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[Humorous pictures depicting the Chinese] by Kobayashi Kiyochika — Japanese Woodblock print

[Humorous pictures depicting the Chinese]

by Kobayashi Kiyochika

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Library of Congress

Description

A multi-panel ponchi-e offering a series of satirical vignettes depicting Chinese figures in caricatured poses and situations, produced in the context of the First Sino-Japanese War. Kiyochika's format here follows the triptych or multi-image sheet common to newspaper supplement prints, presenting several distinct comic scenes within a single composition. The figures are rendered using the exaggerated physiognomic and sartorial markers typical of Meiji wartime caricature — queue hairstyles, layered Qing-dynasty dress, and expressions of surprise or confusion. As a whole sheet, the print operates as a visual ethnographic parody, presenting a deliberately distorted portrait of Chinese people for domestic Japanese consumption. The draftsmanship reflects Kiyochika's mastery of both Western cartoon linearity and Japanese graphic tradition, combining the two in a hybrid visual language suited to mass-market illustrated journalism.

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Frequently Asked Questions

[Humorous pictures depicting the Chinese] was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).