Currently not on view
Budai with Staff and Bag,
1088 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)
Cuibo 崔白, painter, attributed to, active ca. 1060-1080
Chinese
Song dynasty, 960–1279
y1958-138
Information
Title
Budai with Staff and Bag
Dates
1088 (stone); late 19th to first half of 20th century (rubbing)
Maker
Cuibo 崔白 , painter, attributed to
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink rubbing on paper
Dimensions
image: 119.8 x 62.2 cm. (47 3/16 x 24 1/2 in.)
137.5 x 67 cm. (54 1/8 x 26 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of George Rowley
Object Number
y1958-138
Place Made
Asia, China
Inscription
Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101)
熙寧間，畫公崔白示余
布袋真儀，其筆清而
尤古，妙乃過吳矣。
元祐三年[1088]七月一日
眉山蘇軾紀。
“In the Xining reign, the respected painter Cui Bo showed me a portrait of Budai. His brush is pure and has a particular feel of antiquity. It is more wonderful than [the paintings by] Wu [Daozi]. On the 1st day of the 7th month in the 3rd year of the Yuanyou reign, recorded by Su Shi of Meishan.”
Description
Portrait of Budai, a Buddhist monk who is said to be an incarnation of Maitreya, the future Buddha. In this rubbing he is shown as a bald portly man with a sad grimace on his downcast face. Wearing a robe open to his round belly, he moves to the left with his left arm outstretched while over his right shoulder he carryies a wood staff and on his back is a large “cloth sack” (budai 布袋) that holds his few worldly possessions. Though poor, Budai is content, and in later times he is often depicted laughing and happy. As a result he came to be known as the “Laughing Buddha” (xiaofo 笑佛), but here he is seen with a grimace, which may indicate that this is an early image of the monk before later representations of him with a happy persona became standardized. Above is an 1088 inscription with the signature of the Song dynasty literatus, statesman, and artist Su Shi 蘇軾 (1036-1101), who attributes the portrait to Cui Bo (11th century). The calligraphy of the inscription, however, does not seem to be written in the manner of Su Shi.
Culture
Type
Subject
