Title : Kuan Yu Studying at Night

Artist : Okumura Masanobu

Date : late 1740s

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : There was a great vogue for designs featuring the Chinese general Kuan Yu in the 1740s. This ishizuri design with the Tanchösai seal could date from that period. The inscription in Chinese reads: ""The time to attack: seize the occasion when the soldiers are tired,"" lines from the book Sun-Tzü Ping-Fa being read by the famous general. The technique of drawing in white against a black background in imitation of stone rubbings is particularly appropriate to this design of the great military stategist studying at night by candlelight. Kuan Yu's attendant is Cho Tsang. His face, with large eyes and heavy beard, follows Chinese literary tradition. The treatment perhaps reflects Namban influence.

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