Nine Dragons

Chen Rong signed and dated this scroll in 1244, when he was a scholar and local official under the Southern Song, a Chinese dynasty then being slowly pressed from the north by the Mongols. It is nearly 15 metres long, meant to be opened a stretch at a time, and across it nine dragons twist through cloud, mist, whirlpools and rock. In Chinese thought the dragon was not a monster but a force of nature and water, close to the workings of the Dao itself. Chen Rong built the storm around them by flinging and blotting ink for the vapour, then drawing the scales and claws with a tight, exact brush. He added his own inscriptions along the way, and this remains the most trusted survivor among the dragon paintings tied to his name.