Artwork

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 25

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Procession of Daoist Deities: Leaf 25 is an unspecified painting by the Ming dynasty painting artist Unknown. It dates from 1204 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Accession no.: 2004.1.25
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

These aren’t just gods, they’re the Earthly Branches, part of an old Chinese timekeeping system.

You see twelve figures in long robes marching in a line, each with an animal at their feet.

These aren’t just gods, they’re the Earthly Branches, part of an old Chinese timekeeping system. Each figure pairs with a zodiac animal, like the rat or dragon. The artist left out the Heavenly Stems, so this page feels like a missing puzzle piece.

To see more paintings like this, look up subject: china, southern song dynasty (1127-1279).

Overview

The painting, part of an album illustrating Daoist and Buddhist subjects, depicts a procession of twelve robed figures, each accompanied by an animal at its feet. The figures represent the Earthly Branches, a component of the traditional Chinese calendrical system, and are shown marching in a single line across the leaf.

Subject & Meaning

Each figure personifies one of the twelve Earthly Branches (dizhi) and is paired with its corresponding zodiac animal, such as the rat, ox, or dragon. The composition visualizes the cyclical nature of time in Chinese cosmology, linking human representation with animal symbols that mark the yearly cycle.

Technique & Style

Rendered in the delicate brushwork typical of Southern Song painting, the figures are dressed in flowing, elongated robes that convey movement. The animals are painted with fine detail at the base of each figure, emphasizing their role as attendants within the procession.

History & Provenance

The leaf belongs to a larger album of Daoist and Buddhist themes produced during the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). The album originally included complementary pages that paired the Earthly Branches with the ten Heavenly Stems (tiangan), a pairing now absent, indicating that this leaf is likely one of the missing elements of the original set.

Context

In the Southern Song period, integrating cosmological diagrams into religious art was common, reflecting the era’s synthesis of Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian ideas. The depiction of the Earthly Branches within a religious album underscores the intertwining of temporal cycles with spiritual practice.