Li Tieguai; Liu Haichan
Unknown Artist
1300s
Medium
Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
106 × 38.6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Edward L. Whittemore Fund
Accession Number
1982.29
About this artwork
This pair of hanging scrolls show the Daoist immortals Li Tieguai and Liu Haichan. It is said that Li Tieguai’s ethereal self visited the deified Laozi but when he returned, he found that his own body was burned. He had to inhabit the corpse of a person who used a crutch to walk, and thus gained his name Tieguai—the Iron Crutch. The painting depicts Li Tieguai after he took possession of the body, with the iron staff in his hand. As Li exhales, he blows a small Li Tieguai in the air, showing the...