Inheritance in the Royal Family by Tang Zhuo  134X165cm Oil on Canvas, 2022

      明仁天皇的年号“平成”，出自《尚书·大禹谟》，书中记述了大禹治水所抵达的安泰：“地平天成”。1992年10月26日，首次访华的明仁天皇夫妇参观西安碑林博物馆，目睹了《开成石经》中的“平成”字迹。从王仁传《论语》到日本起，到继体天皇治水至今，皇室始终对大禹怀有深刻的认识和感悟。

      画面描绘的是明仁天皇和美智子皇后在位期间的风貌。人物身后是京都御所御常御殿隔扇上的障壁画《大禹戒酒防微图》，出自狩野派画家鹤泽探真（1834—1893）之手，于1855年完成。之前的作品为1641年而绘。

      戒酒防微的典故出自北宋刘恕的《资治通鉴外纪》卷二，夏史纪：禹时仪狄作酒。禹饮而甘之，遂疏仪狄，绝旨酒，曰：“后世必有以酒亡国者。”

      京都御所从781年自奈良迁都京都到明治维新的1868年，一直是历代天皇的住所和政宫。入主皇宫的《大禹戒酒防微图》体现了天皇携皇室以大禹为鉴，世代传承为民造福的精神。

  Emperor Akihito’s era name Heisei is derived from the counsels of Yu the Great in the Book of Documents. The book describes the peaceful and prosperous society after Yu the Great tamed the floods as “All is well under heaven and everything is in right order”. On 26 October 1992, Emperor Akihito and his Empress visited the Xi’an Beilin Museum (Forest of Stone Steles Museum) and saw the inscription of Chinese characters of “平成” (Heisei) in the Kaicheng Classics on Stone Tablet during their first visit to China. From the time when Wani spread the Analects to Japan to the time when Emperor Keitai controlled the flood, the royal family of Japan has always harbored a profound understanding and sense of admiration for Yu the Great.

  The painting depicts the reign of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Behind the figures is a painting of the barrier on the partition board of the Imperial Hall of Kyoto Imperial Palace - “Yu the Great Abstaining from Alcohol to Prevent Mistakes from Happening” completed in 1855 by the Kano school artist Tsuruzawa Tanshin (1834-1893),.

  The allusion to “Abstaining from Alcohol to Prevent Mistakes from Happening” is from Chronicle of the Xia Dynasty in Volume 2 of Liu Shu’s External Records to History as a Mirror, “Yu asked Yi Di to make wine. After the wine was ready, Yu drank it and liked it very much. However, Yu kept Yi Di away and ordered to forbid the wine. He said: ‘There must be countries destroyed by wine in later dynasties!’

  Kyoto Imperial Palace used to be the residence and palace of Japan’s emperors of generations from 781, when the capital was moved from Nara to Kyoto, until 1868, when the Meiji Restoration began. The presence of the painting “Yu the Great Abstaining from Alcohol to Prevent Mistakes from Happening” in the imperial palace reflects the spirit of the emperor and the imperial family to learn from the deeds of Yu the Great and to pass it on for the benefit of the people from generation to generation.

“文化互译，沟通世界”