Uragami Gyokudō

Uragami Gyokudo, Clouds Shield the Layered Cliffs

Uragami Gyokudō (浦上玉堂 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 works feature 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 posssbilities that build up to powerful compositions. After working as a samurai for the Ikeda daimyo, he left his position to devote himself to travel and the arts, and he named his sons ""Spring Qin" and "Autumn Qin." Gyokudō was also expert in calligraphy, featuring clerical and running scripts, and he was a fine poet in Chinese.

One of his music works, the Gyokudō kinpu 玉堂琴譜, is available online

See also Uragami Gyokudō and the chinese zither guqin based on the book Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters; The Arts of Uragami Gyokudō by Stephen Addiss, Univ. of Hawaii Press, 1987, ISBN 0-8248-1039-2.