Taoist Precious objects

Since Jiajing, symbols of Taoism were popular and commonly found on Ming blue and white. The most common symbols are the 8 precious objects of the 8 immortals.  They belong to :fan (Han Zhongli), lotus (He Xiangu), sword (Lu Dongbin), flower-basket (Lan Caihe) , lotus (He Xiangu) , flute (Han Xiangzi) , gourd (Tie Guaili), castanets (musical instrument)(Chao Guojiu) and drum (Zhang Guolao).  The precious objects are magical weapons used by the 8 immortals to overcome the evil forces.