©
MATSUMURA GOSHUN (1752-1811)
Age Fifty
Ink and light color on paper, 7 x 6.5 in.
Private Collection
...Here a man dressed in formal New Years's clothing sits facing a haiku poem, with a curving band of negative space between the image and the caligraphy. The closed fan creates a diagonal accent at the bottom center, reinforcing the line of the man's folded leg and pointing to the haiku.
| Goju kara kazoe yo chiyo no matsukasari |
Because you're fifty count the New Years pine branches of a thousand ages |
In traditional Japan, people were considered one year older on New Year's Day, which therefore became everyone's birthday. The age of fifty was special because it was considered the beginning of respected old age. Therefore the boughs of the evergreen pine, a traditional New Year's decoration, also carry here the meaning of long life. In addition, the tall forehead of the figure suggests the extended head of Jurojin, the god of good fortune who also represents longevity. Finally, on the back of the figure is the auspicious Buddhist jewel symbol. So for a man reaching the age of fifty, everything about this small painting is celebratory: Happy Birthday, Happy New Year, and Long Life!
Stephen Addiss, Haiga: Takebe Socho and the Haiku-Painting Tradition, (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press) 1995,50
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