雪村周継筆　費長房図|Daoist Master Fei Zhangfang with a Dragon

Sesson Shūkei 雪村周継

ca. 1555 to 1561 · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

Old Chinese pictures of Daoist figures were frequently placed alongside Buddhist icons in medieval Zen temples, being ascribed talismanic power. Based on images of this type, which he gathered while traveling across Japan’s eastern provinces in the mid-sixteenth century, the monk-painter Sesson Shūkei created numerous renderings of Daoist masters. This painting depicts a moment in the biography of the semilegendary figure Fei Zhangfang, a failed disciple of the immortal Hugong. Sent home before completing his studies in Daoism, Fei tossed the staff his master had given him into a nearby pond, where it transformed into an auspicious blue dragon—as shown at lower right.

Artist

Sesson Shūkei 雪村周継

Date

ca. 1555 to 1561

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2022