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Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

A catalogue of the Ashmolean's collection of Japanese paintings by Janice Katz (published Oxford, 2003).

Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

Publications online: 43 objects

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Shōka following the warrior Kanshin by moonlight

  • Literature notes

    Yushō is much less well known than his teacher Nakajima Raishō as an artist of the Maruyama school of painting in Kyoto at the end of the nineteenth century. Like Raishō, he excelled in painting horses.

    The story seen here is one of two Chinese heroes of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). Of his own accord, the local official Shōka has set out to bring back the warrior Kanshin. After not eating for three days during his pursuit, we see the moment when Shōka first catches sight of Kanshin. Upon their return, Shōka is scolded by Duke Liu Bang (J: Ryūhō) for leaving without permission, especially to go after such a useless man when Shōka himself is so vital. Shōka explains that Kanshin is an excellent warrior, and while others may run away and return, once Kanshin leaves he would be gone forever. Liu is then persuaded to make Kanshin a general of the highest level. With the help of Kanshin’s ability in the battlefield, Liu becomes the emperor and founder of the Han dynasty.

    The legend of Shōka and Kanshin can also be seen on Chinese porcelain [see Toyamasu Yasumasa, ‘Chūgoku tōji ni miru moyō (12)- Jinbutso (6)- Shōka to Kanshin’, in Tōsetsu 560, 54-6], and probably made its way to Japan on such objects or as the subject of woodblock printed illustrations. In the Edo period, the story was taken up by Japanese artists such as Yosa Buson in one side of a pair of six-fold screens [published in Toda Teisuke et al., Kangakei jinbutsu, Nihon byōbu-e shūsei, vol. 3 plates 62, 63, pages 68, 139-40].
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    AsiaJapanHonshūKyōto prefecture Kyoto (possible place of creation)
    Date
    2nd half of the 18th century
    Artist/maker
    Nakajima Yūshō (1837 - 1905) (artist)
    Maruyama-Shijō School (active late 18th century - late 19th century)
    Associated people
    Han Xin (died 196 BC) (subject)
    Xiao Ho (died 193 BC) (subject)
    Material and technique
    ink and colour on silk
    Dimensions
    124 x 57.5 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Purchased with the assistance of the Friends of the Ashmolean, and Mr and Mrs J. Hillier, 1973.
    Accession no.
    EA1973.184
  • Further reading

    Katz, Janice, Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, with an introductory essay by Oliver Impey (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2003), no. 42 on p. 148, p. 85, illus. p. 149

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum by Janice Katz

    Japanese Paintings in the Ashmolean Museum

    Yushō is much less well known than his teacher Nakajima Raishō as an artist of the Maruyama school of painting in Kyoto at the end of the nineteenth century. Like Raishō, he excelled in painting horses.

    The story seen here is one of two Chinese heroes of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). Of his own accord, the local official Shōka has set out to bring back the warrior Kanshin. After not eating for three days during his pursuit, we see the moment when Shōka first catches sight of Kanshin. Upon their return, Shōka is scolded by Duke Liu Bang (J: Ryūhō) for leaving without permission, especially to go after such a useless man when Shōka himself is so vital. Shōka explains that Kanshin is an excellent warrior, and while others may run away and return, once Kanshin leaves he would be gone forever. Liu is then persuaded to make Kanshin a general of the highest level. With the help of Kanshin’s ability in the battlefield, Liu becomes the emperor and founder of the Han dynasty.

    The legend of Shōka and Kanshin can also be seen on Chinese porcelain [see Toyamasu Yasumasa, ‘Chūgoku tōji ni miru moyō (12)- Jinbutso (6)- Shōka to Kanshin’, in Tōsetsu 560, 54-6], and probably made its way to Japan on such objects or as the subject of woodblock printed illustrations. In the Edo period, the story was taken up by Japanese artists such as Yosa Buson in one side of a pair of six-fold screens [published in Toda Teisuke et al., Kangakei jinbutsu, Nihon byōbu-e shūsei, vol. 3 plates 62, 63, pages 68, 139-40].
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