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T H E 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 

 .» 
 
 • * 
 
 I.ONDON : 
 
 I’RINTED RY C.ILBERT AND RIVINCITON, l.UflTED, 
 52, ST. JOHN’S SQUARE, E.C. 
 
T11 p: 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS 
 OF JAPAN. 
 
 WITH A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ASSOCIATED 
 ARTS, AND SOME REMARKS UPON THE PICTORIAL 
 ART OF THE CHINESE AND KOREANS. 
 
 WILLIAM ANDERSON, F.R.C.S. 
 
 MEIUCAI. OKflOF.R TO H.M.'S I.F.r.ATlON, JAI-AN. 
 
 iLontJon: 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, MARS TON, SEA RLE, & RIVINGTON, 
 
 CROWN nUILDINGS, l88, FLEET STREET. 
 
 MIICCCLXX.WJ, 
 
 iAll rights rfsenrd.'\ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 At the moment when the West is learning to appreciate and utilize Japanese art, 
 the art itself is undergoing a metamorphosis which may hereafter leave little more 
 trace of the characteristics that still attach it to the parent art of China than the 
 adoption of European arms, laws, and literature has allowed to remain of that 
 “ Old Japan ” which flourished before the days of foreign treaties and foreign travel. 
 No one acquainted with the state of the country during the proud but mistaken 
 isolation of former years can question the immense benefits placed within reach of the 
 mass of the community by the swift and radical changes now in progress, yet there 
 are many who regret the loss of the feudal romance and picturesque associations of 
 the old rt^gime. In like manner, although the new art Avhich is to rise upon the 
 ashes of the older may rank some grades higher in the order of evolution than its 
 precursor, the quaint and, to us, novel attractions of that which is passing away 
 will find earnest admirers long after perspective, chiaroscuro, anatomy, and all the 
 science of the European schools have become as interwoven with Japanese as with 
 Western teaching. At the present time a movement is said to be in progress in the 
 capital for the revival and maintenance of the early styles of painting, but much 
 as we may sympathize with the feeling that dictates such an effort, the practicability 
 of the idea is no more serious than would be one that aimed at the restoration 
 to its former dignity of the bow or the war-junk. The old art may long survive in 
 its decorative applications, where it is still unrivalled, but the coming leaders of the 
 schools of painting—young, energetic, and ambitious—will possess opportunities not 
 vouchsafed to their predecessors, and will scarcely fail to discover in the works of 
 the great European masters many lessons in exchange for those which Japanese art 
 has recently conveyed to us. The change is inevitable, and, if rightly directed, must 
 be regarded as an auspicious one, notwithstanding the manifold graces with Avhich 
 the art now under review has been invested by the genius of men like Kanaoka, 
 SesshiCi, Meicho, and Motonobu. Fears have been entertained that the importation 
 of foreign elements may convert the pictorial art of Japan into a mere Oriental 
 offshoot of some European academy, but it should not be forgotten that the whole 
 of the essential principles of Japanese painting were of foreign derivation, and yet 
 
 a 
 
the Japanese, in naturalizing the art taught them by the Koreans and Chinese, 
 an art that brought with it a distinct infusion of Indo-Greek elements, have 
 stamped their work with an unmistakable originality. It is difficult to understand 
 how a widened experience of the scientific and technical resources and intellectual 
 aims of his art can in the end do otherwise than be productive of higher and more 
 varied effort on the part of the painter; but the period of assimilation of the new 
 material may neither be a brief nor a happy one. 
 
 1 he altered conditions attached to the present order of things, however, are 
 bringing some evils in their train. In the days of feudalism, the painter, as a rule, 
 was more or less directly a pensioner of the state, and his claim to consideration was 
 proportioned to the quality of his work, and not to the pecuniary equivalent his 
 labours might be made to represent; but now he is compelled to fight his way as he 
 can in the grim struggle for existence, and when so far successful, he is still 
 
 tempted to enter that competition for wealth which is the great element of 
 
 peril and degradation in the midst of the real progress of our modern civilization. 
 Another risk, of a different kind, is just impending. The proposed abandonment 
 of the complex system of writing originated by the distorted ingenuity of 
 the Chinese will entail the sacrifice of those costly advantages of calligraphic 
 
 training to which the Japanese painter owes his unequalled freedom of pencil. 
 
 1 he accomplishment of the scribe has, however, been as much a snare as a benefit to 
 the artist, and it may be that in his loss he will find a greater gain. 
 
 Japanese art in its various branches now occupies the thoughts of many minds, 
 but it is only within very recent years that any attempt has been made to commit 
 to paper the conclusions to which the study has led. The older writers upon Japan 
 left the subject almost untouched, and whatever imitations of Japanese pictures 
 appeared in their works were “Europeanized” to such an extent that they gave no 
 measure of the artistic qualities of the originals; and although Dutch importations 
 made us acquainted in some degree with Japanese pottery and lacquer, the pieces 
 treasured in European collections were rarely examples of the best work the country 
 could produce. It was not until after the expedition of Commodore Perry that our 
 knowledge began to widen. The display of Japanese industrial products promoted 
 by Sir Rutherford Alcock in connection with the International E.xhibition of 1862, 
 brought home to us the wonderful decorative qualities of the art of modern Japan. 
 The published works of Siebold, whose immense and far-reaching labours are scarcely 
 estimated at their proper value, and the volumes of Chassiron and Humbert, introduced 
 us to good copies of Japanese wood engravings : the qualities of Japanese art were 
 commented upon in the writings of Hiibner, Bousquet, and others: a Japanese novel 
 with all its illustrations was reproduced in England by photozincography in the 
 earliest days of the process: and Mr. Mitford, in his “Tales of Old Japan,” took the 
 step of introducing woodcuts designed and engraved by native artists, an example 
 which was followed in the “ Chinshingura ” by Mr. F. V. Dickins, and in Sir E. J. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 Reed’s “Japan.” The first special treatise was an appreciative review of the various 
 arts of Japan by Mr. J. J. Jarves, which was succeeded by a similar work from the 
 pen of .Sir Rutherford Alcock. The volume devoted to the more recent developments 
 of Japanese Keramic Industry, by Messrs. Audsley and Bowes, was a revelation 
 as to the possibilities of chromatic reproduction, and drew attention strongly to the 
 ornamental character of the modern ware; and the descriptive catalogue by Mr. Franks, 
 of his great collection of Chinese and Japanese pottery and porcelain, now 
 presented to the nation, together with the later catalogue (1880) of the 
 keramic specimens presented to the .South Kensington Museum by the Japanese 
 Government, placed the study of the subject upon a scientific basis. In 1880 a 
 remarkable series of autotype reproductions of Japanese drawings of the Naturalistic 
 school were published by Mr. Frank Dillon. A year later appeared Mr. T. W. 
 Cutler's “Grammar of Japanese Ornament and Design,” in which the various 
 decorative conventions of the industrial arts received careful attention; an English 
 edition of Hokusai's “ Hundred Views of Fuji,” with the original plates, translated 
 and edited by Mr. F. V. Dickins; and a treatise upon the lacquer industry 
 by Mr. Quin, published in the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan." 
 The chief contributions in 1882 were an article descriptive of Japanese book 
 illustrations, by M. T. Duret, in the “Gazette des Beaux Arts,” and a catalogue, 
 with an historical introduction, of Dr. Gierke’s collection of Japanese pictures in 
 Berlin. The following year was signalized by the magnifieent volumes of M. Gonse 
 (“ L’Art Japonais”), which traversed the whole range of Japane.se art; an instructive 
 account of the “Architecture, Art, and Art Industries” by Dr. C. Dresser, and 
 a series of original and important articles upon keramics by Captain F. Brinkley, in 
 the “Chrysanthemum.” The present year (1886) has .seen the completion of the 
 sumptuous “Ornamental Arts of Japan” of Mr. Audsley, and the issue of Professor 
 Morse’s exhaustive treatise upon “Japanese Homes.” Reference must also be 
 made to the "Promenades Japonaises” of MM. Guimet and Regamey, which 
 includes some remarkable imitations of the style of the Japanese book illustrators, 
 and much information of interest to art readers ; and to the lectures and writings of 
 M. Philippe Burty, one of the earliest and most enthusiastic admirers that the arts 
 of Japan have found in Europe. The important archatological researches bearing 
 upon prehistoric art by Messrs. Satow, Milne, Chamberlain, PI. von Siebold, and 
 Professor Morse are referred to in the opening chapters of this book. 
 
 A knowledge of the subject has, perhaps, been conveyed to us more directly by 
 European and American collectors. The paintings brought together by Dr. Gierke, 
 Mr. E. Dillon, Mr. Ernest Hart, and Dr. Naumann in Europe, and by Mr. Gowland 
 and Professor Fenellosa in Japan, are well known. The collection of the gentleman 
 last named, who has won a high reputation as a connoisseur in Japan, is of 
 extraordinary extent. In other branches of art, Mr. Eranks, M. Cernuschi, Mr. Ernest 
 Hart, Mr. W. C. Alexander, Captain E. Brinkley, Mr. J. L. Bowes, M. Burty, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 viii 
 
 M. Diiret, M. Gonse, M. Montefiore, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Sir Rutherford Alcock, 
 Mr. Mitford, Mr. E. Gilbertson, Mr. H. S. Trower, Professor Morse, Mr. T. W. 
 Cutler, and many others, have contributed importantly to the establishment among 
 us of a true appreciation of the subject; and our acknowledgment of indebtedness 
 would be very imperfect without especial reference to the invaluable services rendered 
 to European students by the well-known native experts, Messrs. Hayashi of Paris, 
 and Wakai of Tokio. 
 
 In view of the large amount of attention that has been bestowed upon the arts 
 of Japan in the brief interval that has elapsed since the country was first opened to 
 investigation, it will appear strange that the highest and most suggestive section of 
 Chine.se art —that of painting—has been hitherto pas.sed over unstudied and almost 
 unnoticed. And yet, as the following pages will demonstrate, the Middle Kingdom 
 could lay claim, at least as early as the eighth century of the Christian era, to an art 
 of amazing vigour and originality, and one which the Japanese are not ashamed to 
 acknowledge as the fountain-head of their own graceful achievements with the pencil. 
 
 In conclusion, I desire to acknowledge with gratitude the kindly sympathy and 
 special facilities by which the authorities of the Department of Prints and Drawings in 
 the British Museum have advanced the progress of this work; to Mr. Ernest 
 Satow, the Rev. Bunijiu Nanjio, and Professor Douglas, I have already endeavoured, 
 in the British Museum Catalogue, to express my obligations for their invaluable 
 assistance, the benefit of which has extended to the pre.sent volume; and I have 
 also to thank Mr. K. Suyematz, Mr. Y. Saneyoshi, and Mr. K. Totsuka for 
 many additional items of information; Mr. Makimura, formerly Governor of Kioto, 
 for exceptional opportunities of studying many of the treasures of Nara, Kioto, and 
 elsewhere, that would have been inacce.ssible save for his courteous attention; and 
 Mr. W. Gowland, Mr. Ernest Hart, Mr. E. Dillon, Mr. R. Plu^ne Spiers, 
 Mr. T. W. Cutler, and the Mon. James St. Vincent de Saumarez for their kindness 
 in placing their collections at my disposal for the selection of specimens to illustrate 
 the following pages. 
 
 It should be mentioned that I have found it necessary, in the construction of the 
 first .section of this work, to avail myself of a portion of the material that I have 
 previously contributed to other volumes, including a sketch of the “ Mistory of 
 Japane.se Pictorial Art," published in the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of 
 Japan in 1878, a brief article upon Glyptic art in the “ tiandbook for Japan" 
 (1883), and the “ Historical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Collection of Japane.se 
 and Chinese Pictures in the British Museum,” lately issued. With reference to 
 the first of the.se, I believe it repre.sents the earliest attempt made by a European to 
 investigate Japanese painting from the historical aspect. 
 
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION I.—GENERAL HLSTORY. 
 
 C?IAPTER I., page i. 
 
 Prehistoric art in Japan—Obscurity investing the 
 origin of the present Japanese, and the period at 
 which they entered the country—Fictitious nature 
 of Japanese chronology down to the end of the 
 fourth century of the Christian era—Researches of 
 Morse, Siebold, Milne, Chamberlain, Satow, and 
 Aston—Period of earliest intercourse with China 
 and Korea—Introduction of keramic methods from 
 Korea in the fifth century A.D. 
 
 CHAPTER II., page 7. 
 
 Commencement of history of pictorial art in the 
 fifth century—The Chinese painter Nanriu and his 
 descendants—Korean influence—The mural picture 
 in Horiuji, Nara—The Korean artist Kawanari— 
 The e.stablishment of a pictorial “ bureau ” under 
 the Imperial Government. 
 
 The early history of keramic art—Traditions— 
 Character of prehistoric pottery—The reputed in¬ 
 troduction of the potter's wheel by the Korean priest 
 Giogi, near the end of the seventh century—Satow’s 
 discoveries in the sepulchral mounds of Kodzuke. 
 
 Early monuments of sculpture in stone—Sculp¬ 
 ture in wood—The first Buddhist idols made in 
 Japan attributed to a Korean—Naturalistic cha¬ 
 racter of certain of the wood carvings of the seventh 
 century—The “ Temple Guardians ” of Kubukuji, 
 Nara; the image of the infant Shotoku Taishi— 
 The sculptors Tori Busshi and Oguchi, both of 
 Chinese descent—The Korean priest Giogi, the 
 accredited author of many sculptures. 
 
 Lacquering—The cultivation of the Rhus verni- 
 eifera in the eighth century—Decorated lacquer in 
 the same period. 
 
 Metal work—Traditional origin—Bells, mirrors, 
 Buddhist images—First bronze idol made in Japan 
 attributed to Tori Busshi (seventh century)—The 
 Yakushi of Yakushiji, Nara (eighth century)—The 
 Vairutchana of Todaiji, Nara (eighth century)— 
 The bronze lantern of Todaiji—Reliquaries. 
 
 Artistic decoration of arms and armour in the 
 seventh and eighth centuries. 
 
 Embroidery—Calligraphy—Buddhist Architec¬ 
 ture. 
 
 Japanese culture in the seventh and eighth 
 centuries. 
 
 CHAPTER III., page 21. 
 
 Japanese art from the ninth century—Kosc no 
 Kanaoka, a follower of the Chinese master Wu 
 Tao-tsz’—His descendants — The last work of 
 
 Hirotaka—Painting in the tenth century, as indi¬ 
 cated in the contemporary romance called Genji 
 Moiwgatari. 
 
 Buddhi.st school of painting—Korean, Chinese, 
 Indian, and Greek influences—Introduction of 
 Buddhism into Japan by the Emperor Kimmei 
 (sixth century) —Principal Buddhist pictures from 
 the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, executed 
 by Kanaoka and his descendants, and members 
 of the Yamato or Early Native school—Charac¬ 
 teristics of Buddhi.st pictures — Motives chiefly 
 traditional, and derived from Chinese and Korean 
 sources. 
 
 The Yamato school—Origin under Motomitsu— 
 (eleventh century)—The three family lines of 
 Kasuga, Takuma, and Kose, representing chief 
 strength of the school down to the fourteenth 
 century—Change of name of “ Kasuga" branch to 
 •‘Tosa" in thirteenth century—Characteristics of 
 the Yamato picture—Motives. 
 
 Caricature. The priest Kakuyii, or Toba Sojo, 
 the first historical caricaturist (twelfth century)— 
 Characteri.stics of Toba pictures {Toba-yii). 
 
 Chinese school—Diminution of influence during 
 the predominance of the Yamato school—Priestly 
 artists of the fourteenth century. 
 
 CHAPTER IV., page 37. 
 
 Keramic art—Absence of material advance from 
 the eighth to the thirteenth century—Kato Shiroza- 
 j’emon, or Toshiro, the " f'ather of Pottery”—His 
 voyage to China (1223 A.D.) —His importation of 
 new methods and designs—The Seto fabrique— 
 Absence of pictorial decoration in pottery. 
 
 Temple images—Eshin—Jocho and the Nara 
 school—The Colossal Deva Kings of Todaiji, 
 Nara, by Kwaikei (1095 A.D.)— The “ Daibutsu ” 
 of Kamakura (1252). 
 
 Arms and Armour—The Miochin.s—The armour 
 of Yoshitsune, preserved at Nara. 
 
 The Lacquer Industry—Absence of any reference 
 to Chinese or Korean influence. 
 
 CHAPTER V., page 41. 
 
 Pictorial art from the close of the fourteenth century 
 —Meicho or Ch (3 Densu, the great master of Buddhist 
 painting in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 
 Chinese school —Revival under the Chinese (?) 
 priest Josetsu, at the end of the fourteenth century 
 —The school of Sdkokuji_, Kioto—The Chinese 
 Soga Shiubun—Subdivision of the Chinese school 
 into three branches : the “ Chinese,” under Shiubun 
 
 b 
 
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter V. {continued). 
 
 (not Soga Shiubun, above mentioned), Soga Jasoku, 
 and Oguri Sbtan ; the Scsshiu, under Ota Sesshiu ; 
 and the Kano, under Kano Masanobu—The imita¬ 
 tion of the calligraphic Chinese style of the Sung 
 and Yuen dynasties. 
 
 History of the revived Chinese school down to 
 the middle of the eighteenth century—Keishoki, 
 Noami, Chiunn. Riurikio, &c. The Chinese immi¬ 
 grants (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries), 
 Mokuan, Ifukiu, Chinnanpin, &c. 
 
 Sesshiu school—Sesshiu's visit to China—Shiu- 
 getsu, Togan, Doan, &c. 
 
 Kano scliool—Masanobu, Motonobu, Yeitoku, 
 Tanyu, Yasunobu, Tsunenobu, &c. 
 
 Progress of the Yamato or Tosa school—The 
 Takumas, Shibas, and Kos^ Arishige—Tosa Mitsu- 
 nobu, Mitsushig<f, Mitsuoki—The seceders, Iwasa 
 Matahei and Sotatsu—Decadence. 
 
 CHAPTER VI., page 6o. 
 
 Foundation of the Popular or Ukiyo-yti style, at 
 the end of the sixteenth century, by Iwasa Matahei 
 —Revival of style of Matahei by Hishigawa Moro- 
 nobu, near the end of the seventeenth century— 
 Hanabusa Itcho—Principal representatives of the 
 Popular school in the first half of the eighteenth 
 century — Miyagawa Choshun, Torii Kiyonobu, 
 Tachibana Morikuni, Nishigawa Sukenobu, &c. 
 
 Korin school, founded by Ogata Korin, near the 
 end of the seventeenth century—Kenzan. 
 
 General review of the development of pictorial 
 art from the latter part of the fourteenth to the 
 middle of the eighteenth century. 
 
 CHAPTER VII., page 69. 
 
 Keramic art from the beginning of the sixteenth 
 
 century—Introduction of manufacture of porcelain 
 from China by Gorodaiyu Shondzui, in 1513— 
 Commencement of pictorial decoration of pottery 
 about the same period—Fabriques of Arita, Kutane, 
 Sanda, Nakano, Satsuma, Kioto, &c.—“ Raku 
 yaki ”—Famous decorative artists—Cloisonne first 
 made about 1610. 
 
 Arms and armour—Damascening—Ornamental 
 work in sword guard.s, hilt ornaments, &c. 
 
 Wood carving—Architectural decoration under 
 Hidari Jingoro and his followers—Buddhist images. 
 
 Netsukds, pipe ca.ses, &c. 
 
 The decoration of lacquer. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII., page 81. 
 
 Cha-no-yu—Origin and history—Influence. 
 
 CHAPTER IX., page 86. 
 
 Shijo Naturalistic school—Origin in the latter part 
 of the cigiiteenth century—Maruyama Okio^Pupils 
 —Characteristics of style. 
 
 CHAPTER X., page 93. 
 
 Popular school from the latter part of the 
 eighteenth century—Book illustrations—Hokusai : 
 his contemporaries and followers—Ganku school: 
 Kishi Doko—European school—Progress of Kano, 
 1 osa, Chinese, and Korin schools : Buncho, Huitsu, 
 Kano Kadzunobu. 
 
 CHAPTER XI., page 106. 
 
 Keramic art from the latter part of the eighteenth 
 century—M ultiplication of porcelain factories— 
 Seto, Mino, Kioto, Kutane, Tozan, &c. 
 
 Netsukds—■Encru.stcd work—Lacquer decoration 
 —Pictorial embroider)-—Embossed paper—Metal 
 workers. 
 
 Concluding remarks. 
 
 PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 Pictorial decoration of lacquer; varieties—Kurin, 
 Ritsuwo. 
 
 Pictorial embroidery; history. 
 
 CHAPTER III., page 140. 
 
 Engraving upon wood—Origin of block-printing 
 —Pictorial engraving—Illustrated book.s—Chromo¬ 
 xylography—Engraving upon copper—Lithography 
 —Stencilling. 
 
 The application of pictorial art to sculpture— 
 Pictorial designs reproduced in metal, stone, wood, 
 and plaster—Oshi-yc—Tattooing. 
 
 •Gold, silver, 
 
OUTLINE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 XI 
 
 SECTION IV.—CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Introductor}’ remarks, page 183. 
 
 CHAPTHR I., page 185. 
 
 Drawing: calligrapiiic ideal—Varieties of touch 
 in figure drawing. 
 
 CHAPTER II., page 201. 
 
 Chiaroscuro—I'al.se shadows—Absence of high 
 light.s, reflected light.s, and projected shadows. 
 
 Colouring—Ideal tints, glazing, scumbling, im- 
 pasto —Classification of pictures according to mode 
 of colouring. 
 
 Composition. 
 
 CHAPTP:R IIP, page 207. 
 
 Perspective—Absence of linear perspective in 
 true Chinese and Japanese art—“Parallel” per¬ 
 spective—Unroofing of buildings—Elevation of 
 horizontal line—Imperfect study of linear perspec¬ 
 tive by artists of the Popular school. 
 
 CHAPTER IV.. page 2ii. 
 
 Land-scape—“ Composed ” landscapes of Chinese 
 and Kano schools—Landscape drawings of ShijO 
 and Popular schools. 
 
 CHAPTER V., page 214. 
 
 Imperfect observation of cloud forms—Conven¬ 
 
 tional or decorative clouds—Rendering of mist 
 and rain—Snow scenes—Night scene.s—Arbitrary 
 illumination of the Japanese picture—Representa¬ 
 tion of the various forms of water. 
 
 CHAPTER VL, page 220. 
 
 Representation of trees and flowers—The bam¬ 
 boo, plum, peach, pine, &c. 
 
 CIL‘\PTER VII., page 224. 
 
 Representation of animal life; insects, fishes, 
 frogs, snakes, tortoises, birds, horses, rats, monkey.s, 
 Szc. 
 
 Drawing of the human figure — Neglect of 
 anatomical form—Traditional portraitures of Bud¬ 
 dhistic divinities, Taoist rishis, Chinese sages, S:c.— 
 Eigure drawing in the Yamato-Tosa, Shijo, and 
 Popular schools—Drawing of face. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII., page 239. 
 
 Artistic invention—Clas.sical schools—Yamato- 
 Tosa school—Popular artists. 
 
 CHAPTER IX, page 241. 
 
 Criticism of pictures in Japan—Motodri’s remarks. 
 
 CHAPTER X., page 250. 
 
 Summary. 
 
 APPENDIX.-CHINESE AND 
 
 CHINESE PICTORIAL ART, page 253. 
 
 Outline of history. — Tsao I'uh-ying, Cliang 
 Sang-yiu, Wu Tao-tsz’, &c.—Great masters of the 
 Sung and Yuiin dynasties—Characteristics of early 
 Chinese painting—Commencement of decadence in 
 the Ming dynasty—Naturalistic portraiture under 
 
 KOREAN PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 Si-kin Kii-szeand Cheng Chung-fuh—Applications 
 of pictorial art. 
 
 KOREAN ART, page 266. 
 
 Pictorial art in Korea a derivative of that of 
 Ciiina—High quality of earlier glyptic and pictorial 
 art—Decadence. 
 
 ADDENDA, Kanaoka, p. 267. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
LIST OF 
 
 PLATES. 
 
 Plate. 
 
 Subject. 
 
 Artist. 
 
 School. 
 
 Period, A.D. 
 
 Source. 
 
 ' 
 
 Ancient wood carvings—The Two 
 Devas (Ni O) 
 
 Unknown 
 
 Korean 
 
 c. 600 
 
 Kobukuji, Nara. 
 
 2 
 
 Bronze image of Bhaichadjya 
 Guru (Yakushi Niorai) 
 
 Unknown 
 
 — 
 
 c. 700 
 
 Yakushiji, Nara. 
 
 3 
 
 Bronze images of the Sun and 
 Moon Devas 
 
 Unknown 
 
 — 
 
 ” 
 
 
 4 
 
 ( 
 
 Wood-carving. Deva King 
 
 Ancient wood carvings— 
 
 Anami Kwaikei 
 
 Nara 
 
 c. 1095 • 
 
 Todaiji, Nara. 
 
 
 Demon lantern-bearer 
 
 Unknown 
 
 — 
 
 Uncertain 
 
 Kasuga, Nara. 
 
 Dhritarachtra (Jikoku Ten) 
 
 Jocho 
 
 Nara 
 
 I ith century 
 
 Yakushiji, Nara. 
 
 c 
 
 Wooden Masks 
 
 Unknown 
 
 _ 
 
 
 Todaiji, Nara. 
 
 6 ] 
 
 Ancient Metallic Mirror 
 
 
 _ 
 
 Uncertain 
 
 Horiuji, Nara. 
 
 1 
 
 Ancient Reliquary 
 
 >. 
 
 — 
 
 >- 
 
 Saidaiji, Nara. 
 
 7 
 
 The Armour of Yoshitsunfi 
 
 
 - 
 
 12 th century 
 
 Kasuga, Nara. 
 
 8 
 
 Arhat 
 
 Meicho 
 
 Buddhist 
 
 15th century 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 9 
 
 Arhats 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 From the Wa-kan viei-hitm gwa-yei. 
 
 10 
 
 Amitabha 
 
 Abbot of Zojbji 
 
 ,, 
 
 19th century 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 11-12 
 
 The Demon’s Night Journey 
 towards the Rising Sun 
 
 Unknown 
 
 Tosa 
 
 15th century 
 
 From the Kiyo g 7 va-yeii. 
 
 13 
 
 Raiko and his comrades before 
 the Demon Robber 
 
 ” 
 
 ’■ 
 
 i6ih century (?) 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 14 
 
 Chinese Landscape 
 
 Shiubun 
 
 Chinese 
 
 15th century 
 
 
 ( 
 
 Cock 
 
 Sotan 
 
 
 
 From the A-/ion tc-ka^ami. 
 
 ^ ( 
 
 Priest riding upon a Mule 
 
 Shiutoku 
 
 Sesshiu 
 
 - 
 
 .. 
 
 16 
 
 Landscapes 
 
 Soga Jasoku 
 
 Chinese 
 
 >. 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 
 Chinese Landscape 
 
 Sesshiu 
 
 Sesshiu 
 
 
 From the IVa-kan mei-hitsu gwa-ho. 
 
 Dragon 
 
 Sesson 
 
 » 
 
 16th century 
 
 Prom the Wa-kan mei-hitsu gtva-yei. 
 
 iS 
 
 Portrait of Vimalakirtti, an Indian 
 patriarch 
 
 Shiugetsu (attrib.) 
 
 
 15th century 
 
 British Mu.seum Collection. 
 
 19 
 
 Chinese Landscape 
 
 Masanobu 
 
 Kano 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 The Rishi Chung-li K’uan 
 
 Motonobu 
 
 „ 
 
 i6th century 
 
 
 
 Hotei 
 
 
 
 
 From the A-hon ic-kagami. 
 
 “ The Three Laughers ” 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 From the Wa-kan mei-hitsu gwa-yei. 
 
 22 
 
 Landscape 
 
 .. 
 
 „ 
 
 
 From the Wa-kan mei-hitsu gwa-ho. 
 
 23 
 
 Chinese Landscape 
 
 Tanyu 
 
 
 17th century 
 
 From the Wa-kan mei-hitsu gwa-yei. 
 
 24 
 
 Chinese Landscape. Screen paint¬ 
 ing 
 
 Yasunobu 
 
 ” 
 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 
 Swallow and Willow-tree 
 
 Tanyu 
 
 
 
 From the IFa kau mei-hitsu gwa-yei. 
 
 
 Pheasant and Bamboo 
 
 Tsunifnobu 
 
 n 
 
 
 26 
 
 The Mendicant Priest and the 
 Wild Geese 
 
 Itchb 
 
 Popular 
 
 
 From the Itchdgiva-fu. 
 
 27 
 
 Crows—silhouette picture 
 
 Korin 
 
 Korin 
 
 
 From the Giua-shi kai yo. 
 
 C 
 
XIV 
 
 LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 Plate. 
 
 Subject. 
 
 Artist. 
 
 School. 
 
 Perioil, A.D. 
 
 .Source. 
 
 28 
 
 Cha-iw-yu Garden 
 
 , Shimchosai 
 
 1 
 
 Popular 
 
 18th century 
 
 From the Miako rhesen mets/to dzn-vc. 
 
 29 
 
 Cranes 
 
 okio 
 
 Shijo 
 
 „ 
 
 .Author’s Collection. 
 
 ( 
 
 Dead Carp 
 
 Okio 
 
 
 1 
 
 ) 
 
 30 ^ 
 ( 
 
 Monkeys 
 
 Sosen 
 
 „ 
 
 19th century 
 
 
 Landscape. Winter Scene 
 
 Roshiu 
 
 >. 
 
 ) 
 
 31 
 
 Deer and Monkey 
 
 Sosen 
 
 ShijS 
 
 iSth century 
 
 Author’s Collection. 
 
 32 
 
 Monkey 
 
 Shiuho 
 
 .. 
 
 19th century 
 
 „ 
 
 33 
 
 Peacock and Hen 
 
 Yiisei 
 
 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 34 
 
 Hadesu slaying the Tiger 
 
 Yosai 
 
 „ 
 
 
 „ ,, 
 
 ( 
 
 Yaniato Takt^ in the Enemy’s 
 
 
 
 
 From the Zenken knjitsu. 
 
 35 
 
 Camp 
 
 Ancient Japanese Hero, Umashi 
 
 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 Mate 
 
 
 
 ” 
 
 ” ” 
 
 36 
 
 Comic Sketches 
 
 Hokusai 
 
 Popular 
 
 
 Saumarez Collection. 
 
 37 
 
 The Mad Woman 
 
 
 
 
 From the Hokusai giva-fu. 
 
 3S 
 
 Tamctomo and the Demons 
 
 
 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 39 
 
 The Insect Daimid Cortege 
 
 Kiosai 
 
 
 
 Author’s Collection. 
 
 40 
 
 Sparrows and bamboos 
 
 Hoyen 
 
 Shijo 
 
 
 Spiers Collection. 
 
 41 
 
 Portrait of Heta’ra 
 
 Nammei 
 
 Popular 
 
 „ 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 
 Fish 
 
 Sosen 
 
 Shijo 
 
 
 
 Hen and Chickens 
 
 Hoitsu 
 
 Kdrm 
 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 43 
 
 The Rishi Li Tieh Rwai 
 
 Motonobu 
 
 Kano 
 
 16th century 
 
 Ernest Hart Collection. 
 
 44 
 
 Pheasant 
 
 Onishi Keisai 
 
 Chinese 
 
 19th century 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 45 
 
 Slioki and the Demons 
 
 Zt^shin 
 
 Shijo 
 
 19th century 
 
 
 46 
 
 Japanese Girls. Facsimile of early 
 
 Katsugawa Shun* 
 
 Popular 
 
 iSth century 
 
 Author’s Collection. 
 
 
 Chromoxylotjraph 
 
 sho 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 Hawk and Wild Goose, stencilled 
 
 — 
 
 Shijo 
 
 19th century 
 
 
 4S 
 
 Chinese Landscape—basso-rilievo, 
 
 _ 
 
 Chinese 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 plaster 
 
 Wood Carvings—alto-rilievo— 
 
 Unknown 
 
 
 
 Suwa no Mioken, Komagi. 
 
 49] 
 
 The Water turned into Wine 
 
 The .Ancient Couple of Ta- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ( 
 
 kasago and Harima 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 Chinese Landscape 
 
 Motonobu 
 
 Kano 
 
 i6th century 
 
 From the JP'a kan mei-hitsu gxva-hd. 
 
 51 
 
 View on the River Yodo 
 
 Bunrin 
 
 Ganku 
 
 jpth century 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 52 
 
 “ The Wind that sways the Willow 
 branches” 
 
 Shikio 
 
 Shijo 
 
 
 „ 
 
 53 
 
 Waterfall 
 
 Richo 
 
 » 
 
 
 » .. 
 
 54 
 
 Temple of Kiyomidzu, Kioto. 
 
 Chikudo 
 
 Ganku 
 
 
 
 
 Snow Scene 
 
 
 
 
 
 55 
 
 View of Lake Biwa. Moonlight. 
 
 Bunrin 
 
 .. 
 
 
 » >> 
 
 56 
 
 Day and Night Scenes in Yedo 
 
 Keisai Yeisen 
 
 Popular 
 
 „ 
 
 From the Keisai Ukiyo giua-fu. 
 
 57 
 
 Bamboos. 
 
 Kiitsu 
 
 Korin 
 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 5S 
 
 The Cherry Blossoms of Mikawa 
 
 Kinkin 
 
 Shijo 
 
 
 >) j) 
 
 59 
 
 Shoal of Carp 
 
 Inagaki 
 
 Chinese 
 
 „ 
 
 „ „ 
 
 60 
 
 Tortoises 
 
 Tonan 
 
 Shijo 
 
 „ 
 
 •I I) 
 
 61 
 
 Falcon 
 
 Sumiyoshi Hiro 
 
 Tosa 
 
 
 
 
 
 masa 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 Cranes flying 
 
 Ippo 
 
 Shijo 
 
 " 
 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 XV 
 
 Plate. 
 
 Subject. 
 
 Artist. 
 
 School. 
 
 Period, A. D. 
 
 •Source. 
 
 I 33 [' 
 
 Crane and Young 
 
 Crane 
 
 Ishiyaina 
 
 Yeino 
 
 Tosa 
 
 Kano 
 
 17111 century 
 
 From the Wa-kan mei-^>a yen. 
 
 64 
 
 Cock 
 
 Rantokusai 
 
 Popular 
 
 iSth century 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 <■>5 
 
 The Rats and the Cat 
 
 Kiosai 
 
 
 i9lh century 
 
 Author’s Collection. 
 
 66 
 
 Tiger. From life 
 
 Toyei 
 
 Shij 5 
 
 .. 
 
 British Museum Collection. 
 
 67 
 
 Tiger 
 
 Gantai 
 
 Ganku 
 
 .. 
 
 » 
 
 68 
 
 Monkeys 
 
 Sosen 
 
 Shij 5 
 
 ■■ 
 
 „ 
 
 
 TO ILLUSTRATE CHINESE 
 
 PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 69 y 
 t 
 
 Horses 
 
 Crane 
 
 Han Kan 
 Unknown 
 
 Dynasty. 
 
 T’ang 
 
 Sung 
 
 8th century 
 
 1 2th century (?) 
 
 From the Wa-kan mei-^^va yen. 
 
 From the Gwa-ko sen-ran. 
 
 70 
 
 71 
 
 The Eight Incidents of the Nir¬ 
 vana of S’akyamuni 
 
 Landscape 
 
 Wu Tao-tsz’ 
 
 T’ang 
 
 Sth century 
 
 Manjuji, Kioto. 
 
 From the Shiuko jisshiu. 
 
 72 
 
 73 
 
 74 
 
 Pien Ts’iao (Henjaku) and the 
 Rishi 
 
 Dove and Falcon 
 
 Dragon 
 
 Li Lung-yen 
 
 The Emperor 
 
 Hwei Tsung 
 Ch'en So-ung 
 
 Sung 
 
 I ith century (?) 
 
 I2th century 
 
 I2th century (?) 
 
 From the Wakan mei-giea yen. 
 
 75 
 
 Dragon and Crow 
 
 Muh Ki 
 
 
 » 
 
 From the H-koii tc-kagami. 
 
 7 f> 
 
 Bamboos 
 
 Unknown 
 
 
 .. 
 
 From the Shiuko jisshi. 
 
 77 1 
 
 Bird 
 
 Squirrel and Vine 
 
 Wan-chin 
 
 WangYuen-chang 
 
 Ming 
 
 15th century (?) 
 
 P'rom the JFakan viei-gwa yen. 
 
 From the 'L-hon te-kagami. 
 
 73 [ 
 
 Boy and Puppy 
 
 Birds and Peonies 
 
 K’iu Ying 
 
 Wang Lieh-pun 
 
 
 ” 
 
 From the Jl’akan jnei-hitsu gyva-yei 
 
 79 
 
 Sages 
 
 U-kio 
 
 'Using 
 
 - 
 
 Franks’ Collection. 
 
 80^ 
 
 Bird, painted with the finger-nail 
 Crow 
 
 Shih Ts’ao 
 
 Ch’en Nan-ping 
 
 
 I Sth century 
 
 From the Wakan vtei-gim yen. 
 
 From the Gwa-shi kwai-yd. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED WITH THE TEXT. 
 
 ♦ 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. 
 
 I. 
 
 Tlic wintry moon. Sliijo school 
 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Japanese youth. After MATy\HEl 
 
 61 
 
 
 2. 
 
 Jikoku Ten (Dhritarachtra) and the Demon. 
 
 
 » 26. 
 
 The Blind Beggar and the Thunder God. 
 
 
 
 
 After ISAI. Popular school . 
 
 6 
 
 
 After Hanabusa Itcho. 17th cen¬ 
 
 
 
 3- 
 
 Wood carving, 7th century. The infant 
 
 
 
 tury. Popular school .... 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 Shutoku Tai.shi. From a photograph . 
 
 13 
 
 .. 27. 
 
 Wild Geese. After Ogata KoRIN. 17th 
 
 
 
 4- 
 
 Prehistoric bell. From a photograph 
 
 16 
 
 
 century . 
 
 66 
 
 
 S- 
 
 Ancient relief in bronze. From a photo- 
 
 
 „ 28. 
 
 Chrysanthemum and bamboo. After 
 
 
 
 
 graph. 
 
 17 
 
 
 Korin. 
 
 66 
 
 
 6. 
 
 The Nara “Daibutsu.” Bronze image, 
 
 
 .. 29. 
 
 Peony. After KoRIN .... 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 A.D. 749. From a photograph 
 
 18 
 
 30. 
 
 The Ni O Gate at the mausoleum of 
 
 
 
 6a. Ancient pottery discovered at Kodzuke 
 
 
 
 lydyasu NikkO. i6th century. School of 
 
 
 
 
 by M. Satow. From the “Transactions 
 
 
 
 Hidari Jingoro. 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 of the Asiatic Society of Japan ” . 
 
 20 
 
 » 31- 
 
 Chinese Landscape. After KeishoKT. 
 
 
 
 7- 
 
 Fishes and cherry blossoms. After 
 
 
 
 Chinese school. i6th century 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 GiOKUHd. Shijo school 
 
 21 
 
 „ 32. 
 
 Appliances for the preparation of tea. 
 
 
 
 8. 
 
 The death of Hirotaka. After Kikuchi 
 
 
 
 After Sensai Yeitaku. Popular school. 
 
 
 
 
 YoSAt. Shijo school .... 
 
 23 
 
 
 19th century ...... 
 
 81 
 
 
 9 - 
 
 Portrait of Hitomaro. After NOBUZANfi. 
 
 
 .. 33- 
 
 Landscape. After Maruyama Okio. 
 
 
 
 
 Yamato school. 13th century 
 
 30 
 
 
 Shijo school. 1770 .... 
 
 86 
 
 
 10. 
 
 Toba-yd. A corpse revival 
 
 33 
 
 » 34- 
 
 Puppies at play. After Okio. 1777 
 
 88 
 
 
 11. 
 
 Toba-yd. The courage of security. After 
 
 
 >. 35- 
 
 Spotted Egret After HOYEN. Shijo 
 
 
 
 
 Mivagawa CiioKI. Popular school 
 
 34 
 
 
 school. C. 1835. 
 
 90 
 
 
 12. 
 
 Toba-yd. “ Gratis anhelans, multa agendo, 
 
 
 .. 36. 
 
 Peacock and hen. After Mori Sosen. 
 
 
 
 
 nihil agens.” After Mivagawa ChoKi. 
 
 34 
 
 
 Shijo school. 1786 .... 
 
 92 
 
 
 " 3 - 
 
 Ancient ma.sk. Wood carving . 
 
 36 
 
 37- 
 
 Hokusai sketching the Peerless Mountain. 
 
 
 
 14. 
 
 Carved wooden image of the priest Eison. 
 
 
 
 After Hokusai. Popular school . 
 
 93 
 
 
 
 (14th century ?). 
 
 37 
 
 3S. 
 
 “The quick postman.” After HOKUSAI. 
 
 
 
 IS- 
 
 The “ Daibutsu ” of Kamakura. 13th cen¬ 
 
 
 
 19th century ...... 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 tury. From a photograph 
 
 39 
 
 39- 
 
 Napoleon at St. Helena. Dutch school. 
 
 
 
 16. 
 
 Dragon. After SessiiiO (1502.) . 
 
 41 
 
 
 19th century . . 
 
 102 
 
 
 17- 
 
 Falcon and Egret. After SOGA Chokuan. 
 
 
 „ 40. 
 
