Mountains of Longevity in the Sea of Felicity

Gold ink on indigo paper is a luxurious and venerable way to express religious piety. Here, the golden landscape represents a sacred island, a Daoist paradise inhabited by immortals in the eastern sea of China. The immortals reside in the elaborate, palatial buildings on a rugged, hilly shore over the sea rolling with waves. Longevity is represented by the twisted old pine trees. The joyful subject, indicated by the inscribed title on the upper left, makes the painting a proper gift for a dignitary’s birthday. This scroll presents a popular interpretation of the Daoist concept that the sacred landscape mirrors the divine structure of both the cosmos and the human body.