1657 An under glaze B&R statue of the "drunken Monk"

This Yuan dynasty porcelain sculpture, decorated in underglaze blue and red, portrays Ji Gong’s free-spirited, unconventional character with striking naturalism. It is a notable early porcelain representation of this legendary monk. Known by his monastic name Daoji, Ji Gong lived during the Southern Song dynasty. His unorthodox words and actions earned him the nickname Ji Dian, or “Ji the Mad Monk.” By emphasizing his worldly temperament, the sculpture presents him as a vivid and approachable human figure.

He wears a wide-sleeved monastic robe decorated in underglaze red and open at the chest, together with an ochre-yellow monk’s cap shaped like a traditional ingot. He holds a palm-leaf fan in his right hand, while his raised left foot rests on a wine jar. His left arm extends forward from his knee, with a silver ingot resting in his palm. Leaning slightly forward, he seems to be bargaining with a wine seller over the jar beneath his foot. This theatrical pose places him within a scene rich in the bustle and warmth of everyday life.

The face is particularly expressive: thick eyebrows, large eyes, a straight nose, clearly defined cheek muscles, and gently upturned lips forming an open, hearty smile. The movement of the body and the expression of the face work together to convey his humorous, outgoing and irrepressibly eccentric personality. The sensitive treatment of anatomy, expression and drapery also recalls the naturalism of the Jin dynasty sancai-glazed luohan figure in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the United States.

Compared with some later portrayals of Ji Gong that became increasingly formulaic and supernatural, this sculpture gives particular prominence to the human emotions and desires beneath his monk’s robes. The fan, wine jar and silver ingot together create an engaging narrative of everyday life. Here, Ji Gong is both a monk and an ordinary person with desires, a distinctive temperament and close ties to the secular world. The work thus offers a material example worthy of further study in tracing the evolution of Ji Gong’s image from legendary monk to deity in popular religion.