 Mount Toriumi. After Tani BuncHo. 
 
 
 
 
 i6th century. Chinese school 
 
 45 
 
 
 Chinese school. 19th century . 
 
 104 
 
 
 18. 
 
 Sesshiu and the pictured rats. After 
 
 
 .. 41- 
 
 Egrets. Shijo school. 19th century 
 
 106 
 
 
 
 Nlsiiigawa Sukenobu. Popular 
 
 
 42. 
 
 Horse. (Framed picture.) After Kano 
 
 
 
 
 school . 
 
 48 
 
 
 Sakon . 
 
 IIS 
 
 
 19. 
 
 The rambles of Motonobu. After 
 
 
 43- 
 
 Guest room, showing Toko-no-ma and Chi- 
 
 
 
 
 Nisiiigawa SukEnobu. 
 
 51 
 
 
 gai-dana. After Utagawa Toyokuni 
 
 116 
 
 
 20. 
 
 The Rishi Li Tich-kwai. After KanO 
 
 
 .. 44- 
 
 Diagram of Kakcvwiio .... 
 
 117 
 
 
 
 TanvO. 17th century .... 
 
 54 
 
 45 - 
 
 -49. Diagrams of Kakemonos 
 
 118 
 
 
 21. 
 
 Chinese boys quarrelling. After Kano 
 
 
 50- 
 
 The Ghost. (Specimen of Kakemono 
 
 
 
 
 N.\0N0BU. 17th century 
 
 55 
 
 
 mounting.) After Maki Chokusai. 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 The drunken philosopher. After Kano 
 
 
 
 1862. 
 
 119 
 
 
 
 CiriKANOBU (or Shiushin). 17th century 
 
 56 
 
 .. 51- 
 
 Priest reading Orihon. After HOKUSAI . 
 
 121 
 
 
 23- 
 
 Landscape. Rain scene. After Kano 
 
 
 52. 
 
 Stand-screen (Tsuitate) .... 
 
 124 
 
 
 
 TanYU . 
 
 57 
 
 » 53- 
 
 Fan mount. Rats stealing an egg. After 
 
 
 
 24. 
 
 A visit of ceremony. After Iwasa 
 
 
 
 SatakE Yeikai. Popular school. 19th 
 
 
 
 
 MatAHEI{?). i6th century. Popular 
 
 
 
 century ....... 
 
 126 
 
 
 
 school ....... 
 
 6o 
 
 „ 54. Fan of court lady. After Isai 
 
 126 
 
 d 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED WITH THE TEXT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fig. 55. Modern bamboo and paper fan (t/r/'/H’rt) . 127 
 „ 56. Modern wooden Uchivja . . • .128 
 
 „ 57. The fabrication of pottery. After KWAN- 
 
 GETSU. 1779.130 
 
 ,, 58. The fabrication of pottery . . . . 13^ 
 
 „ 59. Kibi Daijin and the Chinese embroideress. 
 
 After TacHIBANA Morikuni. Popular 
 
 school.138 
 
 „ 60. Indra. Reduced facsimile of woodcut by 
 
 Nichiren ShoNIX. 13th century . 140 
 „ 61. Agni Deva. Reduced facsimile of woodcut 
 
 dated 1325, by RioKiX . . . .141 
 
 „ 62. The Poet and the Peerless Mountain. Fac¬ 
 simile of early woodcut for book illus¬ 
 tration. 160S.143 
 
 „ 63. Burlesque of £lbisu and Daikoka (two 
 popular divinities). Reduced facsimile 
 of woodcut after HisbiiG-AWA Moro- 
 NOBU. C. 1680.145 
 
 64. '‘The three sak<f tasters” burlesqued. Re¬ 
 duced facsimile of woodcut after Oku- 
 MURA Masanobu. C. 1700 . . -145 
 
 „ 65. Ono no Komachi. Facsimile of woodcut 
 
 after Nisiiig.UVa SukENOBU. 1742 . 146 
 
 ,, 66. Facsimile of two pages of a Kitsa-soshi. 
 
 C. 1820.147 
 
 „ 67. Street scene. Reduced facsimile of wood- 
 
 cut after SmunchoSAI. 17S7 . . 149 
 
 ,, 68. Monkey. Facsimile of woodcut in the 
 
 Soshiseki gwa-fit- 1766 . . .150 
 
 „ 69. A suburban tea-house. Reduced fac¬ 
 simile of woodcut in the Itsukus/iima dzu- 
 
 j'i 1836.151 
 
 „ 70. The Ferry. Reduced facsimile of a 
 drawing made for the engraver by 
 
 HOBCUSAI.157 
 
 „ 71. Designs for sword-guards After HOKUSAI 159 
 „ 72. Decorative design for a wood carving. 
 
 After Hokus.ai.160 
 
 „ 73. Wood carving. The attendant of the 
 Fairy Queen Si Wang Mu, with the 
 White Dragon. C. 1820? I'rom a 
 
 photograph.161 
 
 74. Oshi-y6 .162 
 
 „ 75. Cray-fish. From a lacquer painting (on 
 
 paper) by Shibata ZESHIN. C. 1880. 163 
 
 76. Decorative composition. The Rishi Meifuh. 
 
 After K.ano TosEKI. 17th century . 164 
 „ 77. Portraits of Hokusai and Riukbsai, showing 
 
 manner of drawing.165 
 
 „ 78. Stretching silk or paper for mounting. 
 
 Yxom. the Kan-gzva/litorigeiku . . 168 
 
 „ 79. Rough sketching. After NiSBilGAWA 
 
 SukEnobu. 1736.171 
 
 „ 80. Chinese artist at work. Yrom the Kan-giva 
 
 hitori geiko ...... 178 
 
 „ 81. The mode of holding the brush in painting 
 
 the bamboo . . . . . -179 
 
 „ 82. The manner of painting upon a vertical 
 
 surface.180 
 
 PAGE 
 
 83. Japanese artist at work .... iSi 
 „ 84. Sparrows and Roses. After Renzan 
 
 Gaxtoku. Ganku school. C. 1840 . 185 
 
 „ 85. Calligraphy.187 
 
 „ 86—95. Illustrations of the ten varieties of 
 “touch” in figure drawing. From the 
 Gwa-ko sen-ran . . . . .189 
 
 „ 96. Calligraphic figure. From an old engraving. 
 
 C. 1720.200 
 
 „ 97. Negroes. After Hokusai . . . 20.4. 
 
 „ g8. Dutch perspective. After Hokusai . . 206 
 
 „ 99. Roofless interior. After Nishigaw.a. 
 
 SukEXOBU. 1742.207 
 
 „ 100. Perspective drawing. Chinese Temple. 
 
 After Hokusai. 1810 . . . 20S 
 
 „ loi. Perspective drawing. P'rom an engraving 
 
 \x\. the Itsukitshima dzu-ye. 1836. . 209 
 
 „ 102. Chinese landscape. After Hara Zalsbio. 
 
 Shijo school. C. 1840. . . .211 
 
 „ 103. Chinese landscape. After Roren . . 212 
 
 „ 104. Landscape. After Rexzan Gantoku. 
 
 1809.214 
 
 „ 105. Street scene. From the Itsukushivia 
 
 dzH-yl 1836.215 
 
 „ 106. Rain scene. After RioKo. C. 1840 . 216 
 
 „ 107. Winter scene. After Hokusai . .216 
 
 „ 108. Moonlight scene. After GakuJOKO. C. 
 
 IS40.217 
 
 „ 109. Night scene. After Toyokuni. 1809 . 218 
 „ no. Rock and waves. After Fujivvara no 
 
 Masanori. 1771.219 
 
 „ III. Bamboos. Y'comt\\e Bokuchiku Hatsumo. 
 
 1831.220 
 
 .. 112. „ „ „ . 221 
 
 ,. 113. Flower. Naturalistic drawing. C. 1840 223 
 
 „ 114. Falcon and Teal. After StllUKI. C. 
 
 1840 ....... 224 
 
 „ 115. Chinese Lion. After MORIKUNI. 1720. 225 
 
 „ 116. Buddhistic Tiger „ „ . 225 
 
 „ 117. Elephant „ „ . 225 
 
 „ 118. Frogs and Snake. After Kiosai. 1879. 226 
 „ 119. Sparrows. After Keibun. C. i8io . 227 
 
 „ 120. Horses. After Kano TaxvQ. . . 228 
 „ 121. Horse. After Tos.a M1T.SUNOBU (?). 
 
 16th century. ..... 229 
 
 „ 122. Rats. After HOKUSAI .... 229 
 
 ,, 123. Tengu on Wild Boar. After Kokan. 
 
 1771.229 
 
 „ 124. A tragedy. After Kunisada. 1S33 . 230 
 
 „ 125. Court nobles playing at Kemari. After 
 
 Tosa Tsunb:mitsu . . . .231 
 
 126. A trial of strength. After HOKUSAI . 232 
 „ 127. Ono no Komachi. After Y6s.\i . . 233 
 
 „ 128. Portraits of Actor. After Kunisada. 
 
 1833.234 
 
 „ 129. The inebriated sage. After Rorex. 
 
 1809.235 
 
 „ 130. Hotei yawning. 1835 .... 236 
 
 „ 131. Goto Sanemoto. After YoSAl . . 237 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED WITH THE TEXT. 
 
 XIX 
 
 
 P. 4 GE 
 
 
 PACK 
 
 Fig. 132. A business confabulation. After 
 KUSAI. 
 
 Ho- 
 
 338 
 
 Fig. 140. The Rishi Li T’ieh Kwai. 
 
 Hwui .... 
 
 After Ngan 
 
 258 
 
 „ 133. Daikoku. After ISAI. 1866 . 
 
 
 239 
 
 „ 141. Horse. After YueH Shan 
 
 
 259 
 
 „ 134. The Critics. After ISAI. 1864 
 
 
 241 
 
 „ 142. Hotei and children . 
 
 
 260 
 
 „ 135. The Takaramono. After HOK.USAI 
 
 
 250 
 
 143. Sparrows and bamboos. 
 
 After PiEN 
 
 
 „ 136. Wu Tao-tsz’ and the Dragon. 
 
 After 
 
 
 King-chao . 
 
 
 262 
 
 Morikuni .... 
 
 
 253 
 
 „ 144. Kwanyu .... 
 
 
 263 
 
 „ 137. The last picture of Wu Tao-tsz’. 
 
 After 
 
 
 „ 145. Facsimile of Chinese woodcut. 1331 
 
 264 
 
 Morikuni .... 
 
 
 255 
 
 » 146. „ ,, „ 
 
 1590 
 
 265 
 
 „ 138-9. Chinese land.scapes 
 
 
 255 
 
 
 
 
 Vignettes after Hokusai, Sensai Yeitaku, Isai, and others. 
 
 The author is indebted for the admirable execution of the chromolithographs to Herr Greve of Berlin, and Herr Preisslcr, 
 the artist by whom the preliminary drawings were made; to Messrs. Witherby and Co., of London (plates 19 and 44); and 
 to Messrs. Lemercier ct C'*- of Paris (plate 35). The photogravures are the work of the latter firm. Ihe woodcuts, with one 
 exception, were engraved by native artists in Japan ; and the reduced facsimiles printed with the text have been prepared by the 
 Meisenbach Company. 
 
ERRATA AND OMISSIONS. 
 
 Page 14, line 10 from bottom, for '‘vernifera" read 
 '' verniei/cra.” 
 
 „ 22, lines 3 and 4 from bottom, after Soken read or Aimi; 
 
 for and Kintada, the sons of the master, read 
 
 Kintada, the son of Aimt. 
 
 „ 27, line 16 from bottom. The term "Butsu-gwa" {o\ 
 
 Buddhist picture is preferable to Bulsu-ye.'’ 
 
 38, line 10 from bottom,/tJ/- 6 read 5. 
 
 „ 42, line iq,for 7 reads. 
 
 „ 44, line 10 from bottom,/j^r 13 read 14, 
 
 ,, 46, line j,for 14 read 15. 
 
 ,, 47, line I, _/t;r after r-fa//before. 
 
 „ 53, line 17, for 69 read 43. 
 
 „ „ line 22,Shinsho Shuyei. 
 
 ,, 38, line io,yar Shiushin read Chikanobu. 
 
 Page 38, line 10, for and Michinobu or Yeisen in Hoin, the 
 grandson of Tsantfnobu, read or Michinobu (Yeisen 
 in Hoin). 
 
 ,, 59, line ^,for Mitsushig^ read Mitsunori, the grandson 
 of Mitsushigtf. 
 
 „ 62, line 2 from bottom,Shigemasa read Shigdnaga. 
 
 „ 72, line 16, for Owari read Omi. 
 
 „ 89, line 9 et seqtj., transfer the concluding words of the 
 paragraph, “ his son, Roshiu, inherited much of his 
 genius,” to line 7, after “and.” 
 
 „ 91, line 7 from bottom,yj;/* Saikuko rftzi/Saikiorio. 
 
 „ 92, line 13,^^^ Rosetsu rw//Roshiu. 
 
 ,, 100, lines 16 and 17 from bottom, for Chikuzen no Suke 
 read fichizen no Suke;/i;/- Gan 6, Tenkai 6, the 
 honourable Gan or Tenkai, read Gan-wo, Tenkai-wd, 
 the venerable Gan or Tenkai. 
 
 ,, 105, line 2\,for Kazunobu read Kadzunobu. 
 
PLATE 1. 
 
 ANCIENT SCULPTURES IN WOOD, REPRESENTING THE “ NI O,” OR 
 
 TWO KINGS. 
 
 These figures, which are amongst the most remarkable examples of wood carving in Japan, are attributed to a 
 Korean sculptor of the seventh centur)^, whose name has not reached us. They were accidentally discovered in 1879, 
 by Mr. Ernest Satow and the author, in the midst of a heterogeneous assemblage of idols in the storehouse of the 
 temple of Kobukuji, at Nara, where they had apparently been lying for generations, unappreciated and forgotten. 
 
 Unfortunately, the imperfect light of the building and the confu.sing effect of the fragmentary remains of the 
 paint that once coated the entire surface of the sculptures, have rendered it impossible to reproduce the full beauty of 
 these fine creations of Oriental art. The vigour of action and truth of proportion are, however, preserved ; but a study 
 of the works tiiemselves is necessary for the comprehension of their wonderful accuracy of anatomical form. The 
 naturalistic feeling here so highly manifested, descended to some of the early Japanese idol carvers, finding its 
 greatest, but, unfortunately, its last true exponent, in Anami Kwaikei, the sculptor of the noble Guardian Kings 
 that flank the gateway of the temple of Todaiji at Nara (see plate 4). 
 
 The images are over six feet in height. The left hand of Brahma and the weapon from the left hand of 
 Indra are lost. 
 
 Carvings of the Ni O are stationed at the outer gates of many of the greater Buddhist temples of Japan. The 
 figures are usually of colossal size, and draped only with a brocaded loin-cloth and a scarf flowing loosely from the 
 shoulders ; tiiat on the right, representing Indra, is painted red, while Brahma, on the left, is green. The limbs and 
 torso, athletic in conformation, denote intense energy of action ; the right hand is generally open and repellent, 
 the left tightly clenched upon the avenging club {vadjra) : and the burly lineaments wear an expression of savage 
 menace, the lips parted as in fierce command, or compressed in unrelenting resolve. All the parts combine to realize 
 with startling force the Brahmanic conception of the Guardians of the Faith, whose function is not only to warn, but, if 
 need be, to punish the unregenerate. 
 
 The Brahmanic divinities, in taking a place in the Buddhistic pantheon, have descended to a position immensely 
 inferior to that assigned to them by the earlier faith. For the Buddhists, they are but servants of the Church, and, 
 although ranking as Devas, are subordinate not only to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but to every saint who 
 has attained the grade of Arhat. Their very images, modelled as they evidently were from the athletic frames of the 
 ancient wrestlers, are far more indicative of ferocious brute force than intelligent or spiritual domination. 
 
SECTION FIRST. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HE long- range of islands e.xtending from the Korean peninsula 
 to the far east of the Russian empire was once tenanted by a 
 race or races now confined to Yezo and to the double chain 
 that links it on the one side with the maritime irrovinces of the 
 Amoor, on the other with the southern extremity of Kamtchatka. 
 These people were gradually driven northward by foreign invaders, 
 who, having- effected an entrance at the southern extremity of 
 the group, eventually became rulers of the entire land as far as, 
 and once including, the island of Saghalien. The conquerors 
 are now designated as “the Japanese,” while the best known representatives of the 
 subjected tribes are the "Ainos” of Yezo; but Professor Milne' has shown that the 
 latter were themselves preceded by a race of cave-dwellers who are, perhaps, still 
 represented by the Kurilsky and their neighbours in Saghalien and Kamtchatka. He 
 
 See “ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan/’ vol. x., 1S82. 
 
 B 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 believes, also, that the present inhabitants of Yezo were a Papuan race who had 
 extended from New Guinea through the Philippines to Japan, where they expelled or 
 exterminated the troglodytes, and held possession of the land until they were in 
 turn displaced by a stronger invader coming from the direction of Korea. 
 
 In connection rvith our present subject it would be interesting to obtain 
 information upon several obscure points, namely: the condition of the arts prior to 
 the advent of the Japanese; the origin of the Japanese, and the period at which 
 they entered Japan ; the state of the civilization of these people at the time of 
 their arrival ; and, lastly, the date of commencement of their intercourse with the 
 outer world, with the modifications and additions so imported into their arts and 
 sciences. 
 
 Unfortunately it is not yet possible to ofter a satisfactory reply to any of these 
 inquiries, but the recent and important labours of Morse, Siebold, Milne, Satow, and 
 Chamberlain have opened the way for a more systematic investigation of the difficult 
 problems of Japanese archaeology. The present limits of our knowledge upon the 
 questions just raised may be briefly summarized. 
 
 The Ainos, who are now an inoffensive people, wholly submissive to the mild 
 but somewhat contemptuous rule of their conquerors, seem at one period of their 
 history to have had decidedly pugnacious and, perhaps, cannibalistic tendencies, but 
 were not deficient in a certain skill in the useful arts. The modern researches 
 initiated by Professor Morse in 1878 have brought to light in the neighbourhood of 
 Tokio and in other parts of the country many curious remains of almost undoubted 
 Aino origin, comprising, in addition to flint arrow-heads and other productions of the 
 stone age, many fragments of pottery upon which the testhetic faculty had left its 
 ■prentice mark. This rude ware was hand-made and unglazed, the clay was of various 
 kinds, sometimes blackened by the admi.xture of fat before baking, and often of fine 
 quality; and the articles included various domestic utensils and vessels of a more 
 ambitious character, probably intended for religious or ceremonial purposes. The 
 latter possessed a certain pretension to elegance of form and decoration, and their 
 construction bore witness to the exercise of considerable manipulative skill and 
 correctness of eye. The ornamentation, apart from rope marks, which were probably 
 not decorative in intention, consisted of moulded headings, bands of cinnabar, and 
 curvilinear patterns, sometimes traced with much freedom and grace, but the principles 
 of design never included any reference to natural forms.'- Many interesting and 
 suggestive archaeological facts in connection with the discoveries will be found in 
 the original paper of Professor Morse, published by the Tokio University in 1877; 
 
 It iias been remarked that the .Ainos do not make pottery at the present day ; but this fact, which is to a great 
 extent true, is easily accounted for by the low cost of Japanese earthenware utensils of better quality than the still 
 uneducated race could produce. The native accounts of Yezo prove that Aino pottery kilns were in action until 
 u-ithm a comparative!}’ recent period, and the drawings taken from specimens of the ware reproduce almost exactly 
 the forms and methods of decoration seen in the Omori remains. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 3 
 
 Mr. H. vun Siebold’s “ Notes upon Japanese Archaeology,” and a paper by Professor 
 Milne in vol. viii. of the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.” 
 
 The question as to the origin of the present Japanese is one of great complexity. 
 The most favoured opinion, that which refers them to the same parent stock as the 
 Chinese and Koreans, is apparently countenanced by ethnological data as well as 
 by the geographical relations of the Korean peninsula and parts of the Chinese coast 
 to the south of Japan ; moreover, Mr. Aston’s comparison of the Korean with the 
 pure Japanese language^ has demonstrated that the two tongues bear sufficient 
 resemblance to each other to imply at least an origin from a common source; but 
 here the supporting arguments stop, and we are confronted by an almost insuperable 
 difficulty. We need not seriously discuss the hypothesis which connects the invasion 
 of Japan with the expedition said to have been dispatched by the Chinese Emperor 
 She Hwang-ti, in the third century b.c, in search of the fabled Mountain of the 
 Immortals ; but going back another two thousand years, to the time when, according 
 to the view of M. Terrien de la Couperie, the Chinese spread to their present home 
 from Susiana and the regions south of the Caspian Sea, we might easily be tempted 
 to believe that one or more sections of the great body of immigrants having reached 
 the Korean peninsula, or thereabouts, found it expedient to brave the seas in search 
 of a still more distant resting-place. We are, however, met by the certainty that the 
 Chinese bore with them into China from their original home a knowledge of 'Wf'iting, ' 
 ^astronomy, and some other arts and sciences of which the early Japanese were totally 
 ignorant, and unless we conclude that the offshoot which penetrated into Japan was 
 deficient in the culture possessed by others of their family, the theory must be 
 abandoned. 
 
 The Chinese and Koreans are, however, not the only section of the Mongolian 
 race from which the Japanese may have sprung. The Malays, the Annamese, and the 
 Si^iese are all closely allied to the Japanese in physical configuration, and their 
 dwelling-places are not sufficiently remote to negative the possibility of an extension 
 of either people to southern or south-western Japan. Another suggestion, originated 
 at the beginning of the present century by a native scholar, is that the Huns, against 
 whose incursions the construction of the Great Wall of China was undertaken, m ight 
 have been the adventurous colonists of Japan ; but it may be said with regard to all 
 these speculations that, although they have not as yet been opposed by destructive 
 objections, they have received no confirmation from historical or philological facts. At 
 the present moment we cannot claim to have learned anything except the direction in 
 which inquiry may be profitably followed. 
 
 Calculations have been made with a view to ascertaining the approximate age of 
 the shell-heaps of Omori, which would at least give the date when that part of the 
 country was occupied by the Ainos; and Mr. ^lilne is inclined to fix the period at 
 
 ® “Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society," 1879. 
 
4 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAM 
 
 something- not exceeding 2000 years—but even were the computation based upon safer 
 foundations, it would afford no precise indications as to the time of the entrance of 
 the Japanese, as there is no doubt that scattered groups of Ainos remained on the 
 main island long after that event. Native literature, again, gives no aid, for although 
 Japan has produced many diligent and learned antiquarians, their labours have always 
 found an impediment in the fact that the earliest written records extant date from 
 the comparatively late period of the eighth century of our era, and, more importantly, 
 in the passive influence of the ancient creed of the country. Shinto cosmogony, teaching 
 as it does, that not only the Land of the Rising Sun, but also the outlying places 
 constituting the rest of the world, were the handiwork of the di\-ine ancestors of 
 the present dominant race, could scarcely be e.xjrected to encourage investigations that 
 imply the possibility of an older people and a former home. 
 
 It is now almost beyond dispute that the chronology of the Japanese anterior 
 to the opening of the fifth century of our era is fabricated, and that the associated 
 historical records are either legendary or mythical ; while even the myths and legends, 
 as related in the earliest written documents e.xtant, are so intermingled with imported 
 Chinese elements that much of their suggestiveness is destroyed. Unfortunately for 
 the success of our present inquiry^ this collapse of the early^ dynastical register, from 
 the reign of Jimmu to that of Nintoku inclusive (b.c. 660 to a.d. 399), carries with 
 it nearly the whole of the dates assigned by the Japanese antiquarians to the origin 
 of the various arts. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlains researches into the ancient writingshave allowed him to 
 demonstrate amongst other important facts that of the very narrow limit of the 
 stock of knowledge possessed by the early Japanese, i.e. before the commencement 
 of Korean and Chinese intercourse. We learn that they were certainly not acquainted 
 with a number of arts and products which figure in true historical periods. “They 
 had no tea, no fajis, no, porcelain, no lacquer, none of the things, in fact, by which 
 m later times they have been chiefly known. They did not yet use vehicles of any 
 kind. d hey had no accurate method of computing time; no money; scarcely any 
 knowledge of medicine; neither, though they possessed some sort of music and poems, 
 a few of which are not without merit, do we hear anything of the art of drawing. But 
 the most important art of which they were ignorant was that of writingT Beyond 
 this, he remarks that “ sister and wife were convertible terms and idelis; and what 
 in a later stage of Japanese as of Western civilization is abhorred as incest, was in 
 archaic Japanese times the common practice." 
 
 The legends recorded in ancient Japanese literature appear to spring from three 
 distinct sources, the province of Idzumo, the province of Yamato, and Kiushiu ; while 
 eastern and northern Japan, -which W'ere until a late period in the hands of the 
 Ainos, are unrepresented. This may indicate three separate waves of invasion, perhaps 
 
 ‘ See introduction to translation of the KcjiM, " Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,” 1883. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 5 
 
 from as many distinct sources, but in any case does not advance us farther in our 
 present inquiry; and we must be satisfied with the slender information that the 
 Japanese branch of the great Mongolian race entered the country at an uncertain 
 period, probably between two and three thousand years ago, with a stock of knowledge 
 little in advance of that of their Aino predecessors, and far in the rear of the 
 acquirements of the Chinese within any historical periods ; their religious beliefs were 
 of the crudest form; and their ideas of the relations of matrimony to consanguinity 
 were those of primitive races. It was not until the fifth century of the Christian 
 era that any trustworthy record of events began, a date which in all probability attends 
 closely upon the first acquisition of learning from without, and the first material 
 advances in the cultivation of the intellect and the skilful practice of the useful arts. 
 
 The ne.xt, and perhaps the most important question for consideration is that of 
 the period to which the first intercourse with China and Korea may be assigned, 
 and even here we are baffled at every turn. The ancient histories, the first of which, 
 be it remembered, dates from the early part of the eighth century, and does not refer 
 to any writing older than the si.xth century, state that Korean intercourse began 
 as early as B.c. 147 ; and a circumstantial account is given of the arrival in Japan 
 in A.D. 285 of a Korean named Wani, who is said to have brought with him a 
 number of Chinese books, and to have been appointed to the post of tutor to the 
 \ Prince Imperial.'’ These traditions are so intermingled with self-contradictory fiction, 
 and so entirely unsupported by any ascertained facts, that it is impossible to accept 
 them as evidence. Even the conquest of Korea by the Empress Jingo, in the 
 third century, which is almost universally accepted in good faith as a part .of 
 Japanese history, is now disputed by Mr. Chamberlain in his introduction to the 
 translation of the Kojiki. He has pointed out that neither Chine.se nor Korean 
 history, so far as it is known to us, refers to any invasion of the kind, successful 
 or unsuccessful; and setting aside the minor absurdities with which the supposed event 
 is loaded, “the very dates, as more specifically given in the ‘Chronicles of Japan,’ 
 clearly show the inconsistency of the whole story, for Jingo's husband, the Emperor 
 Chiuai, is said to have been born in the nineteenth year of the reign of Seimu 
 (a.d. 149), while his father. Prince Yamato Take, is said to have died in the forty- 
 third year of Keiko, i.e. in a.d. 113—thirty-si.x years before the birth of his son.’’ 
 
 Future research may end in the dismissal of the Empress Jingo to the limbo 
 of solar and other myths, but it is far more easy to dispose of false landmarks 
 of history than to fill the gaps left by their absence. We must at present content 
 ourselves with the surmise that the acquisition of the knowledge of writing and of 
 computing dates is not likely to have been separated by a very long interval from 
 
 ’ A Chinese historian of the sixteenth century refers to the receipt of tribute, in the year 267 A.D., from the “ Men 
 of Wei," who are supposed to have been Japanese ; but the reference is too loose and too insufficiently authenticated 
 to be of any service as confirmation. 
 
 C 
 
6 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 the advent of the fir^t capable teachers, and as a probably accurate chronology 
 begins with the reign of the Emperor Richiu (a.d. 400—405), the first substantial 
 intercourse with Korea can scarcely be referred back farther than the fifth century of 
 the Christian era. It is in the story of this period that we find the accounts of foreign 
 communication becoming greatly multiplied, and some important branches of art are 
 supposed to have then been introduced or greatly advanced by external agency. In the 
 year a.d. 463 the Emperor Yuriaku is said to have despatched an envoy to Korea 
 for the purpose of engaging the services of a skilful potter of that country; and the 
 result of the mission was the advent of a man named Koki, who settled in the 
 province of Kawachi, and there taught the kcramic methods of his people, which 
 gradually spread to other parts of Japan. Korean architects also are said to have 
 been employed by this sovereign; and the art of painting is believed to have been 
 introduced by a Chinese immigrant in the same reign. We may, perhaps, accept these 
 statements as trustworthy, but it must be recognized that even this comparatively 
 modern date is earlier than that of any satisfactory archaeological records. 
 
 It is scarcely to be doubted that a large number of the ancient " relics of the 
 Divine Age," brought to light in various parts of southern Japan, belong to a period 
 later than the first Korean immigration, and in some cases are actually of Korean or 
 Chinese origin. These pre-historic remains comprise objects evidencing many grades 
 of technical skill, from flint arrow-heads to w'heel-made pottery and good metal-w'ork 
 in the shape of armour, bells, and mirrors; but in association with the more advanced 
 examples of handicraft are often found certain carved and polished stone ornaments 
 called, according to their shape, iiiagtitixuin. kudutciuni. dvc. Now* the stone, a kind 
 of jade, from which these articles were manufactured has been pronounced on the 
 authority of Mr. Milne to be foreign to Japan, and must hence have been supplied by 
 importation, a fact which obviously throws doubt upon the Japanese origin of the 
 products of ancient art discovered in their company. 
 
 In the next chapter will be considered the origin, real or nominal, of the different 
 branches of art in the earliest period of culture, i.e. down to the middle of the 
 ninth century. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CCORDING to an ancient writing called the Catalogue of 
 Families [S/!oji-ro/;n), the history of pictorial art began 
 in the reign of the Emperor YCiriaku (a.d. 457—479), 
 when a Chinese painter of royal descent named NanriCi, 
 or Shinki, came over to Japan, and ended his days in 
 the country, leaving descendants who for many genera¬ 
 tions held honourable positions in the Imperial service. 
 The fifth in succession from Nanriu is especially noticed 
 as having received from the Mikado the title of “ Yamato 
 Ydshi ” (painter of Japan), and from the Empress Shotoku 
 in A.D. 770 the name of 0 -oka no Imiki. There is no 
 reason to doubt the existence of this family, but unfor¬ 
 tunately we are quite unenlightened as to their artistic achievements. 
 
 It is more probable, however, that Japanese art education was not actually 
 inaugurated until the introduction of Buddhism in the middle of the sixth century, 
 and that the early native workers, guided by Korean instructors, first tried their skill 
 upon Buddhistic pictures and images, and were beginning to acquire at the same 
 time a knowledge of the more graphic Korean and Chinese styles of painting, as 
 well as of many other branches of art. One of the least doubtful of the ancient 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 pictorial relics still in existence is a Buddhist mural decoration in the Hall of 
 HoriOji, which is said to date from the foundation of the temple in a.d. 607, and 
 was probably the work of a Korean priest. It compares not unfavourably with 
 the later productions of the Buddhist school, and both in colouring and composition 
 bears much resemblance to the works of the early Italian masters. A tracing from 
 the original has been recently presented to the British Museum Collection by Mr. 
 Satow. 
 
 Buddhist art for a long period remained in the hands of Koreans and of the 
 native leaders of religion. To these may perhaps be added the artists of the NanriCi 
 line, of the Ki family, and a few others of whom little more than the names 
 remain ; but the chief of the non-Buddhistic painters anterior to the latter half of the 
 ninth century' was Yofuku, afterwards called Kudara no Kawanari, a Korean in the 
 retinue of the Emperor Saga (a.d. 810—823), and a contemporary of the great 
 Buddhist priest, Kobo Daishi. Kawanari’s fame is, however, almost entirely 
 traditional, and is mainly supported by a general statement of his artistic skill, and 
 a story of a portrait that he sketched of a truant servant, which led to the 
 delinquents recognition and capture. The existing pictures attributed to his brush 
 are not generally received as authentic. 
 
 This somewhat nebulous era in the history of the art was brought to a close 
 near the end of the ninth century. The whole of the period had been occupied in the 
 absorption of the spirit and practice of the Buddhist, Chinese, and Korean schools of 
 painting, and it had not yet, so far as we know, produced any great artist of native 
 extraction ; but as the new era approached, the culture of the educated classes in the 
 country was reaching a very high grade. The pictures of \Vu Tao-tsz’, the famous 
 Chinese master of the T’ang dynasty, and probably of many others of the earlier Chinese 
 and Korean artists, were carefully studied ; numerous Korean painters who had settled 
 in the country were spreading an acquaintance with the rules and processes of their 
 art; and coincidently with the rise of painting the fine arts in general were making 
 steady progress. 
 
 An office in the Imperial Government, called E-dokoyo (E or ye, picture, tokoro, 
 place), is said to have been in existence as early as the fifth century, and in the 
 eighth and ninth centuries was organized upon a somewhat extensive scale. It was 
 headed by an official of high rank, who superintended the affairs of the department 
 with the immediate aid of an assistant and a secretar}'. Below him were four G'wa-shi 
 or “ picture masters, probably elected from the artists attached to the court, and si.xteen 
 Gwa~hu, wffio may have been engaged in mounting and other mechanical functions. 
 Binally the complement was formed by sixteen ordinary attendants, called SJubii, and 
 one housekeeper or Clwkutei. The business of the department so liberally officered 
 appears to have been nothing more onerous than the care of the painted rolls, slides. 
 
 A list of these painters will be found in the Catalogue of the British Museum Collection. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 9 
 
 and screens belonging to the imperial residences, and the supply of new pictures when 
 required by the sovereign. Its best days, however, came to an end after the reign of 
 the Emperor Uda (a.d. 888 to 897); but the appointment, as E-dokoro, of noted 
 painters selected from the Tosas and, at a later period, from the Kanos was maintained 
 until within modern times. 
 
 An office of R-dokoro also e.xisted at Nara from the eleventh century, and 
 numbered amongst its incumbents many famous artists, commencing with Fujiw'ara no 
 Takayoshi (see page 29), and including Sumiyoshi Hogen, Awadaguchi Hogen, and 
 Shiba Hogen, whose principal function appears to have been the execution of Buddhist 
 pictures for the great temples; but little is known of the constitution of this 
 appointment. 
 
 The Keramic art is probably one of the most ancient, though almost the last 
 to develope original features. Japanese antiquarians have not ventured to suggest a 
 date for its commencement, but in tracing its progress they do not hesitate to carry 
 us back to the age of the gods, and even the Kogci Shiriyo and the Kwau-ko d::n- 
 setsu, two of the most recent works upon the subject, quote as worthy of all respect 
 a passage from the Nihon Shdki (a.d. 720), to the effect that Susano no Mikoto, 
 the brother of the Sun Goddess, having undertaken the destruction of an eight-headed 
 serpent, ordered the people of the province of Idzumo to make eight haras (pots 
 larger in the middle than at either extremity), and brew saki from various fruits in 
 quantity to fill them. “ This reference to haras" gravely remarks the learned Ninagawa, 
 " proves to us that there were already potteries at this remote epoch, although no 
 specimens have reached us.” 
 
 Most of the remaining traditions, which refer with suspicious precision of date 
 and circumstance to the keramic industry in the reign of Jimmu Tenno (b.c. 660 to 
 586), and during the subsequent thousand years, may be passed over without special 
 comment; but one story, describing the construction of pottery figures in the third 
 year of the Christian era, to take the place of the persons and animals previously 
 buried around the graves of people of rank, is probably based upon fact, although it 
 may be untrustw'orthy as to period. The common version of this narration runs 
 as follows: Ihe Emperor Suinin (who is said to have reigned from B.c. 26 to 
 A.D. 70, and to have died at the age of 141) signalized his reign by the repeal of 
 a barbarous custonr which doomed the imperial retainers as well as horses and, 
 perhaps, other animals, on the decease of the sovereign, to be buried alive in holes 
 in the ground around the tomb. In the year 3 a.d. the empress died, and Suinin, 
 at the suggestion of his retainer Nomi no Sukund, called together one hundred of 
 the hajibi or potters of Idzumi province that they might make clay (Jiani, lit. mud) 
 figures of men and horses, to bury in the place of living victims, as an e.xample for 
 future ages. The workmen moulded the figures under the direction of Nomi no 
 Sukune, and interred them in a circle around the tomb. The emperor re^varded 
 
 D 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF ^APAN. 
 
 lO 
 
 his adviser by conferring upon him and his descendants the office of chief of the 
 potters, with the title of Hajibe no Tsnkasa? 
 
 These tafOnono {standing objects) or haniwa (kneaded clay), as the figures are 
 called, were roughly and inartistically moulded in soft clay, and imperfectly baked, 
 probably by exposure to the sun. Some of the few specimens extant are not unlike 
 the mourning figures placed around Buddhist images, and it is thought possible that 
 they are the remains of some early glimpses of Buddhism introduced into Japan near 
 the beginning of the Christian era. The custom died out several centuries ago. 
 
 The Kojiki states that, in the early part of the same reign, a Korean prince 
 named Ama no Hiboku, became naturalized in Japan, and brought with him a noted 
 potter of Shiraki (a principality of Korea), from whom descended the workmen in 
 Kagami no Hazama, in the province of Umi, who for many centuries were reputed 
 for the fabrication of “Sb/yaki” ware. This is generally quoted as the earliest 
 introduction of a foreign element into Japanese keramic art; but some authorities 
 maintain that the pottery had been made known by imported specimens even before 
 this date. The relics supposed to be identified with this produce are of very primitive 
 construction, scarcely equal to the earthenware of the Aino shell-heaps; a mixture of 
 grey, red, and black clays, hand-made, roughly moulded, unglazed, and presenting 
 nothing worthy of the name of decoration. The baking was effected in holes dug 
 in the ground. Mr. Ninagawa says that at the present day a fabrique of hand-made 
 pottery in the “ Shiraki ” style exists at the village of Kimura, in Yamato province, but 
 the workmen now make use of a raised earthen stove. The arrival of a Korean 
 potter in the reign of the Emperor Vuriaku has been already mentioned ; and it is 
 said that the first earthenware tiles in Japan, made in a.d. 586, were also the handiwork 
 of a native of the same country. 
 
 The specimens of prehistoric pottery described in the Kivan-ko dzn-scfsti, as well 
 as those to be seen in native museums, are probably much less ancient than is generally 
 believed, and many of them contain jade niagafcvnas; but all that are considered to 
 date before the seventh century are more or less rough in construction, hand-made, 
 unglazed, and in no important respect in advance of the ware of the Aino midden 
 heaps. Vessels bearing marks of the wheel are placed in a different category, as 
 appertaining to the seventh century and later, the invention or introduction being 
 attributed to the Korean monk, Giogi, who lived from 670 to 749 a d. Mr. Satow^ has, 
 however, discovered in the province of Kodzukd, wheel-made pottery in two sepulchral 
 mounds, which the Japanese refer to the second century a.d. The contents of 
 these tumuli comprised vases, tazzas, and other vessels of different form, in unglazed 
 clay of a red, brown, or black colour; some of rather graceful outline and decorated 
 
 ’ See also “ Mittlieilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft fiir Natur- und Volkerkunde Ostaslens,” 1875. ‘ Etwas 
 
 Liber die Tsutchi-ningio,’ by H. von Siebold. The term Tsuchi-uiugio, or da)- images, is a common name for the 
 objects described. 
 
 ^ Sec "Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan," vol. viii., 1880. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 .11 
 
 with simple patterns (chiefly wave marks), and others presenting unquestionable traces 
 of the wheel. In addition to these were a rudely moulded clay image of a human 
 figure, probably one of the lianiwa before referred to; a few specimens of metal-work, 
 including a bronze headpiece of a horse, a bronze stirrup, an iron spear-head, a quantity 
 of iron arrow-heads, some pieces of iron chain, a small gold ring, and a circular 
 bronze mirror; some beads of blue glass; and, lastly, some niagafaiiias. It is certain 
 that some of these objects belong to a period subsequent to Korean intercourse, but it 
 is not probable that they are more recent than the fifth century, and it would hence 
 appear that the use of the wheel was known before the time of Giogi. 
 
 In the eighth century, not only was the fabrication of wheel-made pottery of 
 good cjuality carried on in many provinces, the industry being elaborately organized 
 by imperial edicts, but the process of glazing had already become knownd 
 
 It is believed by Mr. Ninagawa that the potteries of Iga, Takatori, Ochiai, 
 Narunii, and Karatsu date from about the ninth century, while those of Tamba and 
 Shigaraki are about four centuries older, and the kilns in Gojo (Yamato) arc referred 
 back to about six hundred years before the Christian era. Mr. Nishigawa, a well- 
 known Yedo expert, gives to the Karatsu kilns a greater antiquity by two or three 
 hundred years than that accorded by Mr. Ninagawa. 
 
 The country possessed many famous monuments of Glyptic art, both in wood 
 and bronze, before the end of the eighth century. Carving in stone was also 
 represented, but has never taken a very important place in Japan, partly owing, 
 perhaps, to the want of suitable material, partly to mechanical difficulties in the 
 way of working so hard a substance in the absence of such technical knowledge as 
 that possessed by the sculptors of Egypt and Greece. Unfortunately its actual origin 
 is as little capable of elucidation as that of the other branches of Japanese art; 
 but its antiquity loses nothing in importance in the hands of native writers, if we 
 may judge by the Kogei SliiriyOy which refers to some stone images in the province 
 of Yamashiro as numbering “ several thousand years.” 
 
