From July 9 through September 16, Tokyo National Museum will hold a special exhibition dedicated to the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD) in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Agreement. The Three Kingdoms – called Wei, Shu and Wu – was a tripartite division of China that marked the end of the great Han dynasty. It was a bloody period as the country was torn apart by a power struggle between leaders Cao Cao (c. 155-220 AD) Liu Bei (161-223 AD) and Sun Quan (182-252 AD).
The Three Kingdoms has often been romanticised in literature and poetry, such as Luo Guanzhong’s ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ in the Ming Dynasty. This exhibition will explore the Three Kingdoms and their legacies through artifacts from that era, including important cultural objects from the Han dynasty period.