The Palaces and Gate Towers of Penglai

The paradise of Penglai is one of the mythological islands that are located in the ocean east of China and inhabited by Daoist deities and immortals. Full of towering peaks, mysterious caves, and gushing waterfalls--and closely associated with the quest for physical immortality--Penglai was the frequent subject of artistic fantasies, such as the painting seen here. In this vision of the magical isle, ornate palaces and pavilions, covered walkways, and opulent belvederes ascend the convoluted mountains from the sea below to their sheer upper slopes.

The artist Zhu Dan does not appear in any of the usual biographical sources and few of his works were recorded or survive today. Accordingly, both his life dates and the traditional cyclical date in his inscription on this scroll must be interpreted in light of the style and execution of the painting. Judging from the archaic conventions used on the tree trunks and foliage, and Zhu's rendering of the blue-and-green style, in which he employed bandlike areas of color whose boundaries are reinforced by additional ink and gold lines, the scroll may be placed in the late seventeenth century. This in turn establishes the date on the painting as 1683. In his inscription, Zhu further states that it took him three months to complete this monumental work.