BEIJING, March 17, 2009 -- Chinese literary classic "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been gaining popularity in Japan over the past year thanks to a featured exhibition. The ten-month long exhibition drew to a close on Sunday.

The exhibition has attracted a total of one million visitors since it began touring around Japan last May.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century. It is a Chinese historical novel based on events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms era from 169 to 280.

It is recognized as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, with a grand total of eight hundred thousand words and nearly a thousand protagonists.

After its Japanese showing, the exhibition will come back to China to tour Shanghai, Sichuan and other venues.