Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin (1662–1722): Art, History and Details

Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin (1662–1722) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

This porcelain figure represents Zhongli Quan as a scholar. He is wearing a scholar’s hat and carries a scroll on his back. He holds a fan that, according to legend, could bring the dead to life. Thus, he also bears the auspicious meaning of longevity. On his bare belly, the potter painted a qilin, a mythical auspicious creature that turns his head to the sun. The same design in different colors also decorates his back.

Object facts

• Title: Daoist Immortal Lü Dongbin
• Date: 1662–1722
• Culture: China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi reign (1662–1722)
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: porcelain with famille verte overglaze enamel decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 29.9 cm (11 3/4 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1964.193

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Catalogue of the Severance and Greta Millikin Collection. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1990.
• Tannenbaum, Barbara. Ann Hamilton: Still and Moving: The Tactile Image. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2025.

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.