Ch: sansuantu. A painting subject of three san 三, Northern Song Chinese sages tasting wine san 酸, from a vat. According to legend, one day the famous poet Su Dongpo (Jp: *So Tōba 蘇東坡, 1039-1112) and his friend Huang Shangu (Jp: *Kō Sankoku 黄山谷), went to a temple called Jinshansi (Jp: *Kinzanji 金山寺) to look for the monk Foyin (Jp: Futsuin 仏印). Foyin, glad to see his friends, brought out a large jar of peach wine and each man eagerly tasted the brew. Simultaneously all three men raised their eyebrows and puckered their lips in surprise at the bitter taste. The three figures represent China's Three Creeds *Sankyō 三教: Su Dongpo standing for Confucianism, Huang Shangu for Taoism, and Foyin for Buddhism. The incident serves as a parable for the ecumenical doctrine that the Three Creeds are One Sankyō itchi 三教一致 in that the astringent taste of the wine shocks each of the three different men into recognition of the same reality. In some cases the three figures are depicted as the founders of the three religions, Confucius (Jp: *Kōshi 孔子), Laozi (Jp: Rōshi 老子) and Shakyamuni (Jp: *Shaka 釈迦), or alternately, as Tao Yuanming (Jp: *Tō Enmei 陶淵明), Lu Xiujing (Jp: Riku Shusei 陸修静, 406-477) and Huiyuan (Jp: Eon 慧遠, 334-416), the same three men who appear in the Three Laughers at the Tiger Ravine (Jp: *Kokei sanshō 虎渓三笑). As with the related subjects Three Creeds are One and Three Laughers at the Tiger Ravine, the Three Sages Tasting Vinegar was popular with Muromachi and Momoyama period painters. There are well-known examples by Yan Hui (Jp: Gan Ki 顔輝, late 13th to early 14th century), Reisai 霊彩 (act. 1435-1460's) and Kaihō Yūshō 海北友松 (1533-1615, Myōshinji 妙心寺, Kyoto). In *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 versions *mitate-e 見立絵 often show three famous beauties, Ono no Komachi 小野小町 (see *nanakomachi 七小町), Yang Guifei (Jp: *Yōkihi 楊貴妃), and *Sotōrihime 衣通姫, in the role of the "Three Tasters."
