KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

The scene depicted on the present vase likely represents the episode traditionally known as “Lu Xun Asking the Way” (Lu Xun wenjin 陸遜問津), in Chapter 84 of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, entitled “Lu Xun Burns the Seven-Hundred-Li Encampment; Kongming Ingeniously Deploys the Eight Trigrams Formation.” Following Liu Bei’s disastrous defeat at the Battle of Yiling between the states of Wu and Shu, Lu Xun led his forces to the west in pursuit. Upon reaching Yufupu, he encountered a mysterious formation of stones from which an ominous atmosphere seemed to emanate. Lu Xun and his generals entered the formation to investigate, but a violent wind soon arose and they lost their way. They were eventually rescued by Huang Chengyan, Zhuge Liang’s father-in-law, who emerged from within the formation and guided them out. Lu Xun then learned that the “Eight Trigrams Formation” had been laid out by Zhuge Liang when he first entered Sichuan and was said to possess the defensive power of one hundred thousand troops. Astonished by Zhuge Liang’s military genius, Lu Xun ordered his army to withdraw.

A closely related representation appears in the Yixiangtang Illustrated Records of the Three Kingdoms (Yixiangtang huixiang Sanguozhi 遺香堂繪像三國志), in the scene “Lu Xun Trapped in the Stone Eight Trigrams Formation” (Bagua zhen shi fu Lu Xun 八卦陣石俘陸遜). There, Lu Xun is similarly shown wearing a winged helmet and elaborate armor. The overall arrangement of the scene closely resemble the decoration on the present vase. (Fig. 1)