• Kong Liang, the Flaming Star (Dokukasei Kōryō - 獨火星孔亮) and Song Wan, the Guardian God in the Clouds (Unrikongō Sōman - 雲里金剛宋萬), from <i>One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan</i> (<i>Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori</i> - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)
Kong Liang, the Flaming Star (Dokukasei Kōryō - 獨火星孔亮) and Song Wan, the Guardian God in the Clouds (Unrikongō Sōman - 雲里金剛宋萬), from <i>One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan</i> (<i>Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori</i> - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)
Kong Liang, the Flaming Star (Dokukasei Kōryō - 獨火星孔亮) and Song Wan, the Guardian God in the Clouds (Unrikongō Sōman - 雲里金剛宋萬), from <i>One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan</i> (<i>Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori</i> - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)
Kong Liang, the Flaming Star (Dokukasei Kōryō - 獨火星孔亮) and Song Wan, the Guardian God in the Clouds (Unrikongō Sōman - 雲里金剛宋萬), from <i>One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan</i> (<i>Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori</i> - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) (artist 01/01/1797 – 04/14/1861)

Kong Liang, the Flaming Star (Dokukasei Kōryō - 獨火星孔亮) and Song Wan, the Guardian God in the Clouds (Unrikongō Sōman - 雲里金剛宋萬), from One Hundred and Eight Heroes of the Popular Shuihuzhuan (Tsūzoku Suikoden gōketsu hyakuhachinin no hitori - 通俗水滸伝豪傑百八人之一個)

Print


ca 1827 – 1830
10.25 in x 14.625 in (Overall dimensions) Japanese woodblock print
Signed: Ichiyūsai Kuniyoshi ga
一勇斎国芳画
Publisher:Kagaya Kichiemon
(Marks 195 - seal 22-027) Censor's seal: kiwame
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
British Museum
Lyon Collection - right-hand panel of this diptych
Tokyo National Museum
Library of Congress Inge Klompmakers wrote about this print:

"Dokukasei Kōryō controls a robber gang on White tiger [sic] mountain (J. Byakkozan) with his elder brother Mōtōsei Kōmei... who is taken prisoner by a military lord in chapter 56."

"Unrikongō Sōman is one of the original members of Ryōsanpaku band and is third-in-command. He is a leader of the gang long before the seven robbers of the governor's birthday presents appear on the mountain. Following their arrival, Sōman becomes tenth-in-command and in the end, when the 108 men are grouped together, he is pushed to the seventy-fourth place..."

"Sōman and Kōryō are depicted together in the left print of a diptych with the right illustrating Mōtōsei Kōmei. ...the three men are trying to enter Peking to help their friends Gyokukirin Roshungi... and Henmeisanrō Sekishū escape from prison. Sōman, concealed as a rice merchant, is about to throw a burning rocket over the city wall and Kōryō, squatting with a bamboo pole behind him, is dressed as a beggar. The three crosses on the back of Sōman's robe are probably drawn from the coat of arms of the Dutch city of Amsterdam."

****

Kong Liang is first mentioned in Chapter 32 of the Chinese version of the story of the marsh bandits. Squire Kong is the lord of a place called White Tiger Mountain where he has a manor. "The young fellow you fought is his youngest son. Because he's hot-tempered and belligerent he's known as Kong Liang the Flaming Star. The one in the gosling yellow tunic is the squire's eldest son. His name is Kong Ming, and he's called the Comet. Both are fond of spears and staves..."

Chapter 32 starts off dramatically with Wu Song beheading an attacking priest whose "...head went rolling off to one side..." as his body slumped to the floor. To say that Wu Song was obstreperous is an understatement. There was a frightened girl who saw all this take place. Wu Song found out from her that the priest had about two hundred ounces of silver and gold. He told the girl to gather it up and bring it to him. Then he set fire to the priest's temple.

Wu Song travelled for he next few days disguised as a monk. Every village he went through has wanted posters calling for his arrest. Eventually he reached a simple tavern by a stream. While there he called for wine and food. The owner told him that all they had was a cheap house wine and were out of meat to feed him. "Bring the wine, then. It will ward off the cold." The host brought him the wine which Wu Song soon finished off calling for more. He was also brought some vegetables to go with them.

When Wu Song demanded more and better wine the host said that that was all they had. Then a young lord and his companions came into the tavern and were greeted by the owner warmly. A short while later they were served chicken and meat and a fragrant "flowery-jug wine". This infuriated Wu Song who demanded to know why these things had been kept from him, but served to these new visitors. The host tried to explain that the wine and food were already the property of the visitors and were simply left there for their arrival.

"Wu Song's craving blinded him to reason. "Farts, farts!" he bawled. "You're a stinking liar!"

[The host said:] "I never saw a monk behave like such a savage!"

Then Wu Song got into it with the young lord and got the better of him. That man turned out to Kong Liang who later reconciled peacefully with Wu Song.

****

This is the left-hand panel of a Suikoden diptych.

****

Illustrated in a full-page, color reproduction in Of Brigands and Bravery: Kuniyoshi's Heroes of the Suikoden by Inge Klompmakers, Hotei Publishing, 1998, #43b, page 143.
Kagaya Kichiemon (加賀屋吉右衛門) (publisher)
warrior prints (musha-e - 武者絵) (genre)
Suikoden (水滸傳) (genre)