The Moon at Mt. Jiming

Catalog note / 解説

This is the thirty-first print in Yoshitoshi's monumental series One Hundred Views of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi). The series was published over a seven-year period from 1885 to 1892, with the last one completed shortly before he died. It was tremendously popular, and finally brought Yoshitoshi the success that had been so elusive for most of his life. The Academy's print is a fine early impression of this design. It depicts the Chinese hero Zhang Liang (d. 189 BCE) before a crucial battle that helped to establish the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220CE). The night before the battle, Zhang climbed Mount Jiming (lit. “Rooster's Call Mountain”) and played tunes from the enemy's homeland, making the enem…