Asian Art

Chinese
Ming Dynasty 1368 - 1644
Guan Yu
wood, lacquer and lacquer paste, polychrome and gold, leather and hair, 1490s
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 95.2

Guan Yu was a Chinese general, executed by his enemies in the year 219 after a brilliant military career. His exploits were re-counted in the first great Chinese historical novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written in 1360. Revered for his loyalty, his strategic genius, and his scholarship in the Confucian tradition, Guan Yu was already being worshipped as a god by the time this sculpture was carved, and a century later, in 1594, the reigning emperor officially pro-claimed his divinity, using the name Guan Di (Emperor Guan). In this sculpture Guan Yu wears the robes of an official over military armor, and the cap of a scholar, indicating the variety of areas in which he achieved greatness.