Lü Dongbin
First Floor:
- Mrs. Benjamin N. Duke (painting)
- Benjamin N. Duke (painting)
- Tending The Flock (painting)
- Beach Scene (painting)
- Mary L. Duke (painting)
- Angier B. Duke (painting)
- William K. Boyd (painting)
- Thomas J. Jarvis (painting)
- Washington Duke (painting)
- Duke University in Picture (book)
- Bessie Whitted Spence (painting)
- Benjamin N. Duke (painting)
- James H. Southgate (painting)
- Grand Master Clock
- Eva Earnshaw Malone (painting)
- Benjamin N. Duke (marble bust)
- Library Table
Second Floor:
- James A. Thomas and Two Eunuchs (photograph)
- Dorothy Quincy Hancock Read (photograph)
- Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek (photograph)
- Sarah P. Duke (painting)
- Mary Duke Lyon (painting)
- The Reapers (painting)
- Marble Lions (statues)
Thomas Room:
- James A. Thomas (painting)
- Porcelain Urns with Mythical Beasts
- Embroidered Bedspread
- Chinese Rug
- Ishii Vases
- Carved Chests
- Wei To (embroidery)
- Elderly Man (scroll)
- People in Outdoor Setting (scroll)
- Lady in Red (scroll)
- Calligraphy (scroll)
- Porcelain Lion Lamps
- Table with Marble Top
- Cheang Park Chew (painting)
- Porcelain Urns with Lids
- Chinese Cabinet
- Imperial Robe
- Coromandel Screen
- Teakwood Tables
- Altar Table
- Embroidered Scroll with Nine Figures
- Winter Landscape (ink on silk)
Lü Dongbin
Lü Dongbin, patron of barbers, who is also worshipped by the sick, is the fourth immortal on the embroidered screen. In his right hand is a fly-brush and a sword is slung across his back. The sword is known as chan yao kuai, the Devil-slaying sabre, and was presented to him by the Fire Dragon. The fly-brush is called yun chou, the cloud sweeper. It empowers him to fly at will and to walk on the clouds as he traverses the earth, slaying dragons and ridding the world of evil. He is also worshipped by scholars who credit him with writing the kong kuo ge, a table or code of merits and demerits, which serve as a guide for morality. For this, he is known as the god of the Inkmakers, Lu zu. Perhaps the small gray figure holding a book represents this aspect of the immortal.
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