Dragon (c. 1250–79): Art, History and Details

Dragon (c. 1250–79) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Fachang Muqi (Chinese, 1220–1280).

The work and its context

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

The dragon and tiger are tied to the philosophical concept of yin and yang, which describes opposite but complementary forces. The dragon occupies a tiered background of waves and mist. Its luminous head emerges from the darker passages, and its narrow twisting body is serpent-like. By contrast, the close-up view of the tiger emphasizes its bulk. The tiger bends its head to lick its paw while its tail curls in the foreground. In their original Chan Buddhist context, this pair of scrolls likely flanked a central image, like the Bodhisattva Guanyin. The silk has darkened over the centuries, and the slight reddish shading in the tiger’s tongue and nose has faded.

Object facts

• Title: Dragon
• Date: c. 1250–79
• Creator attribution: Fachang Muqi (Chinese, 1220–1280)
• Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Hanging scroll; ink on silk
• Dimensions: Painting: 125.2 x 57.2 cm (49 5/16 x 22 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 226.8 x 78 cm (89 5/16 x 30 11/16 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1958.427.1

A detail from the museum

Fachang Muqi was a Chinese Chan Buddhist monk and painter.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisition Press Release,” June 5, 1959, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
• Goepper, Roger. 1000 Jahre chinesische Malerei. München: Haus der Kunst, 1959.
• Chinese Art: An Exhibition of Paintings, Jades, Bronzes and Ceramics: Being a Contribution Made by Smith College Museum of Art to the College Interim Session, 1962. Northampton, Massachusetts: The Smith College Museum of Art, 1962.

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.