The 108 Heroes of the Popular Suikoden,

Part III

Japanese name: Rôshi Ensei (浪子燕青)

Chinese name: Yan Qing

Scene: Rôshi Ensei, wearing a loincloth and tattooed, on a roof by moonlight, hurling stones on a pursuing gang of thieves

Robinson: S2.50

Klompmakers: 51

NOTE: This is the unsigned first edition with the seal of the publisher Kaga-ya Kichiyemon.

This later edition was published about 1845 and bears Kuniyoshi’s signature as well as the seal of the publisher Iba-ya Sensaburô.

Japanese name: Rôshi Ensei (浪子燕青)

Chinese name: Yan Qing

Scene: Rôshi Ensei, wearing a loincloth and tattooed, lifts a huge beam above a prostrate adversary

Robinson: S2.51

Klompmakers: 50

Japanese name: Ryôtôja Kaichin (兩頭蛇解珍)

Chinese name: Xie Zhen

Scene: Ryôtôja Kaichin the hunter, in a shower of rain, binding a fallen enemy general with a corded missile

Robinson: S2.52

Klompmakers: 57

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this alternate state of the above design with fewer colors.

Japanese name: Ryûchitaisai (or Ritchitaisai) Genshôji (立地太歲阮小二)

Chinese name: Ruan Xiao’er

Scene: Ryûchitaisai Genshôji in a boat, attacked by grappling-hooks on cords, thrown by his opponents

Robinson: S2.53

Klompmakers: 59

Another state of the above print without water plants

Japanese name: Saijinki Kwakusei (賽仁貴郭盛) Chinese name: Guo Sheng Scene: Saijinki Kwakusei, of markedly simian appearance, armed with a spear on a plunging horse, with a banner charged with a winged horse Robinson: S2.54 Klompmakers: 18b

Japanese name: Shô-onkô Ryohô (小溫侯呂方) Chinese name: Lü Fang Scene: Shô-onkô Ryohô, three-quarter back view, armored on a galloping horse, and armed with a long spear, his banner charged with a newt Robinson: S2.63 Klompmakers: 18a

Japanese name: Saiyenshi Chôsei (菜園子張青)

Chinese name: Zhang Qing

Scene: Saiyenshi Chôsei, bare-chested and tattooed, carrying a pole, looks down from a lofty rock

Robinson: S2.55

Klompmakers: 12

Japanese name: Seibokkan Kakushibun (井木案郝思文)

Chinese name: Hao Siwen

Scene: Seibokkan Kakushibun, bareheaded in armor in the snow, wields his sword with both hands

Robinson: S2.56

Klompmakers: 40c

NOTE: See S2.44 in Part II for the complete triptych. I am grateful to Nathan Oliver for this image.

Japanese name: Seimenjû Yôshi (青面獸揚志)

Chinese name: Yang Zhi

Scene: Seimenjû Yôshi by the Tenkanshû Bridge poising his sword over a fallen adversary , who raises a protesting hand; the latter had ridiculed his poverty in going to sell his sword

Robinson: S2.57

Klompmakers: 8

I am grateful to Nathan Oliver for this image.

Japanese name: Seishushosei Shôjô (聖手書生蕭讓)

Chinese name: Xiao Rang

Scene: Seishushosei Shôjô, a sword suspended in his teeth, descending the wall of Peking Castle by a rope in the moonlight

Robinson: S2.58

Klompmakers: 53a

NOTE: See S2.25 in Part I for the complete vertical diptych, which was published about 1836, several years after most of the prints in this series.

Japanese name: Sekibakki Ryûtô (赤髮鬼劉唐)

Chinese name: Liu Tang

Scene: Sekibakki Ryûtô armored and raising his sword for a stroke

Robinson: S2.59

Klompmakers: 39a

NOTE: See S2.2 in Part I for the complete triptych. I am grateful to Nathan Oliver for this image.

Japanese name: Sekishôgun Sekiyû (石將軍石勇)

Chinese name: Shi Yong

Scene: Sekishôgun Sekiyû throttling a foe at the base of a waterfall, both fully armored

Robinson: S2.60

Klompmakers: 61

NOTE: According to Robinson, this print dated from about 1840

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this shita-e (preliminary drawing) for the above print.

