A Servant Choryo (Yakko Choryo)

Artist Okumura Masanobu 奥村政信 (Japanese, 1686–1764)

Dateabout 1710

MediumWoodblock print; ink on paper; sumizuri-e

Dimensions26.7 x 35.9 cm (10 1/2 x 14 1/8 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineJohn Chandler Bancroft Collection

Terms

Object number1901.308

DescriptionHorizontal oban (oban yoko-e)
Label TextTransformed version of the legend of Choryo (Chang Liang), a Chinese hero of the Han dynasty, who when crossing a bridge over the River I, met an old and poor looking man mounted on a mule. As they approached each other and crossed a bridge the old man (who was riding a mule) accidentally dropped one of his sandals into the river, whereupon Choryo jumped into the stream, retrieved the shoe and handed it to its owner who disclosed his identity as a famous sage Kosekiko (Huang Shi Kung). To show his great power, Choryo is usually represented standing on a dragon while in the water of the river. In this parody, a samurai youth (presumably Masanobu since there is the character Masa on his kimono) is shown riding across a bridge on a horse and a yakko (samurai's servant) sits upon a dragon in the river holding up a

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