Cleveland Museum of Art
Li Tieguai
- Date
- 1300s
- Medium
- Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Culture
- China, Yuan dynasty (1271-1368)
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 150902
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
It is said that Li Tieguai’s ethereal self visited the deified Laozi but when he returned, he found that his own body was burned. He had to inhabit the corpse of a person who used a crutch to walk, and thus gained his name Tieguai—the Iron Crutch. The painting depicts Li Tieguai after he took possession of the body, with the iron staff in his hand. As Li exhales, he blows a small Li Tieguai in the air, showing the immortal’s ability to send his spirit on journeys. Li Tieguai is one of the Eight Daoist immortals.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Edward L. Whittemore Fund
- Provenance
- ?–1982: (Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1982–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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