Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009298Oath of the Peach Garden, from Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Also known as: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
About the Artwork
This painting depicts a pivotal scene from the classic Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Three men, Liu Bei, seen to the left, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, seen to the right, become sworn brothers amid peach blossom trees. Set toward the end of China’s Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 CE), the episode features the tagline “We seek not to be born on the same day but hope that we may die on the same day.” Written in the 1300s, the first published translation in Japanese appeared around 1690, after which it exploded in popularity.
Inscriptions
Artist's signature and seal at upper right
Provenance
?–1987: (Katsuhiro Kobayashi, Tokyo, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1987–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Byobu: The Art of the Japanese Screen. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1987-January 10, 1988). The Year in Review for 1987. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-April 17, 1988). Asian Autumn: Splendid Variety: 18th-Century Art in Japan. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1993-March 6, 1994). Unfolding Beauty: Japanese Screens from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 15-September 16, 2001). The Lure of Painted Poetry: Japanese and Korean Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 15-August 21, 2011). “Bunjin” in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 21, 2026-June 20, 2027).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Matsumura Goshun (Japanese, 1752–1811)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Medium
- hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
- Dimensions
- Image: 28.2 x 25.2 cm (11 1/8 x 9 15/16 in.); Including mounting: 114.3 x 44.2 cm (45 x 17 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Japanese Art
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1987.35
More by Matsumura Goshun in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009298
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