Ting Kuan-p'eng (fl. ca. 1737-1768), Ch'ing Dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 295.8 x 148.8 cm

Ting Kuan-p'eng, serving as a court artist under the Ch'ien-lung Emperor, specialized in figure painting.

This work dates to 1759 and depicts the dignified world of the Western Paradise in Pure Land Buddhism. The main Buddha, Amitābha, appears with hands in the meditation gesture (dhyāna mudrā), light emanating from the head to reveal Buddhas of the ten quarters. The attendant bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāma sit on either side with many other bodhisattvas, arhats, and heavenly figures all around. Auspicious clouds float above and envelope a palatial complex. Below is a lotus pond with nine lotuses blossoming with incarnated figures. This work depicts the great Western Paradise in all its splendor and perfection.

Anonymous, Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Hanging scroll, tapestry with ink and colors, 289.2 x 142.2 cm

This tapestry depicts the world of the Buddhist paradise of the West. The contents, style, and composition are identical to that of a painting of the same title by Ting Kuan-p'eng in the Museum collection, this being a copy of it. Both hanging scrolls are mounted with an imperial inscription in four scripts dated to 1782, providing the lower limit of the date possible for this tapestry.

The main outlines and colors here were done using silk tapestry techniques, but finer details of the faces and drapery lines for the figures and the architecture were done with brush and ink as well as washes of color. The entire work features opulent coloring and complex details, it being a masterpiece of Ch'ien-lung era (1736-1795) tapestry.

Ting Kuan-p'eng (fl. 1737-1768), Ch'ing Dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 297.3 x 159.1 cm

Ting Kuan-p'eng, a court painter under the Ch'ien-lung Emperor, excelled at Taoist and Buddhist themes as well as figures. He followed the style of the late Ming master Ting Yün-p'eng but added washes to faces and Western painting methods, highlighting forms with spirit and lifelikeness.

Here, a dignified Mañjuśri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom, wears a crown with Five Dhyani Buddhas and rides a lion. The opulent colors and refined brushwork are meticulous in every way; adding Western-style lighting also gives the work a volumetric effect. The artist's inscription states this work was done in the fourth month of 1761 and related to the Ch'ien-lung Emperor's offering to the holy Mañjuśri sculpture at Mt. Wu-t'ai in the spring of that year.