Pure Silk, Unlined, Painted by Kōsetsu, Liu Zongyuan, Landscape, Scenery, Cormorant Fishing, Cormorant Fisherman

Jiang Xue (Kōsetsu) is a five-character quatrain by Liu Zongyuan, a poet of the Tang Dynasty in China. It was written during his period of political disappointment and exile to Yongzhou, and depicts a sense of desolation and a spirit of solitude.

Overview and Background of Jiang Xue
Author: Liu Zongyuan (773-819). A representative man of letters of the Tang Dynasty (one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties).
Content: Depicts a scene of an old man in a straw raincoat and hat fishing alone in a small boat (Han Jiang Du Diao - fishing alone on a cold river) amidst a winter landscape where birds have disappeared from a thousand mountains and human traces have vanished from ten thousand paths.
Characteristics: It is considered a poem that projects the author's loneliness after losing a political struggle and being exiled to a remote area, as well as his resolute spirit that does not yield to it.
Related Expressions: It is the work from which the phrase Han Jiang Du Diao originates and has been the subject of many paintings.

Original Text and Reading of Jiang Xue
千山鳥飛絶 (Senzan tori tobu koto tae)
萬徑人蹤滅 (Bankei jinshō messu)
孤舟蓑笠翁 (Koshū sairyū no ō)
獨釣寒江雪 (Dokuchōsu kan kō no yuki)

Modern Japanese Translation
From the mountains as far as the eye can see, the birds have vanished, and from all the paths, human footprints have disappeared. Only on a single boat, an old man clad in a straw raincoat and hat, is casting his line alone in the cold river, amidst the falling snow.




Does this depict the struggle between cormorants and their master, with raging waves and bonfires?
I don't know the details, but it is inscribed Jiang Xue, and I believe it is one of Liu Zongyuan's works...
Please forgive me if I am mistaken.





This is a rather unusual pattern for kimono, and I believe it would be appreciated by those who like such designs.
I believe all the photos are taken at a very close color representation.
There are no patterns on the inside or outside of the sleeves, or on the upper body. Only the hem has a pattern.
There is a sewn crest of Maru ni Chigai Taka no Ha (a hawk's feather in a circle) on the back. The crest can be re-sewn.
Sewn crests are mainly for casual occasions and are considered fashionable attire.

Worn once or twice, then cleaned, and then used once more. The collar and cuffs are clean with no stains.


Length from collar: 156 cm
Back width: 29 cm
Front width: 24.5 cm
Sleeve length (center back to cuff): 69 cm