# Dragon

**Fachang Muqi** (Chinese, 1220–1280)  
c. 1250–79  
Hanging scroll; ink on silk  
Painting: 125.2 x 57.2 cm (49 5/16 x 22 1/2 in.); Overall with knobs: 226.8 x 78 cm (89 5/16 x 30 11/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.427.1. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.427.1).

## About this work

The dragon and tiger are tied to the philosophical concept of yin and yang, which describes opposite but complementary forces. The dragon occupies a tiered background of waves and mist. Its luminous head emerges from the darker passages, and its narrow twisting body is serpent-like. By contrast, the close-up view of the tiger emphasizes its bulk. The tiger bends its head to lick its paw while its tail curls in the foreground. In their original Chan Buddhist context, this pair of scrolls likely flanked a central image, like the Bodhisattva Guanyin. The silk has darkened over the centuries, and the slight reddish shading in the tiger’s tongue and nose has faded.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Fachang Muqi painted this in about 1250–79, aged about 30. It is now at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

### How it was made

- **Hanging scroll.** A painting mounted on silk with a wooden roller at the foot. It was rolled up for storage and brought out to hang for a season, a guest or an occasion.
- **Ink and colour on silk.** Silk was sized with glue and alum so it would hold a crisp brushline, and mineral colours were built up in thin layers. The sheen of the weave still shows through.

### [Fachang Muqi](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/fachang-muqi)

Chinese, 1220–1280

Muqi, whose religious name was Fachang, was a Chan Buddhist monk who painted in and around Hangzhou during the Southern Song dynasty. Working in ink with great freedom, he painted birds, animals, fruit, landscapes and Buddhist figures. Little valued by Chinese critics, his work was treasured in Japan, where paintings such as the Six Persimmons, now at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, shaped the taste of Zen temples and tea masters.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: China, Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279)
- The artist was about 30
- Real size: about 89 × 28 in (227 × 72 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 13th century
- Movement: [Chinese painting](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/chinese-painting)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/631.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/631/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/dragon-cma-135431).