Courtesan and Tiger General Ma Chao

Artist Ryuryukyo Shinsai (Japanese, 1799–1823)

Datecommissioned for New Year 1806

MediumColor woodblock print

Dimensions8 1/8 × 5 1/2 inches (20.6 × 14 cm)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineGift of Joanna Haab Schoff, Class of 1955

Terms

Surimono
Color woodblock print
Poetry
Women
Courtesans
Warriors
Japanese

Object number2011.017.010

Label CopyItadakishi In the color Kabuto no iro ni Of the gift helmet Niibuki no The golden flowers Kogane hana saku Of mountain roses bloom Tamagawa no kishi Banks of the Jewel River —Kashintei Kaneoki Azusayumi Pulling the Catalpa bow Haru no yakono For the spring night lecture Hiku koto wo Our master draws from a classic and Hanaseba chodo Releases points like arrows Kaoru umekaze And as they hit the target, a fragrant plum breeze —Juniken Uranari Saku ume ka Was it the blooming plums? Kahoku no hana ka The flowers north of the Yellow River? Koremo mata Alerted once again by the song Kin-i koshi no Of the brocade prince’s Kocho no koe Nightingale —Shushintei Like the image, which aligns the figures in a moment of superficial transposition, the poetry creates a series of circumstantial connections between the world of the contemporary courtesan and that of the Chinese military classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, represented by Ma Chao, one of the five “tiger generals” who appear in this work. The links are made through what at first appear to be external themes, the color yellow, and rivers corresponding to this motif and to the figures. Yellow is the color of a tiger, the zodiac sign of the year, and the emblematic animal of the warrior, but also the name of the major Chinese river dividing territories. The female figure is connected to yellow through the suggestion that her name is Tamagawa (“Jewel River,” a leading courtesan name), one of the seven famous Tamagawa rivers in Japan being celebrated for its yellow flowers (yamabuki) as described in the first verse, and also through the nightingale (literally “yellow bird”) in the last verse, which connects with both Chinese images and symbols of the pleasure quarters.

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