Art Institute of Chicago

Bathing of the Buddha Festival

Hua Ziyou 華子宥 (Chinese, 19th century)

Date

Qing dynasty, 1833

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk

Culture

China

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This affable and remarkably zany cast of characters plays upon the festive atmosphere of an annual celebration held to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha and his first shower by water-bearing dragons. Some of the disciples pictured flaunt pseudo-religious “miracles”: one opens his stomach to reveal the Buddha nature within and another magically creates a temple in mid-air. Other disciples nonchalantly engage on superficially mundane activities that allude to Buddhist conduct, such as mending clothes and reading sutras. A lion, elephant, tiger, dragon, and phoenix are also in attendance; some serve as traditional vehicles of Buddhist deities, whereas others are more generally auspicious. Together, these personalities exude the vitality of a secularized but nonetheless sincere faith.

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