Title : Battle at Dannoura

Artist : Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Date : 1849

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : This print depicts another scene from the Tale of Heike, one that reflects both the prosperity and the downfall of the famed Taira family during the 12th century. The print portrays female members of the Taira family on a magnificent boat accompanying the young Emperor Antoku, whose mother was a daughter of Taira Kiyomori (1118 -1181), the most affluent Taira figure. After Yoshitsune’s sudden attack, the Taira clan commits suicide by leaping off the boat into the ocean, taking the child emperor with them. The central theme of the story is the Buddhist law of impermanence (mujö). The famous opening passage is an evocative statement of this philosophy: The sound of the Gion Shoja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind. The lavishly decorated boat in this print symbolizes the Taira’s final vestiges of power, which stand in sharp contrast to the poignancy of the once mighty clan’s tragic collapse. "Imagination, Power Humor: The Art of Utagawa Kuniyoshi" 10/14/2010 - 12/19/2010 ****************************************

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