Murakami Takashi - In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow (2014)
Murakami has acknowledged the inspiration that Soga Shohaku's "Chinese Immortals" has had on his work,
"In the Land of the Dead: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow" (2014).
曽我蕭白 Sogo Shohaku
群仙図屏風 [Chinese Immortals] on a pair of six panel screens 1764
right byobu (screen), from the right
Dong Feng (董奉 Dōhō), in a cloud of smoke having just conjured a glowing tiger, a sling of scrolls and another with herbs and a gourd around his torso, clad in an interestingly billowing garment, ragged at the hem, excelled in medicine during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280)
Xiao Shi (簫史 Shōshi) or Xiao Zhan (簫簒 Shōsan) playing the 笙 shō in front of a phoenix; (the instrument's sound is said to imitate the call of a phoenix), clad in ruby slippers (the other three are bare foot)
Li Tieguai (李鉄拐 Ritekkai) holding an iron staff with a crescent moon handle, a broad brim straw hat hanging on his back, very strange rustling clothing, on the edge of the sea, hailing Lǚ Dòngbīn, patron of the sick and persecuted poor
Lǚ Dòngbīn (呂洞賓 Ryodōhin) riding a dragon, holding a begging bowl or perhaps a large guinomi (sake cup)
The kindness of Lǚ Dòngbīn is demonstrated in the Chinese proverb "dog bites Lǚ Dòngbīn" (狗咬呂洞賓 gǒu yǎo Lǚ Dòngbīn), which means an inability to recognize goodness and repay kindness with vice.
The waves around the dragon are quite spectacular. Hokusai was four years old when this was executed.
Lin Hejing (林和靖 Rinnasei) holding a child (who is by no means cute), six more children clammor;
Zuozi (左茲 Saji) wearing a ropey garment, holding a carp (to bathe or perhaps prepare for sashimi), in an enchanted tanuki kettle; crane & another bird (emu?) look on (voting for lunch), a scroll and leaf fan with paper incantation attached;
Liu Haichan (劉海蟾 Ryuukaisei) carrying a white toad on his back, an attendant using an ear pick to groom the rotund, near naked immortal; and
Xi Wangmu (西王母 Seiōbo) The Queen Mother of the West (a symbol of longevity) resting in front of some peaches,
a pangolin preparing to sample a peach, an attendant brings more fruit.
The right 10 panels (of the 25 panel composition) are relatively speaking peaceful compared to
the left 15 panels roiling in chaos.
At the far right, Liu Haichan sits, a white toad on his back, an attendant clearing the wax from the rotund immortal's ears with a pick.
Below, a (mother?) dog and her six puppies, a curious pangolin approaches.
Dong Feng, his slings of scrolls & herbs/gourd rest snugly around his goody packet which is mercifuly wholey obscured, in a codpiece not as distressed as the rest of his outfit.
Lin Hejing carrying (hardly cradling) the uncute child as a string of urchins clammor for his attention
Dong Feng
Lin Hejing
by no means cute
Chinese children are an auspicious element.
I've seen these three in a mosh pit
Can one hope the immortal is feeding the children to the endangered white elephant? Tossing them onto the bloody tusks one by one?
Xiao Shi playing the 笙 shō & Xi Wangmu
A crane and phoenix stand next to the immortals
An attendant to the Queen Mother of the West caries peaches
A pair of immortals ride waves (as astral bodies?) next to the attendant
Xiao Shi
Xi Wangmu
Attendant
Surfing immortals
Phoenix & crane
An immortal tackles the Fukushima nuclear melt down
Immortal
The sun with ten satelites, emmiting radiation
Carp transforming to a dragon from nuclear radiation?
Ship of immortals sails toward the victims of the tsunami
A secomd ship of immortals sails down the tsunami wall toward the tsunami victims
Agglomeration of skulls surrounded by walls of water (victims of the tsunami)
A carp transforms into a dragon by ascending a water fall (conventional)
Another boat of immortals descends the tsunami wall toward those lost to the sea.
Lǚ Dòngbīn astride a dragon (cause of the earthquake/tsunami?)
Lǚ Dòngbīn
To my trained eye, Lǚ Dòngbīn's vessel iis filled with liquid and he is unlikely to be drinking anything other than nihon-shu when operating a dragon. Or perhaps (from hints of color), a robust cabernet sauvignon aged in old burbon casks.
Colorful pubes.
Other works
One Hundred Arhats
panorama
mosaic
Flowers
Flower Matango
End of the Line
Of Chinese Lions, Peonies, Skulls and Fountains (2011)
panorama
DOB composition
Flowers
panorama
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