Dragons: Commanders of Rain

This installation presents two recent gifts of Chinese court robes and a Japanese print based on a painting of a dragon by the Chinese master Yan Hui. 

Each work depicts dragons, the heavenly sovereigns, petitioned to bring rain in ritual ceremonies. Oracle bones used for divination over three centuries are the earliest Chinese evidence of rulers’ pleas for life-giving rain. The presence of dragons on the robes refers to the emperor holding the Mandate of Heaven to rule from the Dragon Throne.

Credit: Overview from museum website