Gokō 呉公

Lit. Man of (the country of) Wu 呉, a gigaku mask *gigakumen 伎楽面, the counter-part of the Maid of Wu *Gojo 呉女 and a character in *gigaku 伎楽 performances popular in Japan from the 6th to 12th century. The crude *Kuron 崑崙 tries to make love to the Maid of Wu, but is checked by the guardian god *Rikishi 力士. The Man of Wu is mentioned in the Saidaiji shizaichō 西大寺資財帳 (Records of Saidaiji; 780) as wearing a filigree metal crown. While some masks, like the 7th-century Hōryūji 法隆寺 Gokō still have their crown, many have merely nail holes. A raised helmet-like area painted black represents the hair on quite a few of these masks. The Hōryūji mask, with its archaic smile and sharply upward slanting eyes and eyebrows is highly reminiscent of the Four Guardian *Shitennō 四天王 statues standing in the *Kondō 金堂 of Hōryūji. In the *Shōsōin 正倉院, an excellent dry lacquer *kanshitsu 乾漆 Gokō maintains the gentle, dignified expression of a clean-shaven aristocratic man.