Zhongli Quan Crossing the Ocean

Also known as: Daoist Immortal Zongli Quan; Taoist Immortal, Chung-li Ch'üan

About the Artwork

Here, Zhongli Quan is crossing the ocean. He is one of the Eight Immortals (baxian), a group of popular Daoist figures who understood the way of life and could transform into otherworldly beings. Zhongli Quan is usually depicted as a scholar with a big belly seen through his partially open robe. The artist used expressive brushwork to depict the immortal’s fluttering robe and the roaring waves, skillfully creating a sense of movement. This scroll may have been one of a set depicting the Eight Immortals. Although the painting has no signature or seal, its style supports an attribution to the Ming dynasty painter Zhao Qi.

Exhibition history

Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977). Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 10, 1988). Asian Autumn: New Objects/New Insights: Cleveland's Recent Chinese Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1994). Taoism and the Arts of China. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (November 11, 2000-January 7, 2001); Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (February 21-May 13, 2001). La voie du Tao, un autre chemin de l'Etre. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (March 29-July 5, 2010). Escaping to a Better World: Eccentrics and Immortals in Chinese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-November 6, 2022).

Quick Overview

Artist: Zhao Qi (Chinese, active early 1500s)
Date: 1368–1644
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 135 x 57.5 cm (53 1/8 x 22 5/8 in.); Overall: 233 x 71.6 cm (91 3/4 x 28 3/16 in.); with knobs: 233 x 77.5 cm (91 3/4 x 30 1/2 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession no.: 1976.13

Provenance

?-1976: [Yabumoto Kozo 藪本公三 [20th century], Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art] 1976-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.