Xu Jingyang Moving His Family1644
Xu Jingyang was a dedicated fourth-century Confucian official who allegedly turned into a Daoist immortal. More about this work
About this work
Xu Jingyang was a dedicated fourth-century Confucian official who allegedly turned into a Daoist immortal. This scroll depicts the legend that when he attained immortality, he took his entire household, including chickens and dogs, to paradise. Cui Zizhong’s painting style intentionally referenced ancient masters. Typical of the pre-Song dynasty landscape tradition, there is the use of blue and green colors and an emphasis on outline rather than texture. While the trembling outlines are reminiscent of earlier painters, the flickering light on rocks and trees is a stylistic feature of Cui’s own time.
Text from 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.
Cui Zizhong
Chinese, 1574–1644
Chinese painting
Ink and colour on silk and paper, from imperial courts to scholars' retreats.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1961.90
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
