Taira no Tadanori Beneath a Cherry Tree
- woodblock print on paper
-
7.8 x 7.3 in
(19.81 x 18.54 cm)
- Katsushika Hokutai
Heike warrior Taira no Tadanori often appears in his armor beneath a cherry tree to represent his military bravery and sensitivity as a poet. With turmoil in the capital and the decline of Heike glory, Tadanori sensed his imminent death. He visited Fujiwara Shunzei, the emperor’s poetry advisor, to ask for the honor of including one of his poems in the upcoming imperial anthology. Shunzei--who gave Tadanori his first poetry lesson--was touched by his devotion to poetry, yet he could not include his poem with his name as he belonged to the defeated, rival clan. Instead, Shunzei included the poem in the anthology anonymously after Tadanori’s death at the battle of Ichinotani in 1184. Tadanori’s poem “Blossoms in the Old Capital” reads “By rippling waters/The old shiga capital/Vanished long ago/Yet, as then, Mount Nagara/Blossoms with mountain/Cherries.”
- Created: 1821
- Attribution: Frank Lloyd Wright Collection at Taliesin West
- Collections: Taliesin West Surimono Collection