Something unexpected…

When we look at the entire vertical scroll, we see something unexpected—a painted Chinese folding fan at the top. The combination of the Chinese fan with the Kaaba tells us something about the maker and intended audience. This vertical Kaaba scroll was produced in China for a Chinese Muslim audience who understood the visual languages of both Islamic and Chinese cultures.

The contrasting pictorial techniques reveal the artist’s awareness of the combination of different pictorial worlds. A wet brush is used to paint the Chinese fan, with translucent washes and an inky quality that emphasizes a connection with calligraphic traditions of Chinese scholarly art. On the other hand, the fine thin lines outlining the structures of the Masjid al-Haram emulate lines drawn by reed pens, used to write Arabic script.

From China to Mecca Another long Chinese hajj scroll from the same period visualizes the journey of hajj. This scroll opens with a map entitled “routes of the hajj” and shows the land and sea routes that Chinese pilgrims likely took to reach the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. The sea route down the South China Sea and across the Indian Ocean may have passed by regions like Malacca, Calcutta, Bombay, and Muscat, while the land route may have taken Chinese pilgrims across Dunghung, Kashgar, Tabriz, Baghdad, and Damascus. In the vertical Kaaba scroll, the physical journey of hajj is echoed in the visual journey from the realm of Chinese scholarly art (represented by the Chinese fan) to that of Ottoman Mecca (represented by the Kaaba).

Let’s embark on this visual journey together.