Beasts of Legend: Animals in East Asian Art

Featuring beautiful and significant prints, scrolls, textiles, and three-dimensional works drawn from the Worcester Art Museum, MA, as well as from major American and international collections, this book traces the shared myths that shaped the representation of these animals while acknowledging and highlighting their distinct regional meanings. It explores the dragon’s connections to water, wisdom and sovereignty; the tiger’s symbolism of courage and protection; and the monkey’s shifting identity as trickster and demon-queller across East Asian art from the 14th century to the present.

The volume combines iconic examples of works by Chinese and Japanese masters, including Gao Qipei and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, and contemporary diasporic artists like Mu Pan. It is envisioned as a required reading for a range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses on Japanese, Chinese, and Korean art and mythology.

This catalogue accompanies an exhibition at Worcester Art Museum.