Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 26 (1200s): Art, History and Details

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 26 (1200s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This leaf is part of an important album of 50 drawings encompassing three subjects: processions of Daoist deities to the celestial spheres, the Ten Kings of Hell, and Erlang’s Campaign to Rid Mount Guankou of Dangerous Beasts (soushan tu 搜山圖). This section of the Daoist pantheon features the six stars of the Wenchang constellation, plus two attendants and Three Ranks 三台, the short figure on the right. The Superior General 上將 stands a little aloof from the Lieutenant General 次將, Noble Minister 貴相, Director of Destiny 司命, Director of Office 司中, and Director of Emolument 司錄.

Object facts

• Title: Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 26
• Date: 1200s
• Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Album; ink on paper
• Dimensions: Painting: 34.1 x 38.3 cm (13 7/16 x 15 1/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Album leaf
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2004.1.26

A detail from the museum

The short figure with the high forehead is the God of Longevity 壽星.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)

Further reading listed by the museum

• Martin, F. R.. Zeichnungen nach Wu tao-tze aus der götter- und sagenwelt Chinas. München: F. Bruckmann a.g, 1913.
• Chou, Ju-hsi and Anita Chung. Silent poetry: Chinese paintings from the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2015.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.