The Second Coming of the Fifth Patriarch
c. mid-1300s
Medium
section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll, ink on paper
Dimensions
245 × 62 cm · image: 32.7 × 44.6 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Chinese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1967.211
Tags
About this artwork
A small boy, accompanied by his mother, is closing his hands in greeting to an old monk who has a young attendant standing behind him. Scholars believe the scene is a meeting between the fourth patriarch of Chan Buddhism, Daoxin 道信, and the little boy, who was the reincarnation of an old monk named Zaisong daozhe 栽松道者 (Pine Planter). They had encountered before, during which Daoxin advised the Pine Planter to endure a reincarnation as he was too old to reach enlightenment. This painting is done ...