108 Heroes of the Suikoden, One by One (chûban)

(Suikoden gôketsu hyaku-bachi-nin no hitori)

Publisher: Yamazaki Kimbei

1830, reissued in 1842

This series of prints is based on stories from the semi-historical Chinese novel, Suikoden (Shuihu zhuan in Chinese).  It tells of the adventures of a band of 108 rebels who sought refuge in the margins of Liangshan Marsh.  These rebel warriors sought to protect the poor and downtrodden, very much like Robin Hood’s band.  Each print in this series was published with a decorative margin.  Unfortunately, some collectors disliked the margins and removed them.  Some of the designs in this series are smaller versions of prints in Kuniyoshi’s ‘great’ Suikoden series.  The prints in this series are each about 10 by 7 inches (25 by 18 centimeters), a size known as chûban.

 

 

Japanese name: Gyôja Bushô of Seikaken

Chinese name: Wu Song

Scene: Gyôja Bushô, brown-skinned and half-naked, killing a tiger with his bare hands at Keiyô Hill

Robinson: S2a.1

 

Japanese name: Chûsenko Teitokuson

Chinese name: Ding Desun

Scene: Chûsenko Teitokuson driving his sword into an enormous snake with both hands

Robinson: S2a.2

 

Japanese name: Hakujisso Hakushô

Chinese name: Bai Sheng

Scene: Hakujisso Hakushô, half-naked, lifting a box of snakes above a foe with whom he is struggling.

Robinson: S2a.3

 

Japanese name: Hyôshitô Rinchû

Chinese name: Lin Chong

Scene: Hyôshitô Rinchû about to thrust his sword into a kneeling dark-skinned foe in the snow

Robinson: S2a.4

 

Japanese name: Kokusempû Riki (called Ritetsu Gyu)

Chinese name: Li Kui

Scene: Kokusempû Riki by a waterfall with a sword in hand fighting three tigers

Robinson: S2a.5

 

No image available

 

Japanese name: Kwaoshô (or Kaoshô) Rochishin

Chinese name: Lu Da or Lu Zhishen

Scene:

Robinson: S2a.6

 

No image available

 

Japanese name: Kwatsuyenra (or Katsuenra) Genshôshichi

Chinese name: Ruan Xiaoqi

Scene:

Robinson: S2a.7

 

No image available

 

Japanese name: Ryôtôja (or Ryôtôda) Kaichin

Chinese name: Xie Zhen

Scene:

Robinson: S2a.8

 

No image available

 

Japanese name: Ryûchitaisai (or Ritchitaisai) Genshôji

Chinese name: Ruan Xiao’er

Scene:

Robinson: S2a.9

 

Japanese name: Sekibakki Ryûtô

Chinese name: Liu Tang

Scene: Sekibakki Ryûtô holding a sword in his right horizontally over his head

Robinson: S2a.10

 

 

Japanese name: Sôshiko Raiô

Chinese name: Lei Heng

Scene: Sôshiko Raiô standing by a river with rapids holding his sword in front of him with both hands

Robinson: S2a.11

 

The above two prints may be joined to form a diptych.  In ukiyo-e, it is not unusual to encounter a series of single-sheet prints, only a few of which form larger compositions when joined.  If the prints are well designed, each panel is artistically pleasing in isolation. 

 

No image available

 

Japanese name: Tammeijirô Genshôgo

Chinese name: Ruan Xiaowu

Scene:

Robinson: S2a.12

‘Robinson’ refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its unpublished supplement.

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