The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 23, 2024

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 41

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 41

1200s
(1127-1279)
Album, ink on paper
Sheet: 34.3 x 38.5 cm (13 1/2 x 15 3/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange) 2004.1.41
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

A commander in armor is seated on a devil, surrounded by three more. One of his lieutenants (right) is whirling a snake in the air. On the left, demon-soldiers surround a monkey with human body.

Description

The principal—and largest—figure in this leaf depicts Erlang, a celestial commander in a popular myth. Here he wears full armor and holds his sword. Seated by a pine tree, he orders his celestial army to rid Mt. Guankou of the undesirable creatures in the wilderness, including a wolf, a small alligator, and a monkey dressed in human clothes. This subject was first painted by a Northern Song artist, Gao Yi, and remained popular through the Southern Song period and during the Ming dynasty. In this album, the Soushan Tu (Search the Mountain) uses 10 leaves to complete its imagery. This is now the earliest known version of the narrative, as Gao Yi’s has not survived.
  • Wang Hui 王翬 [1632–1717]
    Li Jiale 李嘉樂 [jinshi of 1863]
    Zhu Hang 朱沆 [active 19th century]
    1910–?
    Dr. F. R. (Fredrik Robert) Martin [1868–1933], Stockholm, Sweden, and Munich, Germany
    ?–1947
    Mrs. L. M. Morris [20th century], England
    March 25, 1947
    (Sotheby's, London, sale, 25 March 1947, lot 118, sold to Stephen Junkunc III)
    1947–78
    István “Stephen" Junkunc III [1904–1978], by descent to his son Stephen Junkunc IV
    1978–2004
    (Stephen Junkunc IV [b. 1937], Miami, FL, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2004–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Martin, F. R. Zeichnungen nach Wu tao-tze aus der götter- und sagenwelt Chinas. München: F. Bruckmann a.g, 1913.
    Fong, Wen. Images of the Mind: Selections from the Edward L. Elliott Family and John B. Elliott Collections of Chinese Calligraphy and Painting at the Art Museum, Princeton University. Princeton, N.J.: Art Museum, Princeton University in association with Princeton University Press, 1984. Reproduced: p. 324, cat. no. 19, fig. a
    Christie, Manson & Woods International Inc. Fine Chinese Ceramics, Paintings and Works of Art. 21 September 2000. Lot 204. Reproduced: pp. 141-46
    Chung, Anita. "Re-emergence: New Chinese Galleries and Art Acquisitions of The Cleveland Museum of Art." Orientations vol 44 no. 8 (November/December 2013): 64-75. Reproduced p. 67. fig. 4
    Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art,2015. Reproduced: pp. 174-195
    Silbergeld, Jerome, and Eugene Yuejin Wang, eds. The Zoomorphic Imagination in Chinese Art and Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2016. Mention: p. 171; Reproduced: p. 176, fig, 5.4
  • {{cite web|title=Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 41|url=false|author=|year=1200s|access-date=23 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2004.1.41