Pangu seated on a rock, by Yashima Gakutei

An image of Pangu seated on a rock. Gakutei, Yashima (Japanese, 1786(?)-1868). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing, circa 1820-circa 1823. Poetry by Bunjutei Kagezumi and Bumbunsha. Ukiyo-e. Notes: The right-hand sheet from the ten-sheet series Katsushikaren meisu juban (Ten numbers for the Katsushika Group) which forms a continuous composition illustrating the numbers from one to ten. Pangu (Hanko in Japanese) illustrates the number ‘one’, because he was supposed to be the first man to appear on earth after Creation. He had the head of a dragon and the body of a snake, and when he died the dissolution of his body formed the phenomena of the universe - wind, clouds, rain, trees, plants, and the human race. Gakutei represents him as a more benign and human figure than his usual representation in Chinese art. In the first poem, the god’s name, Hanko, can also be read as banko, meaning ‘forever’: ‘Born from chaos, Hanko and the sunlight both resound with the first bird’s cry.’ ‘What came before the flowers in the world was a spring dawn with a single person’s smile.’

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Pangu seated on a rock. Gakutei, Yashima (Japanese, 1786(?)-1868). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing, circa 1820-circa 1823. Poetry by Bunjutei Kagezumi and Bumbunsha. Ukiyo-e. Notes: The right-hand sheet from the ten-sheet series Katsushikaren meisu juban (Ten numbers for the Katsushika Group) which forms a continuous composition illustrating the numbers from one to ten. Pangu (Hanko in Japanese) illustrates the number ‘one’, because he was supposed to be the first man to appear on earth after Creation. He had the head of a dragon and the body of a snake, and when he died the dissolution of his body formed the phenomena of the universe - wind, clouds, rain, trees, plants, and the human race. Gakutei represents him as a more benign and human figure than his usual representation in Chinese art. In the first poem, the god’s name, Hanko, can also be read as banko, meaning ‘forever’: ‘Born from chaos, Hanko and the sunlight both resound with the first bird’s cry.’ ‘What came before the flowers in the world was a spring dawn with a single person’s smile.’

Image data

Accession Number: P.267-1937
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/22.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Sam Cole
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 924 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 0.97MB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 22/1
Captured: 2017:07:24 11:17:23

Key words

19th Century bearded beards blind embossing colour printing creation creator embossed embossing Fitz_PDP Gakutei gofun Hanko Japan Japanese karazuri male metallic pigment outcrop Pangu pigment poem poetry poets print rocks rocky surimono ukiyo-e woodblock woodcut Yashima Gakutei

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Pangu seated on a rock, by Yashima Gakutei"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-1742312819 Accessed: 2024-11-25 23:07:21

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:


            {{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-1742312819
            |title=Pangu seated on a rock, by Yashima Gakutei
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-25 23:07:21|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/images/media-218340

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/P_267_1937_1_201707_sjc288_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Pangu seated on a rock"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Pangu seated on a rock, by Yashima Gakutei</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>