 The earliest stone monument designed to transmit to posterity exceptional personal 
 qualities or meritorious actions, is said to have been executed by order of the 
 Emperor Yuriaku (a.d. 457 — 459), in memory of one Chisakobd no Sugarii, a 
 personage “whose strength exceeded greatly that of other men.” This, however, 
 was a simple post inscribed with characters. Another early example of stone carving 
 is described in the account of a great tomb, seven feet in height, built by the order 
 of a chieftain of Kiushiu in the early part of the sixth century.'^ The sides of this 
 
 * Mr. Ninagawa states that although glazed ware was known in Japan in the eighth century, the specimens were 
 probably imported, and that the process was not applied by Japanese potters until the ninth century. The -^recn 
 glazed tiles used in building the roof of the imperial palace at Uda, in 794, are supposed to have been of Chinese 
 manufacture. 
 
 ‘ The custom of erecting a temb before the death of the person for whom it is intended, was not prevalent 
 in Japan, although of great antiquity in China. Th.e example here recorded appears to be exceptional. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 erection were embellished with carvings of figures, some of which are said to portray 
 a judge conducting the examination of a criminal, who crouches naked and prostrate 
 before him, while near by stand four pigs, representing either the object or atonement 
 of the crime. 
 
 The mention of a stone image of the god Sukuna-bikona, in a poem attributed 
 to the Empress Jingo (a.d. 201—269), can scarcely be offered as evidence; but there 
 is a fairly substantial tradition that in a.d. 584, a stone image of the Buddhist 
 deity Miroku (Maitreya) was brought back from Korea by an envoy of the Japanese 
 emperor, and it is this which is supposed to have served as the first art model for 
 Japanese sculptors. Some figures of the Rakan (Arhat) found on Mount Takatori, 
 in the province of Yamato, and a number of images of men and animals discovered 
 in the tomb of the Emperor Kimmei (a.d. 540—571), are referred to the same century. 
 
 During the subsequent five or six hundred years little more is heard of sculpture 
 in stone, although painting, wood carving, and other branches of art were undergoing 
 important development. 
 
 The actual history of Carving in Wood is closely associated with that of 
 Buddhism, the earliest sculptors of whom mention is preserved in the Nihongi having 
 been engaged for the purpose of building Buddhist temples and making idols. At 
 this time the occupations of carpenter and architectural sculptor appear to have been 
 united into a single guild. Those artisans who displayed more than common skill 
 In the use of the tools were selected for the task of cutting flowers, birds, and other 
 ornamental work required for the decoration of the building or of its internal equipment 
 of altars, tables, &c.; but were not especially distinguished above their fellows, and 
 probably shared with them in the more mechanical labours of the calling. On the 
 other hand, the carvers of idols, sometimes men of gentle, even royal blood, were 
 probably a distinct class, and confined themselves to that one branch of glyptic art. 
 
 The first Buddhist idols made in Japan are attributed to a Korean, who came 
 to the country in a.d. 577, and was established by the Emperor Bidatsu in the 
 temple of Prince Owaki, at Ozaka. The name of this artist is unknown, but his 
 employment in Japan at this time illustrates the early relations that existed between the 
 two countries, and the advantages derived by the latter from her friendly associations 
 with her peninsular neighbour. The same emperor, seven years after the advent of 
 the sculptor, despatched to Korea an envoy, who returned, bearing as gifts the stone 
 image of Maitreya before mentioned, and a figure of Sakyamuni, probably carved in 
 wood ; both of which offerings were treasured by the recipients with great veneration. 
 
 Several idols preserved in various parts of the country are assigned to this epoch, 
 and amongst others a well-cut figure of Jizo (Kshitegarbha), in Nara, which is said 
 to be the work of a Korean who lived in the reign of Bidatsu. A decade later we 
 hear of the presentation of a large figure of a Buddha, sixteen feet in height, with 
 two smaller images of Bodhisattvas, as a kind of votive offering on behalf of the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 Emperor yomei, who was then prostrated by a dangerous sickness. The most remarkable 
 examples of the art of the period are, however, the long-forgotten pair of Temple 
 Guardians {Ni O) at Kobukuji (Nara), which are attributed to a Korean immigrant of 
 the reign of the Empress Suiko (a.d. 593—628). Some idea of the power of 
 these figures may be gained from plate i. In addition may be mentioned numerous 
 carvings, some of great merit, ascribed to Shotoku Taishi (a.d. 572—621), which 
 are, however, more probably the work of contemporary Koreans or of their pupils. 
 The image of the infant Shotoku Taishi, engraved in fig. 3, belongs to the 
 seventh century, but the sculptor is unknown. 
 
 Fig. 3. Carved wooden image of the infant Shotoku Taishi. Nara, 7th Century. With a reliquary of the period. 
 
 The carving of wooden masks for the semi-religious, semi-theatrical performances 
 known as Kagiira, which preceded the more purely theatrical Bngahi and is 
 
 also believed to date from the same period ; many of these are full of character, and 
 show a remarkable sense of the grotesque. A few early specimens are engraved on 
 plate 6, and others have been reproduced by M. Gonse in “ LArt Japonais.” 
 
 At the commencement of the seventh century appeared the first professional 
 sculptor whose name has descended to posterity, Tori Busshi (“the bird-like carver of 
 Buddhist idols,” so called from the resemblance of his head to that of a bird), the 
 grandson of a Chinese named Shiba Tatsu who settled in japan in the reign of 
 
 E 
 
14 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OP ^APAN. 
 
 the Emperor Bidatsu. Two figures in wood, and some groups in clay at the temple 
 of Horiuji, still testify to his skill. 
 
 The name of Oguchi is recorded about fifty years later as that of the sculptor of 
 a thousand Buddhist images for the Emperor Kotoku. He was of Chinese origin, like 
 Tori Busshi, and traced his ancestry to an emperor of the Han dynasty, but none of 
 his works are in existence at the present day. 
 
 The monk Giogi (a.d. 670—749), a Korean by birth, is the subject of many 
 artistic fictions. He is not only credited with the invention of the potters wheel, 
 which was almost certainly used in Japan before his time, but is the nominal author 
 of several important wood carvings yet in existence; one of which, an image of 
 Indra, may be seen in the temple of Asakusa in Tokio. 
 
 In the eighth century two artists named Keibunkai and Kasuga became famous 
 as idol-makers. Their principal work, a figure of Kwannon formerly kept at Hase- 
 dtira, in the province of Yamato, was destroyed by fire in the middle of the tenth 
 century; but a statuette of Amitabha, attributed to the latter, is preserved at the 
 temple of Ninnaji, in Kioto. They were followed by a monk named Kinso (died 
 A.D. 828), who is represented by some carvings at Kobukuji. 
 
 The art of Lacquering® as a simple process of varnishing appears to have existed 
 before the latter part of the sixth century, but rapid advance was made during the 
 seventh and eighth centuries, and at the time of the building of the city of Kioto 
 (from A.D. 793), lacquer had taken a very high place amongst the more sesthetic products 
 of the age. It is first mentioned in the record of the reign of the Empress Yomei 
 (a.d. 586—587), at which period an official was appointed head of the guild of 
 lacquerers. In the following century a special department was created to regulate 
 and govern the industry, and an edict was issued in 646, that the edges of coffins 
 should be covered with a triple coating of lacquer, to make them impermeable. The 
 manufacture of red and black lacquer began in the reign of Temmu (673—686). At 
 the beginning of the eighth century a new imperial edict ordered that the lacquerers 
 should write their names on the articles to which the process had been applied, and 
 that the lacquer-trees {R/iits vcniifera) should be planted in all gardens and occupied 
 ground in numbers proportioned to the area in a fixed ratio, in accordance with a similar 
 rule established with regard to the mulberry-tree. The decoration of lacquer with 
 inlaid work of mother-of-pearl is said to have originated in the reign of the Emperor 
 Shomu (724—748), and examples supposed to belong to this period are preserved 
 in the temples of Horiuji and Todaiji at Nara. Lacquer inlaid with silver was also 
 made in the same century, and the admixture of gold powder with the varnish, as 
 
 The history and technique of the lacquer industry have been fully described by Mr. Quin in Audsley’s 
 “Ornamental Arts of Japan,” and in vol. viii. of the “Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.” The notes 
 hero given are drawn chiefly from the Kogei Shiriyo (l.c.). 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 15 
 
 well as the more important application of pictorial design to the decoration of the 
 work, dates from the foundation of Kioto. 
 
 The earliest examples of Metal-work in Japan are bronze arrow-heads and bells, 
 both of which are assigned to a period anterior to all known records. The specimens 
 which have from time to time been discovered in various parts of the country have 
 greatly exercised the ingenuity of native antiquarians, but the date of their manufacture 
 still remains uncertain. 
 
 The next place in order of antiquity belongs to the mirror, the origin of which 
 
 is referred by the late Mr. Ninagawa to the first century A.D., a period still about 
 
 700 years earlier than the first written documents. Helmets and breastplates are said 
 to have been skilfully fashioned and even decorated with beaten gold as early as the 
 
 fourth century, and there is no doubt that under the Emperor Shomu, in the first half 
 
 of the eighth century, remarkable proficiency was attained in this and in many other 
 branches of metal-work. Great open-work lanterns, such as the magnificent example 
 at Todaiji, in Nara; coronets of gilded silver or copper, sword ornaments, Buddhist 
 images, and sacred utensils (vases, incense-burners, &c.), were made during and, 
 perhaps, before this reign with a degree of skill which proved that the workmen 
 had little to learn in the mastery of the materials and tools. It is here that foreign 
 —i.e. Chinese and Korean—aid was as freely sought as it was gratefully acknowledged, 
 and numerous models imported from Korea, China, and even India (through the 
 Middle Kingdom), served to stimulate the best efforts of the men who showed 
 themselves such apt pupils. The ancient Japanese historians are perhaps more ready 
 to admit their obligations to their neighbours than independent readers may be to 
 accept the acknowledgment literally. Thus the Nilwngi dates the commencement 
 of metal founding from the year 97 n.c., when two Koreans, named Shotokuhaku 
 and Maijun, are said to have come to Japan to teach the secrets of the art; but 
 such traditions, which profess to have kept their integrity of detail, unwritten, through 
 a dozen or more generations, have made their appearance in too close association with 
 transparent fables of history and chronology to merit any great amount of confidence. 
 
 Whatever be the credibility of the majority of the early records, it is certain 
 that the level reached by the Japanese in the sculpture of metals upwards of 
 a thousand years ago was remarkably high, and many of the products of this 
 period of art culture demonstrate a breadth of conception and a courage of effort 
 that could only emanate from an intellectual and energetic race; but, unfortunately, 
 the subsequent eras have contributed little to increase the fame won by the authorship 
 of the great bronzes that adorned the ancient capital of Nara. 
 
 The most antique form of the bell, as found in the province of Yamato, and 
 in some other parts of the country, is a somewhat roughly cast bronze, usually 
 from one to two feet in height, having the shape of a truncated cone, terminating 
 above in a flat perforated handle, and furnished at the sides with two wing-like plates 
 
i6 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 that run vertically from crown to base. The only decorations were simple patterns 
 made up by straight or curved lines, without obvious relation to any natural forms 
 (see fig. 4). The object of the instrument is unknown, but it was probably 
 employed in religious ceremonials. 
 
 The far more perfect bells of historical times were cast in imitation of Chinese 
 models, and one of the oldest of these, the huge bell of Todaiji, in Nara, was made 
 as early as a.d. 732. They were of the ordinary cupola form, tongueless, and decorated 
 on the exterior with bosses, bands, engraved inscriptions, and occasionally with 
 Buddhistic figure-designs in low relief; the handle commonly had the form of a 
 dragon, and the bell was suspended by it from a wooden erection built outside the 
 
 Fig. 4. Prehistoric Bell. From a photograph. 
 
 temple. The sound was produced by striking, with a long oscillating beam, a circular 
 boss moulded for the purpose upon the external surface of the bell. 
 
 The mii'ror, according to Mr. Ninagawa, was first made in Japan in the reign 
 of the Emperor Keiko (a.d. 71—130), or in other words, in legendary times. It 
 assumes two principal forms. The first is a plain circular disc, polished upon 
 one surface, and usually displaying an emblematical design upon the reverse (see 
 plate 6). Of this variety, some are provided with handles, while others, usually of 
 much larger size, have no such appendage, and may be supported by a carved stand 
 representing conventionalized clouds or waves, the mirror then probably symbolizing 
 the full moon. The second form is commonly small, not more than four inches in 
 diameter; it has no handle, and presents on the reverse an aperture for a cord, 
 traversing a raised portion of the design. All are Chinese in origin. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 17 
 
 I he most imposing, if not the most original examples of Japanese metal-work 
 are, however, afforded by the great bronze Buddhist images. According to the Kogei 
 SJiiriyd, the first bronze idol made in Japan dates from a.d. 605, and is attributed 
 to the wood-carver, Tori Busshi, but no details are given as to the character of 
 this work, beyond the fact that it was sixteen feet in height. The Japanese, however, 
 claim to have derived from Korea a knowledge of the art of metal founding at the 
 much more remote period of 97 b.c., and assert that Chinese and Indian Buddhist 
 bronzes were imported at different times before the seventh century. Three Indian 
 figures in gilt bronze, representing the Amitabha Trinity, preserved at Horiuji, near 
 Nara, are said to have been brought from Korea, in the reign of the Emperor 
 
 
 Fig. 5. Relief in bronze, at the back of the Image of Yakushi, Nara. See plate 2. 
 
 Bidatsu (a.d. 572—585); and a metal image of Kwanyin, at Yakushiji, in Nara, is 
 supposed to have been made of the fabulous gold found in the sands of a river at 
 the foot of the jambu-tree on the south side of Mount Meru (see Satovv and Hawes’ 
 Handbook for Japan, page 393). 
 
 One of the noblest and most interesting of the ancient Buddhist bronzes in 
 Japan is the colossal Yakushi (Bhaichadjyaguru) in the temple of Yakushiji, at Nara, 
 which was cast about the end of the seventh century. The bold conception and 
 admirable workmanship of the principal image and its supporters may be judged by 
 their reproduction on plates 2 and 3. The gigantic image of Vairbtehana at Todaiji, 
 in Nara, well known as the “ Nara Daibutsu,” was made by order of the Emperor 
 Shomu (a.d. 741—748), and was completed in a.d. 749. The native founders were 
 at first unequal to the task, but the casting was finally accomplished by a workman 
 named Kimimaro, the grandson of a Korean immigrant. The figure is grand and 
 
 F 
 
s 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAP AM 
 
 impressive, but chiefly, perhaps, by virtue of its enormous dimensions, and the mysterious 
 half-light of the great chapel into the very roof of which the massive head is reared 
 (see fig. 6). It is inferior in design to the rival “Daibutsu” at Kamakura; but it 
 must be remembered that the original head, which was destroyed by fire in ii8o, is 
 now replaced by one dating from 1570, a period of decadence in Buddhistic sculpture. 
 Many other fine examples of Buddhist idols in bronze may still be seen in Japan, 
 amongst which may be mentioned the images of the Amitabha Trinity at Yakushiji 
 (Nara), assigned to the end of the seventh century, and four Deva kings at Saidaiji 
 
 Fig. 6. The Daibutsu of Nara. An image of Vairotchana at the Temple of Todaiji, Nara. a.d. 749. 
 
 (Nara), cast in 765. It is said that the Emperor Koken aided in the casting of one 
 of these after the failure of a number of attempts, and by virtue of his intervention 
 the task was accomplished. 
 
 Bronze lanterns, carved in open work, form a noteworthy element of temple 
 decoration. Some of these are small, and adapted for suspension; others of larger 
 size rest upon a pedestal. The finest existing specimen of the latter kind is that 
 which now stands in front of the temple of Todaiji, said to be the work of a Chinese 
 artist of the eighth century; and the larger but more modern (seventeenth century) 
 revolving lantern at the mausoleum of lyeyasu, in Nikko, is deserving of study. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 19 
 
 Amongst the more delicate examples of early Buddhist metal-work should be 
 noticed the beautiful reliquaries (see plate 5), such as those at the temple of 
 Saidaiji, Shodaiji, and Horiuji, and an exquisite specimen now kept in the Museum 
 of Kioto. Some of these objects are said to date from the seventh century. 
 
 The artistic decoration of Arms and Armour is of very early growth, the first 
 application of gold and silver ornamentation to helmets and breastplates being assigned 
 by Mr. Ninagawa to the fourth century. The work was undoubtedly in vogue 
 during the reign of the Empress Suiko (593—628), and had reached considerable 
 proficiency under Shomu (724—748). 
 
 In the oldest examples, the object, after having been fashioned by hammering, 
 was covered with deeply-cut arabesques, and into the depressions were inserted strips 
 of beaten gold. It is probable that the first models for the native workmen were 
 of Korean manufacture, as many very ancient pieces of foreign armour, said to be 
 Korean, are still in existence in Japan, and appear to have been made by the 
 same processes as those employed by the Japanese. 
 
 Embroidery was another of the accomplishments for which Japan is indebted 
 to the Koreans or Chinese. The celebrated embroidered mandala of the nun Chiujo 
 Ilime, kept at Taydma Ddra in Yamato, which is said to have been worked by the 
 goddess Kwanyin, belongs to the middle of the eighth century, and pictorial 
 embroideries of a similar kind still in existence are supposed to be of even earlier 
 date. One well-known example of the work is attributed to Shotoku Taishi. 
 
 Calligraphy was held in the highest honour, and curious legends celebrate the 
 skill of Shotoku Taishi and Kobo Daishi (a.d. 774—834) in the delineation of Chinese 
 characters. It has long been regarded in Japan as a fine art ranking on a level 
 with painting, and has conferred upon its adepts a reputation far beyond the dreams 
 of the most ambitious of European professors of penmanship. 
 
 Buddhist Architecture, said to have been based upon models furnished by 
 Korean and Chinese artificers in the fifth and sixth centuries, had reached a very high 
 degree of e.xcellence before the close of the era now under consideration. Some of 
 the noblest temples in the country, such as those of Horiuji, Yakushiji, Kobukuji, 
 Todaiji, Saidaiji, and Shodaiji at Nara, were erected before the end of the eighth 
 century ; but the decoration of buildings with carved designs and rich colouring did 
 not appear until a much later period. The subject of Japanese architecture, one of 
 great importance and interest, has been already touched upon by Mr. Dresser, and 
 a forthcoming work by Mr. J. Conder, the architect to the Japanese Government, 
 may be expected to furnish exhaustive details. 
 
 It was not in Art alone that marked progress had been made. From the 
 seventh century Japan had possessed fully organized colleges, teaching music, astronomy, 
 mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and other branches of learning which China and 
 Korea had placed within their reach. Printing was first used for the reproduction of 
 a Buddhist scripture [T'iniala Nirbasa Sutra), by order of the Empress Shotoku in 
 
20 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 A.D. 764, but the process was not applied to books till about 400 years later.' 
 According to Mr. Chamberlain, the eighth century was also the great turning-point 
 in the Japanese language, the archaic dialect being then replaced by the classical. 
 
 Literature had taken its first flight; many works upon history, law, and other subjects 
 had been written ; and the eighth and ninth centuries, graced by Hitomaro, Nakamaro, 
 and Narihira, may be regarded as the palmy age of the poets. Lastly, religion, 
 which had been the first motive power in overcoming the inertia of ignorance, had 
 kept pace with the march of cultivation, and the Shinto hero-worship had been in 
 
 great measure superseded by, or incorporated with, the higher faith of Gautama, 
 
 which the leading spirits of the country had supported with all the enthusiasm 
 
 of willing converts. 
 
 ■ Printing is said to have originated in China, in the sixth century, under the founder of the Sui dynasty. Sec 
 Mr. Satow’s article in vol. ix. of the “ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.” 
 
 Fig. 6a. .Ancient pottery discovered at Kddznke by Mr. Satow (see p. lo). From a plate in the “Transactions of the .Asiatic 
 
 Society of Japan,” 1880. 
 
PLATE 2. 
 
 ANCIENT IMAGE, IN METAL, OF BHAiCHADJYAGURU. 
 
 The image, which is made of the alloy called shakudi* and dates from about 700 A.D., is of colossal size, noble design, 
 and perfect workmanship. It occupies the place of honour in the Hondo or main building of the temple of Yakushiji (in 
 Nara), and is flanked on either side by the Rodhisattvas of the Sun and Moon {see plate 3). 
 
 The figure is seated upon an altar-shaped throne, also of shah,do, decorated on the front, back, and sides with images 
 in low relief (see fig. 5), and a scroll-work which runs around the upper edge, the design of which is composed of the 
 fruit and leaves of the tsm-u-rcishi (Momordica Charanlia, allied to the Balsam apple) ; the irregularities of the pattern 
 suggest that it must have been cut with the cold chisel out of the solid metal. The altar rests on a platform of white 
 marble, forty-two feet in length by twelve in depth, the materials of which are said to have been brought from 
 Korea. (See “ Handbook for Japan,” 2nd Edition, p. 393.) 
 
 The relief on the back of the altar is a problem for the archarologist. It bears no resemblance in character to any 
 known works in Japan, and no account of its origin or meaning can be obtained from native authorities. Mr. Satow 
 is of opinion that the figures represent Hindoos 
 
 Ehaichadjyaguru (Jap. \a\ushi Niorai), the yEscuIapius of Buddhistic Japan, is said to have been a disciple 
 of S'akyamiini, and was possibly famous for medical learning during his earthly existence. He is the principal 
 divinity of the Enriakuji branch of the Tendai sect, and is worshipped throughout the country. It has been a custom 
 almost from the earliest days of the religion in Japan, to dedicate gifts of various kinds to Yakushi as propitiatory or 
 suppliant offerings for favours besought, or as marks of gratitude for benefits received, and the presents were some¬ 
 times proportionate to the rank and wealth of the donor. Thus the temple of Yakushiji was founded in 681 AD. by 
 the Emperor Temmei on the occasion of the sickness of his consort, and the “ Eastern Golden Hall ” of the temple of 
 KobuUuji (rsara) was in like manner instituted by the Emperor Shdmu in 724, in intercession for tlie restoration 
 to health of his aunt and predecessor, the Empress Gensho. The god of Yakushiji appears to be in special 
 repute for the cure of deafness, judging by the numerous bundles of awls which may be seen suspended upon the 
 gratings in front of the Great Hall of the temple, as tributary acknowledgments from persons who have regained 
 their hearing through his divine agency. The god of Ishi Yakushi, on the Tokaido, on the other hand, is more 
 particularly besought for protection against earthquakes. 
 
 As in the case of S akyamuni and Amitabha, the “ Healing God ” is associated with two minor divinities ; the 
 trinity in this case being completed by Nikku and Gwakko, the Bodhisattvas of the Sun and Moon (sec plate 3). 
 
 * Shakudo is an alloy composed chiefly of copper, silver, and gold. The following analyses by Messrs. .Atkinson and Gowland show- 
 
 how greatly the proportions of the materials varied in different cases;— 
 
 Atkinson. Gowi.and. 
 
 Cupper. 99'04 94'5o 
 
 . -29 1-55 
 
 Cold. -49 373 
 
 Lead. — -[i 
 
 Iron and Arsenic . — traces. 
 
PLATE 3. 
 
 IMAGES IN METAL OF THE SUN AND MOON DEVAS. 
 
 Companion figures to Bhaichadjyaguru {Plate 2). 
 
 Like the Bodhisattvas of the Amitabha and S’akyamuni Trinities so frequently represented in Buddhist art, the Sun 
 and Moon Devas (Jap. Nikko and Gwakko), who complete the Bhaichadjyaguru Trinity, are always typified by images 
 of a somewhat feminine configuration, although it does not appear to have been the intention of their authors to 
 relegate them to a sex regarded by the Oriental mind as of inferior dignity. It is probable that in all these cases the 
 artist sought to reproduce the slender forms of masculine youth. 
 
j.j*, '—:——'' ' 
 
 0 
 
PLATE 4. 
 
 ANCIENT \V(JOD SCULPTURE. IMAGE OF DEVA KING. 
 
 This plate represents one of the two colossal figures (Ni O) which occupy the exterior niches of the great gateway of 
 the temple of Todaiji, Nara. These works, which may be regarded as the most stupendous examples of glyptic art 
 in the Far East, are attributed to the chisel of Anami KwaiKEI, one of the greatest representatives of the " Nara 
 school ” of wood sculpture, and are said to have been executed near the close of the eleventh century. 
 
 The design differs somewhat in detail from that of the earlier and smaller carvings reproduced in plate i, but 
 the anatomical forms, although more conventionalized and exaggerated, bear testimony to a direct study from nature, 
 a preliminary which later sculptors have permitted themselves to neglect. The club held in the left hand has no longer 
 the form of the vadjra. The measurements of the figure have not been obtained, but, judging from inspection, it 
 can scarcely be less than twenty feet in height. 
 
 See description of plate i. 
 
PLATE 5. 
 
 I. SCULPTURE IN WOOD. DEMON LANTERN-BEARER. 
 
 This figure, one of a pair of sculptures preserved in Kasuga, Nara, may be classed with those reproduced in 
 Plates I and 4 as belonging to the most naturalistic and vigorous development of Sinico-Japanese glyptic art. The 
 firmness of the pose, the faultless anatomy of the sturdy limbs and torso, the studied application of the grotesque in 
 the rendering of the diabolical lineaments, and the perfect execution of the whole are the outcome of a genius that has 
 deserved a lasting record ; yet neither the appellation nor the nationality of the author has reached us, nor has even 
 a date been assigned to the production of the work. It probably belongs, however, to a period anterior to the eighth 
 century, and may, like the Duva kings of Kdbukuji (Plate i), be a relic of Korean art. 
 
 The orthodox Sinico-Japanese demon (Oni) is, to the adult mind, more amusing than terrible in the elaborate 
 ugliness with which popular conception has endowed him. A brawny-limbed creature, rejoicing in a complexion of a 
 bright red, green, or bluish tint in place of the proverbially dusky hue appropriate to his Western relative—with fingers 
 and toes armed with sharp claws, and reduced in number to three, or, in the case of the lower limb, sometimes to two 
 in each member ; a short, square head, whose scowling brows are crowned with a brutal receding forehead and a pair 
 of horny protuberances; and a gaping mouth, furnished with a set of wolfish fangs—he is a mere Oriental Caliban, 
 without a touch of the refinement and intellect of the Miltonic spirit of evil. His literary history, too, shows him to be 
 a thoroughly contemptible monster, amenable as he is to the discipline of every hedge-priest, and to physical chastise¬ 
 ment from any determined mortal who has the courage to join issue. Like the Fox and the Tanuki, his chief force 
 lies in his power of assuming various shapes at will, and knowing the weakness of men, he affects, by preference, the 
 sentimental beauty and trustful grace of the distressed damsel of raediKval romance. It was in this form that a devil 
 sought to beguile Watanabe no Tsuna, but lost an arm in the enterprise; and another, that induced Hikoshichi to 
 bear him upon his back, till the diabolical lineaments were betrayed by their reflection in the truth-telling mirror of 
 the stream, also appealed to the chivalry of the noble as a fair lady craving knightly aid. The demon Shiuten Doji 
 chose the garb and aspect of a gigantic Chinese boy, but resumed his fiendish guise in sleep; and the Spider-Devil 
 slain by Raiko appeared in various characters before his white blood was spilt by the hero's blade. 
 
 The demon is usually regarded as appertaining to an order of beings wholly distinct at all times from the human 
 race, but it is recognized that a human being may become metamorphosed into a devil during life by force of evil 
 passions. Such was the case with the noble damsel in the reign of the Emperor Saga (810—S23 A.D.), who, urged by 
 a fury of jealousy, underwent voluntary conversion into a demon; and Kiyo Hime, whose sacrilegious lust changed 
 her into a fiery dragon-fiend, in which form the heat of her coils cremated the priestly object of her desires in his last 
 refuge under the dome of the temple bell. 
 
 In Japanese folk-lore the demon is an embodiment of evil that finds its antitypes in the Gods of Good Fortune, 
 and may be put to flight by the New Year’s Adjuration of the Oniyarai. They are subject to the pains of the flesh 
 when pelted by the beans of the household exorcist, and are even liable to parental instincts, if we may judge by the 
 representations which show them snatching up their little ones in their hasty flight from the dreaded missiles. 
 
 In Chinese folk-lore the demons mostly appear under the domination of the formidable Chung Kwei (the 
 Japanese Shoki), before whom they crouch, mean and puny, but cunning enough to give their implacable foe many an 
 ingenious slip. 
 
 In religious writings they hold a different place, and may be dignified with official rank in the realms of King 
 Yama, or even become subservient to pious ends as retainers of holy men, like Hiouen Thsang and En no Shokaku. 
 They are rarely, however, brought upon the scene as tempters of men. 
 
 Lastly, beings which have no especially diabolic functions are sometimes endued with demon form, as the Rain, 
 Thunder, and Wind gods. (British Museum Catalogue, p. 61.} 
 
 2 . SCULPTURE IN WOOD. DHRITARACHTRA. 
 
 One of the treasures of the Temple of Yakushiji, Nara. It belongs to the early part of the eleventh century, and is 
 attributed to the chisel of Jocho, the founder of the Nara school of Buddhist sculpture. The figure is larger than life, 
 and though less imposing than the later work of Kwaikei (Plate 4), is an admirable example of the glyptic art of the 
 period. Like nearly all Buddhist images, it has been covered with a thick coating of paint and gilding, a practice 
 which added to the decorative effect of the object, and perhaps conduced to its preservation, but concealed much of 
 the beauty of its execution. 
 
 Dhritarachtra (Jap. Jikoku Ten) is one of the Four Great Rulers of the Heaven-supporting Mountain of 
 Buddhist fiction. He is commonly represented as an armed warrior trampling a prostrate demon beneath his feet. 
 
• .'.rS. 
 
 
 Ri 
 
t 
 
 
 PLATE 6. 
 
 I. WOODEN MASKS FOR THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES. 
 Preserved at Todaiji, Kara. Artist unknown. Eleventh century. (See page 13.) 
 
 2. REVERSE OF AN ANCIENT METALLIC MIRROR. 
 
 Preserved at Horiuji, Nara. Period unknown, but probably not later than ninth century. (See page 16. 
 
 3. ANCIENT RELIQUARY. 
 
 Preserved at Saidaiji, Nara. Period unknown. (See page 19.) 
 
Fig. 7 - 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 S shown in the last chapter, Japan had attained a high grade 
 of culture before the middle of the ninth century. It was at 
 this period that the comparatively tardy development of pictorial 
 art was crowned by the work of a native painter, the first of the 
 illustrious company of masters of the brush whom Yamato may 
 claim as her own sons. 
 
 Kosd no Kanaoka rose into fame in the time of the Emperor 
 Seiwa (850—859). As a patrician whose life was passed in the 
 midst of an accomplished court, he was able to command every 
 advantage of cultivation and encouragement. His access to the works of the best periods 
 of Chinese and Korean art turned his attention in the direction of painting, and he is said 
 to have followed closely in the footsteps of \Yu Tao-tsz’, the great master of the T'ang 
 dynasty, who had lived in the previous century; but whatever may have been the 
 source of his education, he acquired an extraordinary reputation which, unlike the 
 artistic renown of Shotoku Taishi, was of a kind that left no doubt as to the 
 substantiality of its basis, although, perhaps, like that of Cimabue, it may have been 
 exaggerated by circumstances. His biographical records are largely seasoned t\ ith fable ; 
 but the references to his works are precise, and date from the time of their production ; 
 and, as he appears to have taken no part in the politics, court intrigues, and religious 
 cabals of the time, his position was not sufficiently prominent to bring him unearned 
 fame. As might be expected, however, few of his works have survived the lapse 
 of ten centuries, and hence the range of his powers must be accepted, to a great 
 
 G 
 
22 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OR JAPAN. 
 
 extent, upon the traditions which are so lavish in his praise. He is said to have 
 e.xcelled in landscapes and figures, and as a painter of horses, his skill is commemorated 
 by supernatural legends ; but, unfortunately, no pictures illustrating his proficiency in 
 these directions are now in existence. So far as we know at present there are left 
 to represent the father of Japanese pictorial art, only four or five Buddhistic paintings; 
 but one of these, a figure of Atchala (Fudo), in the temple of Daiyoji, in Tokio, 
 shows a power of design and colouring that would be sufficient, could we be certain 
 of the authenticity of the specimen, to dispel any suspicion that the hyperboles of his 
 contemporaries might arouse. The principal works spoken of in the records of his 
 time are portraits of Chinese sages, painted by command of the emperors under 
 whom he served, and of these paintings several were preserved for many centuries 
 until they fell a sacrifice to fire, the arch-enemy of all the precious relics of antiquity 
 in Japan. We may hope, however, that the attention now being directed to the subject 
 in the country will soon throw a clearer light upon the true position of the artist. 
 
 He died about the end of the ninth century. He had no rivals, but a few 
 names are preserved as those of contemporary artists, of whom the chief were the 
 Emperors Uda and Reizen, and the courtier Sugawara no Michizane (better known by 
 his posthumous title of Tenjin Sama). The two former probably owe the preservation 
 of their artistic reputation to their rank, while the latter, who was celebrated rather as 
 a calligraphist and martyr than as a painter, was one of those whom the Buddhist 
 priesthood have honoured with an enthusiasm too buoyant to rest in the heavy 
 atmosphere of truth. 
 
 The descendants of Kanaoka may be traced to the end of the fifteenth century, 
 and were reputed chiefly as painters of Buddhist pictures (see page 31). We 
 sometimes hear of a “ Kanaoka style,” based upon the works of the master and 
 maintained by the later generations of the family, but Japanese connoisseurs do 
 not assign any distinctive features to the secular pictures of the Kosd line, few of 
 which are now in existence. Hence, although Kanaoka may be regarded as the 
 first great representative of Japanese painting, and by his labours exercised an 
 all-powerful influence upon the art for centuries after his death, we are not able, 
 either from our present knowledge or from the writings of former times, to speak 
 of a school bearing his name. It is most probable that, as a student of the works 
 of the great Chinese masters of the Tang dynasty, he adopted their teaching, with 
 unimportant modifications suggested by Korean e.xample, and must hence be regarded 
 as the apostle of an ancient and foreign art, rather than the originator of a native 
 .school. 
 
 The most prominent names in the early generations after the death of Kanaoka 
 were those of Soken, who is referred to in the Genji Monogatari as having illustrated 
 the Taketori Monogatan: Ahimi and Kintada, the sons of the master; Kinmochi, the 
 son of Kintada: Fukayd, the son of Kinmochi; and Hirotaka, the fourth in descent 
 from the founder. Fig. 8 illustrates a curious episode in the history of the latter. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 n 
 
 recalling circumstances that attended the close of the careers of Mozart and Hogarth. 
 He is said to have been seized by a deeply-rooted but apparently causeless presentiment 
 of impending death as he was about to commence a picture of the Buddhist Hell, 
 the prophetic foreboding being realized at the moment after the final touches had 
 
 been given to his work. The engraving shows him sinking to the earth, smitten 
 by the death-stroke, in front of his grim masterpiece. 
 
 Two court nobles, named Tadahira and Tsundnori, were also in great repute as 
 
=4 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 painters in the first half of the tenth centurj'; and to both are attached artistic fables 
 of the usual threadbare type, which relate how a cuckoo painted by the latter uttered 
 its note whenever the fan bearing its image was unfolded; and how the irritating 
 resemblance to nature of a lion drawn by the former incited to fury all the dogs that 
 came within sight of the picture. 
 
 The rank of painting amongst the elegant accomplishments in vogue during 
 the tenth century may be implied from the chapter entitled E A-wasi, in the Genji 
 Monogatnri, a romance of the tenth century,' which gives the details of a competition 
 of pictures conducted with great formality before the emperor (who is described as an 
 accomplished connoisseur of painting, and an artist of no small ability). The relation 
 undoubtedly was prompted by an actual event that took place within the e.xperience 
 of the author, and goes far towards proving both that the art was then held in great 
 esteem, and that the importance of direct study from nature was fully admitted, 
 although the practice may not have been implicitly carried out. The ideal of art 
 expressed in certain passages is so high that it is difficult to believe that the period 
 in which the story was written led up to nothing better than the most conventional 
 school of painting in Japan, the \ainato or lVa~gwa riit, the native manner par 
 excellence. The generations of the Kosd line and a list of their chief contemporaries 
 are given in the Catalogue of the British Museum Collection. 
 
 The Buddhist School of Painting is, perhaps, the first branch of the art that 
 attracted the attention and imitative capacity of the Japanese; the mural decoration 
 at Horiuji, referred to on page 8, and the Buddhistic pictures of the Chinese master 
 Wu Tao-tsz’, painted in the beginning of the eighth century of our era, being amongst 
 the oldest relics of Sinico-Japanese pictorial art. There is, however, no doubt that 
 the school represented by the great artist of the T'ang dynasty claims an antiquity 
 of many centuries before this period, and it is probable that its origin may be traced 
 to the fatherland of Buddhism, and that much of its early strength was inspired by 
 the teachings of the noble art of Greece. 
 
 Art appears to have been first employed as an important agent in the advancement 
 and spread of Buddhism by King Asoka, who reigned in India from b.c. 272 to 236 
 (or from 260 to 224), three or four generations after the invasion of the Punjab by 
 Alexander the Great (b.c. 337). To this monarch India is said to owe the first use 
 of stone for architectural purposes, and it was from his time that the most remarkable 
 Buddhistic sculptures may be considered to date. 
 
 Dr. Leitner, Mr. Fergusson, and others have long since pointed out in many of 
 the Buddhist stone carvings found in the neighbourhood of Peshawur, the unmistakable 
 resemblance to the sculpture of Greece, a resemblance which finds a ready explanation 
 in the importation of European ideas and productions in connection with the Indian 
 
 ’ A translation of a portion of this remarkable work has been recently priblishect by Mr. K. Suyematz. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 25 
 
 expedition of Alexander, and perhaps more remotely by the influence of the Sassanian 
 art, introduced by the Persians under Darius two centuries earlier. These views are 
 supported by certain of the features visible in the glyptic art of the early ages of 
 Buddhism in China, Korea, and even in Japan, as illustrated by the magnificent 
 collection of M. Cerniuschi in Paris, and by specimens dispersed amongst the old 
 temples of the Middle Kingdom and the Far East. It may be noted, moreover, that 
 the Greek impress becomes fainter and fainter as the influence which stamped it 
 becomes more and more remote: but there are nevertheless preserved, even in 
 such comparatively recent works as the well-knowm Kamakura “ Dai-butsu,” which 
 is not much above six hundred years in age, many points of design, especially in 
 physiognomy and draping, that are more nearly allied to the Graeco-Buddhistic 
 sculpture of India, than to the secular art of China and Japan. 
 
 The perishable nature of the materials of the painter's art has unfortunately deprived 
 us of such precious and suggestive relics as those by which we have learned the 
 archeology of Oriental sculpture and architecture; but there is no doubt that religious 
 pictures were made in India before the adoption of the faith of Gautama in China. 
 This being the case, the process of naturalization of Buddhist pictorial art upon 
 Chinese soil may be readily conjectured. It is on record that the momentous Indian 
 Buddhistic embassy of the Emperor Ming Ti, in the first century of the Christian 
 era (a.d. 65), resulted in the importation not only of siitm, but of drawings and images, 
 and these works of art were, in all probability, constantly augmented by the Indian 
 missionaries drawn into China in the cause of the great religion during the subsequent 
 five or six hundred years, as well as by the collection of Fa Hien, whose travels in 
 India (a.d. 399—414) led the way in local research for the expedition of Hiouen Thsang 
 two centuries later (a.d, 629—645). Upon models so acquired the Chinese artists 
 founded the pictorial and other images demanded for the supply of the numberless 
 temples that rapidly multiplied over the face of their country. 
 
 There are many indications of the Indian origin of Chinese Buddhist art, amongst 
 which may be noticed the almost invariable absence of Mongolian traits in the 
 physiognomical characters given by the Chinese to the various divinities of the 
 Buddhist pantheon ; the practical identity in point of dress, attitude, and attributes of 
 Indian representations of certain of the divine personages with the corresponding 
 images produced in China and Japan; and the unmistakable resemblance of the 
 colouring of many Sinico-Japanese Buddhistic paintings to that of some of the 
 decorative work transmitted from ancient times through hereditary lines of Indian 
 artisans. On the other hand, it is quite certain that many of the Western types 
 underwent considerable modification in the course of their adoption into the Middle 
 Kingdom, not only by the infusion of new elements of artistic style, but more 
 particularly by the incorporation of a symbolism appertaining to pre-existing beliefs 
 in the latter country. It may be observed, for e.xample, that the cobra, which 
 plays a prominent part in Indian Buddhistic art, is always replaced by the 
 
 H 
 
26 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 dragon in Chinese works; and the sensuous rendering of the female form in the 
 pictorial and sculptural Buddhist relics of certain parts of India entirely disappears in 
 the religious art of China, which suppresses distinctions of sex in a somewhat remarkable 
 degree. It is also probable that some familiar figures in Chinese Buddhism are 
 of native origin, like the goddess Kwanyin, who is claimed by the Chinese as a 
 pre-Buddhistic divinity, but was accepted by the tolerant propagators of the new faith 
 as a transformation of Avalokites’vara, an Indian Bodhisattva. 
 
