Totoya Hokkei (1780–1850)
Chinese Warrior (Ryuho) slays the White Serpent (Ryuho hakuja o kiru), 1832
Woodblock print, surimono, embellished with metallic pigments and embossing
Shikishiban:
20.4 x 17.8 cm.
8 1/8 x 7 1/8 in.
20.4 x 17.8 cm.
8 1/8 x 7 1/8 in.
Signed: Nanso toka (drawn by lamplight in southern Kazusa Province), Hokkei ga
Privately published, 1832
Privately published, 1832
Sold
A dragon writhes through black rain clouds as the warrior Ryuho dramatically draws his sword. Ryuho is the Japanese name for Liu Bang (247-195 BC), a Chinese peasant who rose...
A dragon writhes through black rain clouds as the warrior Ryuho dramatically draws his sword. Ryuho is the Japanese name for Liu Bang (247-195 BC), a Chinese peasant who rose to become a rebel leader, a general and eventually the Emperor of China under the name Gaozu. According to legend he beheaded a white serpent (by some accounts a dragon). The poem by Seiyokan Umeyo reads:
Fusu tatsu no
kumo akeharau
harukaze ni
miyako no sora no
hatsuhi nodokeshi
Clouds surrounding
a recumbent dragon
are parted by spring breezes,
as the skies are calm
on New Year's day in the capital
--- Seiyokan Umeyo
For the poem translation and further reading see John T. Carpenter (ed.), Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints, (Leiden, 2008), cat. no. 126, p. 248-9.
Other impressions:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.19816, go to: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/212444
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 81.133.129, go to: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/22458/liu-bang-killing-a-white-snake-totoya-hokkei
Fusu tatsu no
kumo akeharau
harukaze ni
miyako no sora no
hatsuhi nodokeshi
Clouds surrounding
a recumbent dragon
are parted by spring breezes,
as the skies are calm
on New Year's day in the capital
--- Seiyokan Umeyo
For the poem translation and further reading see John T. Carpenter (ed.), Reading Surimono: The Interplay of Text and Image in Japanese Prints, (Leiden, 2008), cat. no. 126, p. 248-9.
Other impressions:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 11.19816, go to: https://collections.mfa.org/objects/212444
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, accession no. 81.133.129, go to: https://collections.artsmia.org/art/22458/liu-bang-killing-a-white-snake-totoya-hokkei