Snow Moon Flowers

Snow, Moon and Flowers(雪月花, setsu-getsu-ka or setsu gekka), a topic in art and design borrowed from old China,[1] was quite popular in the late Edo-Period.

Introduction

This threefold theme (in Japan, flowers mean always cherry blossoms) is held together in several ways. Most obviously it refers to the seasons of the year:[2] snow = winter, moon = autumn and flowers = spring. But one could also think it as representations of three whites: blue-white = winter, yellow-white = autumn and pink-white = spring.

Ukiyo-e artists liked to sell prints in series, sometimes even scrolls were painted to be hanged together. Artists liked to combine it with three women, three well known landscapes (moon always with reflecting water) etc.

"Snow, moon and flowers" appear also as decoration on boxes, backside of traditional mirrors etc.

Katsukawa Shunshō (1726-1793) Sakai Hōitsu (1761-1828)
from left to right:
--- Sei Shōnagon (winter)
------- Murasaki Shikibu (autumn)
------------ Ono no Komachi (spring)
Snow Moon Flowers
  1. ^ Hiroshige uses whirlpools to imitate flowers

In popular culture

Literature

Comics

Radio, animation, and television

Notes

  1. E.g. Bai Juyi: “At the time of snow, moon and flowers, I think of you”.
  2. The short hot summer is skipped.
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