poster
- Museum number
- 2006,0501,0.10
- Title
- Object: 茅廬出諸葛 Maolu chu Zhuge (Zhuge comes out of the cottage)
- Description
-
This poster is in the romantic revolutionary style of the Great Leap Forward. Sunflowers grow as tall as a house; a child carries vegetables half his size. It appears to be a scene about a productive farmer being warmly greeted by cadres, but is an allusion to the famous historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi 三國演義).
- Production date
- 1960
- Dimensions
-
Height: 53 centimetres
-
Width: 38 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- The title is a direct reference to a famous event that took place in 207 AD, and so gives more meaning to the image. As the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) was collapsing, warlords fought for control of the country. The head of Shu 蜀, Liu Bei 劉備 (161-223), learned of the talented farmer-scholar-inventor Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮. Liu Bei and his sworn brothers Guan Yu 関羽and Yu Fei 張飛 went to recruit Zhuge Liang (181-234). It was on the third visit that Liu Bei finally met Zhuge Liang and convinced him to join his cause. Zhuge Liang proved a remarkable strategist, instrumental in the defeat of CaoCao曹操 (155-220) at the Battle of Red Cliffs, and managing Shu after Liu Bei’s death.
This story would have been familiar to all, as it is a well-known episode from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo yanyi) 三國演義, Luo Guanzhong’s羅貫中 (1330-1400) famous novel. The expression san gu maolu 三顧茅廬 means to recruit someone sincerely to take up a responsible post. Zhugelianghui 諸葛亮會, a meeting of Zhuge Liangs, is a meeting to pool the wisdom of the collective. Both ideas are expressed in this poster.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 2006
- Acquisition notes
- From an acquisition of 74 posters in 16 lots. See Bloomsbury Auctions, 'Vintage Chinese Posters', 2006 (catalogue). The collection originally belonged to a Chinese family resident in the USA.
- Department
- Asia
- Registration number
- 2006,0501,0.10