Eight Hammers Conquering Zhuxian Town

This piece of fine-brushwork painting on gourd is based on the book Stories of Yue Fei (说岳全传), the fictional biography of Yue Fei (1103-1142 AD), the renowned patriot of the Han people against invasion of the nomad ethnic minorities during the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279 AD). This artwork illustrates a scene of four young generals of Yue Fei’s troops, namely, Di Lei, Yue Yun, Yan Fangcheng and He Yuanqing, all using a pair of hammer-like weapons with a big metal ball on a handle, made of gold, silver, copper and iron respectively for the four people (eight hammer altogether), conquering Zhuxian Town, a place of strategic significance that had been seized by the nomad troops. Under the leadership of the four heroic generals, Yue Fei’s troops achieved full victory.