Kuniyoshi | Kong Liang and Song Wan, One of the 108 Heroes of the Popular Water Margin
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
通俗水浒传豪杰百八人一個 云里金刚宋万
Kong Liang and Song Wan, from the series of One of the 108 Heroes of the Popular Water Margin
1827-30
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tata-e | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
整体品相非常好；右下角角落处纸张较薄；上方边缘有非常轻微的污渍
Very good condition; a little minor thinning at lower right corner; very minor soiling at upper edges
$4,200
《通俗水浒传豪杰百八人之一个》，是一套以中国小说《水浒传》为蓝本，由歌川国芳创作的锦绘人物画系列，最初或出版于1827年，现存共计74幅。狂野、前卫、浪漫、震撼……此系列一经面世，便立刻成为“现象级”作品。画中一位位有血有肉，形态各异的英雄人物让无数江户子们热血沸腾，并由此掀起了长久的“水浒热”与“刺青热”。直至今日，它也仍是国芳最为人熟知的作品，甚至没有之一。
在正本《水浒传》中，云里金刚宋万和独火星孔亮皆是戏份较少的地煞星。宋万，梁山第八十二位好汉，星号地魔星。原是梁山开山元老，虽武艺平平，但因身材高大，人称云里金刚。上梁山后职司为步军将校，征方腊时随军攻打润州，于乱军中被马踏身亡，是梁山战死的第一位好汉；孔亮，梁山第六十三位好汉，星号地狂星。原为孔家庄二少爷，因曾收留犯下命案的宋江，并得其点拨武艺，遂与哥哥毛头星孔明一同拜其为师。上梁山后担任守护中军步军骁将，征方腊时于昆山不慎落水身亡。
本作中的宋万与孔亮皆为披发的俊美白面少年形象，好似两位兄弟，眉飞入鬓，双目圆睁，一身铁打似筋骨。二人此刻已成功潜行至城墙边，装填好火药，似乎正点燃用以发信号的竹制烽炮。虽说人物的形象、穿着乃至行为都与正本《水浒传》大相径庭，但依然鲜明立体，动态十足。开战在即，一触即发的紧张气氛早已透过纸面，不由得让观者捏一把汗。
For my new featured print, I’m taking a look at Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s “Kong Liang and Song Wan,” from One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden. The story behind this series is almost as fascinating as the images themselves.
For Kuniyoshi, this series was a career maker; for warrior prints, a genre-creating blockbuster; and for the tattoo artists of Edo and other towns, a business bonanza.
In China in the first half of the 12th Century, a group of 36 brigands led by a toughie called Song Jiang joined forces in Mount Liang to launch a rebellion, or so the legend goes. They were promptly put down by imperial troops, but their story lived on – in fact, it grew.
They were the focus of a novel called Shui Hu Zhuan(水滸傳) – “Water Margin Chronicles” or “Outlaws of the Marshes.” Their ranks grew to 108 warriors in this telling. These were modern, flawed heroes, or anti-heroes, occasionally committing crimes or letting personal grievances get the best of them. But in time, they used their skills to help the downtrodden, and the idea of these brave outlaws fighting the corrupt government proved irresistible to the masses.
The legend was first introduced to Japan in the late Muromachi period (14th–15th century). By the Edo era it had changed considerably. And while still technically Chinese, many Japanese superimposed the tale atop their own societal challenges.
Enter Kuniyoshi, a young Ukiyoe woodblock print designer with a few illustrated books and warrior triptychs under his belt. In 1828, with the publisher Kagaya, he launched One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden -- the Water Margin tale updated. And he didn’t hold back.
While male heroes, usually as portrayed by Kabuki actors, were often delicate and nearly feminine in appearance in early Ukiyoe, Kuniyoshi broke the mold with these upright oban yoko-e designs – muscles bulged and rippled, chest hair and back hair sprouted out of dramatically flung open kimonos and uniforms, and tattoos (horimono) covered entire torsos.
In this print – one, alas, without tattoos – margin warriors Song Wan and Kong Liang are portrayed as handsome fair-faced young men with long hair, like two brothers, with eyebrows flying into the temples, eyes wide open, and sinewy, strong bodies. Their intricately designed garments flow dramatically with movement.
They have snuck onto the wall of Peking Castle and seem to be lighting bamboo beacons for signaling. Although the image, clothing and even behavior of the characters are very different from the original "Water Margin", they are still vivid, three-dimensional and full of energy.