 The religion and its art once firmly rooted in China, the seeds soon reached the 
 Korean peninsula, and thence, in the sixth century, were conveyed to Japan. Here 
 much of the story of the progress of the early Buddhist Church in China was repeated. 
 The Mikado Kimmei (a.d. 540—571) was the Ming Ti of Japan, and gave to the new 
 creed all the advantages of royal sanction and support. The Indian missionaries who 
 had conveyed the tenets to China were represented by Korean priests; and Fa Hien 
 and Hiouen Thsang found counterparts in Kobo Daishi and Chisho Daishi, who sought 
 in China the material for which their pilgrim predecessors had explored the lands 
 consecrated by the personal teachings of the disciples of S'akyamuni. With the advent 
 of the new elements of belief came the now inseparable images and pictures, mostly 
 of Korean workmanship, but including a few genuine and still extant remains of 
 Indian art, and upon this basis was established the early Buddhistic school of Japan. 
 
 At this period Japan had little of its own that deserved to be called a native 
 art. The Chinese Nanriu had made known the principles of the pictorial art of his 
 country in the previous century, and his descendants were still living; but no Japanese 
 painter, so far as we know, had developed an independent line of ideas, and for the 
 necessary augmentation of works of religious art required by its primitive Buddhist 
 Church, Japan was chiefly dependent upon foreign skill, aided by such amateur ability 
 as might be developed amongst the early native converts. 
 
 The initial wave of the art, extending over a term of about three hundred years, 
 may be regarded as one of education, and was crested by the genius of Kose no 
 Kanaoka. We have indeed few genuine remains of this time ; but the scanty list of 
 Buddhist painters to be extracted from the Kojiki and other ancient writings, consists 
 principally of names of Korean immigrants and native magnates of the Church, and as 
 the latter were but amateurs, whose artistic reputation is, to some extent at least, a 
 pious fabrication, the school was practically in the hands of strangers. 
 
 Of these painters we can know little. It is true that numerous pictures, sculptures, 
 &c., still preserved, including some of a very high degree of merit, are attributed 
 to the native founders of the Buddhist Church; but a short examination of the 
 various works assigned to any one of the reputed artists will reveal such irrecon¬ 
 cilable differences of style and ability, that their origination by a single hand 
 is in the last degree unlikely. It is, in fact, more than possible that not only are 
 these fraudulent as regards their asserted date and origin, but that nothing of the 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 27 
 
 kind worthy of preservation was ever created by their nominal authors. A painting 
 is still shown at Tennoji, in Ozaka, as a portrait by Shotoku Taishi of himself, 
 but its authenticity is very doubtful, and even admitting it to be genuine, its design 
 and execution are not beyond the compass of amateur skill. 
 
 The traditions, however, as to foreign artists, who held no position of influence 
 in Church or State, are not open to such doubts as those naturally suggested with 
 respect to the marvellous accomplishments of Shotoku Taishi and Kobo Daishi, and 
 there yet remain works in certain branches of religious art by Koreans in the service 
 of the Japanese, that show an extraordinary naturalistic power, altogether in advance 
 of any known original productions of either Chinese or Japanese artists in later times. 
 The K5bukuji sculptures of the Temple Guardians, in plate i, may be referred to 
 as examples of the capacity of a people who now appear to be so far distanced by 
 their quondam pupils. 
 
 The second period of Buddhist art may be considered to begin with the advent 
 of Kosd no Kanaoka, who, though unconnected with the Church, and enjoying an 
 extraordinary reputation in what may be termed the secular branches of painting, 
 must be regarded as the greatest of the early Butsu-ye artists. At the present day, the 
 only existing paintings that can be accepted as genuine works of his brush are Buddhistic, 
 and, as stated on page 31, his descendants, who can be traced in a fairly unbroken 
 line for more than five centuries, appear to have directed their chief efforts to the 
 production of sacred pictures, and took their places in the first rank of the artists 
 of their respective periods. To them, and to the concurrent lines founded in the 
 eleventh century by Fujiwara no Motomitsu, and Takuma Tameuji, the Buddhist 
 temples appear to have been indebted for their most valued pictorial decorations and 
 records down to the end of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The Butsii-yc, or true Buddhist picture, has certain distinctive peculiarities that 
 separate it from the works of all the secular academies. While the chief ideal of the 
 older Chinese painters, and of their Japanese imitators, was calligraphic dexterity, the 
 Buddhist artist sought a more decorative and sensational effect. The sketch was replaced 
 by the illumination. The first, with its sober monochrome or subdued local tints, and 
 its bold sweeping stroke of pencil, had its chief meaning for the educated few, who 
 alone could appreciate the evidence that it presented of perfect accuracy of eye and 
 command of hand ; the other was calculated to appeal to all, to attract the untrained 
 senses of the people, without offending the higher tastes of the aristocracy of learning; 
 and this result was sought by a gorgeous but studied play of gold and colour, and 
 a lavish richness of mounting and accessories, that ill accord with the begging bowl 
 and patched garments of primitive Buddhism. 
 
 Gold was an essential of the Buddhist “altar-piece,” and was used with an unsparing 
 hand. The pigments chosen to harmonize with the display were generally body colours 
 of the most pronounced hues, untoned by any trace of chiaroscuro. Such materials 
 as these would sorely try the average artist, but the Oriental painter knew how to 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 dispose them without risk of falling into crudeness or vulgarity, and the precious 
 metal, however lavishly applied, was distributed over the picture with a judgment that 
 would make it difficult to alter or remove anything without deterioration of the 
 beauty of the whole. 
 
 The drawing held a place to some extent secondary to that of the colouring. 
 It varied considerably in style, sometimes minute and formal, as in plate lo, at others 
 free and graceful, assuming the calligraphic type characteristic of the old Chinese school, 
 but the admirable anatomical studies left in the Korean Ni O of Kobukuji, and in 
 the scarcely inferior figures at Todaiji, conveyed no lesson to the painters of Buddhist 
 pictures ; and hence, in the neglect of anatomical forms, as in the absence of chiaroscuro 
 and true perspective, the defects of the other schools of Sinico-Japanese art were 
 preserved unchanged. 
 
 Of invention little can be said. The artist was almost as heavily fettered by 
 traditions of motive and treatment, as the Egyptian sculptor by his arbitrary rules 
 of proportion; and numbers of capable men exhausted their faculties in the mere 
 repetition of types handed down to them centuries before by Koreans and Chinese, 
 and were most proud when their labour was thought a worthy copy of a foreign 
 original. The tendency may be well illustrated by a comparison of the numerous 
 renderings of the Nirvana of S akyamuni, with the great work of Wu Tao-tsz’ engraved 
 in plate 70, and with the picture by Li Lung-yen, in the British Museum Collection. 
 In most of the other motives of the school even less scope was afforded for the 
 inventive powers of the designers. It was only when the painter freed himself 
 from priestly fetters, and Avorked in the comparatively unconstrained manner of the 
 lay schools, that his imagination had fair scope. Had the Japanese been dependent 
 upon their own resources for the evolution of pictorial types of the Buddhist gods, 
 the conceptions would probably have been higher than any that we now possess. 
 
 Certain non-Buddhistic pictures are sometimes wrongly included with Butsu-yc 
 such as those illustrating purely Shinto subjects (which, however, are few, and nearly 
 all of recent date), and the renderings of Buddhistic subjects in the style of the 
 Kano, Sesshiu, or Chinese schools; but occasionally the secular approaches so closely 
 to the sacred, that it is not easy to decide to which section the work must be 
 referred. 
 
 Until more than a hundred years after the death of Kanaoka, the only schools 
 of painting recognized in Japan were the Chinese and Buddhistic (there being no 
 adequate grounds for the separation from the former of the closely allied if not 
 identical Korean manner); but the eleventh century developed a style of some novelty 
 in treatment and motive which has survived to the present day, the IFa-gwa-riu, 
 Yamato-riu or Japanese manner, so called on account of its application to the 
 illustration of native themes, and because of certain characteristics of drawing and 
 colouring which distinguish it from the works of the old Chinese painters. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 29 
 
 The Yamato school took form as a recognized academy in the beginning of the 
 eleventh century, under the auspices of Fujiwara no Motomitsu, a pupil of Kosd no 
 Kinmochi, but the references in the Genji Monogatari appear to show that its chief 
 characteristics had been evolved by the descendants of Kosd no Kanaoka, and others, 
 in the previous century. Whatever may have been the extent of the elements of an 
 original native art intermingled with former Korean and Chinese importations, the 
 Yamato style possessed certain features of its own, and did important service as a 
 vehicle for the transmission to posterity of the costume, ceremonials, and customs of 
 the time, and as a recorder of scenes of history and legend. 
 
 The biographical details concerning Motomitsu are few and vague. He was of 
 ancient lineage, tracing his ancestry to the famous Kamatari, whose name figures 
 prominently in the history of the seventh century; and was a favourite of the 
 Emperor Go-Ichijo (1017—1036), by whom he was invested with the titles of Kasuga 
 and Takumi no Kami. His descendants have enriched Japan wdth an uninterrupted 
 line of gifted painters which extends to the present day." 
 
 He left a son named Mitsuchika, who w'as followed by Takayoshi, the first 
 incumbent of the office of Kasuga Yddokoro in Nara (see p. 9). From Takachika, 
 the son of the latter, sprang two of the grandest masters of the academy, Mitsunaga, 
 entitled Giobu no Taiyu; and Keion, better known as Sumiyoshi Hogen; besides 
 a third but less famous son, named Yukinaga. Keion was especially reputed as 
 an accomplished artist in the free graphic style called "So" (see Section 4), as well 
 as in the more elaborate manner of his school. Those of his works particularly 
 referred to by native authors are two sets of rolls illustrating the lives of Shotoku 
 Taishi and Chiujo Himd, preserved respectively at the temples of Horiuji and Tayema; 
 and amongst other paintings still extant may be mentioned a superb calligraphic 
 sketch in black and gold, representing the Sakyamuni Trinity, which is kept in the 
 temple of Manjuji at Kioto. A Buddhist picture by Takachika is included in the 
 British Museum collection. 
 
 In the twelfth century the school was nobly represented by Fujiwara no Takanobu 
 
 (1141 —1205), famous alike as a poet and painter. He was surpassed in the realm of 
 
 art by his son Nobuzand, W'ho not only won a brilliant reputation as a painter of 
 
 portraits and other studies from nature, but extended the range of his labours also to 
 
 Buddhist pictures and rapid sketches in the Chinese manner. Amongst the most 
 celebrated works of Nobuzane are the illustrations to the descriptive list of the 
 possessions of the temple of Kitano, and a noted portrait of the poet Hitomaro, which 
 is reproduced in fig. 9. A copy (by Hoitsu) of a portraiture of Sakyamuni by the 
 same painter is in the British Museum collection, but does not speak very highly for the 
 naturalistic ability displayed in the original. He died in 1265, at the age of eighty-nine. 
 
 - It must be remembered that of the many Japanese families tracing their descent in an apparently unbroken 
 line for five, ten, or more centuries there are few in which some links in the chain have not been supplied by the 
 custom of adoption. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 30 
 
 Contemporary with Nobuzane was Tsuncitaka, the son of Mitsunaga, with whom 
 began the change of title of the family and school to that of Tosa. He was selected 
 to renew the lost portraits of the Chinese sages, painted by Kanaoka in 880 for the 
 Imperial palace in Kioto. His sons Yoshimitsii, Kunitaka, and Nagataka maintained 
 
 % 
 
 A ^ ^ 
 
 Fig. 9. Portrait of the poet Hitomaro (7th Century), from a picture by Nobuzane, painted after a manifestation of the 
 original seen in a dream. Yamato School, 13th Century. From the Wa-kan imigwa-yen. 
 
 the reputation of the academy at the end of the thirteenth century, and each left 
 heirs to the family genius. Of the three branches so founded, that of Yoshimitsu nas 
 destined to be the longest; but that of Kunitaka, through his son Takakantf and 
 his grandson Mitsuaki, of whose work many fine e.xamples are still preserved, held 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 31 
 
 perhaps a higher place in the artistic annals of the fourteenth century. Takamitsu 
 or Awadaguchi Hogen, one of the three sons of Mitsuaki, was a contemporary of 
 Josetsu in the period Oyei {1394—1428). and hence is a connecting link with a new era. 
 
 In concurrence with the family of Motomitsu must be noticed the lines of Takuma 
 and Kosd, which have given to the Yamato-Tosa and Buddhist schools several of 
 their greatest masters, but were, however, chiefly famous for Butsii-yc. The founder 
 of the Takuma line was Tameuji, an early contemporary of Motomitsu. He was 
 succeeded by Tamdnari, the painter of a well-known picture of the “ Western Paradise," 
 of which some remains are still visible upon the doors, walls, and back of the altar 
 of Biodo-in at Uji; Tamdto, a retainer of the Emperor Konyd no In (1142—1155); 
 Tamdhisa, who entered the service of Yoritomo about 1183; Choga, Shoga, Rioga, 
 and Tamdyuki, who were amongst the brightest luminaries of the thirteenth century ; 
 and Yeiga, Yenichibo Seinin, Riozon, and Joko in the fourteenth century. Like 
 the descendants of Kanaoka, many of these artists are known only as painters of 
 Buddhist pictures in emulation of the old Chinese masters, while others have left 
 important works in the native manner. All were remarkable colourists. The members 
 of the Kosd family were not only amongst the most highly esteemed of the painters of 
 Buddhist pictures in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, but some are known 
 to have painted rolls in the style of the Yamato school. The chief representatives 
 of the line were Koreshigd, Nobushigd, and Mundyoshi in the eleventh century; 
 Arimund, Sonchi, and Genkei in the twelfth century; Genson, Ariyuki, and Aritada 
 in the thirteenth century; and Arihisa, Kordhisa, Mitsuyasu, Ariiyd, and Ariyasu in 
 the fourteenth century. Arishigd, the son of the last, flourished in the period Oyei, 
 which has already been mentioned as the date of a new departure of pictorial art. 
 Two kakemonos, representing the Twelve Deva Kings, attributed to Kordhisa, are in 
 the British Museum collection, and although much discoloured by age, show traces 
 of a master-hand. 
 
 The c/iaractcyis/ics of the pure Yamato style are quite distinctive when taken 
 collectively, but present no striking elements of originality upon analysis. The 
 main principles of design were those of Korean and Chinese art, with increased 
 conventionality and diminished force, and the colouring has much of the decorative 
 quality of the Buddhist picture. The drawing was generally executed with finer pencils 
 than those used by artists of other schools, and though sufficiently firm and delicate, 
 appeared feeble beside the works of the Chinese masters of the T’ang dynasty, and 
 of the Japanese revivalists of Chinese art in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; 
 but the value of the productions of the Tosas was more seriously impaired by the 
 mannerism adopted, especially by the pupils of the middle and later periods, in the 
 rendering of the human figure. It is probable, however, that the doll-like imbecility 
 of their portraitures of the lords and ladies who represented the high culture of old 
 Kioto was rather the fault of a tradition than of a lack of artistic discrimination ; 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 for the same painters could, on occasion, abandon their formal and rather wearisome 
 illustrations of court life, to offer vigorous naturalistic studies, like that of the falcon 
 in plate 6o, or to dash off fresh and unconventional sketches, such as those 
 reproduced in plates lo and ii, which displayed both the power of the Chinese 
 
 masters and the humour of the popular designers. 
 
 The colouring in the typical picture of the Tosa school had all the decorative effect 
 that an unrestricted use of gold and brilliant pigments could confer, and the coloured 
 areas were often so subdivided as to repeat the effect of a brocaded fabric; but 
 although the disposition of contrasts was in some respects at variance with European 
 canons, and the use of a bright verdigris was, perhaps, indulged in too freely, the 
 
 genera] effect has a rich harmony not unlike that of the illuminated missals of the 
 
 fourteenth century. 
 
 The only marked innovation in the practice of the Vamato artists was the 
 
 expedient of spiriting away the roof from any building of which they desired to expose 
 the interior, as in plate 13. This licence appears to have no precedent in Chinese art. 
 
 The favourite motives of the school were—illustrations to verselets and temple 
 inventories {Yengi)', incidents in the lives of famous scholars, priests, or heroes; 
 passages in the early legends and romances; and the ceremonials of the Mikado’s 
 court. The artists, however, were also the chief source of the Buddhist pictures 
 anterior to the period of Cho Densu, and not only left many sketches of horses, 
 birds, flowers, and other objects in the bolder and more simple style of the old 
 Chinese masters, but often gave loose to quaint fancies in diablerie, or to outbreaks 
 of fun as genial and unconstrained as that which inspired the nineteenth-century 
 sketches of Hokusai or Kiosai. 
 
 Caricature, as a definite section of art, made its first appearance in the latter 
 half of the twelfth century, and its earliest known essays were the Toba-ych the “Toba 
 pictures,” which derive their name from their inventor Kakuyu, or Toba Sojo.^ 
 
 Kakuyu, a distinguished scion of the Minamoto family, was an abbot of the 
 temple of Miidera, in the province of Omi, in the reign ot the Emperor Rokujo 
 (a..d. 1166—1168). His more familiar appellation, Toba Sojo (the Toba priest), refers 
 to the monastery Toba no In, where he had at one time resided. He was an artist 
 of great ability and ready wit, and, although a successful painter in the Buddhist 
 and Chinese styles, is better remembered for his speciality of comic drawing, which 
 he was bold enough to employ on one occasion as a means of attacking official 
 dishonesty. His original w'orks are now extremely rare, but the copies of his 
 caricatures which have reached us show' that his manner has been carefully preserved. 
 
 The Toba-ye introduce us to an aspect of Japanese art w’hich ow'es nothing to 
 China in motive, but one whose merits, for obvious reasons, lie to a great extent 
 outside the range of the foreigner's comprehension. Even to the European, 
 
 * He is sometimes confused with Ono no Soju, an artist-priest who lived in the following century. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 33 
 
 however, if he be at all acquainted with Japanese life, the works give evidence of a 
 spontaneous drollery, that while bizarre is singularly free from malice, and although 
 often drifting into Rabelaisian channels, is seldom lascivious in intention. 
 
 Fig. lo. Toba-ye. A corpse revival From the 'L-hcn tc kagami. 
 
 The style did not give rise to a "School,” but was taken up by men of any or no 
 academy who desired to give expression to their feelings or humour in broad caricature. 
 Its peculiarities of design as applied to figures consisted merely in exaggerating the size 
 of the head, stamping it with a frog-like character by widening the mouth and reducing 
 
 K 
 
34 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF yAPAiY. 
 
 the nose to a couple of nostril dots; and elongating and attenuating the limbs at 
 discretion. There was, however, no attempt at portraiture, and as the draughtsmanship 
 was freed from all academical difficulties, the field was open to artistic and inartistic 
 competitors alike. In some cases, indeed, the sketches gained in comicality by the 
 
 Fig. I r. Toba-yd The courage of security. From a drawing by Miyagawa Choki, in the British Museum collection 
 
 (i8th century). 
 
 startling violations of art canons in which their creators indulged, but in others the 
 simplification of the process of production led to floods of mere burlesque scraw^ls, w-hich 
 could only attract attention by their extravagance of badness. The subjoined illustrations 
 
 Fig, 12. Toba-yd. “ Gratis anhelans, multa agendo, nihil agens.” From a drawing by Miyagawa Choki. 
 
 (fig. lo, 11, and 12) w'ili give a fair idea both of the peculiarities of drawing and the kind 
 of humour that often inspired the artist. In the first, an attenuated coolie carrying an 
 uncompleted tub, has been mistaken by some terrified w^ayfarers for a revived corpse 
 rearing its head above its perambulating coffin. In the next, two parties of snmitrai 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 35 
 
 having met upon opposite banks of a wide stream, are indulging in an interchange of 
 bellicose menaces that lose none of their ferocity from the consciousness of the perfect 
 security attendant upon the gratification : in the third, two carpenters are exerting so 
 tremendous a strain upon their energies over the task of sawing in two a sweet 
 melon, that it requires the whole of the equally vigorous efforts of a fellow-labourer 
 to cool their heated frames during the accomplishment of the mighty work. 
 
 At the present time the Toba-yi are no longer adequate to the demands of the 
 caricaturist. Japan, amongst its manifold adaptations of European ideas, has elaborated 
 a Punch, and the pictorial criticisar of public personages and events by the MnrtH)mrii 
 Chimbnn has evolved a new force, the capabilities of which may hereafter become 
 enormous; but it has destroyed the art of Toba Sojo. 
 
 The older Chinese art of the T’ang dynasty lost much of its influence during 
 the rise of the Yamato school, although distinct traces were still preserved in some 
 of the religious pictures of the Kose, Takuma, and Kasuga (Motomitsu) lines. With 
 the fourteenth century, however, the works of the Chinese masters of the Sung and Yiicn 
 dynasties became known, and their simple grandeur of style was imitated by a number 
 of priestly artists, who prepared the way for Josetsu and Cho Densu. The best known 
 of these painters was a monk named Kawo or RiSzen, of the temple of Nanzenji, 
 in Kioto, who became celebrated for monochromes which bore close resemblance to 
 those of the famous Muh Ki. His works are now very rare, but they are highly 
 appreciated by native connoisseurs. To him is attributed the introduction of the 
 kakdmono or hanging picture into Japan, the artists having previously e.xerted their 
 skill almost wholly in the illustration of narrative and historical rolls and of temple 
 Ycngi, and in the decoration of screens, fans, and panels; but there is little doubt 
 that the kakdmono was known through the Chinese before his time, and that the 
 style of mounting had been sometimes employed in the case of the earlier Buddhist 
 pictures. 
 
 Amongst the remaining artists who adopted the style of the Sung and Yilen 
 dynasties were the priests Donho, Tesshiu, Miyotaku, Shiui, Joyd, and Shiugb, the first 
 four of whom were united by a common bond as novices under Muso Kokushi, the 
 famous abbot of TenriCiji (1275—1351). Miyotaku was chiefly noted for ink sketches 
 of birds and bamboos, Shiui for portraits of his spiritual teacher, Joyd for landscapes, 
 and Tesshiu and Shiugo for birds and flowers; but few of their works are now in 
 existence. With the enumeration of these pioneers of the Chinese Renaissance may 
 be concluded the account of the second period of Japanese pictorial art. 
 
 The era brought to a close in the fourteenth century was distinguished by a 
 profound veneration for sacred art, for the noblest works of the three branches of the 
 Yamato school were Buddhistic, and the same motives were largely repeated by the 
 monochrome artists, all of whom were members of the priesthood. It was an age 
 
36 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 of pictorial calligraphy and exquisite purity of colouring, but with few naturalistic 
 inspirations. As regards the element of originality, it has been already noticed that 
 most of the Buddhist pictures are traditional both in motive and treatment, even to 
 the smallest details of attributes, physiognomy, and attitude, and it is hence doubtful 
 how far the grandeur of conception displayed in the majestic forms of the old 
 Butsu-ye is attributable to their immediate authors. 
 
 The period, however, requires a larger amount of investigation than has yet 
 been devoted to it, and we must await further material before endeavouring to define 
 the true value of the pictorial work effected in the four centuries that preceded the 
 long dominion of the Northern school of Chinese painting; but it is certain that the 
 interpretation by the Yamato painters of the more familiar and less abstract themes 
 suggested by their native literature and immediate surroundings called forth the 
 inventive power in an unquestionable degree, and led to the inauguration of a truly 
 national art. 
 
 Fig. 13. Ancient mask. 
 
Fig. 14, Carved wooden image of the priest Eison (14th century?). 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 APANESE keramics made but little progress from the eighth 
 to the thirteenth century, although the centres of manufacture 
 were undergoing multiplication, and the industry had assumed a 
 position of national importance. The commencement of a new 
 era. early in the thirteenth century, was due to the “ Father of 
 Pottery,” Kato Shirozayemon, more familiarly known as 
 Toshiro, who, at the age of twenty, crossed the sea in company 
 with the Buddhist abbot Dogen, with a view to studying the 
 more advanced processes of the art in China, and returned 
 six years later, in a.d. 1229, to carry his experience into 
 practice at the village of Seto in Owari. Toshiro does not 
 appear to have been made acquainted with the secrets of porcelain, nor did he bring 
 any account of the green and blue enamels, or of the pictorial decorations to which 
 Chinese authors refer in such hyperbolical terms. His works and those of his 
 descendants took no more ambitious form than cups and tea jars of ordinary pottery 
 or stoneware, glazed in black, brown, or yellow, and innocent of any ornament beyond 
 a pair of fancy handles, or by exception a simple outline of a flower or leaf; but within 
 their modest limits these little objects were unobjectionable in form and colour, and 
 perfect in technique. Not only have they served as models for Japanese potters 
 
 I. 
 
3 S 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 down to the present day, but the celebrity of the fabrique has given the generic 
 name of Setoinono or Sdto articles to all subsequent products of keramic art. 
 
 The advance was a material one over the comparatively clumsy ware of previous 
 ages, but there is little doubt that had Toshiro’s Chinese instructors chosen to impart to 
 him all they knew, the results of his journey would have been far more momentous. 
 As it was the new acquirements stimulated imitation, but did not suggest improvements, 
 and it is perhaps not surprising that for three hundred years the art remained almost 
 exactly where Toshiro, or Shunkei, as he was called in his later years, had left it. 
 
 The pottery made at Shigaraki, Karatsu, Imbe (Bizen), Shidoro, Ochiai, and Iga, 
 the principal fabt'iqiies at work during this period, consisted for the most part of 
 coarse earthenware or stoneware for domestic or mercantile use. The articles were 
 generally wheel-made and glazed, but possessed no great technical or artistic merits. 
 The paste was commonly hard, especially in the Shigaraki and Imbe wares, of a greyish 
 or brown colour, and the glaze was of a light brown, or tinted with yellow, blue, or 
 green, irregularly crackled and sometimes spotted or dappled in various manners. The 
 Iga ware resembled that of Shigaraki, but was not made until the fourteenth century. 
 
 In other directions the artistic powers of the Japanese were by no means idle. 
 The Buddhist priesthood maintained its influence, and rendered good service to the 
 cause of glyptic art. The carving of Temple Images was now in the hands of 
 a native school that reflected no discredit upon its Korean and Chinese founders; 
 and many striking examples of temple architecture belong to the same period. 
 
 The end of the tenth century was marked by the labours of the abbot and 
 sculptor Eshin (a.d. 942 — 1017), to whom are attributed a large number of carvings 
 still preserved at Uyeno, Shiba, and eksewhere; but the art gained one of its most 
 famous masters a few years later in Jocho, the founder of the important “ Nara 
 school ” of idol carvers. This artist, a reputed descendant of the Emperor Koko, 
 lived in the reign of the Emperor Go-Ichijo (1017 —1036), and is said to have formed 
 his style by a study of the works of the Chinese sculptors of the T'ang dynasty. 
 He is the author of the image of S akyamuni at Ginkakuji (Kioto), those of Amitabha 
 and Kshitegarbha at Biodo-in (Nara), and of the “Four Deva Kings” at Yakushiji 
 (Nara), one of Avhich is reproduced in plate 6. But these works, although amongst 
 the most prized relics in Japan, are nevertheless very inferior to the earlier “ Temple 
 Guardians ” of Kobukuji, and are surpassed by the later Ni 6 of Kwaikei at Todaiji. 
 
 Jocho was the first of a long line of sculptors who have bequeathed to Japan 
 a memorable series of works in sacred art. The most famous of his descendants 
 were L nkei, Tankei, and Anami Kwaikei, all of whom lived in the latter part of 
 the eleventh century. Unkei is well represented by figures of S’akyamuni and four 
 Bodhisattvas in the temple of Nioken at Ikegami (near Tokio); by many carvings 
 at Manjuji (Kioto); and by an image of Kwanyin at Ginkakuji (Kioto); Tankei, by 
 a figure of Kshitegarbha at Biodo-in (Uji), and Kwaikei, by the colossal Temple 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 39 
 
 Guardians at the great gate of Todaiji (Nara), and by other works at Koshoji and Higashi 
 Otani (Kioto). The greatest monuments to the skill of the Nara carvers are, however, 
 the Todaiji Ni O of Kwaikei, which have already been made known by Sir Edward 
 Reed (“Japan,” vol. i.), and are said to have been executed in 1095 (see plate 4). 
 The last noted member of the line was Kochd,^ who with his son was employed 
 by Yoritomo, in 1186, to assist in the building of the temple of Hachiman at 
 Kamakura. Fig. 14 shows a good example of portrait sculpture (fourteenth century) 
 by an idol carver. 
 
 Fig 15. The “ Daibutsu ” of Kamakura. From a photograph. 
 
 The manufacture of bronze idols may be considered to have culminated in the 
 grand Daibutsu of Kamakura (see fig. 15), which has already been familiarized to 
 European readers by repeated descriptions and engravings in various books written 
 upon the subject of Japan. The date of this figure is not yet satisfactorily 
 established, but there is reason to believe with the Kamakura ski that the existing 
 image, a representation of Amitabha, was made in 1252, to replace one originally 
 
 ' For a list of the principal members of the Nara school, the reader is referred to the introduction of the 
 " Handbook for Jai)an.” 
 
40 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 constructed in the eighth century by order of the Emperor Shoinu. The most 
 remarkable part of the figure is the head; and it is this which confers upon the 
 work its superiority over all its rivals of earlier and later years. The expression 
 of intellectual calm which etherealizes the majestic but slightly sensual mask, realizes 
 in the most marvellous degree that domination of the senses and emotions which 
 formed the goal of the primitive Buddhists: by the side of this the head of the 
 Nara Vairotchana appears almost brutal, that of the bronze god at Uyt^no is a 
 caricature, and the majority of the other conceptions of the idol-maker sink into 
 utter insignificance. 
 
 There is no reason to believe that the artistic decoration of Arms and Armour 
 had reached a very high grade of excellence until the twelfth century. It was then 
 that the struggle of extermination between the Minamoto and Taira factions, while 
 seriously retarding many industries, gave a keen stimulus to the decoration of all 
 the objects appertaining to warfare. The armour of Voshitsune, at present kept at 
 Nara, is a cluf-d'ceitvre of glyptic skill, and may hold its place even by the side 
 of the highly finished productions of the accomplished metal sculptors of the fifteenth 
 and later centuries (see plate 7). One of the greatest artistic lines that Japan can 
 boast, that of the Miochins, arose at this time and has produced honoured workers 
 down to the middle of the last century. 
 
 The Lacquer Industry made a steady advance during the interval between the 
 ninth and fifteenth centuries, but judging from existing specimens, must be placed 
 considerably below the level reached at a later time. In the eleventh century the 
 pictorial decoration of lacquer with classical subjects and figures of “No" performers 
 came into vogue, and the position of the lacquer painters was recognized in 1175 by 
 the invitation of two of their number, named Sadayasu and Norisuyt?, to appear with 
 the chief artists of the empire on the occasion of the emperor's fiftieth birthday. 
 These men, with two others, Yoshinawo and Nagamori, who are referred to about 
 nine years later as the most skilful lacquerers of their period, were the first of their 
 branch of the profession to find a mention in the history of art. 
 
 No new invention in lacquer appeared during this era, except that of Kamakura- 
 bori, which dates from the establishment of Kamakura by Voritomo. It was characterized 
 by the application of the varnish—usually red—upon wood carved with various designs 
 in low relief. It is still made, and is sometimes mistaken for the carved red and 
 black lacquer called tsuishin and tsuikoku. 
 
 It is to be remarked that no reference is made to Chinese or Korean influence 
 in connection with the early history of the manufacture of lacquer. It appears, 
 however, that analogous processes were carried on in China during the T'ang dynasty, 
 and perhaps earlier ; but nothing has been ascertained as to the artistic qualities of 
 the Avork. 
 
PLATE 7. 
 
 THE ARMOUR OF YOSHITSUNE (Twelfth Century). 
 
 Preserved at Kasuga, Nara. (See page 40.) 
 
Fig. i6. 
 
 Head of Dragon. From a painting by Sesshiu, in the British Museum Collection (rsoa}. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HE third era of the Pictorial Art of Japan, which began 
 about the close of the fourteenth century, became firmly 
 established under the auspices of Ch5 Densii in the Buddhist 
 school, and Josetsu and his pupils in the new secular 
 academies, after a stage of transition which probably com¬ 
 menced near the middle of the century with the labours 
 of Kawo. 
 
 At this time, the best ages of painting in the Middle 
 Kingdom had already drawn to' a close, and with the Ming 
 dynasty (commencing in 1368) had risen into favour a more 
 decorative, but less forcible manner that was threatening to displace the simple grandeur 
 of the work of the past. There were still, however, artists of great ability who followed 
 the more ancient examples, but they lost much and added nothing in their imitations 
 of the old masters ; and the Japanese painter, Sesshiu, who visited China about the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, averred that he found no worthy successors of such 
 men as Whi Tao-tsz’, Ma \'uen, Muh Ki, and Ngan Hwui, who had made the 
 three previous dynasties famous in Oriental art history. 
 
 M 
 
42 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Meicho, better known as Cho Densu,‘ was born in 1351, and became a priest 
 in the temple of Tofukuji, in Kioto, where he passed the whole of his days, from 
 the time of his novitiate to his death. He must perhaps rank as the most original 
 and powerful artist that his country has ever produced, and as a master of calligraphic 
 design, a colourist of marvellous force, and an inventor of gigantic conception, he 
 was a man whom any country in the world might be proud to own. In Japan 
 the record of his genius has found expression in extravagant legends, which are 
 supplemented by stories of unsought fame won by the simple mind, devout belief, 
 and indiflerence to temporal rewards, that maintained him throughout the long years 
 of his life in the seclusion of his monastic retreat. He died in 1427, at the age of 
 seventy-six ; and in the year 1884 his countrymen did honour to his name by a public 
 ceremonial in which all ranks were eager to share. 
 
 His works can scarcely be appreciated at their full value unless studied amidst 
 their natural surroundings, in the subdued light of the spacious halls and corridors 
 of the Buddhist temples. Like the rest of his school, he never aimed at realistic 
 accuracy of draughtsmanship, but his energy of design and harmony of colouring are 
 too surprising to allow the attention to dwell upon deficiencies of which the 
 Oriental mind appears to be but little conscious. Ihe examples in the British 
 
 Museum collection, one of which is copied in plate 7, exemplify his manner, and 
 
 the engrax'ings of some of his works in the IVa-kan mei-gwa yen may suggest his 
 
 power of delineating the manifold shades of apostolic character. Even the woodcuts 
 on plate 9 will show how forcibly he has been able to distinguish, in two representative 
 types of the Buddhist saint, the intense energy of the promulgator, and the immobility 
 and abstract contemplation of the philosopher who seeks Nirvana in oblivion of 
 
 earthly interest and passions ; but his genius can only be measured aright by a study 
 of the great series of kakdmonos representing the five hundred disciples of Sakyamuni, 
 which are yet preserved in the temple of Tofukuji. Here the artists strength had 
 full play, and achieved a veritable triumph in the striking individuality he has stamped 
 upon each of the multitude of figures, while preserving the common link of intellectual 
 dignity that binds them together as the Arhat, or “ the men who merit worship.” Besides 
 these truly grand creations may be mentioned the "Nirvana of Sakyamuni " (dated in 
 1408) and the “Thirty-three forms of Kwanyin " at the same temple; the Mandjus'ri 
 and Samantabhadra, and "The going forth of Sakyamuni from the Mountains," kept in 
 the temple of Daiko-in at Nagoya; and several other compositions belonging to the 
 temple of Yutenji at Mdgoro. The list of his existing paintings is probably a long 
 one, for his masterpieces have been too highly prized to share in the destruction and 
 dispersion that has befallen the works of men of the second rank. 
 
 Cho Densu had many followers, but the school soon fell into the ancient groove, 
 and although it numbered in later times a goodly list of clever calligraphists and 
 accomplished colourists, not one appears to have earned the right to range himself 
 
 ' Densu is a priestly title. 
 
PLATE 8. 
 
 ARHAT. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION {No. 3^. 
 
 From a painting on silk by MeiCHo (1352—1427). Size of original, 37^ x I5i inches. Buddhist School. 
 
 The Sanskrit title Arhat or Arhan (Jap. Rakaii) originally signified “ Moritoriou.s,” “Worthy,” or “ De.serving of 
 Worship,” and was also used to indicate a grade of saintship ranking next below that of a Buddha. It is popularly 
 applied to the renowned apostles of the Faith, of whom are recognized three groups, of Sixteen, Five hundred, and 
 Twelve hundred. The inner circle, at first sixteen in number, but afterwards increased to eighteen by the Chinese 
 under the Ming dynasty, probably included only the immediate disciples of S'akyamuni ; there arc few of these, 
 however, who can now be identified with certainty. The larger group of “ Five hundred ” is almost as familiar as that 
 of the “ Sixteen,” and many portraitures of the entire assemblage, in sculpture and painting, are still preserved in the 
 temples of China and Japan. 
 
 In Japanese pictures the head of the Arhat is always encircled with a transparent nimbus, but this attribute is 
 inconstant in Chinese paintings, and is said to have been invariably absent in the Indian representations. 
 
 An illustrated list of the “ Sixteen ” will be found in the Catalogue of the British Museum Collection. See also 
 plate 9. 
 
 Wilhelm Grevh, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 
PLATE 9. 
 
 ARHATS. BHADRA AND PANTIIAKA. 
 
 From paintings by MeicHo, engraved in the IVa-Kan inei~Idtsu gim-yei. Buddhist School. Fifteenth century. 
 
 See description of plate 8. 
 
PLATE 10. 
 
 amitAbha. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 5). 
 
 I-rom a painting on silk by the ABBOT OP.ZoJoJI {early part of nineteenth century). Sire of original, 35 X t6" inches. 
 
 Buddhist School. 
 
 The style of the work is that of the later and more elaborate manner of the .school. 
 
 The worship of Amitabha (Jap. Amida), the most widely reverenced of the Buddhist divinities both in China and 
 Japan, dates only from about 300 A.I)., and is said to be an invention of the Malldyana school. It is not referred to by 
 bahien or Hiouen Tlisang, nor is it known to Southern Buddhism, and the popularity of the god in China is 
 probably due to Kumarayapa, who came to the Middle Kingdom by way of Thibet in 405 a.d, (Sec Eitel, 
 Handbook of Cnmese Buddhism.”) He is supposed to preside with Kwanyin over the Paradise in the West. The 
 ligure here represented appears in the Bnlsu zd Jzu-i as one of the nine forms of Amida, and is distinguished from the 
 a.ssociated images by the positions of the hands and fingers. 
 
 Wii.iilCLM Greve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 43 
 
 by the side of the master. His style, indeed, was clo.sely imitated by Kan Densu, 
 Kazuyuki, Choson, and others of his pupils, but his creative spirit died with him. 
 
 The more important and more general movement was accomplished somewhat 
 later, and culminated in the almost complete triumph of the Chinese art of the Sung 
 and Ytien dynasties. The Japanese were certainly indebted to Korean intercourse for 
 their fir.st introduction to the arts and .sciences of the neighbouring continent, and 
 many important branches of the arts in Japan received their early development from 
 the labour and e.xample of Korean immigrants; but it was from the Chinese that the 
 painters have learned the most important elements of their craft. Nanriu, the first 
 pictorial artist in Japan of whom any record is preserved, was a native of China, 
 and the names of the famous masters of the T’ang dynasty, whose works gave direction 
 to the genius of Kanaoka, are even now as familiar to the educated Japanese as the 
 story of Jingo Kogo and the Korean conquest. Moreover, although many Korean 
 painters settled in Japan, and many Korean pictures must have been introduced 
 before the ninth century, neither the men nor the works appear to have exercised 
 any permanent influence upon the art of the country; while, on the other hand, there 
 have been few Japanese painters of note who were not proud to register themselves 
 as followers of one nr more of the T'ang, Sung, or Ytien masters of the Middle 
 Kingdom. 
 
 The naturalization of the Kara-yi riu, or Chinese school, may be said to have 
 been completed in the time of Kosd no Kanaoka; but, although the curious fictions 
 relating to the power of this master in the secular branches of his art, together with 
 the existing proofs of his genius in the form of Buddhist pictures, make it probable 
 that the early non-Buddhistic drawings in the Chinese style equalled or even surpassed 
 the most admired works of later times, it is doubtful whether any authentic examples 
 now remain to demonstrate the fact. For long after his death, painting remained a 
 favourite accomplishment of sovereigns, priests, and courtiers, and works of the 
 highest order of merit were produced in the styles of the Buddhist and Yamato 
 schools; but unfortunately the pure Chinese manner fell into a secondary position, 
 until Kawo and his contemporaries of the fourteenth century drew the attention of 
 their countrymen to an unstudied phase of the pictorial art of the Middle Kingdom. 
 
 The revival took a definite form in the early part of the fifteenth century. At 
 this time a priest of Kioto, named Josetsu, a profound admirer of the works of 
 the Chinese masters of the Sung and Ytien dynasties, established at the temple of 
 Sokokuji, in the imperial city, a monastic academy for the promulgation of their 
 teachings, and grouped around him a body of pupils who were destined to initiate a 
 new departure in the art history of their country. Little is known of the painter, 
 and it is even uncertain whether he was of Japanese or Chinese birth. According 
 to some authorities he came from China and settled in Japan in the period Oyei 
 (1394—1428); while others claim him as a native of the province of Kiushiu. His 
 
44 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 paintings, moreover, are now as rare as those of Kanaoka, and the few remaining 
 examples of his handiwork scarcely define his artistic status; but it is upon his 
 success as a teacher that his claims upon posterity must chiefly rest, for amongst the 
 pupils said to have issued from his atelier, are the founders of three out of the four 
 schools which monopolized the attention of the artistic world down to the middle of 
 the last centur}^—ShiCibun, SesshiCi. and Kano Masanobu. 
 
