Leaping Carp

Also known as: Swimming Carp; Leaping Carp 藻魚圖

About the Artwork

With a fine ink line and graded wash, the life-like depiction of these swiftly moving carp is representative of the high quality of works by Liu Jie, a Ming dynasty court painter known for his fish paintings. The artist’s signature and seal are in the painting’s top left corner. The carp is an auspicious and popular subject in Chinese painting. Here, the leaping carp can be associated with “a carp jumping the dragon gate,” which according to mythology transforms into a dragon, emblematic of a scholar’s success in passing the civil service examinations. Another reading suggests that this carp is not leaping but guiding his offspring in worshipping heaven.

Inscriptions

Artist's signature and seal: Written by Liu Jie 劉節寫. [seal] Chin-i-chih-hui chih chang.

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978). Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (November 7, 1980-January 4, 1981); The Cleveland Museum of Art (February 11-March 29, 1981); Tokyo National Museum (October 4-November 17, 1982). Roaring Tigers and Leaping Carp: Decoding the Symbolic Language of Chinese Animal Painting. The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (October 9, 2009-January 3, 2010).

Quick Overview

Artist: Liu Jie (Chinese, c. 1447–1520s)
Date: 1368–1644
Medium: hanging scroll, ink and color on silk
Dimensions: Image: 140.5 x 83.7 cm (55 5/16 x 32 15/16 in.); Overall: 226 x 101.2 cm (89 x 39 13/16 in.); with knobs: 226 x 109.5 cm (89 x 43 1/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 1977.55

Provenance

?-1977: (Kozo Yabumoto, 藪本公三 [1900s], Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1977-: 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.