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“The Chrysanthemum Boy of the Zhou Dynasty” (Shū no Kikujidō)

Tamura Yoshinobu Japanese

ca. 1729

Not on view

The Chrysanthemum Boy of Chinese legend was exiled after he was caught walking across the pillow of the monarch, an unforgivable breach of palace decorum. While living in the remote countryside, he discovered that the dewdrops that gathered on chrysanthemum leaves worked as an elixir of immortality. Here, he prepares to inscribe sacred Buddhist phrases on the large lobed chrysanthemum leaf.

On view from March 8, 2021–May 31, 2021

“The Chrysanthemum Boy of the Zhou Dynasty” (Shū no Kikujidō), Tamura Yoshinobu (Japanese, active ca. 1730s), Woodblock print (urushi-e); ink, hand-applied color, and animal glue (nikawa) on paper; vertical hosoban, Japan — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

田村吉信画　「周之菊児童（しう之きくじどう）」

Title: “The Chrysanthemum Boy of the Zhou Dynasty” (Shū no Kikujidō)

Artist: Tamura Yoshinobu (Japanese, active ca. 1730s)

Period: Edo period (1615–1868)

Date: ca. 1729

Culture: Japan

Medium: Woodblock print (urushi-e); ink, hand-applied color, and animal glue (nikawa) on paper; vertical hosoban

Dimensions: Image: 12 3/8 × 5 7/8 in. (31.4 × 14.9 cm)
Frame: 18 7/16 × 11 5/8 in. (46.8 × 29.5 cm)

Classification: Prints

Credit Line: Promised Gift of Lee E. Dirks

The Met

Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.