The public went mad for this series, and the masculine narrative it told in a colorful new way. Warrior prints were an Ukiyoe staple from then on, and Kuniyoshi’s future was assured. He returned to the theme again – including this wonderful design featuring a magnificent tattoo.
And tattoo artists? They were inundated with customers who wanted to bring Ukiyoe to life on their own bodies, including firemen, carpenters, and other professionals.
In fact, according to the scholar Rossella Menegazzo in the wonderful book Kuniyoshi (Skira; 2018), the famed tattoo artist Aka Horihide in Yokusuka used Kuniyoshi and Hokusai prints as references right up until his death in 2017.
“If you want to become a good horishi (tattoo master),” he said, “you cannot but study the works of these masters.”
From 12th Century China to the arm of some teenager just south of Tokyo today. What a journey. But that’s Ukiyoe for you.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
通俗水浒传豪杰百八人一個 云里金刚宋万
Kong Liang and Song Wan, from the series of One of the 108 Heroes of the Popular Water Margin
1827-30
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tata-e | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
整体品相非常好；右下角角落处纸张较薄；上方边缘有非常轻微的污渍
Very good condition; a little minor thinning at lower right corner; very minor soiling at upper edges
$4,200
《通俗水浒传豪杰百八人之一个》，是一套以中国小说《水浒传》为蓝本，由歌川国芳创作的锦绘人物画系列，最初或出版于1827年，现存共计74幅。狂野、前卫、浪漫、震撼……此系列一经面世，便立刻成为“现象级”作品。画中一位位有血有肉，形态各异的英雄人物让无数江户子们热血沸腾，并由此掀起了长久的“水浒热”与“刺青热”。直至今日，它也仍是国芳最为人熟知的作品，甚至没有之一。
在正本《水浒传》中，云里金刚宋万和独火星孔亮皆是戏份较少的地煞星。宋万，梁山第八十二位好汉，星号地魔星。原是梁山开山元老，虽武艺平平，但因身材高大，人称云里金刚。上梁山后职司为步军将校，征方腊时随军攻打润州，于乱军中被马踏身亡，是梁山战死的第一位好汉；孔亮，梁山第六十三位好汉，星号地狂星。原为孔家庄二少爷，因曾收留犯下命案的宋江，并得其点拨武艺，遂与哥哥毛头星孔明一同拜其为师。上梁山后担任守护中军步军骁将，征方腊时于昆山不慎落水身亡。
本作中的宋万与孔亮皆为披发的俊美白面少年形象，好似两位兄弟，眉飞入鬓，双目圆睁，一身铁打似筋骨。二人此刻已成功潜行至城墙边，装填好火药，似乎正点燃用以发信号的竹制烽炮。虽说人物的形象、穿着乃至行为都与正本《水浒传》大相径庭，但依然鲜明立体，动态十足。开战在即，一触即发的紧张气氛早已透过纸面，不由得让观者捏一把汗。
For my new featured print, I’m taking a look at Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s “Kong Liang and Song Wan,” from One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden. The story behind this series is almost as fascinating as the images themselves.
For Kuniyoshi, this series was a career maker; for warrior prints, a genre-creating blockbuster; and for the tattoo artists of Edo and other towns, a business bonanza.
In China in the first half of the 12th Century, a group of 36 brigands led by a toughie called Song Jiang joined forces in Mount Liang to launch a rebellion, or so the legend goes. They were promptly put down by imperial troops, but their story lived on – in fact, it grew.
They were the focus of a novel called Shui Hu Zhuan(水滸傳) – “Water Margin Chronicles” or “Outlaws of the Marshes.” Their ranks grew to 108 warriors in this telling. These were modern, flawed heroes, or anti-heroes, occasionally committing crimes or letting personal grievances get the best of them. But in time, they used their skills to help the downtrodden, and the idea of these brave outlaws fighting the corrupt government proved irresistible to the masses.
The legend was first introduced to Japan in the late Muromachi period (14th–15th century). By the Edo era it had changed considerably. And while still technically Chinese, many Japanese superimposed the tale atop their own societal challenges.
Enter Kuniyoshi, a young Ukiyoe woodblock print designer with a few illustrated books and warrior triptychs under his belt. In 1828, with the publisher Kagaya, he launched One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden -- the Water Margin tale updated. And he didn’t hold back.
While male heroes, usually as portrayed by Kabuki actors, were often delicate and nearly feminine in appearance in early Ukiyoe, Kuniyoshi broke the mold with these upright oban yoko-e designs – muscles bulged and rippled, chest hair and back hair sprouted out of dramatically flung open kimonos and uniforms, and tattoos (horimono) covered entire torsos.
