id: 162868 accession number: 2003.353 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.353 updated: 2020-11-04 21:53:36.174000 Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu), 1600s. Yueshan Daozong (Chinese, 1629-1709). Handscroll; ink on paper; image: 28.6 x 64.1 cm (11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.); overall with knobs: 115.6 x 73.8 cm (45 1/2 x 29 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow 2003.353 title: Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1600s creation date earliest: 1640 creation date latest: 1699 current location: creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow copyright: --- culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911) technique: handscroll; ink on paper department: Chinese Art collection: ASIAN - Handscroll type: Calligraphy find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Yueshan Daozong (Chinese, 1629-1709) - artist --- measurements: Image: 28.6 x 64.1 cm (11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 115.6 x 73.8 cm (45 1/2 x 29 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c opening date: 2018-08-13T04:00:00 Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Private Collection, Maine date: footnotes: citations: (Chinese Porcelain Factory, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gow) date: footnotes: citations: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gow, Naples, FL, ?-2003, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: ?-2003 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 2003-present date: 2003- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This spontaneous, bold calligraphy style is characteristic of members of the Japanese Obaku sect of Chan Buddhism (Huangbo in Chinese), which was introduced to Japan by Chinese monks in the 1600s. The monk Yueshan immigrated to Japan from the Chinese province of Fujian, taking a priestly post at Mampukuji, the headquarters of the Obaku sect in Japan. He later became the seventh abbot of the distinguished temple.

Yueshan’s calligraphy features rounded characters that allow him to fuse strokes and characters in speedy brush movements. Here the text begins with the large character chu (“the beginning”), the initial focus of meditation on the text: The dragon murmurs after sunset. The tiger roars before dawn. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.353/2003.353_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.353/2003.353_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2003.353/2003.353_full.tif