A photographic introduction to items from the collection

The Water Margin (Suikoden) in Japan around the End of the Edo Period

Figure 1. The entire set of Okajima Kanzan's translation, The Faithful and Just Men of the Water Margin for Everyman (1757-1790) The frontispiece of Vol. 1 Pt. 1 of Okajima Kanzan's translation, The Faithful and Just Men of the Water Margin for Everyman

When one hears the term "Chinese Classics", one is apt to think of solemn works written for the edification of virtuous rulers, like the Four Books or the Five Classics. However not all Chinese classics are like that. There are works of literature depicting the human anxieties of greed and sexual passion such as The Golden Lotus or The Dream of the Red Chamber and historical novels such as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In particular, The Water Margin (also known as All Men are Brothers) is about as far from the earnestness of the Four Books and Five Classics as one can get. The Mongol-Period Chinese intelligentsia Shi Nai-an and Luo Guan-zhong used the popular drama of that period as the basis for their novel depicting the rebellious and lewd exploits of a group of "Robin-Hood"-type outlaws. Naturally the work was proscribed as an evil book that fomented rebellion. However, in reality, everyone knew the tales well; the literate, from books, and the masses, from the Peking opera.

Figure 2. Large-size, multicolored print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
"Chitasei Goyo". From Portraits of the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin for Everyman, c. 1827.
Figure 3. Large-size, multicolored print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
"Kinsoshu Jonei". From Portraits of the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin for Everyman, c. 1827.
Figure 4. Large-size multicolored print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
"Kaosho Rochishin". From Portraits of the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin for Everyman, c. 1827.
Figure 6. Medium-size multicolored print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
"Senkaji Choo". Early in the Kaei Year Period (1848-1854).

In the seventeenth century, The Faithful and Just Men of the Water Margin entered into Japan through the port of Nagasaki. In 1728, Okajima Kanzan published part of it, inserting punctuation to enable Japanese readers to understand the Chinese text. From then on there were successive translations and adaptations based on that work, and by the end of the Edo period its popularity was so great that probably there was no one unfamiliar with the extraordinary heroes of The Water Margin.

The translation that Kanzan started in 1757, entitled The Faithful and Just Men of the Water Margin for Everyman (Tsuzoku Chugi Suikoden)(Fig. 1), became the standard version. Popular writers like Kyokutei Bakin and Santo Kyoden took the lead in creating adaptations. Bakin, changing the male heroes into women and the female heroes into men, produced a best-seller called The Beauties of the Water Margin. This he later developed into the famous Biographies of Eight Dogs. What lit the fire of the "Water Margin boom" in earnest, however, was the series of multicolored wood-block prints by the ukiyoe artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi entitled Portraits of the One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Water Margin for Everyman (Fig. 2-4). These powerful depictions of characters such as Kaosho Rochishin, the grotesque priest, or Chitasei Goyo, the embodiment of wisdom, were of explosive popularity among the masses. The entrance hangings (noren) of barber shops were all patterned after Kuniyoshi's Water Margin, and tatooing became a craze among young fire fighters and construction workers.

Figure 5. Three connected large-size multicolored prints by Utagawa Toyokuni III from Handsome Men of our Day.1859. From right to left, Token-gonbe, Danshichi-kurobe, Yakko-no-Koman.

One should not overlook the subversive activities of "outlaw" elements in Japan such as professional gamblers and "chivalrous commoners", as a backdrop to the Water Margin boom. Utagawa Toyokuni III produced a series of prints of actors called The Modern Water Margin, likening the heroes of the Water Margin to Japanese "chivalrous commoners" (otokodate) such as Kunisada Chuji (calling him "Kumisada Juji" in the title)(Fig. 7). Taiso Yoshitoshi was attracted by the war among gamblers in Shimoosa and portrayed men like Iioka Sukegoro (under the pseudonym "Iioka Sutegoro") in his series Modern Chivalrous and Just Men (Fig. 8). Among the Water Margin heroes, three were women, among whom Ichijosei Kosanjo was particularly famous for her beauty. The picture likening her to the female "chivalrous commoner" Yakko-no-Koman of Osaka Naniwa is particularly interesting (Fig. 5).

Figure 7. Large-size multicolored print by Utagawa Toyokuni III. "[The actor] Ichikawa Danjuro as Kumisada Juji". From The Modern Water Margin, c. 1862. Figure 8. Large-size multicolored print by Taiso Yoshitoshi. "Iioka Sutegoro". From Modern Chivalrous and Just Men, c. 1865. Figure 9. "Heroes of the Water Margin Sumo Tournament." Black and white block-print sumo bill. End Edo Period.

This banned, imported book took on new variations in the society of the end of the Edo period. One of them was a list of the 108 heroes set up as if it were a ranked listing for a sumo tournament (Fig. 9). Thus, we can see how the foreign book The Water Margin, becoming identified with outlaw activities within Japan, penetrated to the heart of the culture of the masses and amplified the image of violence at the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Restoration.

History Department, National Museum of Japanese History
Satoshi Takahashi