Anonymous (17th Century)
Anonymous (17th Century)

Scene from the Taishokan

Details
Anonymous (17th Century)
Scene from the Taishokan
Six-panel screen; ink, color, gold and gold leaf on paper
47 5/8 x 107in. (121 x 272cm.)

Lot Essay

Taishokan is an ancient folktale about a heroic diving woman (ama) who retrieves a precious gem from the Dragon King of the Sea. At the center of the story is the founder of the Fujiwara clan, Fujiwara no Kamatari (614-669), also known by his court title, Taishokan (meaning "The great Woven Cap"). Kamatari has a beautiful daughter named Kohaku. Her reputation spreads to China. The Tang-dynasty emperor Taizong (r. 627-49), hopelessly infatuated, sends emissaries to ask for her hand in marriage. Eventually Kamatari agrees and Kohaku is sent to the Chinese palace. Kohaku sends back a gift to her father in the form of a priceless quartz gem. The Dragon King of the Sea devises a plan to steal the gem. He sends demonic warriors called Asura to battle the Chinese envoys who are sailing to Japan with the gem. Then he uses his daughter, the Dragon Princess, to distract the Chinese general. She is set adrift in a reed boat near the Chinese fleet. The Chinese general rescues her and she seizes the opportunity to steal the gem from him. To the surprise of the Chinese, she vanishes with the gem.

Kamatari receives the presents that have been sent from China but when he reads through the list of gifts he notes that the precious gem is
missing. He enlists the diving woman in his plan to retrieve the gem. She infiltrates the underwater palace of the Dragon King in order to snatch the gem from the pagoda where it is enshrined. Knowing that the Dragon King is fond of music, Kamatari stages a musical performance on ships in the harbor, shown in the upper left corner of the screen. The Dragon King and his retinue are thus lured away from their palace. The diving woman, shown toward the bottom of the third panel from the right, snatches the gem and is pursued by the monstrous dragon. She is forced to slit open her chest to hide the gem and is hoisted up into the boat by her lifeline. The tale relates that she dies in Kamatari's arms.

For Taishokan, see Daniele Talerico, "Interpreting Sexual Imagery in Japanese Prints: A Fresh Approach to Hokusai's Diver and Two Octopi," Impressions 23 (2001), pp. 24-41.

For another screen with the same subject, see Christie's, New York, 22 March, 2002, lot 114.

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