日本版画 "Blossoms on the Tama River Embankment" 由 Utagawa Hiroshige 创作
标题：Blossoms on the Tama River Embankment
日期：1856
详情：更多信息...
来源：Honolulu Museum of Art
浏览所有5,476幅版画...
描述：
In Japan, it was traditionally thought that natural disasters (such as the Ansei earthquake) could be a sign of the coming of a new age, based on ancient Buddhist apocalyptic beliefs. By the mid-nineteenth century, Japan's Confucian-based society and economy could no longer maintain political and economic stability. The Tokugawa shogunate's power was diminishing. In 1853, the American Commodore Matthew Perry (1794-1858) arrived at the port of Uraga, forcing Japan to open itself to commercial trading with foreign countries for the first time in centuries. This event was a severe blow to the government, followed only two years later by the earthquake, crippling the Tokugawa shogunate's ability to maintain its authority. In reaction to these events anti-shogunate sentiment rose dramatically. Accordingly, this new interpretation of Hiroshige's series places the prints against a background in which the people of Edo might have considered the earthquake to be a sign of the impending downfall of the shogunate, as destined by the Mandate of Heaven. Since cherry blossoms traditionally mark the start of spring and a new year in Japan, their prominent (and exaggerated) inclusion in Hiroshige's prints possibly suggests a hope for change. (from Good News from Hiroshige exhibit 10/9/2008-)
