The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

White-Robed Guanyin

late 1200s–early 1300s

Jueji Yongzhong

(Chinese, active around 1300)
inscription by

Zhongfeng Mingben

(Chinese, 1263–1323)
China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Painting: 78.7 x 31.7 cm (31 x 12 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 164 x 38 cm (64 9/16 x 14 15/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1978.47.1
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The CMA collection includes a drawing by a Japanese priest, CMA 1978.47.2, inspired by this composition.

Description

Guanyin, the bodhisattva of infinite compassion (Avalokiteshvara, in Sanskrit), reveals himself in many forms. According to Buddhist belief, one such manifestation is the white-robed Guanyin sitting on a rock on the island of Putuo (Potalaka, in Sanskrit), located along the coast not far from Ningbo, in Zhejiang Province, China.

Here, the figure was swiftly drawn in only a few ink lines. The inscription above is by Zhongfeng Mingben, perhaps the most widely respected and influential Chan (Zen in Japanese) master in the Yuan dynasty. The artist’s signature is a single line below on the left: Huanzhu Yongzhong.
  • ?–1978
    (Yamanaka and Company, Ltd., Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1978–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Toshirō Ebine 海老根聰郎. "'Avalokiteśvara in White' by Huan-chu Yung-chung 幻住永中 白衣觀音図." Kobijutsu 古美術 no. 34, August 1971, pp. 86–96. Reproduced: color plate p. 89 and plates p. 90
    Kannon no kaiga: sono bi to rekishi. Nara, Japan: Yamato Bunkakan, 1974. p. 14
    Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan. Gendai doshaku jinbutsuga, tokubetsu tenkan. Tokyo: [publisher not identified], 1975. cat. no. 4
    Kawakami, Kei 川上涇, Teisuke Toda 戶田禎佑, and Toshio Ebine 海老根聰郎. Ryō Kai, Indara [粱楷・因陀羅 = Liang Kai, Yintuoluo]. Tōkyō: Kōdansha, Shōwa 50 [1975]. Reproduced: p. 117, pl. 90
    Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1978." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 66, no. 1 (Jan. 1979): 3–47. Reproduced: pp. 5, 46, no. 140 25159613
    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. 97, pp. 122–123
    Cahill, James. SōGen-Ga: 12th-14th Century Chinese Painting as Collected and Appreciated in Japan: March 31, 1982--June 27, 1982, University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley: The Museum, 1982. Comparative Material. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 7, cat. no. 3
    Little, Stephen. “Chinese Calligraphy.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 9 (November 1987): 372–403. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 387, fig. 20a www.jstor.org
    Tōyō kaiga no seika : tokubetsuten : Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華 : 特别展 : クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから = Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 49, cat. no. 26
    Arnold, Lauren. Princely gifts and papal treasures: the Franciscan mission to China and its influence on the art of the West, 1250-1350. San Francisco: Desiderata Press, 1999. Reproduced: p. 27, Fig. 1-14
    May, Elsie D. Our Guardian Angels. Lewes: Book Guild, 2001. p. 5
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. p. 95, fig. 125
    Watt, James C. Y., and Maxwell K. Hearn. The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: p. 95, fig. 125
    Leidy, Denise Patry. "Buddhism and Other 'Foreign' Practices in Yuan China." In The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty. James C. Y. Watt and Maxwell K. Hearn. Ex. Cat. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: p. 95, fig. 125
    Little, Stephen. "Chinese Calligraphy." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 74, no. 9 (1987): 372–403. Reproduced: pp. 386–388; fig. 20a & 20b www.jstor.org
    Itakura, Masaaki. “Jiangnan’s Beauty: Song and Yuan Paintings Prized in Medieval and Early Modern Japan.” In China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta, edited by Clarissa Von Spee, 64–71. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2023. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 68, fig. 36
  • Taming Tigers and Releasing Dragons: Masterpieces of Chinese Buddhist Art – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 8-August 11, 2019).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 119). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 29, 2003-March 15, 2004).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    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); The Asia Society Museum, New York, NY (December 3, 1982-February 28, 1983).
    Kannon no kaiga: sono bi to rekishi [觀音の繪畫]. Yamato Bunkakan, Kyoto, Japan (April 25-May 26, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=White-Robed Guanyin|url=false|author=Jueji Yongzhong, Zhongfeng Mingben|year=late 1200s–early 1300s|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.47.1