![Gen Shogo [Ruan Xiaowu]; Five-sheet print of Collecting Brine, no. 5 by Utagawa Kuniyoshi — Japanese Woodblock print (surimono), ink and color on paper, c. 1828–30](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/82218.jpg)
This surimono depicts Gen Shogo (Ruan Xiaowu of the Water Margin) as the fifth sheet of a five-part composition showing the collective labor of salt production — brine collection, evaporation, and processing. The connection between this formidable outlaw hero and the mundane work of salt-making is a mitate (witty comparison), equating the hero's symbolic domain with a specific physical labor. Kuniyoshi's surimono series often employed such associative layering, producing objects prized as much for their conceptual wit as their visual beauty.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Gen Shogo [Ruan Xiaowu]; Five-sheet print of Collecting Brine, no. 5 was created by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) in c. 1828–30.
Gen Shogo [Ruan Xiaowu]; Five-sheet print of Collecting Brine, no. 5 depicts figures, warriors, and daily life.
Gen Shogo [Ruan Xiaowu]; Five-sheet print of Collecting Brine, no. 5 measures 21 × 18.1 cm (Oban format).
