Ogata Gekko: Popular Viewing of the Captured Chinese Warship Chenyuen

Artist: Ogata Gekkō (1859-1920)
Title: Popular Viewing of the Captured Chinese Warship Chenyuen

Ecstatic mayhem. Very interesting view of crowds packed aboard the captured Chinese battleship Chinen 鎮遠 in its new home port at the Yokosuka navy yard in Kanagawa Prefecture.  We see men, women and children packed in joyous celebration rather incongruously on the deck of this captured Chinese vessel of war, which seems to have been meticulously rendered. One man hugs a ventilation tube, as others wave their arms and hats. To the right we see a peaceful bay, and in the center are lines of small boats packed with passengers eager to board and join the party. Gekko has chosen a rather difficult angle, and he balances the foreground with some old-fashioned glove clouds to make this artistically successful. This depiction is so detailed that this dealer would assume that the artist attended the event himself, or perhaps viewed a photograph of it.

From the excellent online article from the Hoover Institution Library & Archives we can read the following details in “Fanning the Flames: Propaganda in Modern Japan”: 

The Chinen (Chinese: Zhenyuan 鎮遠; also romanized as Chen Yuen) was a German-built Chinese Beiyang Fleet turret ship of the 19th century. Built with 14-inch (360 mm) thick armor and modern Krupp guns, they were superior to any in the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time.

She fought in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) at the Battle of the Yalu River, which took place on 17 September 1894. Captured by the Japanese after the Weihaiwei siege on February 17, 1895, she was rebuilt in 1896/7 and served throughout the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) as a second-line battleship, under the name Chin'en - the Japanese rendition of the ship's original Chinese name. She was scrapped in 1914.

Viewing the Chinen

Source: Impressions of the Front: Woodcuts of the Sino-Japanese War, Shunpei Okamoto, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1983, p. 44.

"After the surrender at Weihaiwei, the Chenyuen [Chinen] was taken to Yokosuka, where the public was invited to see the 7,300-ton ironclad.  One war reporter, Nagamatsu of the Jiji Shimpo wrote:

“Since the beginning of the war, all over Japan, men and women, young and old, have spoken of the Chinese ironclads Chenyuen and Tingyuen.  Now that the Chenyuen has been captured and brought to Japan, it is understandable that everyone should want to see it.  Before the public opening, Japanese naval officers constantly had to entertain visitors aboard.  On August 5, the ship was opened to the public.  Throngs from Tokyo and Yokohama, and even some who must travel overnight, are suddenly crowding Yokosuka.  Already on the fourth, there was not a vacant room in town.  Earlier, in Nagasake, so many people visited the Chenyuen that the waterline sank one foot.  Perhaps it will be worse in Yokosuka; the train between Shinbashi in downtown Tokyo and Yokosuka has been packed."

Captured by the Imperial Navy of Japan, 1895

Route to Japan: Weihaiwei to Port Arthur for temporary repair, then on to Nagasaki (July 10, 1895), Hiroshima, Kobe (July 24, 1895), and Yokosuka (July 28, 1895).

A committee, headed by Navy colonel Arima Shin’ichi, was formed to bring the Zhenyuan to Japan. Japanese press reported every move of the Zhenyuan. Nishiki-e artist Ogata Gekkō produced the above triptych showing the crowded scene of Zhenyuan viewing in Yokosuka. The work went on sale around August 27, 1895. The Zhenyuan, now called Chin’en (Chin Yen) and the only capital ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was repaired and officially entered service for the Japanese Imperial Navy on September 7, 1896.

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Near mint. Tiny smudge in sky upper right. Untrimmed, unbacked and very clean.

Dimensions: ôban triptych (each sheet 37.4 x 25.4 cm)

Signature: Gekko  Publisher: Takekawa Risaburo

SKU: GET013