Ming Dynasty Painted Clay Statue of Guan Yu

The Ming Dynasty Painted Clay Statue of Guan Yu is a cultural relic from the Ming Dynasty, belonging to the category of statues of Guan Yu. This statue portrays the image of Guan Yu, a general of the Shu Han state during the Three Kingdoms period, who is revered as Guan Yu, the Saintly Emperor, and the ‘Martial Saint’, enjoying equal fame with Confucius, the ‘Literary Saint’. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the distribution of temples dedicated to him expanded to inland China and overseas. Common depictions of Guan Yu often show him riding a jujube-red horse, wearing armor and holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, or in a seated posture reading a book, sometimes accompanied by his attendants Guan Ping and Zhou Cang . This clay statue is large in size and imposing in demeanor, representing a relatively outstanding artistic expression among similar sculptures.