(舊道教雙繪哪吒手稿)This small hand drawn and colored manuscript size old Daoist painting depicts the young immortal of Ne-Zha ( 哪吒), a well known and popularly worshiped Daoist immortal guardian. This figure is usually presented as a young male, equipped with many powerful supernatural weapons, including that of flying ribbons, a long and pointed metal stick, a metal wrist band that could change in size when needed, among others, while riding on flying wheels with flames. Nezha was mostly known for being presented in both the famous Chinese classics of folklore and mythology: The West Bound Journey ( 西遊記) and the Fēng Shén Yǎn Yì (封神演義, the Legend of Deification; Creation of the Gods, etc. ). The West Bound Journey depicts the journey of Tang-San-Zang monk who went to India and brought back the Buddhist sutra to China; the Fēng Shén Yǎn Yì was thought to have been written during the Ming Dynasty, a rich weave of many folk tales and stories of human, Daosit immortals, and other supernatural figures under the political climate during the end of Shang Dynasty to Zhou, dating around 12 century B.C. Both of the classics have been translated in many languages with films and animations created.

The drawing on the right side shows Nezha as the Daoist immortal for whom he is mostly regarded as; while the drawing on the left shows Nezha presenting an incense burner. Nezha is also considered a Buddhist's figure with the name “Nalakvara” or “Nalakbala”.

This drawing is part of Shen's Special Collection in Daoist Painting.

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