Artwork

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 18

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 18 is an unspecified painting by the Song dynasty painting artist Unknown. It dates from 1204 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This sheet belongs to a fifty‑page album created in the Southern Song period (12th–13th century).

Accession no.: 2004.1.18
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund in honor of Dr. Ju-hsi Chou and Gift of various donors to the department of Asian Art (by exchange)

About this work

Each page shows a different scene from Daoist stories, gods, hell, or monster hunts.

You see a line of gods in long robes walking across a blank page. One figure, Zhong Kui, carries a sword and glares at two small ghosts beside him. A ghost holds a big drum wheel on a stick.

This drawing is one page from a 50-page album made in the 1200s. Each page shows a different scene from Daoist stories, gods, hell, or monster hunts. The artist left no name, so we don’t know who drew it or what medium they used.

Look up china, southern song dynasty (1127-1279) to see more art from this time.

Overview

This sheet belongs to a fifty‑page album created in the Southern Song period (12th–13th century). The collection illustrates three narrative cycles: celestial processions of Daoist deities, the Ten Kings of the underworld, and the legendary campaign of Erlang against the beasts of Mount Guankou.

Subject & Meaning

In the present leaf the deity Zhong Kui, famed as a demon‑slayer, leads a procession. He is depicted brandishing a sword while two attendant spirits flank him; one of the spirits supports a large drum wheel mounted on a staff, an emblem associated with thunder and the power to subdue evil.

Technique & Style

The work is executed in monochrome brush drawing on paper, employing fine, flowing lines to render the figures’ robes and the rhythmic motion of the drum wheel. The composition is linear, with the procession advancing across an otherwise empty background, emphasizing the ritual nature of the scene.

History & Provenance

The album’s creator remains anonymous, and no specific medium beyond paper and ink is recorded. The manuscript has survived as a bound set of fifty leaves, each illustrating a distinct episode from Daoist mythology, and is now held in a museum collection dedicated to Chinese Song dynasty art.

Context

During the Southern Song, Daoist visual culture often highlighted the protective functions of deities like Zhong Kui, whose iconography was linked to exorcism and the maintenance of cosmic order. The inclusion of thunder‑related drums reflects contemporary beliefs about sound as a means to repel malevolent forces.