Dream Journey to Mt. Tiantai

Also known as: Dream Journey to Mount T'ien-t'ai; Dream Journey to Mt. Tiantai 夢遊天台圖

About the Artwork

When he painted Mt. Tiantai 天台山, Qian Du was a mature artist with a distinctive style that balanced refinement and “studied awkwardness.” He included the site’s famed features: the crescent-shaped stone bridge arching across the waterfall and surrounded by dense cliffs. Rows of pine and other vegetation appear in the crevices above and below the mountain. The twisting trunks and branches are left in outline, encased within the variegated foliage. In a pavilion at the center, a man and a woman look back to the lower right, across the ravine and toward the cascading water. Beyond and to the left, two simple mounds are backed by hills that stretch into the distance. Qian Du left space above the hills for an inscription describing the circumstances that gave rise to the painting. Chen Wenshu, family friend and patron to Qian Du, had dreamt of a journey to Tiantai, a mountain famed for both its natural beauty and its associations with legends and myths. This short handscroll was based on Chen’s description of his dream journey, on which he marveled at the scenery and encountered a goddess. Six months after the painting’s completion, Qian transcribed his friend’s longer poetic reminiscence on paper mounted after the painting. The landscape of the painting was not based on the physical site, which likely neither man had visited in 1814, but rather on the mythic tradition of Tiantai. It caused turbulence in the mind of the poet and provided inspiration to the painter.

Inscriptions

夢游天台圖. 余舊藏子畏赤城仙館卷子，僅尺餘而具千巖萬壑之勢。甲戌三月，戲為雲伯臨作行看子。錢叔美并識。[印]壺公; 今年春為雲伯作夢游天台圖，雲伯裝淇成卷。秋七月，余來吳中桂葉書堂，展玩竟日後，為其書紀舊作於卷後。雲伯詩空靈出杳，恐斯圖不能傳寫萬一。時秋暑熾甚，揮汗為之，腕力復弱，書又劣於畫，夫奈何。叔美并記。[印]叔美 [印, 右下]錢叔美; 屏風九疊雲錦張，山氣滃雲雲氣涼。莓苔如席二尺厚，此間翠壁非石梁。珠簾倒挂絕壁下，萬斛鮫珠向空瀉。仙穴元氣沖然通，別有白龍出山罅。龍起欲裂青山青，拍手一喝停雲停。須臾復迸勢更急，水花倒捲搖瓏玲。有美一人美且頎，翠袖獨倚紅闌西。顧我目成若相識，疑是劉阮所遇之仙妃。瓊臺金闕渺何處，胡麻飯熟桃花肥。一翁飲水惟讀書，吐納山綠餐松腴。書中所言不盡識，妙理必有壺公壺。山花襲人紅蔌蔌，醒後翻疑尋夢轂。泠然殘響滿空山，月痕正照秋屏綠。; 3 additional seals unidentified.; Titleslip by Mo Beiming 莫北溟 (active early 20th century)

Quick Overview

Artist: Qian Du (Chinese, 1763–1844)
Date: 1814
Medium: handscroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Overall: 29.8 x 72 cm (11 3/4 x 28 3/8 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Chinese Art
Credit line: Gift of Jean-Pierre Dubosc
Accession no.: 1975.75

Provenance

1814–?: Chen Wenshu 陳文述 [1775–1845], Suzhou, China ?–1975: Jean-Pierre Dubosc [1904–1988], Paris, France, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art 1975–: 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.