Kuniyoshi, Shameisaburô Sekishû

Notes: Full margins/sheet. Expertly restored worm holes in upper right. Shameisaburô Sekishû, in a wide hat and black robe, and holding a mokugyo (percussion instrument used with Buddhist prayers), with his foot on the neck of the prostrate monk Haijokai at the back gate of the palace of Yôyû. This is Kuniyoshi’s “great” Suikoden series—the series that made him famous. These prints are the first single-sheet color prints on the Suikoden theme 1 and the first large series of warrior prints designed by any ukiyo-e artist. It 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.