Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine Expansion

Three Laughers of Tiger Ravine 

虎渓三笑

Artist
SHIMOMURA, Kanzan
下村 観山
Birth Year
1873
Death Year
1930
Date
ca. 1912 
Technique, Material, Format
color on silk, hanging scroll 
Dimension
161.0 x 85.0 cm 
Category
Nihonga (Japanese-style Painting) 
Inventory Number
88-JP-039 

Once upon a time, in the mountains of China, there was a monk named Huiyuan. One day, the poet Tao Yuanming (left) and the Taoist Lu Xiujing (right) visited Huiyuan in the mountains. On the way home, the three became so absorbed in their conversation that they suddenly realized they had inadvertently crossed a borderline (Tiger Ravine) that the pious Huiyuan had vowed never to cross. The three of them burst out laughing. In the painting, Huiyuan grins embarrassedly, while the other two appear to console him, perhaps saying, “No matter!” The artist’s ingenuity shines through in subtle touches like the emphasis placed on some of the lines and the use of white color in Huiyuan’s eyebrows to draw the viewer’s gaze to his perplexed facial expression.
(HIBINO Miyon)

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