浮世絵 歌川国芳「韓信の股くぐり」

普段、人目には触れない“ケ”の日常の座敷に、昔から掛けられている額装があります。

江戸時代の浮世絵師・歌川国芳が描いた「韓信の股くぐり」の逸話です。

若い頃、貧しかった韓信は屠殺場の若者に侮辱され、

「刺せないなら俺の股をくぐれ」と挑発されます。

彼は黙って股をくぐり、周囲は臆病者と笑いましたが、

後に大将軍となり、

「大志ある者は小さな恥辱を耐え忍ぶ」と語り継がれています。

なぜ、この作品が日常の部屋に掲げられてきたのか。

それは、当家の先人が、網元であっても、

どの時代においても大志を持ち、謙虚であるべき

という教えを、後世に残そうとしたからではないか——

その想いを受け継ぎ、私たちは氷見の歴史文化を未来へ繋げて参ります。

補足情報ですが、この歌川国芳作「韓信の股くぐり」は全く同じものがイギリスの大英博物館にも所蔵されています。

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1906-1220-0-1336?selectedImageId=1614079867

In the “ke”, the everyday, unadorned part of the house—an area rarely seen by visitors—there hangs a framed artwork that has been displayed there for generations.

It depicts the tale of “Han Xin Crawling Between the Legs,” illustrated by the Edo-period ukiyo-e（浮世絵） master Utagawa Kuniyoshi（歌川国芳）.

In his youth, the impoverished Han Xin was insulted by a young butcher who taunted him, saying, “If you won’t stab me, then crawl between my legs.”　Han Xin silently endured the humiliation and passed beneath him. Onlookers mocked him as a coward, but he would later rise to become a great general. His story has long been told as a reminder that “those with great ambition can bear small humiliations.”

Why has this artwork been displayed in an ordinary living space for so many years?

Perhaps it is because our ancestors—though they were leaders of a fishing fleet—wished to pass down the teaching that, in any era, one must hold great aspirations and yet remain humble. Carrying on that spirit, we are committed to preserving and passing the history and culture of Himi on to future generations.

As an additional note, this very same Kuniyoshi print of “Han Xin Crawling Between the Legs” is also held in the collection of the British Museum in London.