The Chinese Emperor Minghuang and his concubine Yang Guifei, with attendants on a terrace
Kano Eitoku 狩野永徳 (1543-1590)
16th century
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number
F1900.10
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Charles Lang Freer collectionJapanJapanese ArtMomoyama period (1573 - 1615)Muromachi period (1333 - 1573)attendantconcubineemperor
About this artwork
Few works of Chinese literature have so enthralled the Japanese people as The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, a narrative poem by the Chinese poet Bo Juyi (772-846) of the Tang dynasty (618-907). The poem recounts the tragic story of Emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712-756), commonly known as Minghuang, whose excessive love for his beautiful concubine, Yang Guifei (circa 720-756), led to intrigue at court and disorder in the empire. Yang Guifei was put to death in 756 during the An Lushan uprising. The pa...