Nine Dragon Pool

Mei Qing (Chinese, 1623–1697)

1690s

Medium
hanging scroll; ink and light color on paper
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
Image: 92 x 43.5 cm (36 1/4 x 17 1/8 in.); Overall: 200.7 x 71.1 cm (79 x 28 in.)
Culture
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art, Chinese Art
Credit line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

View at the Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

In the second half of the 1600s, Huangshan 黃山 (Mt. Huang or Yellow Mountain) attracted many visitors and inspired artists like Mei Qing. He probably sketched the Nine Dragon Pool on his second trip to the mountain range in 1690, at the advanced age of 68 sui. This dramatic waterfall has nine curves, each forming an emerald green pool. After heavy rain, the rushing water looks like nine white dragons.