 The Honcho Giaashi states that he Avas noted for pictures of landscape, figures, 
 flowers, and birds. “ His style resembles that of Bayen (Ma Viien), Kakei (Hia Kwei), 
 Mokkei (Muh Ki), and Giokkan (Vuh Kien) of the So (Sung), and Ganki (Ngan liwui) 
 of the Gen (Viien) dynasty. The ancient masters of Japan never studied the works 
 of these periods ; the first to do so was Jo.setsu, and he became deeply learned in 
 the art.” 
 
 Josetsu did not stand alone as an apostle of pure Chinese art, for amongst his 
 contemporaries a Chinese immigrant named Shiubun, who was adopted into the family 
 of Soga, of Hida province, and became known as Soga Shiubun or Tojin (Chinese) 
 Shiubun, won a position amongst the greatest painters of the Chinese school, and 
 Zean, a priest of the temple of Sokokuji, left a reputation of scarcely inferior degree. 
 
 'I'he actual leadership of the revived academy, however, was destined to fall upon 
 josetsu's favourite pupil, Shiubun (whose name must not be confused with that of 
 his Chinese predecessor). Like his instructor, Shiubun fixed his abode in the temple 
 of Sokokuji, where he held the clerical rank of Tosn. The Honcho Gwashi states that 
 he also bore the name of Shuniku, and used a seal bearing the characters “ Vekkei 
 Shiubun;” Vekkei being a place near the temple Veigenji, in the province of Omi, 
 where he once resided. “ His pictures represented landscape, figures, flowers, and birds, 
 and were sketched in ink or lightly coloured after the rules of Bakagan.' He was 
 versed in the most profound principles of Mokkei and Giokkan, and had perfected 
 his studies under Josetsu. He never painted in the Vamato style.” 
 
 “ In modern times the followers of Sesshiu, Oguri, and Kano used Shiiibiin as a 
 ladder by means of which they might reach the altitude of the So and Gen (Sung 
 and Viien) dynasties.” 
 
 It is not easy to overpraise the qualities which appear in the pictures of Shiubun, 
 even when exemplified in such idealized landscapes as that engraved in plate 13. He 
 possessed in an eminent degree that quality of “ power ” which appeared to characterize 
 so many of the early masters, as distinguished from their followers of the last two 
 centuries, and which enforces our admiration in spite of the wide departures from 
 European canons that their works display. Like Sesshiu, Masanobu, Motonobu, Soga 
 Jasoku, and a few others who flourished within the same cycle, he could suggest 
 colour in monochrome, and chiaroscuro without a true shadow. His land.scapes often 
 present visions of a strange beauty with their vast breadth, bold foregrounds, and 
 
 * An abbreviation of the names Bayen, Kakei, and Ganki (Ma Yuen, Hia Kwei, and Ngan Hwui, the famous 
 Chinese artists previously referred to). 
 
PLATES 11 and 12. 
 
 SCENES FROM THE “NOCTURNAL JOURNEY OF THE DEMON LEGION." 
 
 From an ancient roll (fifteenth centurj' ?) of the Tosa School. Engraved after pictures in the Kiyu-gvja yen. 
 
 I HE roll, which is of great length, represents in panoramic form a wild and irregular procession of a horde of goblins, 
 for whose comically grotesque figures the artist appears to have ransacked all the commonplaces of domestic, sacred, 
 and legendary lore. The spirits of darkness are seen giving vent to their diabolical exuberance of energy by a 
 thousand reckless tricks and travesties, till (Plate 11) the van of the troop, arriving within sight of the dazzling beams 
 of the rising sun, disperse in confusion to seek the more congenial gloom of hell. 
 
 •A copy of the original makimono is included in the British Museum Collection, No. 262. 
 

PLATE 13. 
 
 RAIKO AND HIS COMRADES BEFORE THE DEMON ROBBER. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 403). 
 
 From a painting of the Tosa School. Seventeenth century. 
 
 The picture is one of a long series of illustrations representing the adventures of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, or Raiko, 
 a Court noble of the tenth and eleventh centuries, in his expedition against the Demon Robber, Shiuten Doji. 
 
 The storj. of the Shiuten Doji has been told with many valuable annotations by Mr. F. V. Dickins in the 
 
 “Transactions of the Asiatic Society” for 1SS4, and previously in outline by Mr. Griffis ("Mikado's Empire"), Mr, 
 
 Pfoundes ("ABudget of Japanese Notes "), and Dr. Junker (" Japanische Thee-Geschichten ”); and the Catalogue of 
 the British Museum Collection includes a descriptive account of the entire series of drawings from which the original 
 of this plate has been selected for reproduction. 
 
 In the picture before us, the knights having gained admission to the Ogre’s stronghold in the guise of travelling 
 priests, are seated before the Robber Chief, who for the nonce assumes the aspect of a gigantic Chinese boy, and is 
 
 now beginning to succumb to the copious libations of drugged rn/Idwith which he has been plied by his guests. A 
 
 demon retainer is performing a comic dance for the amusement of the company. 
 
 The perspective of the scene is “parallel,” and the building is represented roofless, in order to expose the 
 interior of the apartment in which the orgie is going on. Attention may also be directed to the startling experiments 
 in the colouring of the piece, and to the absence of any indication of chiaroscuro. 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, chromolith. 
 
GENERAL H[STORY. 
 
 45 
 
 melting distances, and his figures, although not academical in our sense of the term, 
 were marked by a nobility and grace that reflected in every line the cultivation of the 
 painter and scholar. 
 
 Fig. 17. Falcon and Egret. From a picture by Soga Chokuan (i6th century). From the ^-hon tekagami. Chinese School. 
 
 His fame attracted many followers, amongst whom Keishoki, Jasokii, Sotan, and 
 Noami stand in prominent relief. Soga Jasoku, who is not unworthily represented 
 on plate 16, was a landscape painter of extraordinary ability, and in fact may 
 almost be placed by the side of Shiubun himself in this branch of his art. Keishoki, 
 
 N 
 
_j6 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 one of whose works is in the collection of Mr. Ernest Hart, was also a great artist, 
 although a degree below Shiubun and Jasoku in boldness of conception; but Noami, 
 a retainer of the Shogun and a celebrated connoisseur of paintings, is considered 
 to deserve a place amongst the greatest monochrome masters. The paintings of Oguri 
 Sotan are very rare, but it is said that he followed closely in the footsteps of 
 iluh-ki, Yuh-kien, and other masters of the Sung dynasty. The cock engraved on 
 plate 14 is an example of his skill in the delineation of animal life. Chiuan or 
 Bonshi, a contemporary of Shiubun, may be also noted as a vigorous artist in the 
 freehand style, who left many spirited monochrome sketches after the manner of Muh-ki. 
 
 Jasoku and Noami both left descendants who upheld the honour of the names, 
 and with whom the best days of the academy drew to a close ; Gensen, Soyo, Shojo, 
 and the two Chokuans (father and son) represent successive generations of the Soga 
 line, and Geiami and Soami, the son and grandson of Noami, served the school nobly 
 in their several periods. A hawk by the elder Chokuan is engraved in fig. 17, and 
 a striking landscape by Soami is included in the British Museum collection. 
 
 Under the Ming dynasty in China pictorial art began to languish, and the loss of 
 power made steady progress as years passed away, despite the redeeming feature of an 
 earnest effort at naturalism in portraiture (see Chinese section). Two characters that 
 had arisen in the previous dynasties assumed an undesirable prominence; one of 
 these consisted in the use of a brilliancy of colouring that contrasted strongly with the 
 simplicity prevailing in the best works of the older painters ; the other, an invention of 
 literary men, was characterized by a calligraphic draughtsmanship in which resemblance 
 to nature was of minor importance, but which derived its value rather from the celebrity, 
 scholastic or otherwise, of the author than from any intrinsic pictorial merits. This 
 latter manner underwent various modifications, and became knowm as the Southern 
 School, to distinguish it from the older style, which was entitled that of the North. 
 
 The decorative style was successfully imitated by a Japanese painter, named 
 Vanagisawa Kiyen or Riurikio, w'ho flourished in the middle of the eighteenth century. 
 He was a colourist of remarkable skill, and has also left some talented drawings in 
 the simpler manner. He bestowed minute care upon the preparation of his pigments, 
 and, as a result, many of his pictures have passed through upwards of a century 
 without suffering the loss of a particle of their original freshness and brilliancy. The 
 British Museum collection embraces good specimens of his work. In more recent 
 times the members of one of the branches of the Kano line have adopted the oinate 
 style, but without any advantage to the reputation of their academy. 
 
 The manner of the Southern Chinese school was introduced into Japan in the 
 seventeenth centur)^ by a Chinese priest named Moktian, and later by some political 
 refugees who came over from China shortly after the time of Riurikio. During the 
 present century it became popular with a certain class of connoisseurs under the name 
 of BiDiJiji-gwa, or literary man's pictures, a term afterwards made to include drawings 
 which did not belong to the new Chinese fashion. 
 

PLATE 14. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 6oi). 
 
 From a monochrome sketch on paper by ShiOBUN. Chinese School. Fifteenth century. 
 Size of original, 26^ x 14^ inches. 
 
 This is a good example of the idealized Chinese scenery which impressed so powerfully the imaginations of the 
 Japanese masters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The original picture is much stained and cracked by 
 exposure, and the defects have unfortunately been exaggerated in the process of photography. 
 
PLATE 15. 
 
 I. COCK. 
 
 From a painting by OCURI SoTAN, engraved in the E-hon ti-kagami. Chinese School. Fifteenth century. 
 
 2 . CHINESE PRIEST ON MULE. 
 
 From a painting by SniUTOKU, engraved in the A~hon te-kugami. Sesshiu School. Fifteenth century. 
 
PLATE 16. 
 
 LANDSCAPES. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLXECTION (No. S62). 
 
 1 -roni a roll (paper) painted in monochrome by SOGA Jasoku. Fifteenth centurv. Chinese School. 
 Size of original, 14 in. x 7I in. 
 
 The original roll represents a continuous panorama of wild and picturesque scenery, .sketched with remarkable power. 
 An appended note .signed by Kano Yasunobu runs as follows : " This is a genuine drawing by Soga, possessing life, 
 motion, and beauty. Those who admire the work as I do. will recognize the correctness of my words.” 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 47 
 
 Amongst the Chinese immigrants who settled in Japan after the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, the best known were Ifukiu, Chinnanpin, Soshigan, and Hosaiyen. 
 Chinnanpin or Nanpin Chinsen was a merchant who appears to have won his reputation 
 chiefly by clever copies and adaptations of the works of abler painters amongst his 
 countrymen. He was, at any rate, an artist of only mediocre ability; but he nevertheless 
 secured some clever pupils in Nagasaki, one of whom, Yiuhi, greatly e.xcelled his 
 master. Ifukiu, whose pictures are in considerable request, is best known by rapidly 
 sketched landscapes in the manner of the Southern School, in which he was rivalled 
 by one of his pupils named Taigado. Soshigan was noted for paintings of landscapes, 
 flowers, and birds, and his pupil Soshisdki is well known as the author of the 
 Soshisiki giua-fu (1762-71), which included some of the earliest book colour-prints 
 published in Japan. Lastly, Hosaiyen e.xcelled in freehanded monochrome sketches 
 of birds and flowers. 
 
 A contemporary of these men, named Buson or Sha-Buson, was one of the most 
 original painters of his time. He is said to have followed the style of the YUen and 
 Ming dynasties, but his land.scapes have a charm of wild grace peculiarly their own. 
 Some of his best paintings are preserved in the temple of Kinkakuji, Kioto, and a good 
 copy from one of his pictures may be seen in the British Museum. According to the 
 Gwa-jo Yoriaku he died at the age of sixty-three, in the period of Temmei (1781—1789). 
 His pupil Gekkei or Goshun, who afterwards attached himself to the school of Okio, 
 was a prominent figure at the beginning of the naturalistic era. 
 
 The Sesshilt School was developed contemporaneously with the school of Shiubun, 
 and preceded that of the Kanos. Sesshiu, a scion of the noble family of Ota, was born 
 at Akabama, in the province of Bichiu, in 1420. At the age of twelve or thirteen he 
 was placed under the instruction of the abbot of the temple of Hofukuji, but his artistic 
 predilections led him to neglect the prescribed course of religious training. It is said 
 that on one occasion he was tied to a pillar of the temple in punishment for his 
 idleness, and when the priest came to set him free he was startled to see a number of 
 rats at the feet of the prisoner. The good man ran to drive away the intruders, and 
 found that they were pictures that the little artist, using his toe for a pencil and his tears 
 for ink, had drawn upon the floor. Some versions of the story tell that the pictorial 
 creations were so life-like that they actually scampered away when the priest drew near. 
 
 From this time his talent was recognized, and he was permitted to follow the 
 bent of his genius during the completion of his priestly course. Somewhat later he 
 became a pupil of Josetsu, in Sokokuji, and under his teaching acquired the manner 
 which brings even his latest works into close association with those of Shiubun and 
 certain other artists of the same period. 
 
 In the period Kansho {1460—1466), after he had passed the meridian of life, he 
 determined to visit China, to study there the works of the old masters, and the 
 picturesque scenery that had given inspiration to their brushes. On his arrival he 
 
48 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 attached himself to a temple of the Tien-tai sect, and sought a teacher amongst the 
 noted artists of the time, but as he found none who realized his ideal he resolved—to 
 use his own expression—to turn for instruction to the lessons afforded by the landscape 
 beauties of the countrj'. He painted many pictures during his stay, including some 
 reminiscences of Japan, and at length his fame reached the ears of the Emperor. 
 
 rig. iS. Sessliiu and the Pictured Rats. From a drawing by Nishigawa Sukenobu, engraved in the I.-hon Yamaie htji. 
 
 It is regarded as one of the most signal honours ever paid to Japanese art that 
 Sesshiu received a command to paint a picture for the embellishment of an apartment 
 in the Imperial palace of China. After his return to Japan in 1469, he lived in the 
 temple of Unkokuji (whence the name of Unkoku adopted by himself and many of his 
 pupils and followers), and founded the school that bears his name, and from which 
 issued many great painters. He continued his work until an advanced age, and so 
 
PLATE 17. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 From a picture by SliSSHiO {1421—1507), engraved in the Wa-Kan md-hitsii giva-ho. 
 
 DRAGON. 
 
 From a picture by Sesson (end of si.xteenth century ?), engraved in the !Vn-Kn/i mei-hitsn giva-yei. Sesshiu School. 
 
 For an account of the DragoUj as represented in Sinico-Japancse Art, see the Catalogue of the British Museum 
 Collection, page 48. The design here reproduced may be compared with the Chinese pictures engraved in plates 74 
 and 75. 
 
PLATE 18. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF VIMALAKIRRTI. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 1207). 
 
 From a painting on silk attributed to Shiugetsu. Fifteenth century. Sesshiu School. Size of original, 
 
 444 X 23^ inches. 
 
 ViMALAKiRRTi (Jap. Yuima Koji) was a famous Indian priest, a native of Vais’ali, said to have been a contemporary 
 of S'akyamuni, and to have visited China. 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, chromolith. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 49 
 
 unimpaired were his powers that some of his most valued pictures were drawn after he 
 had entered his ninth decade. A set of three kakdmonos in the British Museum 
 collection, painted in his eighty-second year, show no indication of enfeeblement of 
 mind or hand. He died in 1507, at the age of eighty-seven. 
 
 I he Hoiic/w gwas/ii testifies in great detail to the range of his genius. “His 
 skill was the gift of nature : for he did not follow in the footsteps of the ancients, 
 but developed a style peculiar to himself. His power was greatest in landscape, after 
 which he excelled most in figures, then in flowers and birds ; and he was, moreover, 
 skilful in the delineation of oxen, horses, dragons, and tigers. In figure drawing he 
 completed his outline with a single stroke of the brush, and of this manner of 
 sketching he is considered the originator. He preferred to paint in monochrome, and 
 rarely made use of colours. . . Before commencing a picture he was accustomed to 
 play an air upon the flute or to repeat a verse of poetry, and then attacked his task 
 with the vigour of a dragon refreshed by contact with its native element.” 
 
 Although Sesshiu was one of the giants of Japanese pictorial art, his works will 
 rarely appeal at once to the imagination of the European critic. Despite his 
 assertion that the scenery of nature was his final teacher, the principles of his art were 
 identical in all essential points with those of the Chinese; but in landscape painting 
 the fire of his genius was too intense to be concealed by the veil of conventionality. The 
 power of composition, the vigour of touch, and the majestic realization of space and 
 atmosphere in his half-idealized scenery, summed up all that was greatest in the older 
 Sinico-Japanese art, and these qualities were enhanced by evidences of local study 
 that are seldom perceptible in the works of his successors. His noble creations are 
 understood by his countrymen, and it is the highest praise to admit that the works 
 fully justify the tribute they have won from every successive generation of connoisseurs. 
 It is in some respects unfortunate that their quality cannot be illustrated by reference 
 to parallel features in the achievements of European artists, but the points of contact 
 between the older phases of Japanese art and the art of Europe are rarely sufficient 
 to make a comparison other than narrow and misleading. The landscape painting of 
 Sesshiu is least of all susceptible of such treatment. In portraits, however, he has 
 perhaps scarcely reached the level attained by his pupil Shiugetsu, and in the other 
 motives of his brush he fails to rise above the stars of the Kano school, Motonobu 
 and Tanyu. His sovereignty is confined to the realm of landscape alone. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that his greatest masterpieces must be sought in 
 Japan ; but the British Museum collection contains some good examples of his pencil. 
 One of these, a large Chinese landscape sketched with a free brush and lightly tinted 
 with colour, is especially characteristic, but must not only be seen but carefully studied 
 before it can be appreciated. Besides this work are a smaller landscape of fine 
 composition ; a kakemono, presented by Mr. Franks, representing Hotei ® surrounded 
 
 ^ The fat priest who appears in the group of the Shichifukujin, or Seven Gods of Good Fortune. See British 
 Museum Catalogue. 
 
 O 
 
5 ° 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 by a cluster of infant playfellows ; a less striking sketch of S akyamuni issuing from 
 the mountains;* and lastly, a set of three kakdmonos, painted in 1502, bearing designs 
 of the Buddhistic tiger and dragon (see fig. 15), and a central figure of a Chinese 
 sage; there is also an old copy of a roll by the master, illustrating the modes of 
 arranging flowers in vases, and a comparatively modern copy of a famous monochrome 
 drawing of the Peerless Mountain. 
 
 It is much to be regretted that the peculiar tint assumed by the paper upon 
 which the works are painted has made it impossible to obtain a satisfactory photograph 
 for reproduction—a difficulty which has arisen in many other cases, and has greatly 
 embarrassed the selection of specimens for illustrating this volume. 
 
 Of the pupils of Sesshiu, the greatest were Shiugetsu, one of whose works is 
 copied on plate 18, Sesson (see plate 17), and Shiutoku (see plate 15). Amongst later 
 followers of the school may be mentioned Togan, Riokai, and Yamada Doan ; but 
 after the end of the si.xteenth century the school can scarcely be considered to have 
 any further existence. Keishoki, who has been mentioned as a follower of Shiubun, 
 is by some authorities referred to the Sesshiu School. 
 
 The Kano School— the last of the branches of the fifteenth-century revival of 
 the Chinese manner—had for its first master Kano Masanobu, who was the son of a 
 retainer of the Shogun Yoshinori, named Kano-no-sukd Mundshigd, known as a painter 
 of landscape. Masanobu was born at Odawara, in the province of Sagami, about 
 1423,* and is said to have studied painting at first under his father, and subsequently 
 with Shiubun, Oguri Sotan, and, according to some authorities, with Josetsu. His 
 ability appears to have been very inadequately recognized for many years, until about 
 1469, when Sesshiu, who had just returned from China, was struck by one of his 
 pictures, and took an opportunity of bringing him under the notice of the Shogun 
 h'oshimasa. It happened that Oguri Sotan who died about this time, had left unfinished 
 an important decorative painting upon the ceiling of the temple of Kinkakuji, in Kioto, 
 and Masanobu was selected, upon Sesshiu's recommendation, to complete the work. 
 As much of the result as time has spared may still be seen. It is interesting as one 
 of the earliest examples of pictorial decoration upon a gilded ground, and the effect 
 must have been gorgeous before the influences of exposure had wrought destruction. 
 At any rate, the work was highly esteemed at the time, and constituted the foundation 
 of Masanobu’s reputation. He died about 1520, leaving two sons who aftenvards 
 became famous under the names of Motonobu and Yukinobu (or Utanosukd). 
 Besides the appellation of Masanobu, he had borne in his youth that of Sukdkiyo, 
 
 * The painting bears the inscription, “ Drawn by Sesshiu, the head of the priests of Thien T sung, in the 
 Mountain of Sze Ming,” and was hence painted after the artist’s return from China. 
 
 ® This date is given on the authority of the Alanpo sen s/io, but there is some doubt as to its correctness. The 
 Gviako seu-ran states that he died at the age of ninety-seven. 
 
PLATE 19. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 1251). 
 
 From a painting on paper attributed to K.tNO Masaxocu. Si.xteenth century. Size of original, 24I 
 
 WiTHERUV & Co, London, chromoHth. 
 
 13^ inches. 
 
GEA'ERAL HISTORY. 
 
 51 
 
 and in his later years became known as Yusei. He received from the Shogun the 
 titles of Echizen no Kami and Hogen.' 
 
 His style in the delineation of landscape, birds, and flowers is said to resemble 
 that of Oguri Sotan ; his figures were modelled upon those of the Sung artist Lti Kiai, 
 and, like his descendants, he occasionally painted in the Yamato style. As a landscape 
 painter he belongs to the first rank; but the establishment of the school which bears 
 his name was really the work of his eldest son Motonobu, by whose wider fame his 
 memory has been so far eclipsed that full justice has scarcely been rendered to his 
 work. Plate ig will convey some idea of his manner. 
 
 Fig. 19. The Rambles of Motonobu. From a drawing by Nishigawa Sukenobu, engraved in the E-hon Yamato hijt. 
 
 Kano Motonobu, the actual head of the school, was born in 1476. Of his early 
 life and education little can be ascertained, but it is said that many years of his youth 
 were spent in Bohemian rambles through the country, with empty purse, and encumbered 
 only by a change of clothing and the necessary implements of his craft; stopping to 
 sketch whatever pleased his eye, and paying his way with the produce of his brush. 
 
 ® Hogen was originally a title of priestly rank, but at a later period the Shoguns were in the habit of conferring it 
 upon noted artists and physicians. Hoin and Hekkio are other grades of the rank. 
 
52 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 For a long time he worked in poverty and almost in obscurity, but his genius at 
 
 length asserted itself, and honours began to fall upon him. He was selected to paint 
 
 the fans of which periodical offerings were made to the Emperor and Shogun. Many 
 of his pictures were sent to China, and a celebrated painter of that country was so 
 impressed by their power, that he wrote to the artist that he would fain become his 
 
 pupil. The famous metal-worker Goto Vujo, the Benvenuto Cellini of his age, with 
 
 whom he contracted an intimate friendship, adopted his designs in the engraving of 
 sword ornaments. Lastly, to crown his rewards, Mitsushig^, the head of the Tosa 
 academy, bestowed upon him the hand of his daughter, herself an artist of no small 
 talent; and Motonobu passed the remainder of his life in the midst of all the happiness 
 that sympathetic companionship and well-earned fame could bestow. He died in 1559, 
 at the advanced age of eighty-three. 
 
 The name by which he is most commonly known was that belonging to the most 
 active period of his life. In his youth he was called Oinosukd and Shirojiro, and 
 after his retirement he took the name of Veisen. He is frequently referred to as 
 “ Kohogen," or the “Old Hogen.” 
 
 His most characteristic paintings were marked by an extraordinary calligraphic 
 force which owed little to mechanical finish or decorative effect. They were for 
 the most part sketches in monochrome, like that engraved in plate 43, or 
 accentuated by a light colouring ; but he was a remarkable eclectic in art, making use 
 of every style as it seemed most fitted for his purpose. Hence his works display 
 all varieties of touch and colouring, from the most dashing sketch in the running 
 style (So) to the most delicately finished and highly coloured pictures in the manner 
 of the 'V'amato School. Save in the last, however, his drawings betray everywhere 
 the powerful influence of the Sung and Vtien masters, of whom he was a profound 
 admirer. 
 
 It is difficult to say in what motives he chiefly excelled. His landscapes were 
 mostly transcripts of Chinese scenery, which must have been self-evolved or adapted 
 from the works of others, for he had never left the shores of Japan; but their 
 elements, artificial as they often were, displayed such a perfect command of brush, 
 and arranged themselves into so grandly picturesque a whole, that it is easy to conceive, 
 and even to share the influence of the charm they have to this day exercised upon 
 the most highly cultured minds of Japan. His figures equally fail to meet our 
 academical theories, but none the less bear unmistakable evidence of the quality of 
 their creator. It is impossible to mistake even his roughest sketch for the work of 
 a common hand ; but brilliant as are the achievements of his pencil, it is impossible 
 not to believe that he might have erected a far more glorious and universal 
 monument to his fame had his hand been guided by the traditions of the Italy of 
 his own day, instead of those borrowed from the vanished dynasties of China. 
 
 According to his biographers, he adopted for his models in landscape the Chinese 
 painters Ma Yiien, Hia Kwei, Muh-ki, Yuh Kien, Shun Kti, and Tsz’ Chao; in 
 
PLATE 20. 
 
 THl- RISHI CHUNG-LI KUAN. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 1252). 
 
 From a picture on paper painted in monochrome by Kano Motonobu (1477—^SSQ)- Size of original, 26^ x I2f in. 
 
 A GOOD example of the calligraphic style of the artist. The picture has been engraved in the ll’a-lCafi mei-gi.va 
 yen. 
 
 Chung-li K'iian (Jap. Shuriken), described by Mayers as the first and greatest in the category of the Eight 
 Immortals, is said to have flourished during the Chow dynasty. A long narration of his miraculous birth and 
 supernatural gifts and achievements is contained in the Ressen zen den, but will scarcely justify quotation, as the 
 ingenuity of the story is less remarkable than its extravagance and scarcely greater than its veracity. 
 
 His attribute is a sword, which on occasion served as a raft to bear him upon the water. He must not be 
 mistaken for Lu Tung-pin, his pupil, who is also distinguished by a similar weapon. A figure with like characteristics 
 also appears under the name of Kwoh Yuen (Jap. Katsugen). 
 
 For an account of the Rishis, as illustrated in Chinese and Japanese art, see Catalogue of British Museum 
 
 Collection. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 'A 
 
 
 ! V-/ 
 
 , < 
 
 . -'_Sil.- '"W> 
 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 
 L .-r' 
 
 
 
 '» 
 
 -f 
 
 if'i 
 
 I f=!=^ 
 
 ’1 
 
 t 
 
PLATE 21. 
 
 I. THE THREE LAUGHERS. 
 
 >'rom a picture by Kano MOTONOBU, engraved in the JVn-ian mei-hitsu giva-yci. 
 
 Kano School. Sixteenth centur)-. 
 
 The story illustrated is that of a famous Chinese philosopher who had retired from active life, vowing never to pass 
 again the confines of his insular retreat. On one occasion, however, after receiving a visit from two old comrades, 
 and making merry with them in true Chinese style, he was beguiled, while dazed with arguments and repeated cups of 
 wine, into crossing the bridge that linked him with the outer world. The moment chosen by the artist is that in which 
 the two guests, having achieved their object, are laughing at their forsworn friend, and he, taken by surprise, is fain to 
 join in their merriment. 
 
 A somewhat different treatment of the subject by the same artist has been presented to the British Museum 
 Collection by Mr. Franks (No. 1260). 
 
 2. HOTEL 
 
 From a picture by Kano Moto*vobu, engraved in the E-hon tc-kagami. 
 
 Hotei is one of the personages of the popular group of Divinities known by the title of “ Shichi-fuku-jin,” or “ Seven 
 Gods of Prosperity.” 
 
 He is generally understood to have been a Chinese priest of the tenth century, remembered for his fatness, his 
 Jove of children, and especially for always carrying a large cloth bag, from which his name {/lo-tei, cloth bag) is derived. 
 According to the ]l-/ion Ko-ji dan, he was accustomed to go into the streets to play with children, he could sleep in 
 the snow, never allowed water to touch his body, and had the power of infallibly predicting future events. On these 
 accounts the people marvelled at him, and paid him great respect. The same authority states that his selection as one 
 of the gods of good fortune was due to his merry looks, his fondness for children, and his resemblance to Daikoku. 
 
 The legends attached to his name are very similar to those narrated of many Taoist Rishis, but his claim to a 
 position as a divinity appears to be due to the view enunciated in the Biilsit-zu dztt-i, and other works, that he was 
 an incarnation of Miroku Bosatsu (Maitrej’a), the Messiah of the Buddhists, in which capacity his image has long 
 been worshipped in Chinese temples. 
 
 Innumerable pictures of Hotei, by Japanese artists, are in existence, some dating from the fifteenth century, 
 and these were probably preceded by Chinese originals; but he rarely appears in the true Butsn-yt!, although his image 
 is sometimes seen in miniature household shrines [Butsu-dan) and in temples. 
 
 The popular estimate of Hotei is less that of a god than of a merry old fellow, with some supernatural attri¬ 
 butes, whose heart still retains a boyish freshness that leads him to share with zest the merry sports of children. The 
 little urchins, who cluster around him, claim him as their own, and do not hesitate to take liberties with their big 
 playmate. His bag, which always has a bolster-likc roundness, is put to many uses—it may be a bed upon which the 
 owner can spread his fat limbs, a receptacle for the symbolical objects called the Takara-mono or Precious Things, or 
 a trap for little boys and girls, who are enticed inside to sec the wonderful things it is supposed to contain, and are 
 then imprisoned until they can beg their way out; but whatever its original purpose, it is always as inseparable from 
 Hotei as are his fair round stomach and double chin. 
 
 In pictures, and sometimes in carvings, he is associated with a number of children, in Chinese dress, in full tide 
 of fun around him. He is, indeed, the special patron of children, and, unlike Jurojtn and Fukurokujiu, neither 
 assumes an irksome stateliness, nor carries any disagreeably suggestive marks of learning, to alloy the enjoyment of 
 his httlc flock. A minor attribute is a fan of the ancient Chinese form, and occasionally this is replaced by a Sacred 
 Gem. (British Museum Catalogue, p. 37.) 
 
RIVER SCENE. 
 
 From a picture by Kano MotoNOBU, engraved in the IVa-Kan mei-hitsu gxva-ho. Sixteenth century. 
 Compare with Plate 50. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 53 
 
 birds and flowers he followed Chao Chang, Ma Yiien, and Shun Ku ; his colouring was 
 in the style of Ma Yuen, Hia Kwei, Lit Kiai, and Ngan Hwui, and he occasionally 
 imitated Nobuzand and Tosa Mitsunobu in the Yamato manner. The Japanese 
 compare him with the famous Chinese calligraphist of the fourth century, Wang 
 Hi-che, who rvas not regarded as decidedly superior to certain of his rivals in any 
 single style of writing, but was pre-eminent by virtue of the high level of e.xcellence 
 he attained in all the various sections of the art. 
 
 flis works are still numerous in Japan, and his different manners are well shown 
 in easily accessible specimens in Kioto and elsewhere; such as the screen at Toji, 
 representing an incident in the wars of the Gen and Hei; the ceiling decorations of 
 Kenchoji near Kamakura, and of Sengen at Shidzuoka; and other pictures upon slides 
 and panels at the temples of Chion-in, Kotaiji, and Ginkakuji (Kioto). Many precious 
 examples are also included in private collections. The British Museum contains 
 specimens of his more rapid style in birds and flowers, landscape and figures (one of 
 which is reproduced in plate 20), and an exquisitely delicate picture of a hawk and 
 sparrow after the manner of the Yamato School. Mr. Ernest Hart is the possessor 
 of a vigorous representation of the Rishi Tekkai, bearing the seal of Motonobu (plate 69); 
 and the motives of the artist may be studied in many of the albums of woodcuts 
 published in the last century (see plates 21, and 22). 
 
 Motonobu’s only rival was his younger brother Utanosukd or Yukinobu, whose 
 painting bore no small resemblance to his own. He had three sons named \usetsu, 
 Suyeyori and Shinsho, and many pupils, amongst whom may be mentioned his 
 son-in-law Yosetsu ; his nephew Giokuraku, whose works are often mistaken for 
 those of the master; Kimura Nagamitsu, who was noted for “ life-like portraits;" 
 and Genya, who painted large pictures, somewhat like those of Yeitoku. 
 
 Yusetsu, the eldest son of Motonobu, died young. Suydyori also died before his 
 father, and is best remembered as a painter of fan mounts, in which speciality he 
 was succeeded by his son Shinsho. Shoyei, who died at the age of eighty, between 
 1573 1592. approached his father more nearly in longevity than talent. It 
 
 was, however, through him that the line was perpetuated. He left four sons and 
 several pupils. His chief follower was a reputed descendant of Sesshiu named Hasdgawa 
 Tohaku, the author of many large and powerful pictures somewhat after the style of 
 
 Motonobu, and whose son Kiuzo became a distinguished painter in the early part of 
 
 the seventeenth century. 
 
 The names of pupils and descendants now succeeded in such profusion that a 
 
 complete enumeration would be as formidable as Homer’s Catalogue of Ships. It will 
 
 be necessary to select a few of the most representative, referring the readers who are 
 interested in the completion of the list to the Catalogue of the British Museum 
 Collection. 
 
 Of the four sons of Shoyei the greatest was Yeitoku, whose large mural designs 
 are amongst the most striking and decorative productions of the school. He died at 
 
 p 
 
54 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 the age of forty-eight, in 1578, leaving two sons, Takanobu and Mitsunobu, and two 
 notable pupils, Kimura Sanraku (afterwards his son-in-law), and Kaihoku Yusho. 
 Sanraku shared with Yeitoku the favour of Taiko Hiddyoshi, and stands equally high as 
 
 Fig. 20. The Rishi Li Tieh-kwai despatching his Spirit to the Mountain of the Imniottals. From a picture by Kano Tanyu. 
 Kano School, 17th century. From the Wa-kan meihitsu gwa yei. 
 
 a painter. He died in 1635, at the age of seventy-seven; but some of his genius 
 reappeared in his son (or son-in-law) Sansetsu. All of these painters are represented in 
 the British Museum collection ; a roll depicting the hero Asaina’s triuniphs in Hades, 
 by Sanraku, and some monochromes by Sansetsu, being amongst the gems of the Kano 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 55 
 
 section. It may be remarked that Sanraku’s pictures of Asaina bear considerable 
 resemblance to certain works of the Popular school, which was founded by his 
 contemporary Iwasa Matahei. 
 
 Fig. 21. Chinese Boys quarrelling. From a painting by Kano Naonobu. Kano School, 17th century. From tbe 
 
 Wa-kan meihitsu gica ho. 
 
 The line of Mitsunobu was a brief one, but that of Takanobu has continued to 
 the present day. The sons of the latter, Tanyu, Naonobu, and Yasunobu, erected a, 
 landmark in the art of the seventeenth century. The greatest of the three was Tanyu, 
 
5 ^ 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 whose works almost equal those of Motonobu in technique, and perhaps take a higher 
 place in point of originality. His style resembled that of his famous ancestor only in 
 the variety of sources from which it was drawn, and, in fact, approached more nearl)' 
 
 Fig. 23 . The Drunken Philosopher. From a picture by Kano Shiushin. Kano School, i8th century. From the 
 
 Wa-kan mei ^'a yen. 
 
 to the manner of Sesshiu than to that of Motonobu. Like Sesshiu he was a daring 
 and successful impressionist, but he occasionally reduced his suggestions of scenery to 
 an apparently chaotic assemblage of blotches that could only be solved into order 
 by the most powerful exercise of imagination ; apart from these feats, however, he 
 
PLATE 23. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 From a picture by Kano TanYU, engraved in wood from a cut in the Wa-Kan mei-hitsu g^va-yci. 
 Kano School. Seventeenth century. 
 
PLATE 24. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. AGRICULTURAL SCENE. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (NO. i 573 )- 
 From a screen painting on paper by Kano Yasunobu (1612—1685). Size of original, 71 x 147 inches. 
 
 Thls, like the view in plate 14, i.s one of the ideal compositions in which the Kano artists appear to have revelled. 
 Motonobu, Naonobu, and several other painters of the .school have also left pictures illu.strative of Chinese agriculture. 
 
 The outlines of the picture are freely sketched in ink, and the local tints are indicated by light \v'a.she.s of colour. 
 This style of colouring, the “ Usu-caishiki” of the Japanese, was more in favour with the classical schools than with the 
 Yamato-Tosa painters. 
 
4 
 
PLATE 25. 
 
 I. SWALLOW AND WILLOW-TREE. 
 
 From a picture by KaNO Tanyu, engraved in the Wa-Kiin mci-hitsii gzua-yei. Kano School. Seventeenth century. 
 
 2 . PHEASANT AND BAMBOO. 
 
 From a picture by Kano Tsunen’OBU, engraved in the IVa-Kan niei-liitsii gwa-yei. Kano School. 
 Seventeenth century. 
 

GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 57 
 
 was an artist of astonishing vigour and versatility. He attacked every motive, from 
 caricatures to Buddhist gods, and displayed in all he touched a fertility of invention 
 and vigour of design that appears to have e.xhausted the higher capabilities of the 
 school, for after him we meet with talent and industry, but never with genius. He 
 died in 1674, at the age of seventy-three. 
 
 Fig. 23. Landscape : Ram Scene. From a monochrome sketch by Kano Tanyu in the Ernest Hart Collection. 
 
 .A.mongst his most noted works were the portraits of the abdicated Emperor, and 
 of the priest Jiyd Daishi (the latter of which is still preserved at the temple of Jigendo 
 at Uydno); and a .series of Chinese sages painted to decorate the sliding panels of 
 the Imperial palace. These latter shared the fate of their predecessors by Kanaoka 
 and Tsunetaka, but roughly engraved copies have been preserved in the Manpd 
 Zenshd. A large portrait of the goddess Kwanyin, a pair of falcons, a dragon, and a 
 pair of impressionistic landscapes in the British Museum are unquestionable originals. 
 
 His brothers Naonobu (Shumd) and Yasunobu (or the “Old Yeishin ”) also contributed 
 nobly to the credit of the school, although they must be estimated below Tanyu. Many 
 of the landscapes of Yasunobu (see plate 24) were superb compositions, and a gigantic 
 Nirvana of S akyamuni’’ in the temple of Gokokuji, Tokio, is still regarded as one 
 of the lions of the district. He died in 1685, at the age of seventy-three. Naonobu 
 followed the style of his brother with great success, but died in 1650, at the 
 comparatively early age of forty-seven. The principal branch of the family was continued 
 through his son Tsundnobu; Tanshin and Tansetsu, the sons of Tanyu, and their 
 descendants having failed to make any decided mark. 
 
 Amongst the followers of Tanyu may be noted Tangen and Morikage, who became 
 celebrated as keramic decorators at Satsuma and Kaga respectively, Tsuruzawa Tanzan, 
 and Toun or "lidkishin, who married the daughter of his teacher. Yasunobu also had 
 many pupils, including Hanabusa Itcho, who became a distinguished leader of the 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 SS 
 
 Popular school (see p. 63). Tsun^nobu, the son of Naonobu, was one of the best 
 painters of the latter part of the seventeenth century (1645—1713), and left many 
 striking monochromes ; but his works are tame and lacking in originality by the side 
 of those of Tanyu. His chief contemporaries in the school were Yeino, the son or 
 grandson of Sansetsu, and Toshun or Yoshinobu, the son of Toun, both of whom 
 were artists of considerable power. The former was the author of the Honcho Cyaashi, 
 a useful but ill-arranged biographical list of painters which has been extensively 
 quoted in this volume. 
 
 The eighteenth century was a period of decadence for the Kano as for the Chinese 
 school. The most prominent members of the school were Shiushin (see fig. 22), his 
 son Tenshin, and Michinobu or Yeisen in Hoin, the grandson of Tsundnobu, with 
 whom the era now under notice may be considered to dose. 
 
 Characteristic examples of all the painters just named may be seen in the British 
 Museum collection. 
 
 It may be noted that the Kanos, like the higher grades of physicians, were all 
 affiliated to the priesthood, shaving their heads in the ecclesiastical fashion, and 
 receiving from the Shogun investment with the honorific Buddhist titles of Hoin, 
 Hogen, and Hokkia; but they had no clerical functions, and may be regarded as 
 holding in some measure the same relation to the Buddhist establishment as that of 
 the Abba to the Roman Catholic Church in France. The Tosa artists engaged by 
 the Shogunate were e.xempt from any compulsory assumption of religious externals. 
 
