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Source Description
He Xiangu is one of the Eight Immortals in the Daoist pantheon. She was thought have been a real person who lived in the Tang dynasty, originally named He Qiong. As a teenager, she was instructed in a dream to eat powdered mica to become immune from death and to vow to remain unmarried. She did so and became an enlightened practitioner of Daoism. <br><br>In this delicate carving, He Xiangu is placidly seated in a gnarled and knotty wooden raft amid green-tinted ivory waves. In front of her rests a bamboo basket filled with objects associated with Daoist immortality, while she holds a branch of lingzhi fungus.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
148814
label
Figure of Daoist Immortal He Xiangu (base)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
148814
contentType
object
title
Figure of Daoist Immortal He Xiangu (base)
description
He Xiangu is one of the Eight Immortals in the Daoist pantheon. She was thought have been a real person who lived in the Tang dynasty, originally named He Qiong. As a teenager, she was instructed in a dream to eat powdered mica to become immune from death and to vow to remain unmarried. She did so and became an enlightened practitioner of Daoism. <br><br>In this delicate carving, He Xiangu is placidly seated in a gnarled and knotty wooden raft amid green-tinted ivory waves. In front of her rests a bamboo basket filled with objects associated with Daoist immortality, while she holds a branch of lingzhi fungus.
date
1700s
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79929349
genreSpecific
Wood
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 13.5 cm (5 5/16 in.)
cul
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
accession
1976.60.b
Source extras
tec
Colored ivory
tombstone
Figure of Daoist Immortal He Xiangu (base) (黃楊木雕何仙姑泛舟), 1700s. China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Colored ivory; overall: 13.5 cm (5 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 1976.60.b
titleInOriginalLanguage
黃楊木雕何仙姑泛舟
collection
China - Qing Dynasty
formerAccessionNumbers
1976.60
didYouKnow
He Xiangu's boat rests on a wave-shaped base carved from ivory that has been dyed green.
citations
citation
Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1976.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 64, no. 2 (February 1977): 39–78.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 79, no. 167; Reproduced: p. 65, no. 167
citation
Little, Stephen. <em>Realm of the Immortals: Daoism in the Arts of China: the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 10-April 10, 1988</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
page_number
cat. no. 15, p. 43
citation
Watson, William, and Chuimei Ho. <em>The Arts of China After 1620</em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 116, fig. 135
citation
Spee, Clarissa von. "Arts of Asia fiftieth anniversary: featuring fifty favorite objects: selected by experts in the Asian art world." <em>Arts of Asia </em>50, no. 1 (January/February 2020): 57–110.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 106; Mentioned: p. 106
citation
Spee, Clarissa von. “Four Curators, Four Favorites.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>62, no. 2 (2022): 31.
page_number
Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 31
creditline
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
sketchfabId
d8b31e100ea34bcf82681620bdb51476
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:16:03.403000
sourceId
148814
dept
Chinese Art
coll
China - Qing Dynasty
med
Colored ivory
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
354bae382c37d162