Uragami Gyokudō, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Uragami Gyokudō

Japanese painter, musician and poet

Date of Birth: 01-Jan-1745

Place of Birth: Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Date of Death: 10-Oct-1820

Profession: poet, musician, painter, calligrapher

Nationality: Japan

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Uragami Gyokudo or Urakami Gyokudo (???? 1745, Kamogata, Okayama - October 10, 1820) was a Japanese musician, painter, poet and calligrapher.
In his lifetime, he was best known as a player of the Chinese seven-string zither, the guqin, but people came to appreciate his paintings after his death.
His art features strong brushwork, often in patterns of strokes that build up a strong rhythm, and they reflect his musical compositions in relying on a limited number of possibilities that build up to powerful compositions.
His Snow Sifted Through Frozen Clouds (????????? shihon bokuga tounshisetsuzu) is recognized as a National Treasure. After working as a samurai for the Ikeda daimyo, he left his position for ideological reasons to devote himself to travel and the arts.
He named his sons ""Spring Qin" and "Autumn Qin." Gyokudo was expert in calligraphy, featuring clerical and running scripts, and he was a fine poet in Chinese. One of his music works, the Gyokudo kinpu ????, is available online An excerpt is available Uragami Gyokudo and the chinese zither guqin based on the book Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters; The Arts of Uragami Gyokudo by Stephen Addiss, Univ.
of Hawaii Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8248-1039-2.