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The Poet Abe no Nakamaro Viewing the Moon on the Night before His Departure from China, from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets
The Poet Abe no Nakamaro Viewing the Moon on the Night before His Departure from China, from the series A True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets

The Poet Abe no Nakamaro Viewing the Moon on the Night before His Departure from China, 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: 20 3/16 × 8 15/16 in. (51.3 × 22.7 cm)
Credit LineMary A. Ainsworth Bequest
PortfolioA True Mirror of the Imagery of Chinese and Japanese Poets(Shika shashinkyo)
Object number1950.737
Status
Not on view
More Information
A man in formal Japanese attire sits on a balcony, gazing at the moon in the distance. With him are three other formally dressed gentlemen, but their servant, who brings a gift, is dressed in Chinese-style clothing. A closer look at the architecture, and particularly the large Chinese garden rock in the foreground, would have indicated to viewers in Edo that the group was in China. This is an image of Abe no Nakamaro 阿倍仲麻呂 (ca. 698–770), a scholar and poet of the Nara period who studied in China. The scene illustrates one of his poems:

When I look up
into the vast sky tonight,
is it the same moon
that I saw rising from behind Mt. Mikasa
at Kasuga Shrine
all those years ago?
Exhibition History
Japanese Woodblock Prints: Selections from the Mary A. Ainsworth Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 1, 1992 - June 14, 1992 )
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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