Hanshan and Shide (c. 1745–76): Art, History and Details

Hanshan and Shide (c. 1745–76) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Ike Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776).

The work and its context

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

Hanshan and Shide are a pair of individuals associated with Chan, or Zen, Buddhism who lived on Mount Tiantai in China around the 700s to early 800s. In Japan, their names are read Kanzan and Jittoku. Hanshan, whose name means “Cold Mountain,” was a monk-poet, shown reading out from a scroll of his poetry in this work. His close friend Shide, or “Foundling,” was a temple’s custodian. Here, Shide listens intently to Hanshan’s verses, his brush broom behind him.

Object facts

• Title: Hanshan and Shide
• Date: c. 1745–76
• Creator attribution: Ike Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 121.5 x 41 cm (47 13/16 x 16 1/8 in.); Overall: 213.4 x 44.2 cm (84 x 17 3/8 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1979.49

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1979." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 3 (March 1980): 58–99.
• Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005.
• "'Bunjin' in Japanese Art." Apollo Art Diary, Apollo Magazine, June 19, 2026.

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.