1892

Mount Fuji

Hirano Gogaku

Japanese, 1809 - 1893

Hirano Gogaku was called Sanzetsu-so (priest of three professions) because he studied poetry, calligraphy, and painting. This scroll seems to be dedicated to a painting of Mount Fuji by Yosa Buson (1716–1783), a well-known Japanese literati painter of the previous generation. But Gogaku developed his own unique expression, depicting the edge of the mountain, pine trees, and rocks with a dry brush, and in contrast using a wet brush for bold and dark clouds and the pale gray sky. In this poem, Gogaku compares Mount Fuji to Mount Koulkun located between Xinjiang, China, and Tibet, positing them as the two great mountains standing on opposite ends of Asia. The Chinese poem composed by Gogaku can be translated as:

Lofty, it spreads the air,
Looking as high as Mount Koulkun
And with its crystal snow occupying half the sky,
It shines eternally upon Japan