Subject: Taira no Tomomori (平知盛) having trussed himself to an anchor at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185
Series: Ukiyo-e Comparisons of the Cloudy Chapters of Genji – Genji kumo ukiyo-e awase (源氏雲浮世画合)
Print No: Chapter 40. Minori (御法, The Rites)
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Signature: Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga and kiri seal
Date: 1845-46
Cens: Murata
Publisher: Ise-ya Ichibei
Size: Oban tate-e,
Condition: Fine impression, very good colour and condition, some minor marks, and trimming to bottom margin
Price: USD 1200
Literature: Kuniyoshi the worrior prints – B.W. Robinson S45.40. Heroes and Ghost – Robert Schappe (page 85)
The pairing of Taira no Tomomori with the Genji chapter Minori (御法, “The Rites”) is likely founded primarily on shared Buddhist themes of mortality and impermanence. However, Edo-period viewers may also have appreciated the phonetic echo between Minori and Tomomori, as well as the irony that Tomomori’s name contains the character 盛 (“prosperity” or “flourishing”), even as he confronts the final destruction of the Taira clan at Dan-no-ura.
The poem:
Trusting in a body
that possesses the merit
by which one may not perish,
through generation after generation
the vow endures unchanged.
The tale of the text – cautiously …
At the battle of Dan-no-ura, when the fortunes of the Taira had reached their end, Tomomori understood that defeat was unavoidable. Displaying remarkable resolution, he entrusted himself to the depths of the sea rather than submit to capture. His steadfast spirit has long been admired and remembered.