Minneapolis Institute of Art

Kosode with plum trees and Chinese poem

Japan

Date

second half 17th century

Medium

Silk, embroidery, and tie-dyeing

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

poem by Zhang Xiaobiao 章孝標 (fl. c. 830) The branches of a plum tree loaded with embroidered or tie-dyed blossoms of red, gold, and black dominate both the front and back of this kosode , a type of robe with narrow sleeve openings. The seven Chinese characters that float across the upper part of the robe can be read from the back of the right sleeve, moving left across the back, then picking up on the front of the left sleeve, and moving left across the chest: “Plum blossoms swathed in snow flutter over the zither.” This is the first line of a well-known couplet by the Tang-dynasty Chinese poet Zhang Xiaobiao (mid-9th c.) that describes an outdoor gathering in early spring. Japan, Asia

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