A Study on the Compositional Art of Chaoyuan Tu in the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace: The Visual Construction Mechanism of Religious Iconographic Order

This study takes Chaoyuan Tu in the Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace as its research object and aims to explore the relationship between the compositional art of Daoist murals and the visual construction of religious order. Through image analysis, this paper deconstructs the layout of figures, color system, and spatial structure of the mural, and verifies them in relation to texts and images such as Daoist Ritual Norms and Chaoyuan Xianzhang Tu. It reveals three major visual mechanisms: symmetrical composition, spatially layered layout, and symbolic markers of identity hierarchy. The study finds that Chaoyuan Tu forms a sacred spatial order through axial symmetry and group balance, and realizes the visual translation of religious hierarchy through a three-level structure of “upper deities, middle officials, and lower attendants.” Its compositional paradigm not only perfected the creative system of Yuan-dynasty Daoist murals, but also provides a typical case for understanding the expression of order in traditional Chinese religious art.