THE BIOGRAPHY OF REAL MEN

2017.8​

Materials: Watercolor on paper

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Gan Jiang forged two swords: one Yin for the emperor and one Yang, hidden for his family. He instructed his wife to tell their son about the Yang sword if the emperor killed him. After receiving the Yin sword, the emperor killed Gan Jiang, and his wife later gave birth to a son named Red Nose.

Upon learning of his father's fate, Red Nose took the Yang sword. The emperor, plagued by dreams of his killer, ordered his guards to find and eliminate Red Nose. In his escape, Red Nose encountered a knight-errant who promised help if Red Nose would cut off his own head. Red Nose agreed and died, leaving the knight-errant to confront the emperor with his head. The emperor asked his slaves to cook that head for three days, but the head was not dissolved. While the emperor approached the pot to have a clear look at the head, the knight errant cut his head off. After this, the knight—errant killed himself and his head fell into the pot. Three heads were boiled together and could not be distinguished. So people buried them together and called the tomb The Three Kings’  Tomb.