The Reception of the"Zhaojun Chusai" Motif in Japan——Centering on the Scroll of "Zhaojun Playing the Pipa"

"Zhaojun Chusai"("昭君出塞") is a well-known Chinese narrative motif that has been widely spread in Japan, adapted into various forms of literary and artistic works such as Chinese poetry, Japanese waka, monogatari and drama. At the same time, it is also an important subject of Japanese painting. Zhaojun Playing the Pipa is the oldest extant Japanese work of this subject, portraying WANG Zhaojun playing a pipa on horseback. Accompanying the painting, a poem by Osen Keisan draws a parallel between WANG Zhaojun and the meritorious statesmen of the Qilin Pavilion. Using this as a starting point, this paper examines the interactive dynamics of texts and images in the Sino-Japanese transmission of the "Zhaojun Chusai"("昭君出塞") motif and finds that both the literary and visual representation of "Playing the Pipa on Horseback" and the interpretation linking WANG Zhaojun to the Qilin Pavilion can date back to the Song dynasty. However, the timing and channels of their influence on Japan differed significantly: the literary motif of "Playing the Pipa on Horseback" was introduced to Japan by the 12th century at the latest, while its visual representation was not adopted by Japanese painters until the 15th century. The association with the Qilin Pavilion was primarily transmitted through the circulation of Xu Chenfu's poem Mingfeiqu(《明妃曲》) in Japan. The Gozan monks actively synthesized Chinese knowledge and, through their inscribed poems, endowed the visual image of WANG Zhaojun with new interpretive dimensions, thereby giving rise to new interpretations of the "Zhaojun Chusai"("昭君出塞") imagery. This multi-path, phased process of reception fully reflects the layered and complex nature of Sino-Japanese cultural and artistic exchange, while demonstrating the enduring vitality of the "Zhaojun Chusai" motif across time and space.