A Soldier in the Army of Meng Changrun Tricks the Guards at Kankokukan into Opening Their Gates by Imitating a Cock-crow; Illustration to a Remark by the Japanese Poetess Sei Shonagon, from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets

The scene illustrates a famous Chinese legend. Pursued by the Qin army, Lord Mèngcháng and his men were stopped at the Hangu Pass until the roosters crowed, signaling morning. The lord’s aide, Féng, was a skilled mimic. His rooster crow prompted the real roosters to crow; the guards let them pass, and they escaped. The poet referenced in the title cartouche, however, is Sei Shōnagon 清少納言 (ca. 966–1017 or 1025), a Heian period aristocrat, lady-in-waiting to the empress, bon vivant, and author of The Pillow Book. Her poem reads:

The rooster’s crowing
In the middle of the night
Deceived the hearers;
But at Osaka’s gateway
The guards are never fooled.