Cleveland Museum of Art

Miniature Mountain with Daoist Paradise

Date

1736–95

Medium

green jade with brown markings

Culture

China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Sizable jade boulders of mountainous landscapes were carved to represent the search for the paradise or immortals' dwellings in the mountains. This Daoist theme has fired the Chinese imagination throughout history. Believed to have spiritual and magical properties, jade has long been used in tombs and intended for preserving the corporeal body and the soul in the quest for eternity. It is recorded that Daoist practitioners drank morning dews with scraps of jade as an elixir of immortality. The bearded immortal is accompanied by a servant carrying a cluster of peaches, symbols of immortality.

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