A lively, colourful print from 1930s Shanghai showing Chang E fleeing the wrath of her husband, Hou Yi, and escaping to the moon. Hou Yi is described in the frankly insane Chinese bestiary, the Shan Hai Jing, as a mighty archer with a red bow and short white arrows. In mythology, he’s famous for shooting down nine extra suns which …
Hallock’s Gods
It’s unusual to be able to date old Chinese woodblock prints – the same designs were often used for decades, and the cheap paper that they’re printed on ages badly (I’ve got a sun-bleached stove god print with a calendar for 1989, which looks at least a century older). However, I do know that the three prints below all date …