 The Yamato School was still fortunate during the fifteenth century in numbering 
 representatives of the lines of Takuma and Kosd, in Takuma Shokei and Kosd 
 Arishige; as well as four members of the Shibas, a family which had not previously 
 been distinguished in art,—Kanshin Hogen, Sonkai Hogen, Keishun Hogen, and 
 lastly, Rinken Hogen, whose career extended into the sixteenth century. All of these 
 painters were distinguished for their contributions to temple pictures, and may be 
 regarded as adherents also of the Buddhist school. Of the Tosas the best known 
 were Yukihide, Mitsuchika, Hirochika, and Mitsunobu. The last named, the son of 
 Hirochika and grandson of Yukihidd, was appointed to the office of Yddokoro in 1496, 
 at the age of forty-two, and died, far advanced in years, in 1544. He is regarded as 
 one of the greatest artists of his school, and it was from his time that the Tosas 
 devoted their brushes more exclusively to non-Buddhistic motives. Of his works that 
 still remain, most are characterized by great beauty of colouring. His portraits of the 
 thirty-six famous poets at the temple of Tenjin Sama, Osaka, and at KOtaiji, Kioto, are 
 good specimens of his manner, but he is best known for illustrations of poems and 
 romances, of which he left a considerable number. His son Mitsushigd, a contemporary 
 of Kano Motonobu, ably sustained the reputation of the school, succeeding Mitsunobu 
 as Yddokoro in 1532. The British Museum collection includes one of his pictures 
 in the Yamato style, an attributed set of illustrations to the story of the “ Shiuten 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 59 
 
 Doji,” which are strikingly vigorous in design and of great richness of colouring 
 (see plate 12), and some portraits of horses in a style of monochrome that differs 
 markedly from that of the schools of the Renaissance. The latter were apparently 
 taken from nature, like the drawings of trained falcons which were also a favourite 
 subject of the artists of the school, but although representing the action of the animal 
 with the utmost fidelity, are incorrect in the rendering of anatomical forms. A roll 
 of a somewhat earlier period treats the motive with even greater power, but with 
 equal faultiness. 
 
 The most celebrated pupil of Mitsushigd was Iw'asa Matahei, who is the reputed 
 founder of the Popular schools (see p. 60). 
 
 The seventeenth century brought many good artists, but on the whole must be 
 regarded as the commencement of a period of decadence. Hiromichi (1598—1670), 
 the grandson of Mitsushigd, changed the name of Tosa for that of Sumiyoshi, and 
 founded a new branch of the family, the name of Tosa being retained by the 
 descendants of his brother Mitsunori (1582—1638). A set of three kakdmonos in 
 monochrome, by the former, of great delicacy of touch, will be found in the British 
 Museum collection. His nephew Tosa Mitsuoki is highly esteemed for the e.xquisite 
 minuteness of his execution, but was not pre-eminent in other respects. 
 
 The most noted pupils of the Tosas and Sumiyoshis in this period, like Iwasa 
 Matahei, w'ere seceders from the traditions and motives of the school. Sotatsu, a 
 pupil of Hiromichi, struck out an original manner which, perhaps, foreshadowed that 
 of Korin ; Koyetsu became famous for his bold pictorial decoration of lacquer; and 
 lastly, Ogata Korin (see p. 66), rvho probably derived instruction from both Sotatsu 
 and Koyetsu, founded a new academy, but he is by some authorities claimed, together 
 with Sotatsu, as an offshoot of the Kano academy. 
 
 The most familiar name in the eighteenth century was that of Mitsuyoshi 
 (1700—1772), the great-grandson of Mitsuoki, who ranks very high amongst his 
 contemporaries, and as a colourist he is shown by some illustrations of the Cenji 
 Monogatari, in the British Museum collection, to be remarkable even amongst the 
 many accomplished painters of his academy. He must be considered the last of his 
 line in the period anterior to the Naturalistic school. 
 
 The second period in the history of the school cannot be accepted as one of 
 progress, although the renown of the Kasugas w'as sustained for a time under 
 Mitsunobu and Mitsushigd With the later generations the drawing tended to become 
 more formal and minute, and the colouring heavier ; the conceptions, moreover, evidenced 
 a falling off both in originality and grandeur, for which neither the microscopic pencil 
 of Mitsuoki nor the charm of colour in the works of Mitsuyoshi could pretend to 
 compensate. 
 
Fig. 24. A Visit of Ceremony. From a picture attributed to Matahei (i6th century). From the Hengaku Kihan. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 E foundations of a new academy, destined to hold an 
 important place in modern art, were laid in the latter part 
 of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The art motives of the schools of painting in existence 
 before the sixteenth century seldom included any but an 
 incidental reference to the actual life of the dwellings, streets, 
 and pleasure resorts of the great cities ; but so inexhaustible 
 a field of ideas could not always remain untilled. The 
 earliest attempt to found a Popular School was due to Iwasa 
 Matahei, the first painter who made a speciality of Ukiyo-ye 
 (“worldly” or popular pictures), and an aliiiunus of the most formal and aristocratic 
 academy in the country. 
 
 Alatahei, a son of a follower of the Regent Nobunaga, named Araki Tsu no 
 Kami, who was forced to commit harakiri in 1579 for rebellion, was a pupil of the 
 Tosa school, and appears to have been thoroughly grounded in the art lessons of his 
 academy; but near the close of the sixteenth century he began to devote his brush 
 to the delineation of caricatures and scenes of ordinary life. It is dilficult to form 
 an opinion of his ability and influence, for the available biographical details are as 
 scanty as the existing examples of his handiwork. We are, indeed, almost forced by 
 lack of original material to study the earliest phase of the Popular school in the 
 productions of the Ukiyo-ye artists of a hundred years later. The “ Ono no 
 Komachi,’’ by Matahei, in the British Museum collection, merely shows that his 
 manner of drawing and colouring resembled that of the Tosa line; but fig. 25, 
 from a picture in the possession of Mr. Ernest Hart, supports the statement made 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 61 
 
 by native writers, that the Popular drawings of the end of the seventeenth century, 
 to which reference will presently be made, were a reversion to the manner inaugurated 
 by Matahei. Fig. 24 is a copy from a painting attributed to the same artist, but 
 is of very doubtful authenticity. 
 
 Fig. 25. From a painting by Mataliei, in the Ernest Hart 
 Collection (i6th century). 
 
 As a caricaturist his reputation has been handed down very unworthily, by rough 
 sketches called Otsu-yc, specimens of which are still to be obtained at Otsu, near 
 Kioto, and are said to represent his manner. They have, however, little claim to 
 notice beyond that accorded by their assumed descent. One of the most frequently 
 repeated motives in this curious phase of art is a devil in the attire of a travelling 
 priest, going through the ceremonials of his calling with a pious unction that might 
 excite the jealousy of an orthodo.x member of the church. It is said that the design 
 has descended from Matahei himself. 
 
 Matahei left no successor to maintain the effects of his precedent, and his death 
 was followed by a long hiatus in the history of the budding academy. It was not 
 until the last quarter of the seventeenth century that attention was again drawn to 
 
 R 
 
62 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 the possibilities of a special section of pictorial art that deserved the name of a 
 “ Popular School.” 
 
 At this time a painter named Ilishigawa Moronobu, or Kichibei, a native of 
 Hoda, in Boshiu, born about 1646, who is said to have been originally a designer 
 for embroideries and dyed robes, undertook to build up anew the fallen school of 
 Matahei. Gifted with a vigorous and original pencil, a rare judgment in colour, keen 
 powers of observation, and untiring industry, he could not fail to attract notice, and 
 his success was rendered more permanent than that of his predecessor by the 
 multiplication and dissemination of his works through the medium of wood engraving. 
 He was, in fact, the first artist of any repute who made a speciality of book 
 illustration, and no small portion of his fame should rest upon the important aid he 
 was thus instrumental in giving to the progress of the art of pictorial wood cutting, 
 which, until his time, had been in a very rudimentary state. The first sign of the 
 remarkable power of the Japanese engraver showed itself in the forcible, though still 
 somewhat rough illustrations contained in the numerous books of Moronobu, the 
 execution of which was probably carried out under the direction of the artist himself. 
 He died in the period of Shotoku (1711 —1717), in his eighth decade. 
 
 As a recorder of the manner and costume of his period, his labours are of 
 considerable interest to the student of Japan. The life that he saw was different 
 from that Avhich Hokusai and his artisan followers have so faithfully mirrored in the 
 present century; for although traders, coolies, and courtesans were introduced freely 
 into his pictures, they came upon the scene chiefly as instruments or accessories of 
 the existence of the two-sworded Corinthian Toms and Jerry Hawthorns of whom he 
 was the artistic Pierce Egan. His sketches display a phase of existence which the 
 foreigner can only see through Japanese eyes. The gilded youth of a couple of 
 hundred years ago, adorned with the moustachios and mutton-chop whiskers of 
 an ephemeral fashion; the habits and amusements of their picturesque but very 
 questionable associates and the curious entourage of their haunts of pleasure, all 
 appear without disguise, but without indelicacy, and form a good complement to the 
 formalities and vapidities of court life, as depicted by the Tosa school, and to the 
 hearty, almost childish enjoyments of the people, as witnessed on any public merrymaking 
 of to-day, or seen in the pictures of Hastfgawa Settan and Takdhara Shunchosai. 
 
 The talent of both artist and engraver are well indicated in the reduced facsimile 
 in Section 3, from a rare volume of burlesque illustrations. His known works, some 
 thirty in number (see British Museum catalogue), included motives of almost every 
 kind, from comic novelettes to copies of old masters, and are amongst the most 
 precious objects of search for the collector of Japanese “ picture-books.” He died 
 between 17 ii and 1716. 
 
 The associates of Moronobu in the development of the Ukiyo-ye were his brothers 
 Morofusa, Morishig^, and Morinaga; two pupils named Ishikawa Izaiyemon Toshiuki, 
 and Sugimura Jihei Masataka; and three later contemporaries, Torii Kiyonobu 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 63 
 
 (fi. 1688 — 1736), one of the first designers of colour prints; Miyagawa Choshiin 
 (fl. 1690—1716), originally a pupil of the Tosa school; and Okumura Masanobu 
 (fl. 1700—1720), who ranks high as a designer for wood engravings. His sketch, 
 reproduced in Section 3, might almost be mistaken for the work of Moronobu himself. 
 Choshun left many spirited drawings of the every-day life of the people in a style 
 very similar to that of Moronobu, but his works were not engraved, and are hence 
 comparatively little known. His son, Choki, followed in his footsteps, and should 
 rank high in the school. The roll depicting holiday scenes in the capital by the 
 former, and by the latter a series of very comical Toba-yd, two of which are engraved 
 in figs. II and 12, are in the British Museum collection. 
 
 By the side of Ilishigawa Moronobu may be placed a wholly independent 
 contemporary artist who aided importantly in the advance of the school, Taga Choko, 
 better known by one of his iwms de pinccau, Hanabusa Itcho, the son of a physician 
 of Osaka. A talented but erratic pupil of Kano Yasunobu, he is said to have been 
 forcibly e.xpelled from the academy for some misbehaviour of which we have no 
 record, but not until the source of his education had been indelibly stamped upon his 
 productions. He has, indeed, left many sketches of sages and genii which could only 
 be classified in point of style W'ith those of his early teacher, and displayed graces 
 of colouring worthy of Sanraku himself; but while retaining the old touch and 
 methods of the Kanos, he soon adopted a new set of motives, in which he appears to 
 have had no predecessor, except, perhaps, the caricaturist Toba Sojo Kakuyu (see 
 p. 32), and his name was speedily brought into prominence by a flood of amusing 
 creations, which included some daringly unconventional renderings of subjects hitherto 
 regarded as almost sacred. He was, perhaps, most at home in the streets, and appears 
 to have revelled in taking pictorial notes of the vulgar amusements provided by the 
 peripatetic showmen and mountebanks, who offered open-air entertainments for the 
 idlers of the great city. It may have been his disregard of the conventions that made 
 him obnoxious to his superiors, for in addition to his early dismissal from the school 
 of the Kanos, he was compelled in the midway of his life to expiate, by an eighteen 
 years’ exile to the island of Hachijo, a liberty he permitted himself to take with the 
 domestic life of the Shogun in publishing a portrait of a female favourite of that 
 potentate in company with the effigies of a number of frail beauties of the time. 
 
 Itcho, unlike Moronobu, did not seek to make his works more widely known 
 by means of engraving. It was nearly forty years after his death that the first 
 collection of his sketches were reproduced in wood and published in the form of 
 an album ; but this essay was soon followed by others, and at last the number of 
 volumes amounted in all to over twenty. His influence upon the progress of the 
 Ukiyo-yd was less direct than that of Moronobu, and was exerted without any 
 evidence of a desire on the part of the artist to take a foremost place in the 
 history of the school, but in the end was almost as powerful. The chief characteristic 
 of his sketches, however—their wit—was too national in character to be fully understood 
 
64 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 or appreciated out of Japan. Plate 26 is almost typical of his manner. It represents 
 a travelling priest, who, rich in faith, but lacking the essential elements of dinner, has 
 prepared all things for the feast save its fiece de resistance, and is seen rolling his 
 beads with fervid piety in the direction of a wild goose that flies above his head. 
 
 The bird, however, yearning not after the glory of 
 martyrdom, wings its way unheeding, and leaves the 
 good suppliant to lament the degeneracy of the 
 animal world since the days when Buddha was 
 incarnate as the Pious Hare. Fig. 26, from an 
 amusing but doubtful specimen, rings a change 
 upon a never-failing theme for the comic artist, the 
 accidents and perplexities of the blind mendicants 
 who once formed a kind of brotherhood in Japan. 
 Itcho died in 1724, at the age of seventy-three, 
 leaving a son named Nobukatsu, a son or pupil 
 named Ittei, and a noted follower named Ippd 
 (1707—1772). 
 
 Ritsuwo, the well-known master of incrusted work 
 (see Section 3), became attached to the Popular school 
 about the end of the seventeenth century. M. Gonse 
 states that he was at first a pupil of the Kano 
 school, but afterwards adopted the style of Matahei. 
 He died in 1747, at the age of eighty-five. 
 
 The principal artists of the Popular school after 
 the time of Moronobu and Itcho worked almost 
 entirely for the publishers of books and “ single¬ 
 sheet pictures ” (ichimai-ye). Chromoxylographs were 
 produced in considerable numbers from about 1700, 
 and were especially used in character portraits of popular actors. They were at first 
 printed in two or three simple colours (red, yellow, and pale blue), with much care 
 and taste, but did not attain their greatest perfection until sixty or seventy years later 
 (see Section 4). The earlier designers for these engravings were the Toriis, Kiyonobu, 
 Kiyomasu, and Kiyomitsu ; Nishimura Shigemasa; and Ishikawa Toyonobu. Illustrated 
 novelettes, which date from before the time of Moronobu, became very popular 
 about the middle of the eighteenth century, when the practice commenced of introducing 
 the pictures in the midst of wandering fragments of text, which filled up the interspaces 
 of the design. 
 
 The next o-eneration brought two new and powerful adherents to the cause of 
 popular art in Tachibana Morikuni and Nishigawa Sukdnobu. 
 
 Tachibana Morikuni, one of the most energetic of the book illustrators of 
 the eighteenth century, was the author of a large number of volumes of drawing 
 
 Fig. 26. The Blind Beggar and the Thundt 
 Ciod. From a picture by Hanabusa Itchi 
 Popular School (jyth centur)-). 
 
PLATE 26. 
 
 THE MENDICANT PRIEST AND THE WILD GEESE. 
 
 From a picture by HanabuSA Itcho (1651 — 1724), engraved in the Itchdgiva-fu. Popular School. 
 For description of Subject, see page 64. 
 
IM 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 65 
 
 examples and illustrations of legends, published between 1714 and 1783, which have 
 been used by many generations of students and industrial draughtsmen. His style of 
 drawing, as judged by the engravings from his works, must have borne considerable 
 lesemblance to that of the Kano artists, of one of whom, Tsuruzawa Tanzan, he is 
 said to have been a pupil ; but few of his original sketches are in existence. It is 
 certain, however, that his well-conceived and skilfully executed designs have rendered 
 a service to industrial art that it would be difficult to overestimate. He died in 
 1748, at the age of seventy-eight. 
 
 Nishigawa Sukenobu (known also as Bunkwado and Nishigawa Ukiyo), a native 
 of Kioto who settled in Osaka, was an industrious contemporary of Alorikuni. He 
 is said to have been a pupil of Kano \eino, and is sometimes claimed also as an 
 ahtnimis of the Tosa school, but his style of drawing bore more resemblance to that 
 of Okumura Masanobu, whom he imitated in turning his efforts towards book 
 illustration. He was especially renowned for sketches of women and delineations 
 of social customs, but his works are very numerous and of various kinds. One of 
 the best known is the R-hon Yainato Hiji, a book of illustrated legends in the 
 style of the E-hon Hokan of Hast^gawa Toun, and to this volume he appended an 
 essay on painting; but he does not appear to have aimed at a reputation as a 
 teacher. Within the narrower range of his motives, his sketches were more pleasing 
 than those of Morikuni. It was especially in the drawing of the female figure that 
 he excelled. The young girls who held the place of honour in his pictures were 
 remarkably graceful, and their faces, delicate in feature, good-humoured and innocent 
 in expression, were devoid both of the exaggerations of traits seen in the works of 
 the later Popular school, and of the shapelessness and inanity which appears to have 
 repre.sented the older artists’ ideal of beauty ; but unfortunately these charming little 
 specimens of Japanese girlhood were almost all alike, and displayed little more 
 individuality than the ladies of a Paris fashion-plate. Sukenobu, however, was a 
 man of mark, and contributed no small share towards the completion of the work 
 that Hishigawa Moronobu had commenced—the elevation of the practice of wood 
 engraving in Japan to the rank of a fine art. The larger part of the credit of the 
 improvement is, perhaps, due to Morikuni, who added to his other accomplishments 
 a practical acquaintance with the woodcutter’s art, and, no doubt, actively supervised 
 the execution of the blocks upon which his designs were reproduced. He died 
 about 1750. 
 
 The only school of importance that arose in the seventeenth century was that of 
 Ogata Korin, a famous painter and industrial designer. The source of Korin’s early 
 education in painting is a matter of doubt. The Tosa school claims him as a pupil 
 of Sumiyoshi Hirozumi, and according to the IHa-Kan sho-gwa shiiirau, he received 
 instruction from Kano Yasunobu; it is also stated that he and his brother Kenzan, 
 together with an associate named Koho, had for their master an artist named Honnami 
 
 s 
 
66 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Koyetsu (1558—1637), who appears to have been an Admirable Crichton in the polite 
 accomplishments of his age. The works of Korin present little similarity either in 
 drawing or colouring to those of any of the established schools. They demonstrate 
 
 Fig. 28. From a drawing by 
 Korin, engraved in the 
 Korin hiaku dzu. 
 
 Fig. 27. From a drawing by Korin 
 (17th century), engraved in the 
 Korin hiaku dzu. 
 
 remarkable boldness of invention, associated with great delicacy of colouring and often, 
 as in plate 27, masterly drawing and composition. In his delineations of the human 
 figure and quadrupeds, however, his daring conventionalitr" converts some of his most 
 serious motives almost into caricature. His men and women had often little more 
 shape or expression than indifferently-made dolls, and his horses and deer were like 
 painted toys; but in spite of all this, the decorative qualities of his designs leave him 
 without a competitor. His reputation depends chiefly upon his lacquer work, in which 
 he attained a celebrity even wider than that earned by his brother and imitator 
 Kenzan as a decorator of pottery, and his influence upon decorative art in general was 
 beneficial and lasting. M. Gonse, in “ LArt Japonais,” pays so warm and comprehensive 
 a tribute to the genius of Korin that praise will be exhausted in its quotation. He says :— 
 Korin, dont je viens de prononcer le nom comme lacqueur, est peut-ctre le plus 
 original et le plus personnel des peintres du Nippon, le plus Japonais des Japonais. 
 Son style ne ressemble a aucun autre et d&oriente au premier abord I'oeil des 
 Europ&ns. II semble a I'antipode de notre gout et de nos habitudes. C’est le 
 comble de I’impressionnisme, du moins, entendons-nous, de rimpressionnisme d'aspeet. 
 
PLATE 27. 
 
 CROWS. 
 
 From a picture by Ogata Korin, engraved after a woodcut in the Gwashi kwaiyo. 
 Korin School. Seventeenth century. 
 
 THE fibre of the wood upon which the cut has been executed is distinctly visible, and it will be observed that the 
 block is sawn for the Japanese engraver in the direction of the grain, instead of across it, as in Europe. 
 

GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 67 
 
 car son execution est fondue, Idgire et lisse; son coup de pinceau est etonnamment 
 souple, sinueux et tranquille. Le dessin de Korin est toujours dtrange et iniprevu ; 
 ses motifs, bien a lui et uniques dans I’art Japonais, ont une naivetd un peu gauche 
 qui vous surprend ; mais on s'y habitue vite, et, si Ton fait quelque effort pour se 
 placer au point de vue de I'esthdtique japonaise, on finit par leur trouver un charme 
 et une saveur inexprimables, je ne sais quel rythme harmonieux et flottant qui vous 
 
 Fig. 29. From a painting by K5riD, in the Ernest Hart Collection. 
 
 enlace. Sous des apparences souvent enfantines, on ddcouvre une .science merveilleuse 
 de la forme, une suretd de synthdse que personne n'a possedde au meme degrd dans 
 I'art japonais et qui est essentiellement favorable aux combinaisons de I'art d&oratif. 
 Cette souplesse ondoyante des contours qui, dans ses dernieres oeuvres, arrondit tons 
 les angles du dessin vous seduit bientot par son dtrangete meme.” 
 
 The artist died in 1716, at the age of seventy-six. He left no immediate 
 
6S 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 followers of note, but his style was revived in the early part of the present century 
 by a celebrated admirer to whom we owe the collection and publication of large 
 numbers of his scattered designs. 
 
 The third era of pictorial art, which had commenced with such vigorous promise, 
 was brought to a close after an existence of nearly four centuries. It was under 
 the Ashikaga dynasty, after the middle of the fourteenth century, that the star of the 
 painters began to rise. Meicho, Sesshiu, Sotan, and the Kanos all received generous 
 encouragement from the Shoguns, and especially from Yoshimochi (1394—1423) ^^d 
 A'oshimasa (1449 —1472), who themselves were painters of some ability; and the call for 
 pictures was largely increased by the fashion of using kakemonos as wall decorations 
 in the temples, and palaces, and mansions of the aristocracy, to supplement the 
 pictorial rolls and the embellishment of screens, fans, and sliding panels, upon which 
 the painter’s art had previously been employed. The dignity of painting was fully 
 maintained under Hid{^yoshi and the early Tokugawa Shoguns, who attached to their 
 courts a number of pensioned artists from both the Kano and Tosa lines, and their 
 example being followed by the greater and lesser Daimios, many hundreds of artists 
 were thus maintained at the expense of the state.' These men, freed from the necessity 
 of working for an exacting and unintelligent public, sought only to please a cultivated 
 patron, and, for a time, the art Avhich is by some authorities supposed to have 
 culminated in the vigorous monochromes of Tanyu, was worthy of its origin. But 
 three-fourths of the eighteenth century were allowed to pass without a struggle on the 
 part of the older schools to elevate the standard of their art, and painting was 
 beginning to languish into inanition, when the revolutionary doctrines of a naturalistic 
 school and of a few artisan book-illustrators brought new aims and new workers 
 to inaugurate the last and most characteristic period of Japanese art. The academies 
 of the Renaissance had, however, done a good work well, for it was to their teaching 
 and example that the men of to-day are indebted for the cunning of hand and eye 
 and for one-half of the motives, that give their labours value in the eyes of Europe. 
 
 The associated development of the other arts will be considered in the next chapter. 
 
 ' See articles in Nkhi-uichi Shimbnn, April, 1884. 
 
Fig. 30. The Ni 0 Gate ot the Temple of lydyasu at Nikko. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ERAMIC art added little to the Toshiro tea-jars up 
 to the end of the fifteenth century, notwithstanding 
 the encouragement afforded by the development of 
 the Cha-no-yn under the Shogun Yoshimasa (see 
 Chapter VIII.). In 1513 a new outlet was provided 
 by Gorodaiyu Shondzui, a potter of Isd province, 
 who, imitating the e.xample set by Kato Shirozaydmon 
 three hundred years before, went to study in China 
 the technical methods which his own countrymen 
 had not yet learned to employ. After a stay of several years in Fuchow he returned, 
 and at a time closely corresponding to that when Portuguese traders first brought the 
 
 I 
 
70 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 keramic triumphs of the Chinese within the ken of Europe, he commenced at a private 
 kiln at Arita a new departure which was eventually to prove of immense commercial 
 importance to his country, the manufacture of porcelain. He had taken the precaution 
 to import a considerable quantity of the pefnn, kaolin, and cobaltiferous manganese 
 used by the Chinese potters, and employed these materials in the manufacture of various 
 small objects, such as cups, bowls, sake-bottles, and tea-jars, of the ordinar}^ white 
 porcelain, decorated with figures, flowers, c^'c, in blue, beneath an uncrackled glaze. 
 He must be regarded not only as the founder of Japanese porcelain, but as the first 
 Japanese keramist who applied the principles of drawing to the ornamentation of 
 pottery, as the few rude outlines occasionally found upon the older ware scarcely 
 merit the name of pictorial decoration. 
 
 The default of native material, however, proved an obstacle which Shondzui was 
 unable to surmount, and although he made known the processes of porcelain fabrication 
 to his countrymen, he was unable to create a genuine home industry, hence his works 
 and those of his descendants remained little more than curiosities until nearly a hundred 
 years later, when a Korean named Risampei found the lacking ingredient in Mount 
 Idzumi. With this fortunate discovery began the true commercial history of Japanese 
 porcelain. A new fabrique was established in Arita, for the production of blue and 
 white ware (Sometsukd) after the style of that of Shondzui, but the materials were 
 now costless and inexhaustible, the proficiency of the workmen increased year by 
 year, and before long the success was crowned by a new and invaluable addition to 
 the porcelain maker’s resources. In 1647 a native of Imari, named Higashima 
 Tokuyemon, having learned from a Chinese in Nagasaki the mode of applying 
 vitrifiable enamels and the precious metals outside the glaze, introduced the processes 
 into the Arita factories, and the main result was the production of the noble jars, 
 vases, < 5 vc., which, distributed abroad by Dutch traders, are now amongst the most 
 precious gems of the keramic collections of Europe. 
 
 The success of the Arita factory in the middle of the seventeenth century led to 
 the foundation of other porcelain kilns. The earliest of these was that of Kutant^, 
 originated by Tamiiro Gonzayemon about 1650, for the purpose of making imitations 
 of Chinese porcelain in the style of Shondzui; but the ware soon afterwards changed 
 its character, and the bold decorative designs in purple, green, and yellow, now 
 familiarized to us by imported specimens, were applied under the direction of a 
 painter of the Kano school named Kusumi Morikagt^, who attached himself to the 
 Kutant^ kilns. About the same time a third centre was established at Ogochi, near 
 Arita, and five years later another sprang up at Mikochi. 
 
 About 1680, new kilns were built at Sanda chiefly for the production of a Celadon 
 in imitation of the Chinese sea-green porcelain. This ware, now known as “ Ko-seiji ” or 
 “Old Celadon,” is becoming rare. In 1682 Nakano, in Chikuzen, became the seat of a 
 porcelain fabrique, which, however, did not attain any great reputation. This appears 
 to have been the last of the number in the seventeenth century, and it was not until 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 71 
 
 the middle of the eighteenth century that a further extension of the industry took place, 
 when the Governor of Nagasaki, having established sixteen of the best Arita porcelain 
 decorators at Amakusa, began the manufacture of painted ware for exportation. It was 
 from this source that the foreign market was largely supplied in later times. 
 
 In close association with the rise and progress of the porcelain manufacture 
 appeared some marked advances in pottery. A few years after the return of Shondzui, 
 a Korean named Ameya settled in Japan, and commenced the fabrication of the 
 curious hand-made ware afterwards called “ Raku-yaki,” which possessed great but 
 rather inexplicable attractions for the leaders of the Cha-no-yu. The end of the 
 century was signalized by the influx of a large number of Amdya’s countrymen, 
 brought over as prisoners of war by Hiddyoshi’s victorious generals. Once in Japan, 
 the captives found their lot by no means a hard one; they were allowed all the 
 privileges of Japanese subjects, in some cases even receiving Samurai rank and pension, 
 and in return they founded in various parts of the country a number of important 
 fabriques, of which one, that of Satsuma, is now famous in all parts of the world. 
 
 The early Satsuma pottery was in the Korean style, a simple ware of reddish- 
 grey body, glazed in various colours sometimes presenting effects of considerable 
 richness and diversity, as in the parti-coloured and flambi varieties (Brinkley). It was, 
 however, entirely without pictorial or other decoration beyond white formal designs, 
 produced by filling incised lines in the dark paste with a white clay, a style of 
 ornament adopted also in the Yatsushiro pottery. About 1630 a fine white clay was 
 discovered by one of the Koreans, named Bokkiyo, in the neighbourhood of Naeshirogawa, 
 to which place the kilns were then removed. This more eligible material has since 
 almost entirely replaced the darker paste, and has given rise to the finely crackled creamy 
 ware now so greatly renowned, but so rarely seen in its perfection. According to 
 Captain Brinkley, the use of vitrifiable enamels and gold in Satsuma began shortly after 
 this, the painter Tangen, a pupil of Kano Tanyu, being employed to decorate the ware 
 made in a private kiln in the grounds of the Chief of Sasshiu. This early “ Satsuma- 
 Tangen" is now very scarce, and it may be safely asserted that it is unrepresented 
 by any of the “Old Satsuma” which finds its way into the European markets. 
 
 Amongst the most important keramic developments of this period must be classed 
 the rise of the Kioto fabriques. Kilns had been established in the si.xteenth century 
 by a group of potters, of whom little remains beyond the names—Shoi, Manydmon, 
 Moyemon, and Shinbei—but the true father of the Kio-yaki was Seisukd, of Ninnaji, 
 better known to fame under the compound name of Ninsei, who flourished in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. Ninsei and another artist called Wanjin, of whom 
 little is recorded, are said to have been the first Japanese artists to apply decorative 
 designs in gold and enamel to the glazed surface of pottery; but it is possible that the 
 credit of priority belongs to a Korean named Sohaku, of whom, according to some 
 authorities, Ninsei and Wanjin were at one time the pupils; and the same process 
 was applied almost as early in the porcelain of Arita and Kutand. 
 
72 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 The principal works of Ninsei were small articles, such as cups, tea-jars, and 
 incense boxes, incense burners, flower vases, and ornamental figures. Their technique 
 was excellent, and the decoration tasteful, but it requires an expert to distinguish 
 the few existing originals from some of the multitude of forgeries, and an enthusiast 
 to appreciate their value. 
 
 The remaining features in the keramic art of the period must be briefly enumerated. 
 The fabriques placed in the hands of Koreans at the end of the sixteenth and 
 beginning of the seventeenth centuries were those of Takatori (Chikuzen province), 
 under Hachizo, who produced some remarkable imitations of the old Chinese 
 glazes; Odo (Tosa), under Sohaku ; Mikochi (Hizen), under Keicho; Matsumoto or 
 Hagi (Nagato), under Rikei ; Giozan, under Gonbei; Agano and Yatsushiro (Higo), 
 under Kizo and his sons. A few Koreans also found their way to Karatsu (Hizen). 
 The Bizen stoneware underwent great artistic development near the end of the 
 sixteenth century, under two potters named Rokuzd and Teyama. The Soma ware, 
 distinguished by an embellishment of a running horse, the crest of the Daimio of that 
 name, and the Zdzd ware (Owari) both originated near the close of the sixteenth 
 century; and about the same time was produced some pottery bearing the mark 
 " Hachida Gensai" (“First order under heaven”), in the province of Senshiu, which 
 scarcely realizes the expectations that the inscription might awaken. In the seventeenth 
 century the Genpin-yaki, made at Nagoya by a Chinese immigrant named Chin 
 Gen-pin, the Tokonabif imitations of Chinese work at Narumi (Owari), the Naniwa and 
 Takahara ware of Osaka, the Asahi ware at Uji, the Uydno ware (Buzen), the Akahada 
 ware at Gdjo (Yamato), the Fujina ware under Hanroku, the Tawara ware at Uji, 
 and the Shidzukata ware at Tsuruga. Of these some were promoted by the great 
 representative of the Cha-no-yu, Kobori Masakadzu, to whom also many of the older 
 fabriques, as those of Iga and Shidoro, owed their revival. Koydmon, a native of 
 Fushimi, in Yamashiro, commenced the fabrication of toy figures of men and animals 
 in faience for children, and Hozan, Kinkozan, and Gensukd, three celebrated followers 
 of Ninsei, aided largely in the development of the Kio-yaki of Awata and Kiomidzu. 
 
 Amongst the most famous historical artists who contributed to the decoration of 
 pottery in the same century were Kano Naonobu, who originated the sketches of the 
 running horse on the Soma ware ; Honnami Koyetsu (see page 66); Kusumi Morikage, 
 who was employed at Kutand ; Kano Tangen, the first decorator of Satsuma faience ; 
 Honnami Kuchiu, the grandson of Koyetsu, whose specimens of Raku-yaki are 
 greatly sought after by collectors; and Kenzan (1660— 1743), whose work is 
 distinguished by remarkably bold and graceful designs in the style of his brother 
 Korin. 
 
 The principal novelty in association with keramic produce was the manufacture 
 of cloisonnd. Cloisonnd enamel upon a metal basis was first made in Japan towards 
 the end of the period Keicho (1596—1615), by Hirato Hikoshiro, who is said to have 
 learned the process from a Korean by command of the Shogun, but the early attempts 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 73 
 
 were not very successful, and in point of colour and workmanship fell much below the 
 contemporary Chinese produce. The art of enamelling, however, is said to have been 
 known centuries before this time, and an enamelled mirror is still shown at Todaiji, 
 in Nara, as a relic of the reign of the Emperor Shomu (724—748). 
 
 Little was done in the eighteenth century to improve the art. A porcelain was 
 made from about 1720 at Matsugatani, in Hizen; from about 1750 at Kameyama, 
 near Nagasaki; and from about 1760 at Mikawaji, near Arita, by command of the 
 Daimio of Hirado. The latter ware, now known as “ Hirado-yaki," is a pure white 
 porcelain, sometimes ornamented with finely moulded flowers or other objects, or 
 elaborately carved in open work, and decorated with designs executed on a white slip 
 in low relief, or with cobalt and enamels. The early products of the fabrique were 
 reserved for presentation to the Shogun, and for the use of the Daimio and his 
 friends, on which account genuine pieces are rare and of considerable value. New 
 kilns of a similar character sprang up a little later at Shida, Koshida, and Yoshida, 
 in the same province, but attracted little notice. 
 
 In pottery, the chief landmark was the Old Banko ware, made by a pupil of 
 Kenzan, named Nakagawa Gonzayemon, who afterwards adopted the name of Banko. 
 The Banko of Gonzaydmon, which must not be confounded with the Banko of the 
 present day, was made in imitation of the Chinese pottery of the Wan-li period 
 (■573 —1620), and many of the enamels of the Tsing dynasty were successfully 
 
 imitated. The fabrique came to an end after the death of its founder, near the 
 
 close of the century, but the composition of the enamels used by Gonzayemon was 
 accidentally discovered about thirty years afterwards, and a new Banko-yaki was 
 started at Kuwana. 
 
 Another follower of Kenzan, known as Kenzan the Third, is noted as the 
 
 originator of a curious imitation of Old Delft ware, called “ Oranda no utsushi ’’ 
 
 (imitation of the Dutch), in which the quaint Dutch designs were faithfully copied in 
 
 blue upon a white glazed earthenware. The work was curious rather than attractive, 
 
 and has not taken a high place amongst Japanese keramic produce. 
 
 The only other events worth record were the establishment of a new factory about 
 1740 at Yoko-oka, near Shidoro, to replace the old Shidoro ware; the foundation 
 of new furnaces at Kosobe, in Settsu, about 1780, where imitations of ancient pottery 
 were made in later times; a revival of the old Seto at Yokkaichi, in Isd, called 
 “ Sdtosuke-yaki," after the name of its founder; and, about the same time, the 
 erection of a small fabrique by Hirosawa Kuro, of Owari, a well-known imitator 
 of the old Japanese and Chinese pottery, who worked for the members of the 
 Cha-no-yu. 
 
 Good illustrations of the keramic work of this period will be found in the 
 
 Kwan-ko dsusctsu of the late Mr. Ninagawa, and in “ L'Art Japonais,” which is 
 enriched by a learned contribution on the subject from the pen of M, Bing. 
 
 The art of Damascening as applied to Arms and Armour, which is said to 
 
 u 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 date from the Han dynasty in China, was known in Japan as early as the seventh 
 century, but did not reach its full development until 800 years later. From the 
 fifteenth century it became extensively employed in the decoration of breastplates 
 and helmets, and a little later every carbine or pistol of any pretension to finished 
 workmanship was by the same means emblazoned with its crest or symbol. In more 
 recent times the process has been utilized for the ornamentation of vases and other 
 objects unconnected with military enterprise. The splendid e.xamples of hammered 
 iron-work in the form of helmets and breastplates, almost peculiar to the school of 
 the Miochins, were produced down to the beginning of the last century. 
 
 The artist in arms, however, achieved his triumph in the embellishment of the 
 hilt, the guard, and other parts of the sword. In ancient times the sabre was an 
 object of utility only, and not of ornament; but with the pride in feats of arms grew 
 a desire to honour the weapon with all the aisthetic attractions that glyptic skill could 
 lend. For many centuries the appreciation of the possessor appeared to centre in 
 the blade, and the forging was accompanied with imposing ceremonials; the smith, 
 esteemed a gentleman by profession, might hope for undying fame when he could 
 succeed in producing an edge of the finest temper; his very name might become 
 incorporated with the native language as an adjective implying extreme excellence,* and 
 his work would be treasured with a reverence almost as great as that extended to the 
 regalia themselves. For a time this appeared to be sufficient, and even the long 
 conflict that placed Kiyomori at the height of power in the twelfth century, and the 
 seventy-five-years’ war of the North and South in the fourteenth century, did not 
 lead to any very important additions to the mere decoration of the weapon. It was 
 not until about 400 years ago that the artist became an important coadjutor of the 
 swordsmith. 
 
 The origin of this art-industry, which has given to Japan its thousands of skilled 
 w'orkmen and its scores of famous masters, dates from the latter half of the fifteenth 
 century, and may probably be accredited to Goto Yujo, a contemporary and friend 
 of Kano Motonobu. He is said, however, to have had a precursor in one 
 Ichikaw'a Hikosukd, who executed similar works by cutting designs upon the metal 
 with chisels of three varieties; but there is no good foundation for the assertion, 
 and Goto Yujo is generally accepted as the father of this section of the art. 
 
 It would be impossible in the space at our disposal to give even an abstract of 
 the list of the noted workers of the Yujo school. Many volumes, such as the 
 Kinko Benraii the Kinko Kantci Hikctsu, the Kinko Tanki, and the Soken Kisho, 
 enumerate the chief celebrities of the art. The individuals whose names and works 
 are familiar to connoisseurs are there to be found numbered in hundreds, and the 
 genealogy of the families that attained the highest distinction in the pursuit is traced 
 with a care that might befit the chronicles of a royal line. 
 
 ' The name of the famous swordsmith Masamune was applied to the six greatest masters of the Nara school 
 of sculptors, “ Masamune in Busshi," as the highest compliment to their genius. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 75 
 
 The selection of the chief luminaries from such a galaxy is by no means easy, 
 but many names and some well-executed reproductions of the work have been introduced 
 into the pages of “ L’Art Japonais," by M. Gonse. It will be sufficient here to 
 indicate two or three of the most representative artists in their several periods. The 
 place of honour, of course, falls to Goto Yujo, the founder, who died at the age of 
 seventy-eight, in 1513, forty-six years before his younger contemporary Motonobu, 
 and left numerous descendants, whose w'orks are in high esteem. Next in order of 
 importance comes Yokoya Somin, who flourished at the end of the seventeenth and 
 beginning of the eighteenth centuries (d. 1717); and, thirdly, Nara Yasuchika, who 
 died at the age of seventy-five, about 1746. In the present day the sword of Japan 
 has fallen to the rank of a curio, and the occupation of the followers of Yujo is 
 gone ; but it is to be hoped that the best of the craftsmen will receive encouragement 
 to employ their talent in other branches of glyptic art. 
 
 The history of Wood-carving is almost silent throughout an interval extending 
 from the thirteenth to the latter part of the sixteenth century. At this time we hear 
 that Iliddyoshi directed two Nara sculptors named Sotei and Soin to carve, for the 
 temple of Hokoji in Kioto, a great figure of Sakyamuni, which was afterw'ards 
 lacquered by a Chinese workman. The existence of the temple was unfortunately 
 terminated shortly afterwards by a great earthquake, and the figure was destroyed at 
 the same time. 
 
 The chief step, however, during this period was a development of a phase of 
 architectural decoration that has been given us in the Mausolea of Shiba, Uydno, 
 and Nikko, and in some of the temples of Kioto, triumphs of glyptic art that deserve 
 to rank amongst the world’s masterpieces. Until this era the woodwork of the 
 temple was plain and substantial, while the construction, imposing as it was, could 
 scarcely be regarded as more than an application of previous Chinese teaching, into 
 which no important Japanese elements had yet been introduced. The first indication 
 of a new departure was due to the soldier of fortune, Ota Nobunaga, who employed 
 two sculptors, named Matayemon and Yuzaydmon, to carve figures of dragons upon 
 the pillars of a pagoda attached to his residence. hear no more of these men, 
 
 but a little later appeared upon the scene the great master of architectural ornament, 
 a simple carpenter named Jingoro, who from a habit of using the left hand had 
 received the prenomen of Hidari (Left). Hidari Jingoro was born in 1594, and seems 
 to have been attached to the carpenters’ guild in the ordinary way, but at an early age 
 manifested such remarkable powers of artistic carving in relief and open work, that 
 he was employed as a sculptor and designer upon the Nishi Hongwanji at Kioto, 
 the mausoleum of lydyasu at Nikko, and nearly all the most important buildings of 
 his time. His example was followed by a number of contemporary workers, of whom 
 he is regarded as the head, and the notice attracted by his labours was so great that 
 the architectural wood-carvers, whose artistic efforts had previously been limited to 
 the execution of mechanical designs and conventional flowers, now came to be 
 
76 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 regarded as a body distinct from the carpenters, with whom they had hitherto been 
 classed. 
 
