Tale of the Crane (Tsuru no monogatari)

Object Details

• Label

  This elegant, small handscroll illustrates in full color, silver, and gold the Tale of the Crane, one of many Japanese stories that teach that good deeds will be rewarded. The style and quality of the handscroll suggest that an aristocratic patron commissioned it for private enjoyment.

  The tale is of a man who rescued a crane that was about to be killed. Soon after, a beautiful young woman asked the man for a night's lodging and later married him; his prosperity increased, arousing the jealousy of the lord's daughter. The lord made the unreasonable demand of one koku (a ricebale, about forty-four gallons) of rapeseed, or else the man's wife would have to leave him. Knowing that they could not produce so much, the couple replied by asking whether old or new seed was acceptable. The lord then demanded a wazawai (misfortune). The young wife's parents brought a wild beast "as large as an ox and . . . as fearsome as a wolf." The wazawai demonstrated its supernatural powers to the lord by conjuring up a terrible storm that so threatened his mansion that he decided to let the man live in peace and prosperity. The wife then revealed to her husband her true identity as the crane he had saved and promised that he would live in prosperity to the age of eighty. She then resumed her form as a crane and flew away.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Painting the Classics: Japanese Scrolls and Beyond (November 17, 2018 to October 20, 2019)

  Hand-Held: Gerhard Pulverer's Japanese Illustrated Books (April 6 to August 11, 2013)

  Birds and Beasts in Japanese Art (January 31 to July 18, 2004)

  Tales and Legends in Japanese Art (June 21, 2003 to January 4, 2004)

  Japanese Art: Recent Accessions (June 27, 1972 to May 2, 1973)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1710s, 1720s, 1770s, 1780s, 1790s, 1730s, 1740s, 1750s, 1760s, 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s, 1610s, 1600s, 1650s, 1640s, 1630s, 1620s, 1690s, 1840s, 1680s, 1850s, 1670s, 1860s, 1660s

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Tale of the Crane, Art, Edo period, Japan, (1600 - 1868), Japanese Art, Crane

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings