Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1839-1892

Valor in China and Japan: Kikujido
(Wakan goki-zoroi: Kikujido)

signed Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi hitsu, with publisher's seal Daisada (Osada), carver's seal Hori Ushi, and combined censor and date seal Tatsu-shi, aratame (year of the dragon [1868], 4th lunar month, examined)

chuban tate-e 9 7/8 by 7 1/8 in., 25.2 by 18 cm

Kikujido, the Chrysanthemum Boy, sits beside a waterfall. According to legend, Kikujido was a highly-favored attendant of the Chinese Emperor Mu (c. 950 B.C.) who was banished from the court due to machinations of consorts who envied his standing with the Emperor. To ease his banishment, Emperor Mu provided Kikujido with a collection of Buddhist texts and taught Kikujido sacred words that he had learned from the Buddha himself. Kikujido became an immortal, and spent his days in a beautiful valley brimming with chrysanthemums, inscribing words of peace on the flowers' petals.

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