The White Path Between Two Rivers
Unknown Artist
1200s
Medium
hanging scroll; ink, color, gold, silver, and cut gold on silk
Dimensions
painting: 124.7 × 50.8 cm · mounted: 215.1 × 67.7 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of The Norweb Foundation
Accession Number
1955.44
About this artwork
This painting is a visual presentation of a parable ascribed to the seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk Shandao. It describes the fraught journey to the west along a narrow path between a river of fire and a river of water. Along the way, the traveler is set upon by bandits and dangerous beasts, but is also guided by two friends. The story is an analogy for the journey out of the Six Realms of Transmigration to the Pure Land of the Buddha Amida.