Portrait of Houji

A woodcut portrait depicts a man identified as Houji, the legendary Chinese culture hero and ancestor of the Zhou dynasty. He is shown from the chest up, wearing a traditional scholar's or official's robe with wide sleeves and a high collar. He wears a formal cap, known as a guan formal cap, adorned with small vertical pins or beads. He has a prominent forehead, a thin mustache, and a long, wispy goatee. The style is characteristic of Ming or Qing dynasty portraiture found in genealogical or historical texts.