#Chinese Scrolls

[uwmspeccoll]

Decorative Sunday

Published in Boston by Shambhala Publications in 2000, The Buddha Scroll is a twenty-first century facsimile of an eighteenth-century reproduction of a twelfth-century work. This accordion-fold book folds out to replicate the 36-foot Qing dynasty scroll, painted by Ding Guanpeng ( 丁觀鵬) in 1767. Ding Guanpeng was commissioned by Emperor Gaozong of Qing to reproduce the Pictorial of Buddhist Icons, completed in 1180 by Zhang Shengwen of the Kingdom of Dali (present day Yunnan Province) after the original work was found water damaged and mismounted.

The Kingdom of Dali and it’s predecessor Nanzhao were situated between Tibet and China and encompassed many ethnic and linguistic groups. Translator Thomas Cleary, who contributed an introduction to the scroll as well as a key to the figures found in the scroll, writes that the depictions in the scroll “reflect the syncretic cultural background of its original model, representing a whole range of Buddhism … it is an unusually eclectic work of art, illustrating the continuity of the many currents that form the great ocean of Buddhism.”

The Buddha Scroll was a gift of Dick Schoen. 

Find more Decorative Sunday posts here. 

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[oncanvas]

Autumn in Zhouzhuang, Yang Mingyi, 2000

Ink and color on paper scroll 48 x 50.5 cm (18 ⅞ x 19 ⅞ in.)

[lionofchaeronea]

Pine, Plum, and Cranes, Shen Quan, 1759

[creepymckat]

ohayoooo. one more for the night

[tanuki-kimono]

Striking celebratory outfit, pairing a kimono with auspicious kotobuki (long life kanji 寿) and hôkan (lit. "precious scrolls", ie sacred texts rolled into their cases), and powerful dragons nestled among thundery clouds.

[morsmortish]

Chinese reg is weird

careful! your inner prejudices about poc characters is showing!

anyway. chinese reg freaking out the first time he sees a broom, as it is common superstition in chinese culture that brooms are inhabited by spirits and so should not be used for playing games with, only cleaning. five year old regulus speaking firmly to his broomstick before hopping on it in the garden, gravely informing the spirit inside that if it doesn’t behave he will throw it in the fire. oh, and he blames the spirit every time he loses a quidditch match.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

The Princess of Wales and Tiara Appearances | since her wedding day

[guang-we]

Red Lotus and Mandarin Ducks

Zhang Daqian

1943

Ink and colour on paper scroll

165 x 82 cm.

65 x 32 ¼ in.

[thedreamerstoryteller]

[the-cricket-chirps]

Qian Xuan, Young nobleman on horseback, a handscroll painting Yuan dynasty, 27th year of Zhiyuan (1290), China

[renegade-hierophant]

The frontispiece to the world’s earliest dated printed book, the Chinese translation of the Buddhist text the Diamond Sutra. This consists of a scroll, over 4.8 meters long, made up of a long series of printed pages. Printed in China in 868 CE, it was found in the Dunhuang Caves in 1907, in the North Western province of Gansu.

[pacikiara]

it's incredible how many shit takes I've seen while just scrolling casually for Chinese media featuring the famous cultural figures

like "it's ok to ship Nezha with an oc or self ship with Nezha bc his real age isn't even confirmed to be a child anyways irl"

just. I don't care what fandom or whatever this is. garbage take. his most prominent depiction is a child. also why do you want to ship your characters with a Chinese deity so badly. is it bc the gods matter less? bc they're not Western?

it is also quite gross to see people wanting to ship anyone with The Bodhisattva. like genuinely do critical thinking for why it is gross.

[oncanvas]

Lotus Lantern, Deng Fen, 1963

Ink and color on hanging paper scroll 52 ¾ x 23 ¼ in. (134 x 59 cm)

[lionofchaeronea]

Title: Bamboo and Rocks Artist: Zheng Xie (Chinese, 1693-1766) Date: ca. 1760 (Qing Dynasty) Genre: bamboo painting Medium: hanging scroll (ink on paper) Dimensions: 172 cm (67.8 in) high x 99.4 cm (39.2 in) wide Location: Minneapolis Institute of Art

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (10/12/24) Zhu Zhanji (Emperor Xuanzong)(Chinese, 1399-1435) Three Yang [Goats], an Auspicious Start (to the New Year)(1429) Hanging scroll, ink & colors on paper, 211.6 x 142.5 cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei

In this ink painting with light colors from the fourth year of Xuanzong's reign (1429) are a ewe and two lambs with a background of bamboo, rocks, and camellias. The subject of three goats is a homophone for "Three Yang, an Auspicious Start to the New Year." This title comes from the Book of Changes, which consists of 64 hexagram (six-line) combinations of trigrams (three-line symbols). The eleventh hexagram translates literally as "Earth (and) Heavens (at) Peace" and is represented by the symbol. With the three lines of qian (yang) below and three of kun (yin) above unified and harmoniously connected, it symbolizes peace throughout the heavens and earth.

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #WorldLemurDay:

Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, 1688-1766) Cochin Lemur, 1761 Qing Dynasty, China Hanging scroll, ink & colors on silk 109.8 x 84.7cm National Palace Museum, Tapei

Lemurs are of course not native to China, but rather endemic to Madagascar. This one was given to the Qianlong Emperor by the King of Vietnam, who likely got it from European traders. It was then painted by Castiglione, an Italian Jesuit missionary who served as an artist in the Chinese imperial court. The background was likely painted by Jin Tingbiao (Chinese, d. 1767). A truly international history!

🆔 Castiglione’s lemur is easily identifiable as a Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), but note the level of morphological detail - he included the antebrachial gland on the forearm (used for scent marking), and the tail appears to have suffered some loss at the tip.