Cleveland Museum of Art

Zhao Mengfu Writing the Heart (Hridaya) Sutra in Exchange for Tea

Qiu Ying

Date

1542–43

Medium

handscroll, ink and light color on paper

Culture

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The Yuan dynasty calligrapher Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) is said to have transcribed the Heart Sutra for a certain priest named Li in exchange for tea. Later, during the Ming dynasty, the professional painter Qiu Ying from Suzhou painted this scene for his patron. Here, Zhao Mengfu holds a brush and has a piece of paper laid out before him. On the table is an ink stone, an ink stick, and a small water dropper. Drops of water would dissolve the ink stick into liquid ink when it was ground on the flat square stone. Qiu Ying was born to a peasant family, but his natural talent led him to a successful career as a professional painter with wealthy patrons.

The authoritative record is held by Cleveland Museum of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.