the most precious. The imperial decree is the earliest one about Mt.Wudang kept until now. It read "There are ma ny Taoists practicing Taoism in Mt.Taihe. they need absolute quietness. Besides people who ask for advice on Taoism, those who harass the Taoists should be published strictly. If a Taoist doesn't put his heart on cultivation but make trouble now and then, minor offenders should be expelled from Mt.Taihe, while heavy one should be reported to my place and sentenced to strict punishment. October 18the, Yongle 11 th ." It was a law made for Mt.Wudang Taoism by Emperor Yongle. It's also an essential document proving Mt.Wudang an imperial mountain. The wood-made board is in the shape of, with two golden dragons inlaid on the two sides of the words "Imperial Decree" in beautiful Li Calligraphy. The whole decree was cut in intaglio in the board painted in vermilion. Every word was painted with molten gold. According to historical documents, this kind of lacquer ware, specially made by royal worshop in the Ming Dynasty, had more than eighty decoration procedures.

        Other precious relics include golden dragon, stone slips, and jade tablets in the Purple Heaven Palace by Zhu Bo in Jianwen 1 st (1399). The age of Jianwen is short, so these relics with accurate chronological records are especially valuable.

        Another relic in the Ming Dynasty also worth mentioning is the Holy Tablet of God Xuan Tian in Mt.Wudang, a five-color chinaware in the highest class produced from royal kiln, 1.01 m high and 0.5 m wide. It was riveted by seven parts (pedestals, sides, core ,roof ). On the pedestal are moving clouds and red-crowned cranes. On the two side tablets are dragons playing with pearls in the clouds. On the roof is also dragon in auspicious clouds. On the core are the words "The Holy Tablet of God Xuan Tian in Mt. Wudang". The unique shape of the holy tablet makes it different from ancestral tablets of either the royalties or the folks. By now it has been the second-to-none Taoist spirit tablet with very high historic value.