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Gaikoku jinbutsu zue Title: Picture of Foreign Figures Artist: Yoshiiku (1833-1904) 1861:2 Format: Woodblock print Medium: Ink and color on paper Dimensions: 37 x24.8 cm (14 9/16 x9 3/4 in.) Source: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution The text reads: Nanking: Nanking is in China, but the people look very much like Japanese people. It is close to our country and not to the equator. Both [Chinese and Japanese people] can be said to have become experts in arithmetic, writing, and sagacity. France: A kingdom of Europe, near England and Holland. Recently the land was allocated to eighty-six districts; the capital is called Paris. The people especially value propriety. The Chinese man is dressed in Western-style clothing with his hair in the long queue that was customary in China during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). He stands and gestures almost as if lecturing to the seated French merchant, who holds a stemmed goblet. The Japanese text expresses close identification with the man from Nanking, who represents the vital community of Chinese immigrants to Yokohama who functioned as intermediaries between the Japanese and Western merchants. [Adapted from Ann Yonemura, Yokohama: Prints from Nineteenth-Century Japan] Visualizing Cultures image number: Y0114 Keywords: China, Chinese, France, French, alcohol, "Five Nations" |
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