Five Dragons Scroll, Paper, 45.2×299.5, Tokyo National Museum
Legend has it that Southern Song Dynasty artist Chen Rong would get drunk, shout, and splash ink onto paper to capture the raw energy of dragons before refining the details with a brush. In this sweeping scroll, misty waterfalls crash over jagged rocks while a serpentine dragon emerges powerfully from the clouds, its form created with bold, wet ink strokes. Chen Rong was the ultimate master of this subject; he was so famous that a Chinese proverb claimed his dragons were indistinguishable from real ones. This massive scroll, nearly three meters long, captures the raw energy of nature and myth in a single, breathless view.
- Technique
- Ink on paper
- Material
- Paper
- Dimensions
- 45.2 x 299.5 cm
Location: Tokyo National Museum
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