 Amongst the best known of his works are the carved gateway of the Nishi 
 Hongwanji in Kioto, the Ranuna, or ventilating panels of the principal apartments in 
 the same temple, and three carvings, two of elephants after designs by Kano Tanyu, 
 and one of a sleeping cat, at the mortuary chapel of lyeyasu at Nikko. It may be 
 remarked that the magnificent gateway of the mausoleum known as the Ni-O Mon 
 (fig. 30) has been attributed as a whole to Jingoro, but upon insufficient authority. 
 The Nikko-Zan Shi states that the carvings which give such a remarkable character 
 to the entrance were e.xecuted by “clever sculptors” after the designs of Kano Tanyu 
 and Kano Vasunobu, but only mentions the name of Hidari Jingoro as that of the 
 author of the elephants and cat before referred to. 
 
 This great artist died in 1634, at the age of sixty. He was succeeded by Hidari 
 Yeishin (1632—1702) and Hidari Katsumasa (d. 1727), and the styles which he 
 originated were carried on in later years by a large number of talented carvers, whose 
 names do not appear to have reached the present generation. 
 
 Two other well-known names in the seventeenth century were Shoun, the carver 
 of the figures of the 500 Rakan in Honjo in 1695, and Tancho, who was the 
 author of the Go-chi Niorai (Five Wise Tathagata) of Shinagawa in 1634. 
 
 The designs of Jingoro and his school, like those of the makers of sword 
 ornaments, were seldom, if ever, the work of the sculptors themselves, but were 
 usually furnished by noted living painters, or adapted from celebrated pictures by 
 older masters. Jingoro himself made use of sketches by Kano Tanyu. 
 
 The Idol-makers during this time were doing nothing to raise their renown. 
 The great Nara line had lapsed, and although the work was continued by many 
 capable men, they were content to repeat without improving, and too often without 
 maintaining, the standard of e.xcellence set up by their predecessors. Anami, 
 the sculptor of the Nara Ni-O, has found no worthy successor down to the 
 present day. 
 
 In the year 1614 the Shogun Hiddtada issued an edict that every household 
 should possess a Buddhist image ; but although the compulsory piety of an obedient 
 people gave extensive occupation to the makers of idols, it does not appear to have 
 advanced the artistic quality of the w'ork or the influence of the religion. 
 
 The images executed by the idol-makers included not only the whole of the 
 deities in the Buddhist calendar, but in addition the portraits of famous members of 
 the priesthood. The figures of divinities most often met with are those representing 
 the Sakyamuni Trinity, the Amitabha Trinity, Kwanyin, Vairotchana, the Four Dcwa 
 Kings (Shi-Tenno), the Two Temple Guardians (Ni-6), the Tw'elve Deva Kings (Jiu-ni 
 Tenno), the Sixteen Arhats (Go-hiaku Rakan), Atchala (Fudo), Kshitegarbha (Jizo), 
 and the Four Supernatural Animals (the Dragon, Tiger, Tortoise, and Phoenix). Of 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 77 
 
 many of these Japan still possesses Indian, Chinese, and Korean models which 
 prove that the native sculptors derived their ideas from foreign sources, and that in 
 some cases their repetitions fell much below the original types. The best examples 
 of progressive decadence are perhaps afforded by the figures of Ni-O which flank the 
 entrance gates of many temples. 
 
 In portraiture some of the sculptors attained remarkable e.xcellence; and although 
 many of these works are almost destitute of character or individuality, others are 
 strikingly lifelike, and evidently reproduce the features of the personages with complete 
 accuracy. The portraits of Eison (fourteenth century?), engraved in fig. 14, and lydyasu 
 are good e.xamples of the latter class. Of the seated figure of lyeyasu, which is 
 preserved in the mausoleum in Shiba, it is said that the great Tokugawa himself 
 overlooked and criticized the work during its e.xecution, daily comparing the carving' 
 with the reflection of his own face in a mirror. This sculpture is well worthy of 
 study. The figure is life-size, seated in the ordinary Japanese manner, and attired 
 in official gaib. The face is broad and the features rather heavy, but the e.xpression 
 of latent power combined with intellectual and dignified repose is reproduced with 
 singular felicity. In former times the portrait, which is enclosed in a richly lacquered 
 shrine, was exposed only once yearly, upon the occasion of the Shogun's visit; 
 and it is not difficult to imagine how imposing must have been its effect upon the 
 later scions of the line of which lyeyasu was the founder and glory. 
 
 The great strength of the sculptor in wood, however, lay undoubtedly in the 
 decorative carvings for the exterior and interior of the Buddhist temples and 
 mausolea. The designs were of the most varied kind, and appeared in almost every 
 available part of the building. The ends of the floating beams were cut into fantastic 
 shapes, often suggesting the gurgoyles of Gothic architecture; elaborately carved 
 panels were fixed in the walls of the porch; the ventilating panels [raininii) placed 
 above the mural slides were sculptured in open work; ceilings were often partitioned 
 out into segments filled with reliefs depicting flowers, birds, and other objects ; the 
 main pillars of the entrance were embossed with various forms of ornament; and the 
 porch was crowned with bold designs of the phoenix, tiger, dragon, or other 
 emblematical device. In some places, as in the ramma and ceiling panels, the carving 
 was often overlaid with gold and colours, and although the handiwork of the sculptor 
 was in some degree masked by the pigment, the addition added remarkably to the 
 decorative eftect. A study of the magnificent panelled ceiling of the mortuary chapel 
 of lydyasu, in Shiba, alone would repay the European architect for a visit to Japan. 
 
 The carving of small objects, such as Netsukds, pipe-cases, tea-scoops, brush- 
 holders, &c., was in wholly different hands, and is of less ancient origin. 
 
 The use of carved Netsukes as buttons or toggles for attaching to the girdle 
 the medicine-box (inro), or at a later period the pipe-case or purse, is said to 
 have commenced in the time of the Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa (1436—1490). The 
 earliest known examples of the work, however, are amongst the relics of Nobunaga, 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAK. 
 
 Hiddyoshi, and lydyasu (dating from the latter part of the sixteenth century). The 
 introduction of tobacco about this period possibly tended to create a demand for these 
 little articles, which, at first often simple and rude in workmanship, have since 
 developed into gems of glyptic art. The collections of Mr. Franks, Mr. Richard 
 Fisher, Mr. E. Gilbertson, Mr. J. L. D. Stewart, Sir Trevor Lawrence, the Rev. 
 T. Staniforth, Mr. W. H. Michael, Mr. Ernest Hart, and Mr. Seymour Trower in 
 England, M. Gonse, M. Burty, and M. Bing in Paris, include some of the choicest 
 examples that have left Japan, the first named being one of remarkable extent and 
 variety. 
 
 The first professional carver of Netsukhs is said to have been a native of Kioto, 
 named Rifuho or Hinaya, who worked during the greater part of the seventeenth 
 century, and died in 1670, at the age of sixty-nine. The most celebrated worker was 
 Voshimura Shifizan, who lived in the early part of the last century, and is the 
 inventor of many designs which are repeated in close imitation even in the present 
 day. Those of his productions which are copied in the Soken Kislw (a book 
 descriptive of art industries, published in 1781) will be recognized by all collectors, 
 although the originals are no longer in existence. From this time the number of 
 workmen multiplied, but with a few exceptions they were outside the recognized art 
 circle, and the only record of their names will be found upon their works. A list 
 from the Soken Kisho is given in the Handbook to Japan, and the most representative 
 artists are enumerated by M. Gonse in “ L'Art Japonais," to which the reader is 
 also referred for many beautiful reproductions. 
 
 The best period of Lacquer decoration is, by many judges, held to be the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The name of Yoshimasa is associated closely with 
 almost every branch of contemporary art. Weak and indolent as a ruler, he displayed 
 rare taste and judgment as a connoisseur and patron, and by his encouragement and 
 example revived and maintained many art industries that might otherwise have 
 degenerated or disappeared. Hiddyoshi, who also did much to further the work, was 
 but an imitator of the Ashikaga Shogun. 
 
 In the lacquer of the time of Yoshimasa, we find the earliest examples of the 
 beautiful raised designs on rich nashiji- made resplendent with burnished plates of gold 
 and silver and inlaid particles of gold. Many makers of great reputation were kept 
 in his employ, and the names of Jinko, Taiami, Seiami, and Hameda Goro are still 
 preserved as amongst the greatest masters of the art. .4 celebrated writing-box 
 {Suzuri-bako) that belonged to Yoshimasa is still to be seen at Kioto. 
 
 The fame of Japanese lacquer had penetrated to China in the reign of the 
 Mikado Go-hanazono (1429—1464), and workmen were sent by the Chinese emperor 
 
 • Nashiji is a name applied to lacquer on which the admixed particles of gold appearing on the surface of the 
 varnish are supposed to resemble the spots upon the common Japanese pear {nashi). 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 79 
 
 to learn the art from their former pupils. The fact is interesting, but it does not 
 appear that the lesson was of any permanent service. A generation later, in the reign 
 of Go-tsuchi Mikado (1465—1500), a very important return was made for the good 
 offices rendered to China, by the introduction of the Chinese method of carving 
 designs in the substance of a thick coating of lacquer (usually red or black), an art 
 in which the inventors still hold the first place. Tsiii-s/iiii (red) and tsui-koku (black) 
 are, however, made by the Japanese with the care and artistic feeling that give value 
 to all their work. 
 
 The term ytdm-mono^ (ancient objects), as applied to lacquer, ceased after the 
 time of Hiddyoshi. 
 
 The history of lacquer decoration in the seventeenth century was stamped by the 
 work of Honnami Koyetsu, who flourished at the beginning of the period ; Kiuhaku, 
 the founder of the Koma school ; and later by Korin, the famous pupil of the first-named 
 master. Ritsuwo, one of the most versatile artists of the age, an accomplished 
 painter, sculptor, and keramist, and a rival of Korin as a designer on lacquer, belongs 
 to the end of this and the beginning of the next century. 
 
 With the eighteenth century arose a new process, of Chinese origin, called 
 Chinkm-bori, in which the design is deeply cut in fine outline in the lacquer, and 
 developed by rubbing gold powder into the incisions. The method is said to have 
 been learned between 1710 and I 735 » f^om some Chinese residents in Nagasaki. In 
 the ordinary form of decorated lacquer, a school was founded by Yamamoto Shunsho; 
 Ritsuwo was followed by his pupil, Hanzan ; the success of Korin created many 
 imitators of his style, although no rival of his genius; and the well-known Koma school 
 ■was maintained in Yedo by Koma Kwansai, It cannot be said that the eighteenth 
 century was marked by any men of the first order as artists in lacquer, but the 
 number of highly talented workers in this important branch of art industry was very 
 large, and in many respects the period was the best. The range of design was 
 remarkably wide, and the technique had reached a degree of perfection that can never 
 be excelled. It is from the first half of the century that we must date the highly 
 finished and exquisitely burnished specimens of the ware now so much valued in 
 Europe. The surpassing beauty of this work needs no comment for those who have 
 seen the collections of Mr. Franks, Mr. Ernest Hart, and Mr. Cutler in this country, 
 and of Messrs. Hirsch, Haviland, Bing, Petit, Burty, and Gonse in France; and its 
 
 ^ The term Jidai-vto}io is often very loosely applied, but an attempt to regulate its use appears in the 
 Man-pd zen-sho (1694}. According to this authority, lacquer made before the reign of Gotoba (1185—119S) is 
 called Jodai-mofio : the name Jidai-mono belonging to the products of the interval between this time and the death 
 of Hidtiyoshi. Jidai-mono is further defined by the prefix of the name of the personage under whose auspices it 
 was produced; thus Gotoba jidai-niono is that which was made during the reign of the monarch; Higashiyama 
 jidai-mono belongs to the period of the retirement of Yoshimasa at Higashiyama, near Kioto {1465—1490) ; 
 Nobiaiaga jidai-mono {1542—IS 49 ) Taiko jidai-mono were manufactured during the term of power of Nobunaga 
 and Hideyoshi ; lastly, everything made after the death of Hiddyoshi {1598) is classed with modern work, and is 
 further distinguished by an appellation indicating the order of the Shogunate (first, second, third, &c.) under 
 which the object was produced. 
 
So 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 resistance to the destructive influences of time and exposure has been abundantly 
 proved. A most remarkable illustration of the latter quality was afforded in connection 
 with the sinking of the Nil, in 1874. A quantity of lacquer, for the most part 
 modern, but including one chef-d’oeuvre of the early part of the eighteenth century, 
 went down with the vessel. On recovery of the cargo about eighteen months later, 
 it was found that while the new lacquer was entirely spoiled by the action of the 
 sea-water, the older specimen, a reading-desk which now reposes in a place of 
 honour in the Tokio Museum, emerged from its bath lustrous and perfect as on 
 the day of its immersion. 
 
 I'ig. 31, Chinese Landscape. From a picture by Keishoki in the Ernest Hart Collection (sixteenth century). Chinese School. 
 

 PLATE 28. 
 
 “CHA-NO-YU” GARDEN IN KIOTO. 
 
 From a woodcut after TakeHARA ShuNCHoSAI in the Miako riusen mcisho dzu-yc. 
 
 The tiny room in which the meetings are conducted stands to the left of the picture. The sheltered seat near to this 
 is the “intermediary retreat/’ to which the guests retire for a brief interspace while the remains of the preliminary 
 repast arc cleared away, and the host is engaged in the preparation of the tea for the second and more important 
 portion of the entertainment. 
 
TiilMlEii 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HE great patrons of the art movements of the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries were the Shoguns Yoshimochi and Yoshimasa, and their 
 antitype the irrepressible parvoiu Hiddyoshi (1530—1598), the 
 Taiko-Sama of European writings. The latter, wdiether impelled 
 by natural taste or by a desire to emulate the dilettanti princes of 
 the Ashikaga line, afforded a very active and material support to 
 the fine arts. To him Japan is indebted for the preservation of 
 many of the most celebrated works of the early age of native art, 
 as well as for the enormous impulse given to the keramic produce 
 of the country in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; and the 
 splendid pictures that embellished the walls of the great baronial 
 castles of his period were chiefly the work of his proteges, Kano 
 Yeitoku and Kano Sanraku. 
 
 It w'ould be improper to conclude the summary of this era 
 without some remarks upon an institution w'hich developed mainly under the auspices 
 of Yoshimasa and Hidtiyoshi, and became intimately associated with the rise and 
 progress of the arts of the last three centuries,—the tea clubs, or Cha-no-yu, little 
 coteries that became disseminated throughout the educated world of Japan, and for 
 three hundred years regulated the laws of taste by a standard against which there 
 was no appeal. 
 
 The name “Cha-no-yu” was originally applied to a series of polite ceremonials. 
 
 Y 
 
82 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 invented to dignify the preparation and drinking of the infusion of tea ceremonials 
 so complex that long study and special abilities were essential to form a Cha-no-yu-sJn. 
 or master of the art; and the Cha-sei or Sage of the Cha-no-yu stood higher in 
 public estimation than the leader of any branch of the fine arts. The pcnonale of 
 the early tea-drinking reunions included the representatives of the highest rank and 
 educational culture, men of mature years, who considered no detail of the observances 
 appertaining to the meetings unworthy of close and respectful study. The art of tea 
 ceremonials, according to the great tea sage, Sen-no-Rikiu, involved four essential 
 requirements; friendship, mutual respect, purity, and the observance of the polite 
 formula: framed by Shiuko, the founder of the institution. To favour economy was 
 at the same time a main object of the Cha-set, who wished to rebuke the growing 
 luxury of his period. Hence a studied simplicity reigned supreme in the assemblages 
 of the Cha-jin, or members. The room set apart for the meeting was to have a floor 
 area not exceeding four and a half mats (about nine feet square); its fittings were 
 simple wood-work and plaster, its only ornaments a hanging scroll and a vase of 
 flowers. The utensils were plain, even to ugliness, although often claiming an 
 enormous value on the score of rarity. The food was of small cost, and any culinary 
 aid required was rendered by the president of the meeting, all servants being excluded 
 as amongst the exoteric. The number of guests was limited usually to five or six. 
 They were .soberly attired, and all social distinctions for the time were levelled; 
 esteem went with knowledge, and he ranked foremost who showed the most profound 
 acquaintance with the necessary ceremonial observances and favourite subjects of 
 discussion. The members of the Cha-no-yu associations were termed C/ia-jiu, or 
 tea-men; the more learned of these, who were capable of conducting the meeting, 
 were called Cha-no-ytt-shi; while the great masters received the title of C/m-sei, or 
 Sage. 
 
 The seances, though burdened with etiquette, were not the mere empty forms 
 that might be implied from the references to the subject found in many foreign and 
 even native books, but often constituted symposia in which abstruse questions of 
 philosophy, literature, and art were discussed from the standpoint of acknowledged 
 authority; for the Cha-jin were the critics and connoisseurs whose dicta consecrated 
 or condemned the labours of artist or author, and established canons of taste to 
 which all works, to be successful in their generation, must conform. So far the 
 ostensible objects, but it is more than probable that in times of political turmoil the 
 privileged, almost masonic secrecy of the meeting, often tempted the members to replace 
 the gentle argument of learning by more momentous and less legitimate debate, and, 
 unfortunately, there is little doubt that the harmless beverage, so solemnly prepared, 
 could on occasion be the vehicle for deadly, swift working drugs, that disembarrassed 
 the poisoner effectually and for ever of a rival, enemy, or inconvenient ally. 
 
 ' The suspected poisoning of Gamu Ujisato by Hiddyoshi, and of Kato Kiyomasa by lydyasu, at Cha-no-yu 
 meetings, forms part of the secret history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY, 
 
 83 
 
 The source of the Cha-no-yu is not clearly known. According to the Siuko-Shiu, 
 a valuable item in the literature of the institution, ceremonials in connection Avith 
 tea-drinking date from the reign of the Emperor Murakami (a.d. 947—967), and 
 took their origin in commemoration of the medicinal qualities attributed to the herb ; 
 the Emperor, who was suffering from a disease against which physicians were 
 powerless, having recovered after drinking an offering of tea that had been made to 
 the goddess Kwanyin. From this time a ceremonial was performed in honour of tea 
 in every province on the first day of the first month.^ 
 
 In the twelfth century a Buddhist abbot, named Mioyd, learned from a physician 
 the wondrous properties of the herb in clearing the mind and warding off sleep, and 
 thinking that the effects of such a medicine would be of much spiritual benefit to the 
 priesthood, planted in various parts of the country seeds that had been imported from 
 China by a priest, named Senkokushi, and the cultivation soon became general. 
 
 The use of the infusion as a refreshing beverage did not begin until late in the 
 fifteenth century, when a noted priest, named Murata Shiuko, desiring to vanquish 
 the soul-destroying drowsiness which his attempts at religious meditation never failed 
 to induce, and apparently oblivious of the reputation which the herb had gained in 
 the time of Mioyd, sought the advice of his physician. The words of the medical 
 opinion have been preserved. “ If you would drive away sleep, take the herb tea, 
 which is an excellent medicine for the heart. The heart is the chief of the organs of 
 the human body, and bitterness is the first of all the tastes. If you take abundance 
 of tea infusion, which possesses in a high degree this bitter flavour, it will fortify 
 your heart, and so maintain your health and diminish your desire for sleep.” ^ 
 
 The result of the prescription exceeded the hopes of the patient, and in grateful 
 acknowledgment of the efficacy of the medicament he introduced the Cha-no-yu 
 meetings, and reduced to rule a number of ceremonial observances devised to lend 
 solemnity to the occasion. The idea of tea ceremonials was not, however, altogether 
 novel, as something of the kind is known to have been practised from ancient times 
 in the Middle Kingdom. It is probable that the rules of Shiuko Avere founded upon 
 those folloAved in China, which are said to have originated in the T’ang dynasty; 
 but according to the Cha-do~Sentei, one of the many volumes devoted to the 
 institution, “the Chinese regulations Avere not economical and elegant, like those of 
 the Japanese Cha-no-yu, that were designed to curb the luxury of the rich, but took 
 concern only for details of preparation, regulating the taste, colour, and dilution of 
 the beverage.” 
 
 Shiuko found a pupil and a Avarm coadjutor in the Shogun Yoshimasa, Avhose 
 rank Avas sufficient to give vogue to any custom upon Avhich he might confer his 
 
 ^ The seed of the tea-plant was first brought from China by the Buddhist priest Dengio Daishi, near the end of 
 the eighth century, and it is stated that the Emperor Saga (810—823) received an offering of tea during a journey 
 to Shiga. 
 
 ® A similar story is related with respect to a Chinese priest of the T'ang dynasty. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 S4 
 
 patronage; and thenceforth the practice was adopted and zealously cultivated by the 
 most distinguished men in the country, and the use of tea as a dietetic beverage 
 became general. 
 
 Associated with Shiuko, the first of the Cha-sei, was Soami, a famous painter 
 of the Chinese school, and hence a valuable guide to such a collector of objects of 
 vcrtu as Yoshimasa ; but the Cha-no-yu was not to secure its highest influence until 
 after the fall of the Ashikaga dynasty, when Hidbyoshi had reached the summit of 
 his power.' Hidbyoshi emulated Yoshimasa, both as a supporter of the ceremonials 
 and as a gatherer of Meibtifsu (celebrated or notable things). He had placed in his 
 newly-built castle of Ozaka a remarkable collection of antiquities, and at the select 
 tea-reunions conducted under his direction, eagerly-sought curiosities of all kinds 
 were brought forward for discussion, by which means new opportunities were 
 constantly provided for the augmentation of his collection. Sen-no-Rikiu, the great 
 “ Sage of the Cha-no-yu,” was the especial favourite of Hidbyoshi, and by a happy 
 combination of tact and talent acquired, despite a plebeian origin, an extraordinary 
 influence in the highest circles. He was acknowledged as the supreme authority in 
 matters of antiquarian interest; the flower of the nobility were glad to enrol themselves 
 as his pupils in the ceremonial mysteries which his studies had so greatly elaborated, 
 and beyond this, it is probable that his voice was often heard in matters of far 
 greater moment than mere formulae of politeness. 
 
 One of the offices of Rikiu had been to catalogue and appraise the rarities in the 
 possession of his patron, and having every incentive to place as high an estimate as 
 possible upon each article, he succeeded in conferring upon antique trifles of various 
 kinds an almost fabulous value, so producing results altogether destructive of the 
 principle of economy which was supposed to be a ruling element in the constitution of 
 the Cha-no-yu. Pottery held the highest place in the esteem of collectors, for we are 
 told that about this time the price for the earlier examples of the old Chinese, Korean, 
 and Japanese ware would be counted in tens or hundreds of gold oban and a choice 
 specimen was deemed a not unworthy acknowledgment for the highest services rendered 
 to the state. To' such an extent did the exaggerated dilettantism in pottery develop 
 under the fostering guardianship of the Cha-no-yu, that it became a fashion for men of 
 the highest rank to apply themselves to the industry ait grand strieux. The wealthier 
 amateurs rvould build private furnaces in their own domains, and spend their best 
 years and energies in .shaping indifferent pots and tea-cups, or else, with greater 
 wisdom, engaged the services of noted potters to labour under their immediate 
 supervision ; Korean workmen were brought as valued prizes of war by the generals 
 
 • Nothing is here said as to the branch institutions which sprung up after the time of Rikiu, or of the ceremonials 
 observed at the assemblages. For full Information on these points the reader is referred to the treatise of Dr. Funk, 
 in the sixth part of the " Mittheilungen dcr Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Natur und 'Vblkerkunde Ostasiens,” iS;4, 
 and to Mr. Franks’ introduction to the Report on Japanese pottery in the South Kensington Museum. 
 
 * The gold Oban was worth from ten to sixty dollars, according to size (Griffis). 
 
S5 
 
 9 . • ^ 
 
 f 
 
 4 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 4 . 
 
 ‘•t. 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 of Hideyoshi; and clever native artists, attracted by the rewards so ungrudgingly 
 lavished upon the calling, hastened to contend in the field where honour was so 
 freely to be won. 
 
 Keramic art owed most of the exaggerated dignity it possessed during the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the great leaders of the Cha-no-yu, but the 
 benefit attaching to their support was strongly qualified by the retarding influence 
 of their wearisome adulation of the old models, which for a time caused the best 
 efforts of the best potters to be wasted in imitation of the works of past ages, and 
 repressed those very powers of invention that had enabled the old masters to 
 provide posterity with standards of beauty. 
 
 z 
 
Fig. 33. From a painting by Okio in the Ernest Hart Collection (1770). 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ' fourth and last era began about thirty years before the close 
 of the last century, with the rise of the Shijo Naturalistic 
 school of painting in Kioto, and a wide development of the 
 Artisan Popular school in Yedo and Osaka, two steps which 
 conferred upon Japanese art the strongest of those national 
 characteristics that have now completed its separation from 
 the parent art of China. The appearance of the Ganku 
 Academy of Kishi Doko, and the Buncho branch of the 
 Chinese school under Tani Buncho, a few years later, helped 
 to strengthen the distinctiveness of the new period ; and 
 a feeble attempt to introduce the principles of European 
 art also dates from the same epoch. 
 
 That the study of nature is the best means of achieving the highest results in 
 art was admitted as a general principle by the older painters of China and Japan, 
 but the acceptance of the law was qualified by a latitude of interpretation that 
 relieved those who enunciated it from any constraint it might otherwise have imposed 
 upon their practice. Many of the old Chinese masters had indeed observed nature 
 closely while conventionalizing it, and were in advance of most of their Japanese 
 
PLATE 29. 
 
 CRANES. 
 
 From a painting on silk by MarUyama Okio. Naturalistic School (c. 1780). Size of original, 12 
 See descriptive interleaf to Plate 62. 
 
 X 38 inches. 
 

GENERAL HISTORY. S; 
 
 imitators, in whose works the precious element of truth was often scarcely assayable 
 in the mass of calligraphic alloy. Useful studies from life, however, appeared in 
 certain instances in the works of members of the Kano, Tosa, and other academies, 
 as in pictures of trained falcons, and in portraits of noted personages, but such 
 productions were not of the highest order of excellence in their kind, and seldom 
 conveyed the impression that the artist felt pleasure in his task. 
 
 The first painter who seriously endeavoured to establish naturalistic art upon a 
 practical basis was Maruyama Okio, the founder of the Shijo school. Okio was born 
 in the province of Tamba, in 1733, and learned the rudiments of his art from a 
 painter named Ishida Yutei, whose name has reached posterity only by the connection 
 that links it with that of his pupil. There is no reason to suppo.se that Yutei was 
 the author of the idea which created the new school, for we are told in the Gwajo 
 yonaku that Ohio's education consisted, as usual, in copying the most celebrated of 
 the old drawings; “ but their study gave him no inclination to adhere to the rules 
 which guided their execution, and he invented a new style, drawing birds, flowers, 
 grasses, quadrupeds, insects, and fishes from nature: his talents were also manifested 
 m the delineation of landscape and figure, and he was a skilful colourist; so that his 
 fame became noised throughout the empire, all people learned by his example, and 
 he effected a revolution in the laws of painting in Kioto." 
 
 Notwithstanding the credit due to Okio, his works show that he lacked the full 
 courage of his convictions. His drawing is often faithful to the life, even in the 
 smallest details, as in the dead carp in plate 30; but he still sacrificed, perhaps almost 
 unconsciously, at the altar of the old faith. His perspective was Chinese; he 
 systematically ignored projected shadows, and his drawings of men and women evidenced 
 no more observation of anatomical form than did those of his predecessors. Nevertheless, 
 there was a novel and intelligent grace in his more characteristic sketches, which, 
 enforced by the technical skill and harmonious colouring derived from his early study 
 of the old masters, secured for him a success inferior only to the merits of his cause. 
 He was most felicitous in drawings of birds and fishes, and the domestic fowl and 
 the carp were the most frequent subjects for his pencil; but in figures and landscape 
 he was e.xcelled by some of his followers. He has left a few pictures which by 
 motive and treatment belong rather to the classical than to the naturalistic schools, 
 but these works add nothing to his reputation. 
 
 The most active period of his labours falls between 1772 and 1789, corresponding 
 to the periods Anyei and Temmei. Full of radical ideas upon art, he took the 
 courageous step of promulgating them in Kioto, the centre of all that was conservative 
 in Japan; but his heresy was sanctified by his talent, and he not only succeeded in 
 attracting to his side a large number of youthful believers, but converted some 
 prominent alumni of the classical schools, and so formed the nucleus of the 
 important academy which received its name from the street (Shijo machi) in which 
 the master fixed his studio. He lived to see the influence of his teaching spread on 
 
« 
 
 8 S PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 all sides, even to the schools which had previously found all that was worth knowing 
 in the laws and examples bequeathed by the ancients; but his reward, like that of 
 Motonobu, did not come until after he had passed the meridian of life, and 
 unfortunately he did not live so long as this veteran to enjoy it. He died m 1795, 
 
 Fig. 34. Puppies at play. After a painting by Okie in the Ernest Hart Collection (i777)- 
 
 at the age of sixty-two—a fair term for the Japanese in general, yet a short one for 
 the painters, who, as a body, appear to have been favoured with remarkable longevity. 
 
 He never drew for the book-engravers, but two collections of his rough sketches, 
 entitled Etto gwa-fii and Ohio g-Aa-fu, were published after his death, and other of 
 his drawings have been reproduced in various albums. 
 

 
 5^ ‘ '• V 
 
PLATE 30. 
 
 THREE PICTURES OF THE SHIJO SCHOOL, GOWLAND COLLECTION. 
 
 I. MONKEYS. 
 
 From a painting on silk, executed by MORI SOSEN at the age of 70. 1817. 
 
 2. DEAD CARP (Cyprinus carpio). 
 
 From a painting on silk by MarUVAMA Okio. Dated 1781. 
 
 3. LANDSCAPE. WINTER SCENE. 
 
 From a painting on silk by'NAGASAWA RoSiilO. C. 1S20. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 89 
 
 He had two sons, named Ozui and Ojiu, and left many pupils and imitators, 
 in whose hands his teaching was productive of some of the most graceful works 
 of Japanese pictorial art. The names of Rosetsu, Genki, Gekkei, Sosen, Keibun, 
 Tessan, Ippo, Shiuho, Hoyen, Zaisho, and Yosai are those of the most distinguished 
 representatives of the school from the time of its foundation. 
 
 Nagasawa Rosetsu, a native of Kioto, was an artist of great power and greater 
 eccentricity, and as a painter of landscape achieved effects more striking than those of 
 Okio himself. The poetical beauty of the scene engraved in plate 30 is only equalled 
 in modern times in some of the pictures of Bunrin. His son, Roshiu, inherited 
 much of his genius. 
 
 Genki, a pupil of Rosetsu, painted animals, flowers, and portraits of women, 
 and was famous for the beauty of his colouring. Unfortunately his career was 
 terminated at an early age, and he has left comparatively few works to bear 
 witness to his talent. 
 
 Matsumura Gekkei, known also as Goshun, was originally a pupil of the 
 celebrated landscape painter Buson (see p. 47), but after the death of his teacher he 
 formed the acquaintance of Okio, whose principles he adopted, incorporating them 
 with the style of his earlier years. His most remarkable pictures are representations 
 of scenery, but he was also noted as a painter of flowers. 
 
 He died at the age of si.xty, in the period of Bunkwa (1804—1818). Two of his 
 pupils, Koson (Toyohiko or Okamoto Hogen) and Shibata Gito, were successful 
 imitators of his manner, and his younger brother, Keibun, became one of the leaders 
 of the Shijo school. 
 
 The sketches of Keibun were marked by a remarkably facile grace of touch, 
 united with a peculiar tenderness of colouring and softness of tint gradations. His 
 sketches of birds and flowers are charming specimens of Japanese art, but he ranks 
 below his brother as a painter of landscape, and is generally inferior to him in 
 originality and force. One of his pictures is engraved in Section 4. 
 
 Mori Sosen, a late contemporary of Okio, may be regarded as one of the greatest 
 animal painters of his school, although his conscientious observance of naturalistic 
 details brought him little credit with the critics of his time.’ Unfortunately he 
 devoted his brush principally to delineations of monkey life, and is little known except 
 in that speciality; but, as M. Gonse has already demonstrated, he could paint animals 
 of all kinds with almost equal skill. A glance at the reproductions in “ L'Art 
 Japonais,” and in the present work (plates 31, 42, and 68, and fig. 33), will prove that 
 his drawings, whether in his elaborate or freehand style, were the most faithful 
 studies of their kind ever produced in Japan. Nevertheless, we look in vain in his 
 works for evidence of a comprehension of the poetical or humorous possibilities of his 
 subject. Creations like the “ Shepherd's last Mourner ” on the one hand, and the 
 
 The author of the Gzvnjo yortaku, after alluding to his life-like portraitures of monkeys, remarks that 
 “ although his pictures might please the eyes of ordinary people, they were devoid of elegance and taste." 
 
 A a 
 
90 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 "Jack in Office” on the other, were outside his range, and if we attempt to compare 
 him with any European painter, it must be with a lesser genius than Landseer. 
 
 He died in 1821, at the age of seventy-five (Gonse). The demand for his works 
 was not very great during his life, but the well-deserved increase of his popularity in 
 the last twenty years has led to wholesale forgeries of his name and style. The 
 greater number of specimens bearing his signature that reach Europe in the present 
 day are executed by clever pupils of the school, but there are few of the impostures 
 that may not be convicted by artistic shortcomings of which the master hand was 
 never guilty. 
 
 Mori Tessan, a native of Osaka, followed the style of Okio very closely. Shiuho, 
 also a townsman of Osaka, rivalled Sosen as a painter of monkeys (see plate 32), and 
 has given us many striking representations of other forms of animal life. Mori Ippo, 
 
 
 Fig. 35. From a picture by Hoyen, in the Spiers Collection. Shijo School (c. 1835). 
 
 of Kioto, one of the best artists of the school in the early part of the present century, 
 surpassed all his contemporaries in the delineation of birds in motion (see plate 62), 
 and was also a skilful “impressionist” in landscape. Hoyen, a pupil of Tessan, 
 attained a wide reputation for sketches of birds and flowers, which combined with rare 
 
PLATE 31. 
 
 DEER AND MONKEY. 
 
 From a picture on paper by MORl .SOSEb’ (1747-1831), in the Author's Collection. Size of original, 36 in. X 14 in. 
 
 ShijO Naturalistic School. 
 
 Tint work is in the coarser style of the artist, and may be compared in this respect with plate 68. A kind of 
 chiaroscuro has been introduced in copying the forms of the animals, but shadows have been ignored in other parts of 
 the picture 
 
PLATE 32. 
 
 MONKEY. 
 
 From a painting on silk by HoGEN SlllUHo, Shijb School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 28 x 12 inches. 
 
 The monkey drawn by the Shijo artist is the Inuus or .Macacus Speciosus, the only representative of the tribe m Japan. 
 Dr. Rein states that it is common in Shikoku, Aki, Kiushiu, and Higo, and extends as far northwards as the fortieth 
 parallel of latitude. It has been depicted in Siebold’s “Fauna Japonica.” 
 
 The older artists of the Kano and Chinese schools rarely painted the native monkey, but prepared imaginative 
 renderings of a long-armed foreign species, the figure of which was probably copied from the works of the Chinese masters. 
 
 WiLtlELM Greve, Berlin, chromolith. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 91 
 
 effects of grouping and close observation of naturalistic detail, an elegance of touch 
 remarkable even for a Japanese artist (see plate 40 and fig. 35). Some of his 
 numerous pupils are at present working for the foreign market. Zaisho and Zaimei, 
 the sons of Hara Zaichiu, a well-known artist of the Chinese school, must be placed 
 with the pupils of the Shijo school; but many of their works, especially in landscape 
 (see heading, Chap. IV., Section 4), show more traces of the classical ideal than is 
 usual in pictures of the followers of Okio. 
 
 The last of the foremost group of painters in the Naturalistic academy was 
 Kikuchi Yosai, whose drawings of Japanese worthies are now so well known to 
 Europeans through their reproductions in the works of Humbert and Gonse. He 
 was essentially a figure painter, and in that speciality leaves the rest of his school 
 far in the rear; but in landscape, birds, flowers, and the other motives favoured by 
 most of the leaders of the school, he never sought distinction. His reputation 
 outside Japan rests principally upon the engravings in his inagnuDi opus, the Zeuken 
 kojitsu; but he was also a colourist of refined feeling, and was gifted with a vigour 
 of design that is very inadequately reproduced in the woodcut copies of his drawings. 
 Two of his pictures in the British Museum Collection show perfectly his mastery of 
 the brush, and one of these, the “Ascent of the Sage Fukurokujiu to the Home of 
 the Immortals,” ranks with the noblest conceptions in modern Japanese art. The 
 collections of Messrs. Duret and Gonse include many of his sketches, some of 
 which were exhibited in Paris in 1883. One of his pictures is engraved in plate 34. 
 
 Vo.sai died at the age of ninety-one, in 1878, after having worked with 
 undiminished energy until within two or three years of his death. 
 
 The account of the Shijo school cannot be closed without a reference to one of 
 its later alumni, who has devoted his chief energies to the lacquer industry. 
 Shibata Zeshin, who is still living, is an artist of remarkable capacity and power of 
 invention. He is the most original designer of the present century in lacquer, and 
 some of his pictures in the British Museum Collection (see plate 45), and a group 
 of monkeys in the possession of M. Bing, are sufficient to give him a high place 
 amongst water-colour painters. 
 
 Many other pupils of considerable ability have contributed to the triumphs of 
 the Naturalistic school, but have not secured an adequate recognition from their 
 contemporaries. Ota Kinkin, a female artist, whose picture of cherry blossoms is 
 copied in plate 58, is merely named in the Gwajo Ydriaku: while Saikuko Yusei, 
 whose picture, reproduced in plate 64, demands for him notice as an artist of 
 the first rank, does not appear to have received any mention in the published lists 
 of painters. 
 
 The chief characteristics of the Shijo school are a graceful, flowing outline, freed 
 from the arbitrary mannerisms of touch indulged in by many of the older masters ; 
 comparative, sometimes almost absolute, correctness in the interpretation of the forms 
 
92 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 of animal life ; and lastly, a light colouring, suggestive of the prevailing tones of the 
 objects depicted, and full of delicate harmonies and gradations. In the calligraphic 
 qualities of the design the Shijo artists were inferior to most masters of the Renaissance, 
 though less in beauty than in strength ; and in the decorative value of their work 
 they fell much behind such men as Yeitoku and Sanraku. Nevertheless, they initiated 
 a sensible and important advance in the pictorial ideal; and whatever inferiority their 
 paintings may have evidenced in certain directions when compared with the more 
 ancient art, was not the fault of the principle to which they gave support. 
 
 The naturalistic principle of the school, however, was incompletely developed ; 
 the effects of chiaroscuro were often obtained with much success, yet high lights, 
 reflected lights, and projected shadows were still unrecognized, and both perspective 
 and anatomy were neglected as absolutely as by the older painters ; but the collectors 
 who own specimens of the fowls or carp of Okio, of the landscapes of Rosetsu, of 
 the monkey or other animals of Sosen, of the wild geese or cranes of Ippb, of the 
 birds and flowers of Keibun or Hoyen, and of the heroic figures of \osai, may claim 
 a good experience of the most generally attractive phase of Japanese pictorial art. 
 
 In motives, the naturalistic basis of the Shijo school as a rule excluded most of 
 the subjects in favour with the classical academies, but Chinese landscapes, Chinese 
 sages, and mythical animals were profitably replaced by transcripts of the scenery 
 and natural history of Japan. The subjects peculiar to the Popular school, the life 
 of the streets and theatres, were as little touched upon by the naturalists as by the 
 older painters; but where the Shij5 and Artisan schools chanced to coincide in 
 motive, the advantage in point of refinement/ested always with the former. 
 
 Fig. 36. From a painting by Sosen in the Dillon Collection (1786). 
 

PLATE 33. 
 
 PEACOCK AND PINE TREE. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2314). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Saikiorio YuSEl. Naturalistic School. C. 1820. 
 Size of original, 56J x 33J inches. 
 
 The peacock is nearly always drawn with the pine-tree or the peony, in conformity with a popular symbolism of 
 Chinese origin that links together certain natural objects by means of poetical or other associations of ideas to which 
 the clue is sometimes obvious, sometimes obscure, and in some cases altogether lost. Further illustrations of the kind 
 may be seen on Plates 25, 40, 62, 67, 73 (Chinese), and 77 (Chinese), in which the swallow and willow-tree, the sparrow 
 and the bamboo, the crane and the sun, the tiger and the bamboo, the dove and the plum-blossom, and the squirrel and 
 the vine are grouped together in pairs. The Chinese lion and the peony, the ‘ pheenix ’ and the Paulownia imperialis, 
 the wild goose and the rush, the quail and the millet, and the hare and the equisetum are other familiar examples ; 
 while the conjunction of the crane, the hairy-tailed tortoise, the white deer, the bamboo, the pine, and the plum, as 
 emblems of longevity, repeats itself in a thousand ways in the products of Japanese art. 
 
