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Source Description
The horse at the upper left of this tsuba is emerging from the gourd at the lower right. This is an illustration of the idiom "like a horse coming out of a gourd," which is used to describe unexpected things. The saying may have developed from stories of the Chinese immortal Chokaro (Ch. Zhang Guo [Chang Kuo]) who carried his magical mule in a gourd. On the reverse, the phrase "Ningen banji" is inscribed along the upper and left sections. These are the first words of the proverb "Human affairs are like Saio's horse." This proverb means that things which may appear to be good fortune can sometimes be bad luck and visa versa. It comes from a story about an old man named Saio who had good luck and bad luck brought to him through incidents with his horse.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
39350
label
Tsuba with the Mule of the Taoist Immortal Chokaro Emerging from a Magic Gourd
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
4
Source metadata
id
39350
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with the Mule of the Taoist Immortal Chokaro Emerging from a Magic Gourd
description
The horse at the upper left of this tsuba is emerging from the gourd at the lower right. This is an illustration of the idiom "like a horse coming out of a gourd," which is used to describe unexpected things. The saying may have developed from stories of the Chinese immortal Chokaro (Ch. Zhang Guo [Chang Kuo]) who carried his magical mule in a gourd. On the reverse, the phrase "Ningen banji" is inscribed along the upper and left sections. These are the first words of the proverb "Human affairs are like Saio's horse." This proverb means that things which may appear to be good fortune can sometimes be bad luck and visa versa. It comes from a story about an old man named Saio who had good luck and bad luck brought to him through incidents with his horse.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1846 (Edo)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
tsubas
sword components
imageCount
4
pageCount
4
source
import
dimensionsRaw
H: 3 1/8 in. (8 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
[Date] 弘化三丙午年 春三月刻; [Transliteration] Koka san hinoe-uma toshi/Haru sangatsu koku; [Translation] Carved in the springtime
third month of the third year of Koka (1846)
the year of the fiery horse; [Inscription] 人間萬事; [Transliteration] Ningen-banji; [Translation] The happenings of man [are like Saio's horse] (proverb); [Signature] 桂月; [Translation] Ka[ ]sui; [Seal] 可[ ]水; [Translation] Keigetsu
med
sentoku, copper, gold, and copper alloy
creator_ids
4338
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
e3ed600ab2f166d6
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
459916e16f053e15
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
8e330b2d5c19ad5f
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
63114c30ba6f9714
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no