Cleansing Medicinal Herbs in the Stream on a Spring Day

Also known as: Cleansing Medicinal Herbs in the Stream on a Spring Day 春泉洗藥圖

About the Artwork

A famous portraitist, Yu Zhiding here depicts the likeness of Shi Shenyi 史申義 (1661–1712), an official and poet. Master Shi, a sickly man, was deeply interested in medicinal science. The opening section of the scroll features a boy washing a fungus in fresh spring water, a basket of medicinal herbs by his side. Other servants carry a fan, a bundle of scrolls, and a cup of tea or hot wine. Master Shi sits in a bamboo grove, surrounded by fields of herbs. Returning swallows, pink peach blossoms, and blooming magnolia indicate spring, whereas the fungus conveys wishes for long life. The spring theme may express the artist’s wish for his friend’s recovery.

Inscriptions

Title by Chen Yixi.; 姑射仙人冰雪膚，新詩傳唱滿通都。極知遲暮難為別，更展春泉洗藥圖。; Colophon by Chen Tingjing 陳廷敬 (1639–1712). Colophon by Wang Hongxu 王鴻緒 (1645–1723), dated 1707. Colophon by Song Luo 宋犖 (1634–1714). Colophon by Liu Yan 劉巗. Colophon by Jing Xikui 涇西夔. Colophon by Liu Yan 劉巗. Colophon by Cao Yin 曹寅. Colophon by Wang Shihong 汪士鋐. Colophon by Wang Shidan 王式丹 (1645–1718), dated 1712. Colophon by Shi Shenyi 史申義 (1661–1712), dated 1712. Colophon by Yin Yuqing 殷餘慶, dated 1712.; Colophon by Chen Shixia 陳時夏, dated 1729.

Provenance

1703–12: Shi Shenyi 史申義 [1661–1712], Jiangdu 江都, Jiangsu province, China, by descent to his family 1712–late 1700s or early 1800s: Shi family collection, Jiangdu, Jiangsu province, China, late 1700s–early 1800s: Zhang Yin 張崟 [1761–1829], Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China Zaobao 皁保 [d. 1882] early 1900s?: (A dealer in Liuli Chang 琉璃廠, Beijing, China, sold to Zhou Zhaoxiang) early 1900s–?: Zhou Zhaoxiang 周肇祥 [1888–1954] Fujii Yurinkan Museum, Kyoto, Japan ?–2000: (James J. Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 2000–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Greeting the Spring (Chinese art rotation, galleries 240a, 239, 241c). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 11-August 13, 2017). Pacific Standard Time: Growing and Knowing in the Gardens of China. The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA (organizer) (September 14, 2024-January 6, 2025) https://huntington.org/exhibition/duotiangong-growing-and-knowing-gardens-china.

Quick Overview

Artist: Yu Zhiding (Chinese, 1647–c. 1716)
Date: 1703
Medium: Handscroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Painting only: 36.2 x 132.5 cm (14 1/4 x 52 3/16 in.); Overall in heigh: 38.7 cm (15 1/4 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession no.: 2000.69

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