Nine Dragon Pool (1690s): Art, History and Details

Nine Dragon Pool (1690s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Mei Qing (Chinese, 1623–1697).

The work and its context

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

In the second half of the 1600s, Huangshan 黃山 (Mt. Huang or Yellow Mountain) attracted many visitors and inspired artists like Mei Qing. He probably sketched the Nine Dragon Pool on his second trip to the mountain range in 1690, at the advanced age of 68 sui. This dramatic waterfall has nine curves, each forming an emerald green pool. After heavy rain, the rushing water looks like nine white dragons.

Object facts

• Title: Nine Dragon Pool
• Date: 1690s
• Creator attribution: Mei Qing (Chinese, 1623–1697)
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
• Dimensions: Image: 92 x 43.5 cm (36 1/4 x 17 1/8 in.); Overall: 200.7 x 71.1 cm (79 x 28 in.)
• Collection: ASIAN - Hanging scroll
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 1979.50

A detail from the museum

Huangshan 黃山 is a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its spectacular rocky peaks, sea of clouds, oddly shaped pine trees, and hot springs.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Tō Sō Gen Min meigaten-gō [唐宋元明名画展号]. Tōkyō: Tōkyō Asahi Shinbun Hakkōjo, 1928.
• Harada, Kinjirō 原田謹次郎. Shina meiga hōkan [支那名畫寶鑒 = The pageant of Chinese painting]. Tōkyō: Ōtsuka Kōgeisha, 1936.
• Mei Qushan hua ji 梅瞿山画集. Shanghai: [Shanghai ren min mei shu chu ban she], 1960.

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.