Tsuka with Dragon, Chokaro, and Mules

Description The kashira on the end shows a rain dragon wrapped around a sword. This iconography is associated with the Buddhist figure Kôbô Daishi (also known as Kûkai; 774-834) who was said to have used such a sword to bring rain at the end of a drought. One menuki is in the shape of the Taoist immortal Chokaro (Ch. Zhang Guo [Chang Kuo]) holding a gourd. The other is in the shape of two mules. Chokaro had a magic mule he kept in a gourd until he needed it. The mule could carry Chokaro for thousands of miles and did not need to be fed. This is part of a mounted set.

Provenance William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions none

Credit Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters