Nine-Tailed-Turtle Tao Zongwang

Tao Zongwang and Zhang Heng are members of the band of rogue heroes whose adventures form the core of the popular Chinese novel from the 1300s called The Tales of the Water Margin (Shuihuzhuan; Jap.: Suikoden). In the summer of 1868, Yoshitoshi produced an unknown number of designs for a series of portraits of these heroes that Ōhashiya Yashichi then published. These two hand-colored drawings are not among the nine that were printed. The publisher might have stopped further production because sales were underwhelming.