sansan-zu 三酸図
KEY WORD :  art history / paintings
 
Ch: sansuantu. A painting subject of three san 三, Northern Song Chinese sages tasting wine san 酸, from a vat. According to legend, one day the famous poet Su Dongpo (Jp:*So Touba 蘇東坡, 1039-1112) and his friend Huang Shangu (Jp:*Kou Sankoku 黄山谷), went to a temple called Jinshansi (Jp:*Kinzanji 金山寺) to look for the monk Foyin (Jp: Futsuin 仏印). Foyin, glad to see his friends, brought out a large jar of peach wine and each man eagerly tasted the brew. Simultaneously all three men raised their eyebrows and puckered their lips in surprise at the bitter taste. The three figures represent China's Three Creeds *Sankyou 三教: Su Dongpo standing for Confucianism, Huang Shangu for Taoism, and Foyin for Buddhism. The incident serves as a parable for the ecumenical doctrine that the Three Creeds are One Sankyou itchi 三教一致 in that the astringent taste of the wine shocks each of the three different men into recognition of the same reality. In some cases the three figures are depicted as the founders of the three religions, Confucius (Jp:*Koushi 孔子), Laozi (Jp: Roushi 老子) and Shakyamuni (Jp:*Shaka 釈迦), or alternately, as Tao Yuanming (Jp:*Tou Enmei 陶淵明), Lu Xiujing (Jp:Riku Shusei 陸修静, 406-477) and Huiyuan (Jp: Eon 慧遠, 334-416), the same three men who appear in the Three Laushens at the Tiger Ravine (Jp:*Kokei sanshou 虎渓三笑). As with the related subjects Three Creeds are One and Three Laughers at the Tiger Ravine, the Three Sages Tasting Vinegar was popular with Muromachi and Momoyama period painters. There are well-known examples by Yan Hui (Jp: Gan Ki 顔輝, late 13c-early 14c), Reisai 霊彩 (act. 1435-1460's) and Kaihou Yuushou 海北友松 (1533-1615, Myoushinji 妙心寺, Kyoto). In *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 versions *mitate-e 見立絵 often show three famous beauties, Ono no Komachi 小野小町 (see *nanakomachi 七小町), Yangguifei (Jp:*Youkihi 楊貴妃), and *Sotoorihime 衣通姫, in the role of the "Three Tasters."
 
 

 
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