Date: 1820-1840
Dimensions: 13.8 x 20.4 cm (5 7/16 x 8 1/16 in.)
Medium: ink on paper

This is one of Hokusai’s works that was never woodblock printed so it was preserved as it was originally painted. This is from an encyclopedia Hokusai was writing that had all sorts of drawing depicting many things. This art particularly depicts one of Chinese famous folk tale which shows clear Chinese influence on Edo Japan as they had great trade relations. The story behind this art goes that Daoist master Zhou Sheng told his friend that he is able to climb to the skies and pluck the moon and then proceeded to do so. Here Hokusai depicts this scene masterfully by showing the linear ascending cloud pattern and from the position of the legs we can tell that he is climbing up. Towards the left of the drawing, we can also see a mountain whose peak drawn in Chinese style, is a bit under the human figure giving us perspective as to how high this figure actually is compared to their surrounding nature. He uses small dots to show the mists surrounding the mountains again adding the portrayal of how high the human figure is in this case.