A parody of Hanshin and Shide, two chinese monks

Settai presents a playful reinterpretation of Hanshan and Shide, the legendary Chinese Buddhist monks known in Japanese as Kanzan and Jittoku, who are traditionally depicted as laughing, eccentric figures embodying spiritual freedom. This 1941 oban woodblock print reimagines the pair through the lens of mitate-e, the ukiyo-e tradition of visual parody, updating their iconography with Settai's refined line work and modern design sensibility. The monks are typically shown with a broom and a scroll, symbols of their carefree rejection of worldly convention. Settai's version retains these attributes while filtering the composition through his own spare, elegant style, creating a bridge between Zen subject matter and shin-hanga aesthetics.