A shrimp-like figure wearing a layered ruffled skirt has sparked widespread discussion online, drawing renewed attention to a centuries-old Chinese painting.
The character appears in Raising the Alms-Bowl: The Conversion of Hariti the Mother of Demons, a work now housed at the Freer Gallery of Art in the United States. Although the painting is often attributed online to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) painter Qiu Ying, the museum currently identifies it as a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) work and notes that the attribution remains unconfirmed.
The painting depicts the story of Hariti, a demoness who later repented and became a protector of children. The shrimp figure is one of several fantastical creatures portrayed as helping her recover her son.
Frog spirits, crab monsters, snake demons and other imaginative beings also appear throughout the scroll. Their vivid, whimsical designs have amused many viewers, with some expressing surprise at how playful and striking artwork created centuries ago can still seem today.