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Chinese Poem “The Youth’s Song” (Shōnenkō), from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets
Chinese Poem “The Youth’s Song” (Shōnenkō), from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets

Chinese Poem “The Youth’s Song” (Shōnenkō), from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets

Artist/Maker (Japanese, 1760–1849)
Publisher
Date1833–34
MediumColor woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
DimensionsVertical nagaōban; overall: 19 3/4 × 8 15/16 in. (50.2 × 22.7 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
PortfolioA True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets (Shika shashinkyo)
Object number1950.740
Status
Not on view
More Information
A well-dressed rider with a fine sword on an elaborately fitted horse journeys on a winding, riverside road. His servant precedes him, and a fisherman seems to nap by the water’s edge. Despite the outward signs of wealth, the rider uses a simple willow branch for a whip. This odd feature, and of course the title above, would help an Edo viewer to identify the scene as an illustration of the poem i>Shōnenkō 少年行 by the 8th-century Chinese poet Cuī Guófǔ 崔国辅.

The poem is in the voice of a wealthy young man who has forgotten his riding crop at the brothel district, called Zhangtai, in the capital. It reads:

I’d lost my coral riding crop,
And my white horse tossed his head and balked
so I plucked a strand of Zhangtai willow:
the roadside in the spring sun has its charm.

—Translated by Alfred Haft
Exhibition History
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan (April 13, 2019 - May 25, 2019 )
  • Shizuoka City Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan (June 8, 2019 - July 28, 2019 )
  • Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, Japan (August 10, 2019 - September 29, 2019 )
Ukiyo-e Prints from the Mary Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 14, 2020 - December 6, 2020 )
Collections
  • Asian
This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator. Noticed a mistake? Have some extra information about this object? Please contact us.
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