Landscape with Daoist immortals in the mountains

Wearing leaf jackets and grass girdles, Daoist immortals participate in various activities in this mountain paradise (dongtian) whose entrance is hidden behind coiling pines. Some admire a painting of taiji (the diagram of cosmological scheme), others play weiqi (Chinese chess), and still others enjoy a hearty feast of wine, magical peaches, and fungus. Painted in the style of famed Ming artist Qiu Ying (circa 1494–1552), this seventeenth-century handscroll brings to mind the many yaji (elegant gathering) paintings in which scholars are depicted practicing calligraphy, painting, chess, and music.