The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Dream Journey among Rivers and Mountains, no. 90

1658

Cheng Zhengkui

(Chinese, 1604–1676)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Handscroll; ink and color on paper
Painting section: 24 x 341.5 cm (9 7/16 x 134 7/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1960.182
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Cheng Zhengkui planned to make 100 dream journey paintings but may have ultimately made 500.

Description

Cliffs and waterfalls interspersed with trees and dotted vegetation are spread over this handscroll. Long paths wind their way through villages, beside cottages, shrines, and over bridges. In the past, Chinese literati officials liked to take a “dream journey” along mountains and rivers when viewing landscape paintings in their studios. Scenery of this kind thus became a way to escape from the world of bureaucracy and administration. The painter Cheng Zhengkui used the title “Dream Journey” for a whole series of paintings, of which this is number 90. He is said to have painted 500 of them, but the actual count remains unknown.
  • Huang Yi 黃易 [1744–1802]
    Dai Zhi 戴植 [active about 1821–1850]
    Yan Shiqing 顏世清 [1873–1929]
    Wang Nanping 王南屏 [1924–1985]
    ?-1960
    (Walter Hochstadter [1914–2007], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1960-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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    Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959. cat. no. 88
    Lee, Sherman E. Chinese Landscape Painting. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1962. Mentioned: p. 90, cat. no. 71
    Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1964. Reproduced: p. 441, fig. 584
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    Fu, Shen 傅申. Ming Qing zhi ji di ke bi gou le feng shang yu Shitao di zao qi zuo pin [明清之際的渴筆勾勒風尚與石濤的早期作品 = An aspect of mid-seventeenth century Chinese painting: The "dry linear" style and the early work of Tao-chi]. Hong Kong: Xianggang Zhong wen da xue [香港中文大學 = The Chinese University of Hong Kong], 1976. Reproduced: p. 594, fig. 15
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  • Escaping to a Better World: Eccentrics and Immortals in Chinese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-November 6, 2022).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 242). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 28, 2014-January 7, 2015).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 122). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 27, 2003-March 10, 2004).
    Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).
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  • {{cite web|title=Dream Journey among Rivers and Mountains, no. 90|url=false|author=Cheng Zhengkui|year=1658|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.182