Beauties and Heroes: Legends and Stories in Chinese Art
(from 21st Jan until 15th Jul 2012)Explore paintings, prints and papercuts depicting legendary figures from Chinese folklore.
Three Heroes Fighting Lü Bu at Hulaoguan
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Description
Zhou Jingxin is well known for his paintings of figures from popular fiction. This scene is from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. The three heroes from the Shu Kingdom – Liu Bei (far left), Zhang Fei (second left) and Guan Yu (far right) – are fighting the powerful warrior Lü Bu (centre). Such heroes have a long history of representation in woodblock illustrations and on porcelain, identified by cartouches situated next to the figure.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Jiangsu province › Nanjing (place of creation)Asia › China › Henan province › Hulaoguan (subject)
- Date
- 1992
- Artist/maker
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Zhou Jingxin (born 1959) (artist)Zhou Jingxin (born 1959) (calligrapher)
- Associated people
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Guan Yu (died AD 219) (subject)Liu Bei (AD 161 - 223) (subject)Lü Bu (died AD 198) (subject)Zhang Fei (died AD 221) (subject)
- Material and technique
- ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
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frame 50.5 x 161 x 2 cm (height x width x depth)
painting 33.2 x 137.2 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented in honour of the forthcoming 70th birthdays of Jose Mauricio and Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 1995.
- Accession no.
- EA1995.286
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 123 on p. 90, p. 9, illus. p. 90 fig. 123
Glossary
porcelain
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porcelain
Ceramic material composed of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar which is fired to a temperature of c.1350-1400⁰c. The resulting ceramic is vitreous, translucent, and white in colour.
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Zhou Jingxin is well-known for his paintings of figures from vernacular fiction. Liu Bei, Zhang Jue and Guan Yu are the heroes of the Ming novel Sanguo yanyi "Three Kingdoms", by Luo Guanzhong. Such heroes have a long history of representation in woodblock illustrations and on porcelain, where they appear similarly labelled.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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