TORONTO, CANADA.- The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is pleased to continue its tradition of rotating exhibitions in the redesigned Herman Herzog Levy Gallery with the intimate Heaven or Hell: Images of Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Deities and Immortals, on display from Saturday, November 25, 2006 to May 2007.

Featuring more than 20 Chinese religious paintings and prints from the ROM’s collection from the 10th through 20th centuries, many never-before-seen, Heaven or Hell expresses the prevailing Chinese religious thinking of the time. Several works in this exhibition depict the Buddhist and Daoist concepts of heaven or hell; the rest show deities and divine figures to whom believers turn for spiritual guidance.

During this period in Chinese religious history, traditional and Daoist theories of cause and retribution had been integrated with the Buddhist concept of karma (translated into English as “deed” or “action”), the human acts that induce this cause-and-effect chain. Human beings were rewarded or punished by a celestial power according to their conduct in life. While good people received blessings, evildoers (and their descendents) would be plagued with misfortune.

The idea of reward and retribution was present in Daoist thought as early as the Eastern Han dynasty (25 BC – AD 220), when it developed into an organized religion, and over time believers also subscribed to the Buddhist concepts of heaven, hell and the 'pure land'.

'This exhibition focuses on two fundamental themes related to Buddhism and Daoism, the two dominant religions in China: life beyond death and the attainment of salvation through the guidance of divine beings,' says Dr. Ka Bo Tsang, Assistant Curator, Chinese Textiles & Paintings, in the ROM’s World Cultures Department.

Incorporating these concepts of the afterlife, Heaven or Hell offers vivid depictions of some of the divine figures worshipped by Buddhists and Daoists, and the journey souls take once their earthly existence ends.

Of particular interest in this exhibition are two long handscrolls: one shows the tantalizing Isles of the Blessed from the Yuan dynasty (late 13th- early 14th century) where Daoist immortals are believed to live; the other is a modern copy by Han Heyi of a very rare work by Wu Zongyuan (d. 1050), Eighty-seven Immortals, depicting a procession of deities, immortals, celestial musicians, and attendants on their way to pay respect to the highest celestial power. Also of significance is Lei Yanmei’s woodblock print, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), the oldest work in the exhibition dating back to the Five Dynasties period (AD 947).

Religious paintings and prints were created for many reasons. Depending on subject matter, they could be used as educational tools, as meditation aids, or as a way to gain spiritual merit for those who commissioned them. These functions remain true today. Furthermore, they were and still are appreciated for their artistic qualities.

The majority of the selected works were collected by George Crofts for the Museum during the 1920s. The exhibition will be funded out of the ROM’s Exhibit Development Fund.

Heaven or Hell: Images of Chinese Buddhist and Daoist Deities and Immortals
November 25, 2006 to May 2007.

Further info on front image: The Fifth King of Hell punishes religious sinners, murderers, hunters, fishers, and the lustful. The Sixth King of Hell punishes those guilty of sacrilege. One such sinner is being cut in half with a large cleaver while others, caged or wearing a cangue (a heavy wooden yoke), await their turn.