Zhang Qing (Botu'usen Chosei), from the series "One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Water Margin (Tsuzoku Suikoden goketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori)"
c. 1827/30
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
38.9 × 26.7 cm (15 5/16 × 10 1/2 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
130698
Art Historical Context
Behold the dynamic woodblock print *Zhang Qing (Botuusen Chosei)* by Utagawa Kuniy, created around 1827–30 as part of his renowned series *One Hundred and Heroes of the Popular Water (Tsuzoku Suikoden gok hyakuhachinin hitori)*. This oban-sized color woodblock print (38.9 × 26.7 cm) captures of the legendary outlaws from China's classic 14th-century novel *Water* (Suikoden in Japanese), a tale of 108 rebel heroes fighting corruption. Kuniyoshi, a master of the ukiyo-e tradition, immortalized these anti-heroes during Japan's Edo period, fueling a cultural craze for bold warrior imagery that inf...
About the Artist
Utagawa Kuniyoshi · 1797–1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was born in Edo to the silk-dyer Yanagiya Kichiyemon, originally bearing the childhood name Yoshisaburō. From a young age, he assisted in his family's pattern design work, which sharpened his innate mastery of color and textile motifs that would permeate his later prints. At around twelve years old, his prodigious drawing skills drew the attention of the renowned Utag...