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Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 46

Unknown

1204

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Ming Painting Medieval Landscape

Dominant colour

Album of Daoist and Buddhist Themes: Search the Mountain: Leaf 46 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 small ink drawing on paper: a soldier pokes his spear into a dark hole where two wolves hide. Nearby, three more soldiers stand—two search the trees, one hauls a giant log. This is one page from a 1200s Chinese album called *Clearing the Mountains*. The artist didn’t sign it, so we don’t know who made it. The scene feels quiet but tense, like a story paused mid-action. To see more works like this, look up southern song dynasty (1127-1279).

The story of this work

Overview

Part of the series “Clearing the Mountains” ( soushan tu ), this leaf depicts a soldier who uses his spear to probe a hollow in which two wolves are hiding. To the right of the pine trees at the center are three soldiers, two of whom are searching for their targets, and one carrying an enormous log.