Vinegar tasters

The Vinegar Tasters (三酸圖; 'three sours'; 嘗醋翁; 'vinegar-tasting old men'; 嘗醋圖, 尝醋图) is a traditional[clarification needed] subject in Chinese painting, which later spread to other East Asian countries.

Chinese versions often interpret the three men to be Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and a monk named Foyin.

Other variations depict the three men to the founders of China's major religious and philosophical traditions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

When tanha is extinguished, one is released from the cycle of life (birth, suffering, death, and rebirth)",[2] only then will they achieve Nirvana.

With this in mind, it is interpreted that Buddhism, being concerned with the self, viewed the vinegar as a polluter of the taster's body due to its extreme flavor.

[citation needed] Taoism sees life as sweet due to it being fundamentally perfect in its natural state.

The Three Vinegar Tasters , depicting Confucius , Buddha , and Laozi over a pot of vinegar , respectively perceiving it as sour, bitter and sweet.
Painting by an artist of the Kanō school .
Japan, Muromachi period , 16th century.
Painting by Kanō Isen'in.
Japan, Edo period , 1802-1816.