Yoshitoshi's 'Strong Heroes of the Water Margin' (1868)

Introduction

The story of the 108 Heroes of the Suikoden (Shuihu Zhuan) was Chinese in origin, written in the 14th century. The novel became extremely popular in Japan in the early 19th century. The stories relate the exploits of a group of outlaws, who lived on the fringe of society, and fought in the name of justice.

Hokusai illustrated the original Japanese translation of the series, and Kuniyoshi published a famous Suikoden print series, which was his first commercial success. Yoshitoshi published his first Suikoden series, consisting of 50 chūban prints, in 1866. This is his second Suikoden series, published in 1868.

Technical details

• Dates: 1868 (6) - 1868 (8)
• Size: Ōban
• Signed: Ikkaisai Yoshitoshi ga
• Publishers: Ohashi
• Engraver: Hori Wakasa

Previous cataloguings

	Roger S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and
		Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Cinncinnati, 1982

We use the Keyes numbers to order the prints below.

These prints are rarely seen, and we would appreciate your help in obtaining images for the ones we are missing.

The Prints

If we have a higher-quality image, that image can be viewed by clicking on the "Large Image" link, which gives the size of the image (in kilo-bytes), for the benefit of those on slow links. Sometimes there is more than one, if our best-quality image has issues (e.g. trimmed margins).

Thumbnail	Large image	Number	Date	Title (Kanji)	Title (Rōmaji)	Title (English)	Description
		#1	6/1868				Hyoshito Rinchu (Lin Chung) seated by a rock
		#2	6/1868				Bodaichu Kodaiso (Goodwife Ku) holding a knife
		#3	6/1868				Rorihakucho Chojun (Chang Shun) standing in water
	694KB	#4	6/1868	病関索 楊雄	Byokansaku Yōyu		Byokansaku Yōyu (Yang Hsiung) stabbing a pregnant woman
		#5	7/1868				Tattooing of Kumonryii Shishin (Shih Chin)
Image needed		#6	7/1868				Juunryu Kosonsho (Kun-sun Sheng).
Image needed		#7	8/1868				Botsumenmoku Shotei (Chiao Ting).