Cleveland Museum of Art

Happy Forest, from Water Margin

Matsumura Goshun

Date: late 1700s
Medium: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Department: Japanese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

The Chinese literary classic Water Margin is set in the 1120s and tells the story of 108 outlaws who first rebel against the government and then join forces with it. This painting depicts an episode in which hero Wu Song reclaims the tavern Happy Forest for its rightful owner, the prison warden’s son, Shi En. To prepare for the fight, Wu Song drinks a lot of wine. The painting was inscribed with a quote in which an ally describes Wu Song’s fighting style. It reads as follows: Where his twin fists rise, clouds and thunder roar, When his flying kick comes, wind and rain tremble.

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