The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Miniature Mountain with Daoist Paradise

1736–95

China, Qing dynasty

(1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
green jade with brown markings
Overall: 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in.)
Anonymous Memorial Gift 1941.594
Location: 240B Chinese Decorative Arts

Did You Know?

The bearded immortal is accompanied by a servant carrying a cluster of peaches, symbols of immortality.

Description

Sizable jade boulders of mountainous landscapes were carved to represent the search for the paradise or immortals' dwellings in the mountains. This Daoist theme has fired the Chinese imagination throughout history. Believed to have spiritual and magical properties, jade has long been used in tombs and intended for preserving the corporeal body and the soul in the quest for eternity. It is recorded that Daoist practitioners drank morning dews with scraps of jade as an elixir of immortality.
  • 1941-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
  • Hollis, Howard. "Three Ch'ien Lung Jades." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 29, no. 8 (October 1942): 123–124. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 123–124 25141011
    Watson, William. L'Art de l'Ancienne Chine. Paris: Mazenod, 1979. Reproduced: Pl. 162
    Little, Stephen. Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China : the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988 = [Chʻien Ching]. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 21, p. 48
  • China through the Magnifying Glass: Masterpieces in Miniature and Detail. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 11, 2022-February 26, 2023).
    Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=Miniature Mountain with Daoist Paradise|url=false|author=|year=1736–95|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1941.594