The Goddess Chang'e in the Lunar Palace
date: label: Date
content: 19th century
label: Period
content: Qing dynasty
name: label: Artist
content: Formerly attributed to Zhou Wenju (傳)周文矩 (active mid-10th century)
notes: label: Label
content: In primordial times, the legendary hunter Yi once received the elixir of immortality from the great goddess, the Queen Mother of the West. Before he could consume the elixir, however, Yi's wife Chang'e (or Heng'e) stole the concoction and ingested it herself, thereby becoming an immortal. Fearing her husband's wrath, Chang'e fled to the moon, where she dwells for eternity in the Palace of Boundless Cold. Among the many denizens of the moon, the white rabbit, seen beside her on the terrace, is generally shown preparing the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle.
label: Label
content: This fan painting bears a spurious signature of the tenth-century court painter, Zhou Wenju, who was famous for his depictions of elegant palace ladies. Despite this general thematic relationship to Zhou's work, the fan is a much later painting by a talented artist of the late-Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
label: Provenance
content: To 1909
label: Provenance
content: Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, to 1909 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1909 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Loon Gu Sai, Beijing, in 1909 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Album List, pg. 29, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Ingrid Larsen, "'Don’t Send Ming or Later Pictures': Charles Lang Freer and the First Major Collection of Chinese Painting in an American Museum," Ars Orientalis vol. 40 (2011), Loon Gu Sai was possibly Lunguzhai, a store in the antiques district of Liulichang.
label: Provenance
content: This object exhibits seals, colophons, or inscriptions that could provide additional information regarding the object’s history; see Curatorial Remarks in the object record for further details.
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China (October 14, 2017 - ongoing)
label: Exhibition History
content: Tales of the Brush: Chinese Painting with Literary Themes (February 9 to July 27, 2008)
label: Exhibition History
content: Palaces and Pavilions: Grand Architecture in Chinese Painting (September 29, 2002 to March 30, 2003)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Loon Gu Sai (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: China
topic: label: Topic
content: landscape
label: Topic
content: rabbit
label: Topic
content: Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: cloud
label: Topic
content: palace
label: Topic
content: Chang'e
label: Topic
content: China
label: Topic
content: blue-and-green style
label: Topic
content: Chinese Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: On View
content: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art), Gallery 13: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China
label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1909.244a
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink and color on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 29.5 x 29.1 cm (11 5/8 x 11 7/16 in)