Parody of the Noh Play "Hakurakuten"

Suzuki Harunobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hakurakuten is a classic Noh play dealing with the intellectual debate on the relative attainments of Japanese and Chinese culture: has the Japanese waka poem achieved superiority over the venerated Tang Chinese poem? The play presents this debate in the form of a discussion between Bo Juyi (Hakurakuten) and Sumiyoshi Myōjin, the Japanese god of waka. Harunobu's print is a delightfully ludicrous rendition of this high-minded contest, substituting a Japanese girl for the god of waka and a Korean ambassador for the Chinese poet. He wears a square pendant and an official Korean costume with a high waist. Instead of poetry as the measure of national culture, the opponents face each other with paintings. Despite the pride he feels about the Chinese (or Korean) ink painting, Bo Juyi (or the Korean ambassador) cannot help but wistfully place his finger in his mouth in a traditional gesture of envy, a sign of his admiration for his lovely competitor with her painting in the Japanese ukiyo-e style.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art