Three Doctrines Deities Compendium 三教源流搜神大全

The author remains unknown.

It was probably compiled after the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Three Doctrines Deities Compendium

The book collects portraits of sages and men of virtue of Confucianism, eminent Buddhist monks, and Taoist immortals and true practitioners from all dynasties, as well as images of folk gods worshipped by the people, amounting to a total of 181 paintings. Following each divine portrait are the personal details such as the deity's surname, given name and ancestral home, their conferred titles and ranks, as well as their miraculous deeds and stories. Ye Dehui of the Qing Dynasty produced a reprinted version in seven volumes, which was included in the Lilou Collection.

According to Ye's textual research, the records of all Taoist deities in this book are derived from the Expanded Records of Deities, an engraved portrait album from the Yuan Dynasty, while the accounts of all Buddhist monks are entirely based on the Biographies of Eminent Monks, a book compiled by imperial order during the Yongle reign. In addition, according to Volume Three of Records of Famous Paintings of All Dynasties by Zhang Yanyuan of the The Tang Dynasty, the Illustrated Records of Deities was already among the "ancient secret paintings and precious illustrations".