Kan U　関羽

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Ch: Guan Yu (d.219 CE). A Chinese general. A painting theme and the subject and title of a *kabuki 歌舞伎 play. During the Three Kingdoms period he served Liu Bei (Jp: Ryuu Bi 劉備, 161-223), the Lord of Shu 蜀 (modern Sichuan 四川). After his death in battle with the Wu 呉 and Wei 魏, he was deified as the god of war and protector of warriors. In the epic, Record of Three Kingdoms (Ch: Sanguozhi, Jp: SANGOKUSHI 三国志), Kan U appears in the incident of the Three Heroes of the Peach Garden (Ch: Taoyuan sanjie, Jp:Touen sanketsu 桃園三傑) where he, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei (Jp: Chou Hi 張飛, 166-221) take an oath to become blood brothers. Kan U also appears in the episode where the three men brave a snowstorm to entice the hermit Zhu Geliang (Jp: *Sho Katsuryou 諸葛亮) into service. These exploits and others were illustrated in paintings and in printed picture books such as EHON SANGOKUSHI 絵本三国志 (1788) and EHON TSUUGOKU SANGOKUSHI 絵本通俗三国志 (1836-41). In addition, portraits of Kan U were painted by late Edo period artists such as Matsumura Goshun 松村呉春 (1752-1811, Tokyo National Museum) and Nagasawa Rosetsu 長沢蘆雪 (1754-99; Itsukushima Jinja 厳島神社, Hiroshima prefecture), as well as by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists who parody Kan U in *mitate-e 見立絵 or show him as a hero of the kabuki play first KAN U, performed in 1737 by Ichikawa Danjuurou 市川団十郎. He is usually represented with a huge red face and jet-black beard, waving his famous blue dragon sword. See *Kabuki Juuhachiban 歌舞伎十八番.

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