Images(2)

Taikobo

Date17th century

Label TextLu Shang (also Taigong Wang) was a celebrated military strategist who served kings Wen (1152–1050 BCE) and Wu (d. ca. 1043 BCE) of the ancient Chinese Zhou Dynasty. King Wen is said to have come across Lu fishing in a stream deep in the countryside when he first invited him to serve at court. In medieval Japan, this story found resonance among Buddhist monks and military leaders alike; pictures of Lu can be found alongside those of other great thinkers and cultural luminaries from Chinese antiquity in interior painted decorations of Buddhist temple halls by the early 1500s, including examples by Sanraku’s forebears in the Kano School, a vaunted house of painters with roots in medieval Kyoto. The subject was frequently taken up by Kano painters in the 1600s, often alongside other Chinese figures in multi-scroll or folding-screen compositions. As here, Lu is usually shown seated on a grass mat with a fish basket and wide-brimmed hat next to him, leaning forward with his pole in the water.

Object number34.107

Photo CreditPhoto: Spike Mafford

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, December 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013 Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "A Thousand Years of Beauty: Japanese Art in Seattle", July 26, 2001 - July 28, 2002 (7/26/2001- 7/28/2002)

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

DimensionsOverall (incl endknobs): 78 3/4 × 24 15/16 in. (200 × 63.3 cm) Image: 43 5/8 × 17 9/16 in. (110.8 × 44.6 cm)

MediumHanging scroll: Ink and color on silk, ivory knobs