The title Chinese Nine Linked Rings (Kyurenkan) refers to the Chinese linked rings, an ancient puzzle that involves disentangling a long, thin loop from nine rings through a complex series of 341 moves.

This work apparently featured in Lyrical Paintings by Takehisa Yumeji Exhibition, held at Kyoto Prefectural Library from April 11 to 20, 1918. The exhibition’s catalog says it was displayed in Room One alongside representative Yumeji works like The Arrival of a Christian Missionary and Reminiscence of Muronotsu. The Arrival of a Christian Missionary depicts a Christian missionary and a Maruyama (entertainment district in Nagasaki) mistress sitting on a hill overlooking an inlet and two black ships. This work also features a missionary and a woman, this time dancing gaily together. From the man’s vacant gaze and the red splashes on both their cheeks, we can tell they are already quite drunk. The glass drinking vessels on the table add to the exotic atmosphere, while the pattern of linked circles on the kimono’s shoulders and sleeves allude to the painting’s title.

This yearning for foreign climes saw Yumeji travelling to Kyushu with his second son Fujihiko in August 1918. The pair stayed in Nagasaki with an old acquaintance named Nagami Tokutaro, a businessman and a scholar of the Christian and European culture. Yumeji later gifted Twelve Scenes of Nagasaki to Nagami. This 1920 work melds real places in Nagasaki with scenes from Yumeji’s imagination. With its fusion of Japanese beauties with aspects of foreign culture, the work marked a new stylistic direction for Yumeji, though we can already discern a connection with the Christian world here too. It would be easy to view this type of work as simply the product of a fascination with foreign culture (nanban, the Japanese appellation for foreigners), but when we consider how Yumeji always carried a Bible with him and often associated with Protestants, we can begin to see just how central Yumeji’s religious outlook and faith were to his creative endeavors.

Kyurenkan is also the name of a famous Ming and Qing-period music song. Foreign culture flowed into Nagasaki after its port opened up in 1570. This also led to the teaching of Ming and Qing music in Japan, with Kyurenkan becoming popular in Edo, Kyoto and Osaka as a representative music piece. Collection of Ancient and Modern Famous Places in Nagasaki features a scene of four Chinese men and three women dancing and playing jinghu and ruanxian (two traditional Chinese stringed instruments) along to Kyurenkan, while Illustrated Famous Places in Nagasaki also depicts a rambunctious Chinese banquet. As these suggest, exchanges between foreigners and Japanese mistresses were very common back then. The lyrics to Kyurenkan begin as follows: “Look at this Kyurenkan puzzle I’ve received! It has nine rings linked together. Even if you try using both hands, you won’t solve it!” This painting seemingly shows the two protagonists dancing to this song, and when we consider the various entanglements Yumeji had with women, we could even view this work as a fascinating allegorical depiction of the intricately intertwined psychology of men and women.

Takehisa Yumeji (nihonga painter, poet; 1884–1934)
Nihonga painter and poet from Okayama Prefecture. Yumeji initially studied business at Waseda School (now Waseda University), and later dropped out. Yumeji’s style was heavily influenced by Fujishima Takeji, whose style captured the romantic spirit of the times. He also drew illustrations for newspapers and magazines. He gained popularity in the late Meiji and early Taisho era with his sentimental, “moga (modern girl) style” beauties. He also created many oil paintings.