Japanese name: Senkwaji (or Senkaji) Chô-ô (船伙兒張橫)

Chinese name: Zhang Heng

Scene: Senkwaji Chô-ô, bare-chested and tattooed, about to slay the enemy general Hôtentei with his sword, looks back on a supernatural flame that plays on the torrent behind him

Robinson: S2.61

Klompmakers: 58

Japanese name: Shameisaburô (or Henmeisanrô) Sekishû (拼命三郎石秀)

Chinese name: Shi Xiu

Scene: Shameisaburô Sekishû, in a wide hat and black robe, and holding a mokugyo (percussion instrument used with Buddhist prayers), with his foot on the neck of the prostrate monk Haijokai at the back gate of the palace of Yôyû

Robinson: S2.62

Klompmakers: 23

Japanese name: Shô-onkô Ryohô (小溫侯呂方)

Chinese name: Lü Fang

Scene: Shô-onkô Ryohô, three-quarter back view, armored on a galloping horse, and armed with a long spear, his banner charged with a newt

Robinson: S2.63

Klompmakers: 18a

NOTE: For another state of this print see the complete diptych at S2.54 above.

Japanese name: Shôrikô Kwaei (or Kaei, 小李廣花榮)

Chinese name: Hua Rong

Scene: Shôrikô Kwaei standing by a hill shooting at wild geese with his bow and arrows

Robinson: S2.64

Klompmakers: 19

NOTE: The influence of Western art on the clouds

Another state of the above print

Japanese name: Shûgumba Sensan (醜郡馬宣贊)

Chinese name: Xuan Zan

Scene: Shûgumba Sensan, armored but bareheaded, in the snow, carrying a pole-arm with a ring head barbed on the inside

Robinson: S2.65

Klompmakers: 44

Japanese name: Shutsurinryô (or Shutsurinryû) Sûen (出林龍鄒淵)

Chinese name: Zou Yuan

Scene: Shutsurinryô Sûen, his helmet crested with long pheasant’s feathers, in a furious hand-to-hand struggle with an opponent

Robinson: S2.66

Klompmakers: 47

I am grateful to Nathan Oliver for this image.

Japanese name: Sôshiko Raiô (挿翅虎雷横)

Chinese name: Lei Heng

Scene: Sôshiko Raiô gripping the Lady Hakushûei by the throat, and about to strike her with his fist

Robinson: S2.67

Klompmakers: 27

Japanese name: Sôtôki Sôsei (操刀鬼曹正)

Chinese name: Cao Zheng

Scene: Sôtôki Sôsei, bare-chested and tattooed, wielding a long pole, with kitchen utensils and provisions behind him

Robinson: S2.68

Klompmakers: 11

I am grateful to Robert Pryor for this keyblock print of the above image.

Japanese name: Tanmeijirô Genshôgo (短冥次郎阮小吾)

Chinese name: Ruan Xiaowu

Scene: Tammeijirô Genshôgo, bare-chested and tattooed, grappling with an armored foe under water

Robinson: S2.69

Klompmakers: 52

In this variant, the water pattern extends farther into the left upper corner.

Japanese name: Tammeijirô (or Tanmeijirô) Genshôgo (短冥治郎阮小五)

Chinese name: Du Qian

Scene: Tammeijirô Genshôgo, bare-chested, kneels on a fallen foe, a drawn sword in his hand

Robinson: S2.70

Klompmakers: 13a

NOTE: See S2.23 in Part I for the complete triptych

Another state of the above design with a blue curtain

Japanese name: Temmokushô Hôki (天目將彭玘)

Chinese name: Peng Qi

Scene: Temmokushô Hôki in a black bearskin cloak in the snow, stretching a cord with a noose at the end

Robinson: S2.71

Klompmakers: 40a

NOTE: See S2.44 in Part II for the complete triptych. I am grateful to Nathan Oliver for this image.

Japanese name: Tettekisen Barin (鉄笛仙馬麟)

Chinese name: Ma Lin

Scene: Tettekisen Barin employing magic to lift a stag over his head while overthrowing a monstrous white monkey

Robinson: S2.72

Klompmakers: 30

Japanese name: Unrikongô Sôman (雲里金剛宋萬) and Dokkwasei Kôryô (獨火星孔亮)

Chinese name: Song Wan and Kong Liang

Scene: Unrikongô Sôman, under the wall of Peking Castle, holds up a burning match; Dokkwasei Kôryô crouches behind him with a short bamboo pole

Robinson: S2.73

Klompmakers: 43b

NOTE: See S2.47 in Part II for the complete diptych

Japanese name: Waikyakko Ôyei (矮腳虎王英)

Chinese name: Wang Ying

Scene: Waikyakko Ôyei on a rock overhanging a torrent, a drawn sword in his hand

Robinson: S2.74

Klompmakers: 17b

NOTE: See S2.10 in Part I for the complete diptych

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

“Klompmakers” refers to listing in Of Brigands and Bravery, Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden by Inge Klompmakers (Hotei Publishing, Leiden, The Netherlands, 1998).

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