Hotei

About the Artwork

Hotei is a semilegendary figure who may have lived from the late 800s to the early 900s. He later became prominent in Chan (or Zen, in Japanese) Buddhist literature. He epitomizes the freewheeling figure outside the mainstream monastic system—in which people strive for enlightenment through prescribed methods—who nonetheless attains a high level of spiritual awakening. The inscription warns against seeking enlightenment by conscious effort: Big stomach, gaping garment, Treasures gathered deep in the bottom of his bag, Passing through the sky is another road, Do not seek that to which his fingertip points.

Inscriptions

桃渓道人題; 大肚兮濶襟寶聚嚢底沵通霄別有路勿向指尖尋; 落款汝岱之印若霖; 印章山田氏道安

Provenance

by 1976–1978: (Ms. Robin Fox [1935–2016], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1978-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979). Journey of the Three Jewels: Japanese Buddhist Paintings in Western Collections. Asia House Galleries, New York City, NY (organizer) (October 11-December 9, 1979); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (March 27-May 11, 1980). 茶の美術 : 特別展 (Art of the Tea Ceremony). Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (October 7-November 24, 1980). Suibokuga: Japanese Ink Painting. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 1, 1985-February 24, 1986). Autumn Grasses: Arts of the Momoyama Period (1573-1615). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 4-December 11, 1988). Early Rinpa (Japanese gallery rotation) 235. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 23, 2020-January 17, 2021).

Quick Overview

Artist: Yamada Dōan I (Juntei) (Japanese, d. 1573)
Date: mid-1500s
Medium: hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Mounted with knobs: 170.5 x 53.7 x 2.5 cm (67 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 1 in.); Painting: 85.6 x 35.6 cm (33 11/16 x 14 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Japanese Art
Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession no.: 1978.48

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