The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Horizontally long handscroll, the left half filled with tightly packed Chinese calligraphy and the right depicting a group of sixteen people standing gathered before the Buddha. The Buddha sits cross-legged in a pink robe on a lotus throne, flanked by four people. The people gathered before him wear different combinations of robes and trousers and have various colors of hair and hairstyles. One steps forward, bowing his head and holding out an incense burner.

Barbarian Royalty Worshiping the Buddha

900s

attributed to Zhao Guangfu

(Chinese, c. 923–976)
China, Northern Song dynasty (960-1127)
Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Painting section: 28.6 x 103.5 cm (11 1/4 x 40 3/4 in.); Overall with colophon: 28.6 x 667.7 cm (11 1/4 x 262 7/8 in.)
Gift of Severance and Greta Millikin 1957.358
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Sixteen "barbarians" pay homage to the Buddha, who is seated on a lotus throne with two disciples and two guardians.

Description

This painting begins on the right with 15 people following a dignified figure wearing headgear with twin pheasant feathers. He extends an incense burner toward the Buddha, who is seated on his lotus throne and flanked by two haloed disciples and two Heavenly Kings. The worshipers’ diverse physical features, regional finery, and religious affiliations suggest the universal appeal of Buddhism.

The imagery was inspired by the foreign envoys who frequently came to the Chinese court to give tribute to the emperor. At the time, all outsiders were considered “barbarians,” so their presence was seen as acknowledgment of China’s political and cultural power.
  • 1300s
    Daoist Wukeliao 無可了道人 [1300s]
    c. 1328–30
    Yuan imperial collection (seal of Emperor Wenzong, Tianli era [1328–30]), Beijing, China
    c. 1736–1911
    Qing imperial collection (seals of Emperors Qianlong [r. 1736–1795], Jiaqing [r. 1796–1820], and Xuantong [r. 1909–1911]), Beijing, China
    ?–1957
    (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin)
    1957
    Severance A. [1895–1985] and Greta [Marguerite Steckerl] Millikin [1903–1989], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1957–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 852 archive.org
    Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. cat. no. 8
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 258 archive.org
    National Gallery of Canada, and Expo (International Exhibitions Bureau). Terre Des Hommes: Exposition Internationale Des Beaux-Arts, 28 Avril-27 Octobre 1967 [= Man and His World, International Fine Arts Exhibition, Expo 67, Montreal, Canada, 28 April-27 October 1967]. Montréal: Expo 67, 1967. cat. no. 168
    Lee, Sherman E., and Wai-kam Ho. Chinese Art Under the Mongols: The Yüan Dynasty, 1279-1368. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art; [distributed by the Press of Case Western Reserve University], 1968. cat. no. 275
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 258 archive.org
    Zeng Ecke, Youhe. Chinese Calligraphy. [Philadelphia]: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1971. cat. no. 36
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 340 archive.org
    Ho, Wai-kam, Sherman E. Lee, Laurence Sickman, and Marc F. Wilson. Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1980. Reproduced: cat. no. 46, p. 60
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 29–33
  • Silent Poetry: Masterworks of Chinese Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14, 2015-April 24, 2016).
    Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    Chinese Calligraphy. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA (organizer) (September 25-November 7, 1971); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO (January 6-February 6, 1972); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (March 14-May 7, 1972).
    Man and His World. Expo 67, Montreal, Canada (organizer) (April 27-October 28, 1967).
    Chinese Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 19-August 7, 1960).
    1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 16-December 13, 1959).
  • {{cite web|title=Barbarian Royalty Worshiping the Buddha|url=false|author=Zhao Guangfu|year=900s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1957.358