In this print – one, alas, without tattoos – margin warriors Song Wan and Kong Liang are portrayed as handsome fair-faced young men with long hair, like two brothers, with eyebrows flying into the temples, eyes wide open, and sinewy, strong bodies. Their intricately designed garments flow dramatically with movement.
They have snuck onto the wall of Peking Castle and seem to be lighting bamboo beacons for signaling. Although the image, clothing and even behavior of the characters are very different from the original "Water Margin", they are still vivid, three-dimensional and full of energy.
The public went mad for this series, and the masculine narrative it told in a colorful new way. Warrior prints were an Ukiyoe staple from then on, and Kuniyoshi’s future was assured. He returned to the theme again – including this wonderful design featuring a magnificent tattoo.
And tattoo artists? They were inundated with customers who wanted to bring Ukiyoe to life on their own bodies, including firemen, carpenters, and other professionals.
In fact, according to the scholar Rossella Menegazzo in the wonderful book Kuniyoshi (Skira; 2018), the famed tattoo artist Aka Horihide in Yokusuka used Kuniyoshi and Hokusai prints as references right up until his death in 2017.
“If you want to become a good horishi (tattoo master),” he said, “you cannot but study the works of these masters.”
From 12th Century China to the arm of some teenager just south of Tokyo today. What a journey. But that’s Ukiyoe for you.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
歌川国芳 Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
通俗水浒传豪杰百八人一個 云里金刚宋万
Kong Liang and Song Wan, from the series of One of the 108 Heroes of the Popular Water Margin
1827-30
木版画 | 纵绘大判 | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
Woodblock-print | Oban tata-e | 37.5cm x 25.3cm
整体品相非常好；右下角角落处纸张较薄；上方边缘有非常轻微的污渍
Very good condition; a little minor thinning at lower right corner; very minor soiling at upper edges
$4,200
《通俗水浒传豪杰百八人之一个》，是一套以中国小说《水浒传》为蓝本，由歌川国芳创作的锦绘人物画系列，最初或出版于1827年，现存共计74幅。狂野、前卫、浪漫、震撼……此系列一经面世，便立刻成为“现象级”作品。画中一位位有血有肉，形态各异的英雄人物让无数江户子们热血沸腾，并由此掀起了长久的“水浒热”与“刺青热”。直至今日，它也仍是国芳最为人熟知的作品，甚至没有之一。
在正本《水浒传》中，云里金刚宋万和独火星孔亮皆是戏份较少的地煞星。宋万，梁山第八十二位好汉，星号地魔星。原是梁山开山元老，虽武艺平平，但因身材高大，人称云里金刚。上梁山后职司为步军将校，征方腊时随军攻打润州，于乱军中被马踏身亡，是梁山战死的第一位好汉；孔亮，梁山第六十三位好汉，星号地狂星。原为孔家庄二少爷，因曾收留犯下命案的宋江，并得其点拨武艺，遂与哥哥毛头星孔明一同拜其为师。上梁山后担任守护中军步军骁将，征方腊时于昆山不慎落水身亡。
本作中的宋万与孔亮皆为披发的俊美白面少年形象，好似两位兄弟，眉飞入鬓，双目圆睁，一身铁打似筋骨。二人此刻已成功潜行至城墙边，装填好火药，似乎正点燃用以发信号的竹制烽炮。虽说人物的形象、穿着乃至行为都与正本《水浒传》大相径庭，但依然鲜明立体，动态十足。开战在即，一触即发的紧张气氛早已透过纸面，不由得让观者捏一把汗。
For my new featured print, I’m taking a look at Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s “Kong Liang and Song Wan,” from One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden. The story behind this series is almost as fascinating as the images themselves.
For Kuniyoshi, this series was a career maker; for warrior prints, a genre-creating blockbuster; and for the tattoo artists of Edo and other towns, a business bonanza.
In China in the first half of the 12th Century, a group of 36 brigands led by a toughie called Song Jiang joined forces in Mount Liang to launch a rebellion, or so the legend goes. They were promptly put down by imperial troops, but their story lived on – in fact, it grew.
They were the focus of a novel called Shui Hu Zhuan(水滸傳) – “Water Margin Chronicles” or “Outlaws of the Marshes.” Their ranks grew to 108 warriors in this telling. These were modern, flawed heroes, or anti-heroes, occasionally committing crimes or letting personal grievances get the best of them. But in time, they used their skills to help the downtrodden, and the idea of these brave outlaws fighting the corrupt government proved irresistible to the masses.
