Zhongli Quan Crossing the Ocean
1506
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1506
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Zhongli Quan Crossing the Ocean is a 1506 unspecified by Zhao Qi, a Ming Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man with a bare belly floats above crashing waves, his robe billowing like a flag. He holds a fan that seems to push the wind itself. This is Zhongli Quan, one of eight Daoist immortals. Artists in the Ming dynasty often painted him mid-journey, showing off his power over nature. The loose brushstrokes make the water and fabric feel alive—almost like you can hear the waves. To see more figures like this, look up *china, ming dynasty (1368–1644)*.
Here, Zhongli Quan is crossing the ocean. He is one of the Eight Immortals ( baxian ), a group of popular Daoist figures who understood the way of life and could transform into otherworldly beings. Zhongli Quan is usually depicted as a scholar with a big belly seen through his partially open robe. The artist used expressive brushwork to depict the immortal’s fluttering robe and the roaring waves, skillfully creating a sense of movement. This scroll may have been one of a set depicting the Eight Immortals. Although the painting has no signature or seal, its style supports an attribution to the…
Zhongli Quan wears a girdle of leaves, a common Daoist immortal-recluse attribute.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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