The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 12, 2025

Li Tieguai; Liu Haichan

1300s

China, Yuan dynasty

(1271-1368)
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk
Overall: 106 x 38.6 cm (41 3/4 x 15 3/16 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1982.29
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Li Tieguai walks with an iron crutch, while Liu Haichan is depicted with a three-legged frog.

Description

This pair of hanging scrolls show the Daoist immortals Li Tieguai and Liu Haichan.

It is said that Li Tieguai’s ethereal self visited the deified Laozi but when he returned, he found that his own body was burned. He had to inhabit the corpse of a person who used a crutch to walk, and thus gained his name Tieguai—the Iron Crutch. The painting depicts Li Tieguai after he took possession of the body, with the iron staff in his hand. As Li exhales, he blows a small Li Tieguai in the air, showing the immortal’s ability to send his spirit on journeys.

Liu Haichan is often shown as a young man wearing bangs across his forehead. He was said to have lived during the Five Dynasties period (907–979) and left his position as a grand councilor to become a hermit. Usually depicted carrying a string of coins and accompanied by a three-legged toad, Liu Haichan became a god of wealth and his toad symbolizes wealth as well. In this scroll, Liu is teasing the three-legged toad with a string of coins tied to his waist
  • ?–1982
    (Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (January 1983): 3–55. Mentioned: no. 114, p. 54 www.jstor.org
    Delacour, Catherine. La Voie du Tao: un Autre Chemin de L'être : Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, 29 Mars-5 Juillet 2010. Paris: Reunion des Musees Nationaux, 2010. Mentioned: pp. 280 and 282; Reproduced: pp. 281 and 283, cat. no. 72.1 and 72.2
  • Escaping to a Better World: Eccentrics and Immortals in Chinese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-November 6, 2022).
    La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010).
    Asian Autumn: Masterpieces from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 17, 1991-January 5, 1992).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Li Tieguai; Liu Haichan|url=false|author=|year=1300s|access-date=12 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.29