The legend was first introduced to Japan in the late Muromachi period (14th–15th century). By the Edo era it had changed considerably. And while still technically Chinese, many Japanese superimposed the tale atop their own societal challenges.
Enter Kuniyoshi, a young Ukiyoe woodblock print designer with a few illustrated books and warrior triptychs under his belt. In 1828, with the publisher Kagaya, he launched One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Suikoden -- the Water Margin tale updated. And he didn’t hold back.
While male heroes, usually as portrayed by Kabuki actors, were often delicate and nearly feminine in appearance in early Ukiyoe, Kuniyoshi broke the mold with these upright oban yoko-e designs – muscles bulged and rippled, chest hair and back hair sprouted out of dramatically flung open kimonos and uniforms, and tattoos (horimono) covered entire torsos.
In this print – one, alas, without tattoos – margin warriors Song Wan and Kong Liang are portrayed as handsome fair-faced young men with long hair, like two brothers, with eyebrows flying into the temples, eyes wide open, and sinewy, strong bodies. Their intricately designed garments flow dramatically with movement.
They have snuck onto the wall of Peking Castle and seem to be lighting bamboo beacons for signaling. Although the image, clothing and even behavior of the characters are very different from the original "Water Margin", they are still vivid, three-dimensional and full of energy.
The public went mad for this series, and the masculine narrative it told in a colorful new way. Warrior prints were an Ukiyoe staple from then on, and Kuniyoshi’s future was assured. He returned to the theme again – including this wonderful design featuring a magnificent tattoo.
And tattoo artists? They were inundated with customers who wanted to bring Ukiyoe to life on their own bodies, including firemen, carpenters, and other professionals.
In fact, according to the scholar Rossella Menegazzo in the wonderful book Kuniyoshi (Skira; 2018), the famed tattoo artist Aka Horihide in Yokusuka used Kuniyoshi and Hokusai prints as references right up until his death in 2017.
“If you want to become a good horishi (tattoo master),” he said, “you cannot but study the works of these masters.”
From 12th Century China to the arm of some teenager just south of Tokyo today. What a journey. But that’s Ukiyoe for you.
Interested in purchasing?
Please contact us.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798–1861)
Warriors, ghosts, crabs and cats.
The woodblock print designs of Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of Ukiyo-e’s most vibrant and creative 19th Century masters, encompass more than that – he depicted landscapes and beautiful women, too – but those are the first genres that come to mind when contemplating this wonderful and eccentric genius and his sprawling, timeless body of work.
From an early age, the young Kuniyoshi was fascinated by drama and history – with a big helping of the supernatural. He loved nature and animals, too – especially cats: again and again they pop up in designs throughout his career (adding a premium to the prices those woodblock prints fetch today). Starting out as a relatively traditional student of the Utagawa school, he soon developed his hugely energetic style, full of dynamic action, and eventually passed it on to his many students – Yoshitoshi being the most famous. Along with Kunisada and Hiroshige, he was among the most prolific of all Ukiyo-e artists.
He was born Yoshisaburō on January 1, 1798 to a silk dyer. Some say his father’s rich patterns influenced his bold, colorful designs. He always loved legends and history. By age 12 he had shown a talent for drawing and become a student of the great Toyokuni, who gave him the name Kuniyoshi. He also studied the Tosa, Kano and Maruyama painting styles.
It took awhile for him to find his place in the thriving Ukiyo-e world. Then in the 1820s he produced his first epic warrior triptychs, and his career success was assured. He often gave legendary heroes fanciful and intricate tattoos of his own design, starting a style craze in Edo.
He eventually expanded genres to include animal studies and landscapes. His wonderful oban yoko-e series of “Famous Views of the Eastern Capital” is especially interesting for its use of Western motifs, such as shadows, billowing clouds and a low vantage point to create atmospheric perspective. While these efforts weren’t always entirely successful, they still resulted in wonderfully lively Ukiyo-e designs.
In all, he produced nearly 250 series for 150 publishers.
During the Tempo reforms of the 1840s, which dramatically censured woodblock prints, he boldly skirted rules barring depictions of actors by putting their faces on various animals, such as turtles.
He died at the age of 63 in April 1861 in his home in Genyadana.
Partial citation: Marks, Andreas, Japanese Woodblock Prints, Artists, Publishers and Masterworks: 1680-1900 (Tuttle; 2010)