Seichû gishi den  (誠忠義士傳)

From his earliest days Kuniyoshi’s natural talent was pointed towards legendary and historic themes, and it soon coalesced into an original, dynamic and recognizable style of its own. The story of the 47 Ronin especially held Kuniyoshi’s artistic attention with great passion and intensity throughout his 45-year career. He produced 12 series and 20 triptychs devoted to the Chushingura, or “Treasury of Loyal Hearts” as the story is called in Japanese.

Toward the end of his early period (1814-1830) he produced the first five of his Chushingura triptychs, and he continued returning to the Chushingura theme with an almost feverish pitch until he produced his last ronin series, the Seichu gishin meimei kagami (Mirror of the true loyalty of the faithful retainers) in 1857, just 4 years before his death.

An important point to note regarding the Chushingura: to avoid censorship laws, the playwrights changed the date from the eighteenth century to the fourteenth century, the location was moved from Edo to Kamakura, and the names of the characters were disguised; Lord Asano Takumi-no-kami became Lord En’ya Hangan; Kira Kozuke-no-suke (his enemy) became Kono Moronao and Oishi Kuranosuke, leader of the vendetta, became Oboshi Yuranosuke – and so on for all the characters – you will notice the prints reflect this same technique of disguise, referencing the Kabuki names rather than the historical name of the subjects etc.

The Seichu gishi den (Stories of the true loyalty of the faithful samurai) series was begun in August of 1847 and completed in January of 1848. We know this because Kuniyoshi recorded it into the penultimate print of the series (plate 1.50). This series, with the coiled kill or be killed tension of battle so startlingly evident, became one of the most popular of his works of art based on the ronin motif, and began an extraordinary proliferation of the theme.

Print No. 1.10 was my very first woodblock print I purchased over 25 years ago, and this is a series I am mildly obsessed with. I have spent the time trying to find the best early versions I could. For more information and musings on the Seichu gishi den series of prints refer to the Research page.

The bushidoboutique collection – Seichû gishi den  (誠忠義士傳)