The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 19, 2026

A hanging scroll in ink and muted colors depicts Zhong Kui and three ghosts walking toward our left. Zhong Kui, a man with light skin tone and a large dark beard, wears loose robes over a rounded belly while supported by three small figures. A thick tree trunk rises along our right, its arching branches bearing pink blossoms. Sparse bamboo appears behind them, above a rocky foreground with dark tufts.

Zhong Kui Supported by Ghosts

1700s

Luo Ping

(Chinese, 1733–1799)
China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Overall: 96.9 x 48.9 cm (38 1/8 x 19 1/4 in.)
Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund 1959.185
Location: Not on view

Description

In popular belief, Zhong Kui is a powerful guard against evil spirits, particularly on New Year’s Day and at the Double-Fifth Festival, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, when his image is displayed in households to prevent diseases and other misfortunes.
  • 1700s
    Fang Shishu 方士庶 [1692–1751]
    1800s
    Dai Zhi 戴植 [1800s]
    mid-late 1800s
    Ren Bonian 任伯年 [Ren Yi 任頤] [1840–1895]
    ?–1959
    C. C. Wang 王季遷 [1907–2003], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1959–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Ownership prior to C.C. Wang is recorded in Yang, Kathleen 楊凱琳, and Chi-chʻien Wang 王季遷. Through a Chinese connoisseur's eye: private notes of C.C. Wang 王季遷讀書筆記. Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju, 2010. p. 313, no. 38a.
  • Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. cat. no. 138-B
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Lantern Night Excursion of Chung K’uei.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 49, no. 2 (February 1962): 36–42. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 40-41, fig. 5 www.jstor.org
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 455, fig. 602
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 269 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 269 archive.org
    Chang, Wan-li 張萬里 and Hu, Jen-mou 胡仁牧. Yangzhou ba guai shu hua ji [揚州八怪書畫集 = The Selected Painting and Calligraphy of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangchow]. Hong Kong: Cafa Company Limited, 1970. Reproduced: vol. II, pl. 90
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 358 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. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 273, pp. 371–372
    Yang, Kathleen 楊凱琳, and Chi-chʻien Wang 王季遷. Through a Chinese connoisseur's eye: private notes of C.C. Wang 王季遷讀書筆記. Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju, 2010. Mentioned: p. 313, no. 38a
  • Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 10-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982).
    1000 Jahre Chinesische Malerei. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (October 16-December 13, 1959).
  • {{cite web|title=Zhong Kui Supported by Ghosts|url=false|author=Luo Ping|year=1700s|access-date=19 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1959.185