Article: Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai

THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF

Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai

By DONALD RICHIE

KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg, translations
and essay by Alfred H. Marks, Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Amsterdam:
Hotei Publishing, 2005, 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates. 39.50
euro (paper).

This is the paperback edition (first published in 2000) of one of the
most interesting of the many finely designed portfolios published by
the Dutch publishing house Hotei. It is devoted to the portraits of 47
loyal masterless samurai or ronin.

Their story is well known. In 1701 there was an altercation in Edo
Castle. A provincial lord, perceiving insult, drew his sword, an act
considered a capital offense. He was ordered to commit suicide,
leaving his samurai leaderless.

On a snowy day at the end of 1702, these ronin marched to the mansion
of the man they held responsible, decapitated him and offered his head
at the grave of their leader, thus completing their famous revenge.

But revenge had in the otherwise fairly peaceful 18th-century been
made a capital offense, leaving Tokugawa authorities no recourse but
to order the loyal ronin to kill themselves, hara kiri being the
designated method. Such an order, however, contradicted one of the
stipulations of the samurai code: that one should not live under the
same heaven nor tread the same earth as the enemy of one's lord.

The suicide of the ronin thus became a social issue. Many were the
pleas for lenience and petitions for pardon. These feelings were
ignored, yet as David Weinberg puts it in his commentary to this book
of Kuniyoshi woodblock portraits of the ronin, "something fundamental
in the character and spirit of the culture had suddenly and
dramatically been expressed by these warriors."

Its newsworthy importance was highlighted two weeks after the fact,
when a stage version of the episode was performed. Although all the
names were changed, everyone knew what the play was about, and its
popularity was enormous for the three days it ran before the theater
was summarily closed by the authorities.

Further renditions on both the bunraku and the kabuki stages appeared
shortly thereafter, and the saga of "Chushingura," ("The Treasury of
Loyal Retainers") had begun.

Its popularity has long continued. There have been many later versions
of "Chushingura," including an opera, a ballet and some 85 film
adaptations, most of them originally intended for a January release,
as this seemed the most appropriate season for the snow-filled
vendetta, the climax of the play. This is no longer true, however, and
such celebratory film versions have ceased to be made. Now the tale is
the property of television.

Initially, "Chushingura" was so popular that, in addition to the
various written and staged versions, ukiyo-e artists were soon turning
out best-selling prints. Hokusai, Utamaro, Hiroshige, Toyokuni,
Kunisada and many others did illustrations.

They had their differences, however. The use of mitate or parody was
seen in a number of prints.

Utamaro had a series in which "beautiful women" stood in for the
warriors and the recondite might recognize this reference or that. In
addition, there was the agenda of the artist himself.

Hiroshige was mainly interested in landscape, so his prints illustrate
mainly the outdoor sections of the play.

Hokusai, on the other hand, was interested in psychological anecdote;
consequently, his series creates a storyboard-like narrative --
something like manga.

Among the most popular of these series were those of Kuniyoshi
(1797-1861) who, nearly a century after the actual event, was able to
return to the story something of its original power and pathos. In
all, he produced more than 20 "Chushingura" triptychs and several
series of single-sheet prints devoted to individual portraits of the
brave band -- a total of some 266 works on the "Chushingura" theme.

In "Kuniyoshi," we are given the two portrait series of the
individuals who make up the story. Although the "Seichu Gishi Den"
(the faithful samurai) is more inclusive than the later "Seichu Gishin
Den" (the faithful hearts), together they comprise practically the
entire cast of the kabuki version of the play.

Each woodblock print is separately treated with a facing page
dedicated to the text and a commentary on the text itself, followed by
a number of appendixes devoted to such matters as calligraphy and
language. In addition, the particularities of each role are listed and
the drama is revealed.

One might wonder how these particularities managed to survive for a
century, but such speculation (along with the fact that all the ronin
look alike) is beside the point. The point is that something large and
important is being celebrated -- by the actors, the print-artists, and
by us.

This could well be that "something fundamental" suggested by Weinberg:
fidelity above all. At the same time it is also possible to see
"Chushingura" as protest, as an objection to the shogunate's dictates
and as a demonstration of anti-authoritorial opinion. This sympathetic
validation of men that the government had deemed criminal is in itself
antigovernment.

This is what one also sees in the heroic poses, the powerful lines and
the gleaming colors of these Kuniyoshi prints. These demonstrate that
this valiant band was breaking the law for a worthy cause -- for
something higher than mere law, for the virtue of faithful loyalty.

The Japan Times: Jan. 8, 2006
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