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Act IV (Hangan's suicide), from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Primer (The Story of the 47 Ronin)
Act IV (Hangan's suicide), from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Primer (The Story of the 47 Ronin)
Act IV (Hangan's suicide), from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Primer (The Story of the 47 Ronin)
Photograph and Ditital Image © Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Not for reproduction or publication.
On View
Not on view
Object number2016.6

Act IV (Hangan's suicide), from the series The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, a Primer (The Story of the 47 Ronin)

Artist (Japanese, 1760 - 1849)
Dateca. 1806
Mediumwoodblock print
Dimensionssheet: 9 7/8 × 14 3/4 in. (25.1 × 37.5 cm)
mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Stan and Connie Rajnak
Exhibition History"Impressions: Printmaking in Japan," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Joy Light Gallery of Asian Art (Apr. 1 - July 23, 2017). "The Way Forward: New Acquisitions at the KIA," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Joy Light Gallery of Asian Art (Aug 26, 2018 - Dec 2, 2018) "Sugoi! 200 Years of Japanese Art," KIA, Galleries 2 & 5 (May 13, 2023 - September 24, 2023)Label TextHokusai was famous in his own time (and still today) for his views of Mt. Fuji and the iconic Great Wave (ca. 1830). However, this earlier literary subject, designed in 1806, continued to be skillfully reprinted in the decades following the artist’s death. Hokusai presents a birds-eye view of a scene from the Kanadehon Chushingura. Audience members were not permitted to leave their seats for any reason during Act IV, when Hangan commits ritual suicide for the offense of drawing his sword upon another lord, Ko no Moronao. More prominently featured in this print, however, is Hangan’s wife, Kaoyo, arranging cherry blossoms. By rebuffing Moronao’s amorous advances, she unwittingly sealed the villain’s vengeful intent to ruin Hangan.