Keywords
Art History
Painting
Ch: Mei Fu. Chinese immortal shown in painting as riding a luan (Jp: ran 鸞), a mythical bird similar to a phoenix. He was said to have been a governor in China during the Han dynasty, but he became disgusted with government corruption and retired to the mountains. There he penetrated the secrets of Daoism and drank the elixir of immortality. He was carried off to the Daoist immortals paradise on the back of a luan.