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Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 41

Unknown

1204

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Ming Painting Medieval Mythology

Dominant colour

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 41 is a 1204 unspecified by Unknown, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1204 · Ming Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see a warrior in armor sitting under a pine tree, sword in hand. Around him, a wolf, a small alligator, and a monkey in clothes crouch in the shadows. This is Erlang, a god from Chinese myths, sending his army to clear a mountain of troublemakers. The scene was first painted by Gao Yi and stayed popular for centuries. The artist left no name, so we don’t know who made this exact version. If you like this, look up more about china, southern song dynasty (1127-1279).

The story of this work

Overview

The principal—and largest—figure in this leaf depicts Erlang, a celestial commander in a popular myth. Here he wears full armor and holds his sword. Seated by a pine tree, he orders his celestial army to rid Mt. Guankou of the undesirable creatures in the wilderness, including a wolf, a small alligator, and a monkey dressed in human clothes. This subject was first painted by a Northern Song artist, Gao Yi, and remained popular through the Southern Song period and during the Ming dynasty. In this album, the Soushan Tu 搜山圖 (Search the Mountain) uses 10 leaves to complete its imagery. This is…

Did you know?

A commander in armor is seated on a devil, surrounded by three more. One of his lieutenants (right) is whirling a snake in the air. On the left, demon-soldiers surround a monkey with human body.

Read the full account in the museum source.