Art Institute of Chicago

Tangerine and Chinese Legend

Kosei

Date

spring 1871

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This print is a finely produced summer scene with a tangerine and nuts on embossed chrysanthemum-design paper. The upper-left edge shows a piece of paper from the back, cleverly indicating the paper on which the objects were placed. The paper (with its characters in reverse) describes the biography of the Chinese hero Baili Xi, who was an influential prime minister of the state of Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China. With the guidance of Baili, the Qin state was able to wage war and make peace with its neighbors, becoming the greatest power in the west. As on who combined learning and statesmanship, Baili thus became a hero for the literati of the Far East.

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