PLATE 34. 
 
 HADESU SLAYING THE KOREAN TIGER. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2345). 
 
 From a lightly tinted picture on silk, by Kikuciii YoSAI (17S7—1878). Size of original, 40i x 1 if in. 
 Shijo Naturalistic School. 
 
 Ka.sHIWA-deNO Omi Hadesu was an ambassador sent to Korea by the Emperor Kimmei in a.d. 545. On one snowy 
 night during his stay in that country his little daughter was lost. All research was in vain, until at last a bloody track 
 marked by the footprints of a tiger gave a sad clue to the mystery, and Had6su. determined to avenge if too late to 
 save his child, followed the beast to its lair. When he reached the den, the tiger was on the alert, and flew towards 
 him with open mouth, but the infuriated father, thrusting his hand between the yawning jaws, seized the creature’s 
 tongue, and buried his sword in its body. 
 
 The picture has been repeated in the Zenken koj'itsu, vol. viii. 
 

PLATE 35. 
 
 ANCIENT JAPANESE HEROES. 
 
 From drawings by KiKUCHl YoSAI, engraved in the Zcn-kcn ko-jitsu. Naturalistic School. 
 
 The handsome and dignified figure armed with a bow represents a prehistoric grandee named Umashi Mate, of whom 
 we have no particulars of interest to relate. The youth in maiden attire, posturing with a drawn sword in his hand, is 
 Wo-usu, afterwards known as Yamato Take, the son of the Emperor Keiko (reigned 71—130 A.D.). Yamato Take as a 
 hero has a reputation of a decidedly barbaric character, for amongst his feats of prowess narrated in the Kojiki are 
 included the rending of his elder brother limb from limb by way of remonstrance for his undutiful behaviour in failing to 
 appear at the “ morning and evening great august repastsas well as the treacherous murder of an enemy, whom he first 
 beguiled into confidence by professions of friendship, and then secretly disarmed by substituting his sword by a mock- 
 weapon of wood. The incident here depicted, fortunately of a different kind, is told in the Kojiki"^ to the following 
 effect:—The prince having been requested by his father to deal with two bravoes of Kumaso, “ unsubmissive and 
 disrespectful men,’’ borrowed the garments of his aunt, concealed a sabre in his bosom, and then set forth. He soon 
 found those whom he .sought, noisily discussing an approaching feast to be held in their domiciliary cave, and he 
 determined to await his opportunity until the day of rejoicing. When the time arrived he untied his hair, and disguising 
 himself as a young girl, took a place amongst the women who were to assist in the revels. His appearance did not fail 
 to attract the two bravoes, who, “delighted at the sight of the maiden^ set her between them and rejoiced e-vtuberantly. 
 So when the feast was at its height, His Augustness Wo-usu, drawing the sword from his bosom and catching the elder 
 bravo of Kumaso by the collar of his garment, thrust the sabre through his chest, whereupon, alarmed at the sight, the 
 younger brother ran out.’’ The flight was vain, for the prince overtaking the fugitive, pierced him with his sword, and 
 after granting him a few minutes' respite to utter his dying speech, “ripped him up like a ripe melon, and slew him.’’ 
 The name Yamato Takd, or ‘ bravest of Yamato,’ was conferred by the victim upon his conqueror with his last breath. 
 
 ‘ See translation by Mr. B. H. Chamberlain in the “ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,” vol. x. 
 
Fig. 37. Hokusai sketching the Peerless Mountain. From the Fugaku hiak'kd. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HORTLY before the opening of the present century, the 
 Ukiyo-yi! school began to extend the sphere of its labours, 
 and at length, in response to the demand excited by the 
 marvellous decorative qualities of the art that it revealed 
 to Europe and America, assumed proportions of which its 
 founders had never dreamed, and created for Japan one of 
 its most important commercial outlets. It has been in 
 .some respects an agent for evil; but while it has inflicted 
 injury, for a time at least, upon the higher traditions of 
 Japanese painting, it has brought novelty of motive and 
 originality of treatment, and has educed the genius of a class which had hitherto 
 taken little share in art competition. 
 
 The typical representatives of the new popular artists before the close of the last 
 century were all picture-book and “single sheet” designers: the Toriis, Nishimura 
 Shigenaga, Ippitsusai Buncho, the Katsugawas, and the Utagawas were the fathers of 
 the chromo.xylographic portraits of actors which have recently taught us some useful 
 lessons in colour harmonies: Suzuki Harunobu, Kitagawa Utamaro, Kitawo Shigdmasa, 
 
 B b 
 
96 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 unequal, but appeared to the best advantage in his earlier works, which sometimes 
 possessed a singular charm of soft harmony; rvhile in many of the more highly 
 finished of his later pictures the colouring is somewhat heavy and coarse, and is 
 scarcely worthy of his forcible outline and perfect composition. He is said to have 
 painted a large number of pictures for exportation by the Dutch, until the traffic was 
 stopped by the Japanese Government. If this be true, it would be interesting to 
 know what has become of the works in question. 
 
 Fig. 3S. The quick Postman. From the Hokusai Afangwa. 
 
 We may best learn his personal character by the study of his works. They 
 demonstrate not only the versatility and range of his artistic genius, but convey a 
 vivid impression of his moral and intellectual qualities, of his keen but kindly powers 
 of observation, wit untainted by malice, strongly marked individuality free from 
 self-consciousness, and an art-loving industry that never permitted him to save labour 
 
PLATE 36. 
 
 I. THE GOBLIN FLIGHT. 2. THE FROGS’ HOLIDAY. 
 
 From paintings on silk by HOKUSAI. Popular School. Nineteenth century. From the Collection of the 
 Hon. James St. Vincent de Saumarez. 
 
 Lemercier & Co., Chromolith. 
 
* 
 
Jk w 
 
PLATE 37. 
 
 THE MANIAC. 
 
 From a sketch by HOKUS.AI 11759—184S), engraved in the Hokusaig’d'a-fu. Popular School. 
 
 The drawing requires little e.xplanation. An insane woman, clad in tattered finer)', and happy in the delusion that 
 she is a brilliant ornament of the Imperial Court, parades the street with mincing step and affected gestures, apparently 
 filling the part to her own entire satisfaction, as well as to that of the little urchins who are bearing an old straw 
 sandal above licr head as a mocking emblem of a royal canopy. The hastily sketched figures are wonderfully 
 life-like, and the composition of the whole picture is beyond improvement. 
 
1 
 
 
 PLATE 38. 
 
 TAMETOMO AND THE DEMONS. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 1747). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Hokusai. Popular School, iSii. Size of original, 23 x 15 inches. 
 
 The Japanese hero is seated grasping a bow, while three muscular demons strain with unavailing force at the string, 
 and a fourth, apparently worn out by previous efforts, looks on with a baffled scowl. 
 
 The work is very characteristic of the painter in its firm, freely drawn outline and somewhat heavy colouring, as 
 well as in the remarkable vigour and expressiveness of*the principal figures. Two small birds at the upper part 
 of the picture strongly recall certain of the cuts in the Mangwa. 
 
 The poetical inscription written upon the picture i? from the hand of Bakin, the celebrated novelist. This is 
 dated “ On the last night (of the year), in the height of winter of the ‘ Year of the Sheep ’ in the period Bunkwa 
 (A.D. iSii).” 
 
 Tametomo, the grandson of Yoshiiye (Hachimantaro), was a famous warrior who lived in the latter part of the 
 twelfth centur)’. He is described as standing seven feet high, and having the left arm of such inordinate length, that 
 he was able to draw the bowstring eighteen hands’ breadth from the arrow-head, his bow being eight and a half feet 
 long, and requiring the strength of three ordinary men to bend it. He was banished to Oshima. an island south of 
 Yedo bay, for his share in the civil wars, and to render him powerless, the tendons of his arms were cut. According 
 to the Hogen Monogatari, he committed suicide in this place of exile ; but a current legend traces him to the Liukiu 
 Island.s, where he i.s said to have settled, his son becoming the first historical king of this tributary group which is now 
 reduced to the position of a Japanese province. 
 
 He is fabled to have visited the Isle of the Demons (Onigashima), which is sometimes identified with Hachijo, 
 and to have there demonstrated his own physical superiority over the tenants of the place, to their great discomfiture. 
 This episode is the subject of Hokusai’s painting. (British Museum Catalogue, page 381.) 
 

GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 97 
 
 by repetition or plagiarism, or to mar his conceptions by carelessness of hand or 
 thought. He was a cyclopaedia of folk-lore and legend, and has left untouched few 
 motives that were worthy of his pencil. 
 
 As an artist he was a true Japanese. It was rarely that any half-understood 
 elements of the pictorial rules of European academies stole into his sketch-books to 
 pervert the freedom of his natural style. The science of chiaroscuro was as lightly 
 esteemed in his art as were the laws of perspective or the forms of superficial 
 anatomy. He was undoubtedly acquainted with foreign books and pictures, and 
 five or si.x of his own drawings (see Section 4) show that he knew at least as much 
 of linear perspective as any of his contemporaries, but the specimens of Western art 
 that accident had thrown in his way were not of a character to make him dissatisfied 
 with the models of style transmitted by the masters of his own country and of 
 China. Hence he took the art as he found it, applying it to embody his own ideas 
 and observations, without feeling the need of more perfected theories or methods. 
 
 His labours have long been known and appreciated in Europe and America by 
 the few who have bestowed attention upon the art of Japan. Sir Rutherford Alcock 
 and Mr. Jarves have both drawn largely upon the Mangwa for illustrations to their 
 volumes. M. Chassiron, as early as 1864, introduced some very careful engravings 
 from the same source into his “ Le Japon, la Chine, et I’lnde.” The collections of 
 Dr. Gierke, Professor Morse, M. Gonse, and Mr. Ernest Hart include valuable 
 examples of his pencil. Messrs. Duret and Burty, who are amongst the most earnest 
 admirers of the artist’s genius, have succeeded by dint of unremitting search in 
 bringing together extensive libraries of the printed volumes containing his illustrations; 
 and biographical facts have been contributed by many writers, one of whom, Mr. 
 F. V. Dickins, has rendered most important service to the cause by placing an 
 English edition of the “Hundred Views of Fuji" within reach of the English 
 reading public. The art of Hokusai possesses the rare qualities which render it 
 adaptable to all times and all countries, but it is, perhaps, in Japan that he is least 
 highly esteemed. 
 
 A word may here be said as to the position of Hokusai amongst his own 
 countrymen. For the acknowledged connoisseurs in pictures—men of high culture in 
 all that constitutes Japanese education—he has no claim to a share in the consideration 
 allotted to the Tosas and Kanos, whose gentle schooling, visible in every line of their 
 work, was a passport of caste that Hokusai did not possess. They do not deny that 
 he has a certain kind of talent, but his training appears to them in a hundred 
 ways that are repugnant to their habits of thought. He is “vulgar,” and there is an 
 end of it. This position is natural enough, and need not be unintelligible to any 
 European who believes himself able to recognize, as by an instinct, the character and 
 education of an unknown correspondent in his handwriting and manner of expressing 
 ordinary ideas, but it is narrow and unjust when applied to a man of the genius of 
 Hokusai—as narrow and unjust as would be a criticism that condemns as worthless 
 
 c c 
 
gS 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 a Buddhist god by Keion or Cho Densii, because the lines of bone and muscle 
 fall below the standard of anatomical truth that would be expected from the merest 
 tyro in a European art academy. Hokusai was a child of the people, whose little 
 learning was picked up in the cheapest schools, and whose only possible associates 
 in the Japan of his time were the artisans and tradespeople amidst whom he lived 
 and for whom he laboured. It could only be expected that his work would bear 
 evidence of his surroundings, but it was not “vulgar” in the sense of coarse or 
 offensive. His manner of drawing lacks the something essential to the aesthetic 
 instincts of the educated Oriental calligraphist, but shows no trace of artistic 
 clumsiness or ignorance, and indeed often serves its real purpose better than the 
 masterly but fanciful touch of a Motonobu or a Tanyu. His pictures have gladdened 
 us with bright transcripts of life, energy, and new ideas, written in the tersest and 
 most powerful language, and we need not pause in our verdict to ask whether he is 
 or is not one of the prophets for whom there is no honour in his own country. 
 
 The subjoined quotations will serve to show how great is the impression his 
 powers have left upon the two accomplished authors who have been the means of 
 making the Japanese book-illustrator known and appreciated wherever the French 
 language is read. M. Duret (“ Gazette des Beaux Arts,” vol. xxxvi.) thus sums up 
 his notice of the artist :— 
 
 " Hokusai, est le plus grand artiste que le Japon ait produit. 11 est du petit 
 nombre de ces hommes qui ont la puissance de marquer a leur coin tout ce qu'ils 
 touchent. On pent done dire qu'il a su donner un caractere nouveau aux nombreux 
 sujets qu'il a traites, qui .sont des lors demeures avec une physionomie diffdrente de 
 celle qu’ils avaient auparavant. Si nous voulons mettre Hoku.sai en balance avec les 
 artistes europdens nous ne pouvons le classer parmi les peintres, nous devons le 
 considerer uniquement comme dessinateur et juger son oeuvre par comparaison avec 
 celle des maitres qui ont laissd im ceuvre dessine ou gravd. Dans ces conditions 
 nous trouverons qu’il peut aller de pair avec n'importe quel artiste europeen. Ses 
 (Euvres, pour me servir d une expression d'atelier, tiennent a cote de cedes des plus 
 grandes maitres.” 
 
 M. Gonse, no less enthusiastic in his estimate, finally reviews in a few lines 
 the most striking of the characteristics of his works. “Toujours et partout la vie, 
 telle pourrait etre la devise de ce grandissime artiste; toujours et partout le .souci 
 du trait resumd et expressif, le sentiment du relief, le discernement admirable de ce 
 qui doit dmouvoir ou charmer, une verve comique endiablee inepuisable, C'est par 
 ces cotes qu'a mes yeux il dgale les plus forts d'entre les nbtres ; c’est par Ih que son 
 ceuvre s'eldve si haut dans le domaine de I'esthdtique japonaise et en dtablit a mes 
 yeux la formule ddfinitive.” 
 
 It is only against the opening sentence of the first and the closing words of the 
 last quotation that we should feel at all disposed to raise a protest. Had M. Duret 
 proposed to set the same limits to his comparison of Hokusai with the old Japanese 
 
Kngravcd in 
 
 PLATE 39. 
 
 THE IN.SECT DAIMIO CORTEGE. 
 
 VO blocks, from a drawing by KiusAi, made for the author in 187S. 
 
 Popular School. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 99 
 
 masters, that he very justly formulates when placing him by the side of European 
 artists, the position of the Ukiyo-yi leader would have been more fairly stated ; and 
 it is possible that M. Gonse will at some future time be willing to inscribe a like 
 reservation against his present Judgment. Hokusai’s memory is, perhaps, exposed 
 to a greater danger from the admiration of his earnest, but too generous European 
 critics, than from the neglect of his countrymen. To regard him as the greatest 
 artist of Japan, and as the crowning representative of all that is excellent in Japanese 
 art, is unjust to the art, and may react unfavourably against the reputation of the 
 man who has suddenly been elevated to a position far above his own ambition. 
 The methods and aims of Hokusai, and the order of his abilities, were so widely 
 different from those of the leaders of the ancient schools, that a comparison is 
 scarcely tenable, nor need we force him into a competition that he never sought. 
 In the domains of calligraphic touch and colour harmonies Hokusai would be 
 judged inferior to a hundred of his predecessors whom we might name, but if we 
 study him in the lower but broad and fertile region that he chose for himself, we 
 find him without an equal. He has taught us more of his country and fellows, 
 and has done a greater w'ork within his sphere, than any of his actual rivals— 
 amongst whom we are not to number the old masters—but we have no more right 
 to compare him with a Cho Densu, a Sesshiu, or a Shiubun, than to draw a parallel 
 between John Leech and Fra Angelico. 
 
 The chief of the earlier rivals of Hokusai were Kitawo Keisai Masayoshi, 
 Kitagawa Lltamaro, Utagawa Toyohiro, and Utagawa Toyokuni. Amongst the crowd 
 of his later contemporaries may be selected for mention Kunisada (Toyokuni the 
 Second) and Kuniyoshi, who were more particularly noted for colour-print portraits 
 of actors; Hiroshigd, a talented landscape painter, who made use of the European 
 importations of perspective and chiaroscuro more systematically than any of his fellows; 
 Keisai Yeisen, Giokuransai Sadahidd, and Riusen Shigdnobu, who were his associates 
 in the illustration of the novels of Bakin and other modern writers ; Hokkei, Hokuba, 
 and Isai, who were close imitators of his style ; and, lastly, Kiosai, who has succeeded 
 the master in his comic vein, and is the best of the modern book illustrators. 
 Further details as to these men will be found in the Section of “ Applications,” and 
 in the British Museum Catalogue, where are also given the titles of the principal 
 volumes illustrated by each; but the essential features of popular design in the 
 nineteenth century are summed up in the works of Hokusai, save in the relatively 
 crude and stilted theatrical section, to which he contributed nothing. In the 
 illustration of novels he w’as approached most nearly by Toyohiro and the older 
 Toyokuni ; in figure drawing his most successful imitators were Hokkei and Isai; in 
 landscape he was rivalled only by Hiroshigd ; Kiosai has been already mentioned as his 
 successor in burlesque—but in all these branches he stood first, or in the foremost rank. 
 
 The Ganku riD was intimately associated in its origin and progress with the 
 
lOO 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 school of Okio. Its founder, Kishi Doko, whose noni de pinceatt of Ganku gave the 
 title to the academy, was born in Kanazawa, in the province of Kaga, about the 
 middle of the last century, and became promoted from the service of Prince 
 Arisugawu to an office in the Imperial household. He appears to have at first 
 directed his attention to painting merely as an accomplishment, but the amusement 
 soon became a profession, and won for him an eminent position amongst the art 
 leaders of Kioto at an epoch that was marked by a remarkable competition of 
 originality and talent. 
 
 His style is said to have been founded upon the paintings of the Chinese masters 
 of the Sung dynasty, but by importation of elements from various sources, underwent 
 sufficient modification to give his work a distinctive character. His pictures are 
 amongst the most striking of the art products of his time, and with their robust 
 power of design and strong, but somewhat eccentric touch, are more forcible, if less 
 elegant and truthful, than those of Okio. He was especially noted for his sketches of 
 tigers, some of which bear a very close resemblance to those of the Chinese artist 
 Chao Tan-lin, and appear inspired with fierce life, despite the conventionality of their 
 outlines. He has, however, given us portraitures of other animals, which bear strong 
 traces of an influence exercised by the naturalistic theories that were just beginning 
 to ferment in Kioto. A drawing of a peacock in the British Museum Collection is 
 remarkable for its combination of boldness and accuracy, and a picture of monkeys, 
 painted in conjunction with his son Gantai, is worthy of Sosen in its fidelity to 
 nature. 
 
 He was known by many other names, of which Funzen, Kakando, Kotokwan, 
 and Tenkai-kutsu were the chief; and he bore the titles of Uta-no-sukd and 
 Chikuzen-no-suk(f. He is commonly referred to in books by the respectful appellations 
 of Gan O or Tenkai O, the honourable Gan or Tenkai. The eldest son of Ganku, 
 named Gantai, followed in the footsteps of his father, but with an additional leaning 
 towards the Shijo school. He excelled in the representation of birds and other 
 animals in action, and has left some effective sketches of Japanese scenery. One of 
 his principal works is a “ Meeting of Chinese Poets,” which forms a decoration of the 
 sliding walls of one of the apartments in the Imperial palace of Kioto, and nearly 
 all his various styles are exemplified in the British Museum Collection. He died at 
 the age of seventy, in 1863. His cousin Ganrio and his son Gankei were less noted 
 members of the line, but Aoki Renzan, or Gantoku (d. 1859), the son-in-law of 
 Ganku, was one of the best artists of the present centuiy, and has left many 
 drawings of landscape almost unrivalled in their idyllic beauty, but in a style which 
 approximates closely to that of the Shijo school. His decorative paintings upon the 
 panels of an apartment in the Imperial palace at Kioto, representing a flight of wild 
 geese, are amongst the most remarkable of the pictorial embellishments of the building. 
 
 The chief remaining names in the school are those of Chikudo or Ganki, a 
 Kioto artist, whose pictures of birds and other animals and landscapes are very like 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 lor 
 
 those of the pupils of Ohio; and Shiwogawa Bunrin, one of the most original and 
 powerful impressionists that Japan has produced in the last two centuries. The 
 moonlight view of Lake Biwa, in plate 55, is a striking example of his monochrome 
 style, but the lightly tinted sketch of the Vodo river (plate 51) approaches the limits 
 of perfection in its realization of atmospheric effects and its suggestions of colour 
 and distance. The artist died in 1878. 
 
 The European School, if it may be dignified with the name of an academy, 
 arose before the end of the last century, in close connection with the Artisan Ukiyo-ye. 
 
 When we consider the length of the period during which Japan has held 
 intercourse with certain Western nations, it is somewhat remarkable that Japanese 
 art—omitting from consideration that of the last twenty years—has displayed so few 
 traces of European influence. From upwards of three hundred years ago, traders 
 and missionaries of various nationalities have had access to the country, and have 
 not failed to leave enduring marks of their presence in matters non-c'esthetic. As 
 early as 1585 a number of envoys were sent to Rome by the Daimio of Bungo, and 
 thirty years later Hashikura, a retainer of Date Masamune, Daimio of Sendai, also 
 visited the Holy City. These men must have seen the art treasures of the place, 
 and perhaps brought back specimens as offerings to their lords. Hashikura at least 
 was the bearer of one relic, in the shape of an Italian altar-piece, a very poor work 
 in oil, which is still in existence. 
 
 The effect, however, of this experience upon the productions of the native schools 
 was almost absolutely negative. 
 
 In the latter part of the eighteenth century some principles of European art 
 were made known by Dutch traders and settlers. About 1780 Shiba Gokan learned 
 the art of engraving on copper, together with a smattering of perspective and other 
 branches of pictorial science, from a Dutch resident in Nagasaki, and produced a 
 book of travels and some albums of etchings, in which his foreign accomplishments 
 Avere displayed, but not made attractive. He was, in fact, a very indifferent artist, 
 and was only saved from oblivion by the novelty of the information he so imperfectly 
 conveyed to his countrymen. About the same time—in 1785—appeared a book called 
 Komozatsu wa (matters concerning the Dutch), in which the tools of the copper-plate 
 engraver were depicted, and some of the plates of Gerard de Lairesse were reproduced 
 by woodcuts, nearly in facsimile. From this time we meet with little in the style of 
 the “ Ran-gAva ” (Dutch pictures) besides a clever album of copper etchings, the 
 Doban sai-gwa cho, by Okada Shun-tosai, published about 1855 (in Avhich not 
 only linear perspective, but some rudiments of chiaroscuro were introduced); the 
 Tokaidd go-jhi-san eki, a similar but inferior work ; and a feAv travesties of foreign 
 pictures, such as those Avhich illustrate “ The History of America ” [Meriken Sliinshi, 
 i 855\ the Kaigai jimbutsu shodcn, i860 (see fig. 39, page 102), the Yokohama 
 kaiko kemmon ski (1862), and some draAvings of little merit by obscure draughtsmen. 
 
 D d 
 
102 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAP AX. 
 
 Hokusai notices Dutch art only by an incorrect copy of two perspective diagrams, 
 and the introduction of perspective in three or four of his innumerable illustrations 
 to novels and tales; Keisai Masayoshi, Hasdgawa Settan, and one or two others 
 also knew a little of the science, but only employed it on rare occasions, ■where the 
 shortcomings of their ordinary practice -were especially obvious, as in delineating the 
 interior arrangement of a theatre or the whole length of a street, and again in 
 painting stage scenerj'; and lastly, Hiroshigd, who worked from about 1820, made 
 constant use of a very rudimentary perspective, but, except in a few colour-prints, 
 has not recognized any other elements of our art. (See Section 4.) 
 
 Fig. 39. Napoleon at St. Helena. From the /imbutsu Kaigai Shoden (Dickins Collection). 
 
 It will thus be seen that very few artists known in their profession allowed 
 foreign example to affect their practice in drawing, and these were members of a 
 school .still despised by the connoisseurs of their own country. The estimate formed 
 by the Japanese of the influence e.xerted by European example upon the art of 
 painting is summarized in the following e.xtract from a series of interesting articles 
 in the Nic/ii nichi Shimbiin {Daily News) of April, 1884 :—" Since the Restoration 
 (1868), the study of the European style has become common, although it still numbers 
 but few adherents amongst our artists. There are, however, a considerable number of 
 persons who profess to understand the foreign manner of painting, but they are really 
 ignorant of its theory, and for the most part produce nothing better than mechanical 
 imitations. Nay! we may obserx'e some artists adding shadows to paintings in our old 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 103 
 
 style, and then calling them ‘ European ’ art. This European style, and that of the 
 Southern Chinese school, may be said to be crushing our native art as between a 
 pair of millstones.” 
 
 The apparent want of receptiveness with regard to Western art may be traced 
 partly to the habits of thought stereotyped by centuries of Chinese teaching, and 
 partly to the inferior nature of most of the specimens of European painting that 
 reached Japan. In the last ten years better opportunities of comprehending the new 
 principles have been afforded by the engagement of Italian instructors in connection 
 with the Engineering College of Tokio, and by the visits of able English and 
 American artists; and there are now a large number of the new generation who are 
 adopting the foreign system in its entirety, and many others who are making a bad 
 compromise between the two methods. It is owing to the study of the worthless 
 productions of men of the latter class that many erroneous views of Japanese art 
 have crept into European books. 
 
 The Kano school has added nothing to its reputation during the last hundred 
 years. Yosen in Hoin, or Kordnobu (i 753 —1808), and Isen in Hoin, or Naganobu 
 {■775 —1818), the sons of Yeisen in Hoin (Michinobu), were good artists, but inferior to 
 their father ; the decadence was continued in Seisen Hogen ( 0 .sanobu), the son of Isen, 
 whose son, Shbsen in Hoin, or Tadanobu, is the present representative of the line. 
 Lastly, Tanshinsai Morimichi and his son, Morizand, and a few others, formed a branch 
 of the academy, the most characteristic pictures of which were executed in the “ highly- 
 coloured ” style that became prevalent in the Middle Kingdom under the Ming dynasty. 
 
 The Tosa school in the same period numbered an artist of considerable 
 originality in Mitsusada (1738—1806), and an accomplished draughtsman and colourist 
 in Itaya Keishiu (d. 1797), a pupil of Sumiyoshi Hiromori. Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki 
 (■ 755 —1811) was the painter of the sliding-panel pictures of the Chinese sages in the 
 Imperial palace, e.xcept one, which was contributed by his grandson Hirotsura, or 
 Hirosada (1794—1864). The last was a good colourist in the decorative style of 
 his school, but made no distinctive reputation. His son, Hirokata, is still living. 
 
 The Chinese school underwent considerable modification in style after the ri-se 
 of the Shijo school. Soshiseki, a pupil of Soshigan, followed the example of the 
 popular artists in publishing a series of woodcuts, some in colour, from his own 
 drawings and those of older artists, between 1769 and 1781. His pupils, Minzan 
 and Hijikata Torei, were clever painters; Hanko, of Nagasaki, won a reputation for 
 monochrome sketches of birds, bamboos, &c. ; Gessen, an artist of much inventive 
 power, is well known by his portraits of Taoist Immortals, engraved in a book 
 entitled the Ressen ihii san (1784); Ito Jakuchiu, who became a pupil in the Kano 
 and Korin schools, but subsequently adopted a modified Chinese style ; Nakabayashi 
 Chikuto, who was noted for drawings of landscape, plum blossoms, and bamboos in the 
 manner of the Yiien dynasty, many of which have been engraved ; Tano Chikuden, who 
 
104 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 attained a still higher reputation as a follower of the old Chinese masters ; Fukuhara 
 Gogaku, and Cho Gessho, two celebrated pupils of Taigado; and Haruki Nanko, whose 
 son Nammei, still living, is the last link that binds the Chinese school to the present. 
 Naminei's picture, engraved in plate 41, recalls the style of the Popular school, but 
 his more usual manner is Chinese, with an occasional tinge of Shijo influence. 
 Shiuki, Onishi Keisai and Shiko Sorin may be joined with Nammei as admirable 
 colourists, and sharing the naturalistic tendencies of the latter. The talented amateur 
 Inagaki also appears to have been influenced in his drawing by the example of the 
 Shijo artists. The pheasant by Keisai in plate 44, the hawk and teal by Shiuki in 
 Section 4, and the “ Thousand Carp ” by Inagaki in plate 59, will demonstrate how 
 closely the old school drew towards the new in the treatment of certain motives. 
 
 Fig. 40. Toriumi-yama, in the Province of Dtfwa. From a Sketch by Tani Buncho, engraved in 
 the Meizan dzu-ye (c. i8io). 
 
 An interesting branch of the academy appeared at the beginning of the century 
 under Tani Buncho (called in his later years Sha-san-ro, “ the old man who drew 
 mountains”), who was one of the leading artists of the end of the last and beginning 
 of the present century, and is sometimes regarded as the founder of a special school 
 which bears his name. His first lessons in art were derived from the Kanos, but a 
 later study of the drawings of the masterpieces of the Sung and Ytien dynasties 
 converted him to the parent school. 
 
 He was gifted with great versatility, and although he adhered so closely to the Chinese 
 rules that his pictures, especially his landscapes, are often difficult to distinguish from 
 those of the painters of the Middle Kingdom, few of his countrymen have displayed 
 
PLATE 40. 
 
 SPARROWS AND BAMBOOS, 
 
 SPIERS COLLECTION. 
 
 painting on silk by Hoyes. Shijo School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 554 x l 6 i inches. 
 
PLATE 41. 
 
 JIGOKU REIGAN. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 697). 
 
 From a paintivg on silk by Haruki Nammei. Size of original, 49^ x 26 inches. Nineteenth century. 
 
 The personage represented was a noted hetaira of the fifteenth century, wlio was adopted as a pupil by the talented 
 but eccentric priest, painter, and poet, Ikkiu (1395—1481), and became famous for her beauty and learning. She is 
 here attired in the processional robe figured with the torments of the Buddhist Hades, to which she owed the gruesome 
 prefix to her name of Jigoku, the Japanese equivalent for Naraka or Hell. 
 
 Haruki Nammei, an artist of the Chinese school, born in the early part of this century, is one of the few 
 remaining links between the art of Old Japan and that of the present time. The work here engraved is after the 
 manner of the Hishigawa school. 
 
 Wii.HEl.M Greve, Berlin, Lith. 
 

PLATE 42. 
 
 I. FISH. 
 
 BURTY COLLECTION. 
 
 ?'rom a painting on paper by MORI SOSEN. Naturalistic School. C. 1800. 
 
 This admirable .specimen of the freehanded style of the artist helps to vindicate his reputation from the charge that 
 he was merely a painter of Monkeys. Plates 30, 31, and 68, and fig. 36 may be referred to as examples of his various 
 manners and motives, and other specimens have been reproduced by photogravure in “ L’Art Japonais.” It should be 
 mentioned that this picture has already been engraved, on a smaller scale, by M. Gonse in the work just named. 
 
 2 . HEN AND CHICKENS. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2106). 
 From a painting on silk by H61TSU. Korin School. C. 1830. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 105 
 
 as much verve and originality of design, or so keen an appreciation for the wilder 
 forms of picturesque beauty. His drawings of birds and other animals 
 occasionally show a tendency to naturalism that enhances their value, but his most 
 characteristic works are those depicting the mountain scenery of his own country. 
 Many of his sketches have been published in the Nippon Meizan dztt-ye (Pictures 
 of the celebrated Mountains of Japan, 3 vols., 1810) and Tani Buncho gwa fu 
 (Miscellaneous Sketches, 2 vols., 1862). He died in 1841, at the age of seventy-eight, 
 leaving numerous pupils and imitators. 
 
 The Korin school was revived about 1820, by Hoitsu, a man of noble birth and 
 a high dignitary in the Buddhist Church, whose inventive genius and power of brush 
 fitted him admirably for the task he had undertaken. Many of his monochrome and 
 lightly-tinted sketches are successful, but never slavish, imitations of the master in 
 point of style, and full of originality of conception. He has rendered important 
 service to Japanese art by publishing several collections of the works of Korin in 
 the form of printed albums {Korm liiakii dzu, Korin gwa fu, (Sic.), and by training a 
 chosen band of pupils, amongst whom were Kiitsu, Honi, and others, who aided 
 in reviving the manner which had almost disappeared except in the decoration of 
 lacquer. Plates 42 and 57 are good examples of the monochrome style of the modern 
 Korin academy. 
 
 The only important contributions to the Buddhist school in the present century 
 are those of Kazunobu, a pupil of the Kano school, who has placed himself in the 
 front rank of the Buddhistic painters by his portraits of the Sixteen Arhats, still 
 exhibited periodically in one of the temples of Shiba in Tokio. The end of this 
 ancient phase of pictorial art is close at hand. The Buddhistic establishments many 
 disorganized, others needy or beggared—are unlikely to regain the position of wealth 
 and power that made them so conspicuous in the mediaeval period of Japanese history, 
 and the artists of the Church, unstimulated by the old emulation, unsupported by the 
 wealthy patronage necessary for the production of the more ambitious works of the school, 
 are losing their skill, and leave no pupils to fill their place in the coming generation. 
 
 At the present time there is little to represent the pictorial art of Old Japan. 
 New ideas upon this, as upon every other subject, are pouring in from every country 
 in Europe, but the results have until very recently extended much farther in the 
 direction of disintegration than of reconstruction. The incorporation of European 
 elements with Japanese art is now inevitable, and if carefully directed, may widen 
 the scope of the latter without destroying its individuality. There is, indeed, a 
 risk that Japanese painting so reformed may for a time be deprived of its national 
 features, and become drowned in the “ classicality ” of Europe as formerly in that of 
 China ; but we may hope that the submergence would be brief, and that the art, rising 
 again, freed from the dead weights of former times, and strengthened in all that was 
 best in its best periods, will achieve results that will astonish the whole world of art. 
 
 E e 
 
Fig. 41. From a Drawing in the Cutler Collection. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HE quiet but significant revolution initiated by the Naturalistic and 
 Popular schools of painting a hundred years ago soon extended to 
 all branches of art. 
 
 Keramic art, freeing itself from the leading-strings of the 
 Cha-no-yu, commenced a new and rather wild career, overturning 
 many old traditions that might well have been preserved, creating 
 many new precedents that had not the elements of vitality; but still 
 urged by strong inventive power, and guided by an instinct of beauty 
 that saved it from losing altogether the path of promise. The 
 stronger of the old fabriques grew apace, and new kilns sprang up 
 in spots that once seemed the most unlikely seats for any fresh 
 departures of the industry; but the spirits of old Toshiro and 
 Shondzui would be perple-xed to recognize as Japanese the enormous specimens of 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 107 
 
 gorgeously embellished ware with which the commercial enterprise of modern Seto 
 and Arita have learned to woo the taste of European and American collectors ; and 
 the Korean potters who made the Satsuma kilns famous two or three centuries ago 
 can never have dreamed of anything so foreign to their experience and teaching as 
 the nineteenth-century faience of their lineal descendants, which have furnished the 
 originals for many of the gorgeous plates in the album of Messrs. Audsley and Bowes. 
 
 A full account of the development of Japanese porcelain and pottery in the 
 nineteenth century would be outside the scope of this volume, but the writings of 
 Franks, Brinkley, and Bing (in “ L’Art Japonais”) will provide detailed information 
 for specialists; the works of Audsley and Gonse have achieved wonders in the 
 artistic reproduction of specimens, and the classified collections in the British and 
 •South Kensington Museums afford a rich choice of materials for direct study. The 
 subjoined sketch, compiled partly from personal inquiry, partly from the published 
 works of the latest native authorities, comprises only such historical landmarks as are 
 necessary to trace the progress of this branch of Japanese art in association with the 
 rise and growth of the Naturalistic and Popular schools of pictorial art. 
 
 In 1801, Kato Kichizaydmon, a descendant of Toshiro, wishing to introduce the 
 manufacture of porcelain into the Seto (Owari) fabriques, sought to know the methods 
 followed at Arita, but the potters of the latter place were too jealous of interference 
 with their interests to offer him any encouragement. Shortly afterwards, the younger 
 brother of Kichizaydmon, employing wiles where negotiations had failed, settled in 
 Arita under an assumed name, and married the widow of one of the potters, by 
 which means he gained admission into the factory, and learned all that the place 
 could teach him. This done, he deserted his wife and a child that she had borne 
 to him, and secretly returned to Sdto, where the value of his new acquisition secured 
 his protection against the righteous indignation of the people he had deceived. Seto 
 is now one of the chief centres of the porcelain manufacture, and has outrivalled both 
 of its great predecessors in the quantity, if not in the quality of its produce. It is 
 the source of most of the gigantic vases and plates of blue and white that have in 
 recent years constituted so prominent a feature in foreign exhibitions, and is extending 
 its efforts to Celadon, flambd, and other wares, to satisfy the demands of the foreign 
 market; but, as Captain Brinkley has remarked in the “ Chrysanthemum,” “ Scarcely 
 a memory seems to survive of the art which formerly produced a blue colour, not 
 merely pure and rich, but possessing that peculiarly charming property of incorporating 
 so intimately with the paste as to convey the idea of encaustic decoration." It is to 
 be feared that the average produce of this, as of the other centres, is undergoing a 
 deterioration, which is inadequately compensated for by the manufacture of a few too 
 ambitious specimens, that mostly appeal to wealth rather than to good taste. 
 
 From Sdto, the art of porcelain manufacture quickly passed to other places in 
 Owari, and in 1810 reached Tajima, in Mino, where for centuries before the potters 
 had been faithful adherents to the Sdto methods. There are at the present time 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 loS 
 
 several furnaces in the province, the chief of which, at Ichinokura, produces most of 
 the little articles of thin porcelain that have been so highly prized in Europe. The 
 Tajima porcelain is remarkable for the extreme delicacy of its moulded designs, 
 and may claim a place amongst the most striking productions of modern Japanese 
 keramic art. 
 
 With the rise of the Mino porcelain industry', the Kioto fabriques, which had 
 previously made little beyond the Raku ware, and faience in the style of Ninsei and 
 his pupils, began to imitate the Arita porcelain. The first artists who turned their hands 
 to the new work were Zengoro, Rokubei, Kinkozan, Tanzan, and Dohachi. To these 
 and their followers were added, at a later period (about 1850), Kanzan Denshiehi, a 
 potter of Owari, Zoroku, Seifu Vohei, and some others; while the Hozan, Taizan, 
 and Iwakurazan lines remained faithful to their old traditions in pottery. Kioto is 
 now the centre of an active fabrication of keramic produce of all kinds, including 
 cloisonne on metal and porcelain ; and many of the large jars and plates sold as “ Old 
 Imari," and the cream-coloured vases and other objects dubbed “ Satsuma,” or even 
 “ Old Satsuma," by the audacity of the curiosity dealer, are fashioned in Kioto fabriques. 
 
 The porcelain manufacture has long been a secret de Polichinellc. As the Seto 
 procedures e.xtended to Mino, so have Kioto workmen carried the art to all their 
 neighbours in the trade who have thought it worth their while to make use of it; thus 
 the new Sdta, the Zezd, Sakurai, Metsupodani, Awaji, Minato, Shiraishi, Suzumegatani, 
 the later Kosobd, and many other wares owe most of their characters to this source. 
 
 One of the most notable keramic artists of the century was Zengoro Riozen, the 
 
 eleventh of a line of potters who had before his time always confined their exertions 
 
 to the manufacture of braziers for the Cliajin. About 1810 he commenced a series 
 of e.xperiments in imitating certain of the old Chinese and Japanese pottery and 
 porcelain, and achieved some valuable results, but he was driven from place to place 
 by pecuniary difficulties—from Kioto to Yedo, from Vedo to Hikone, on the shores 
 of Lake Riwa—until at last he found repose under the protection of the Daimio of 
 Kishiu. The most successful of his copies was a porcelain decorated with a rich 
 
 coral red and formal designs in gold, after a style that originated in the Yung-lo 
 
 (Jap. Yeiraku) period of China, and is imperfectly represented by some of the modern 
 Kutane ware. This masterpiece led to his adoption, by the desire of his patron, of 
 the name of Yeiraku, in place of that of Zengoro. A little later, he and a companion 
 named Nishimura Zengo worked in a fabrique constructed in the grounds of the 
 Daimio, and made the ware now known as Kishiti-yaki or Kairaku-yaki, but at first 
 entitled by the non-distinctive name of O-niwa yaki {O-niwa, the honourable garden). 
 It was characterized by finely crackled glazes of turquoise blue, dark purple, gamboge 
 yellow, and other colours, and in some examples by raised designs moulded upon the 
 exterior. An imitation of the ware was made in Yedo for a few years from about 
 1850, under the name of Sanraku yaki, but the experiment was a failure, and the 
 kilns soon fell into disuse. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 109 
 
 The Kutan^ porcelain manufacture, after a lapse of many years, became restored in 
 1810 by Miyamoto Rinyemon, who decorated his works with designs, chiefly floral, 
 after the manner of the old “ Kochin-China ” ware. A few years later the kilns were 
 removed to Yamashiro, and a painter named lidaya Hachiroydmon adopted a new 
 style of ornamentation, consisting of representations of Chinese figures and landscapes, 
 outlined in red and heightened with a few touches of gold ; but the manufacture after 
 a time ceased, and the kilns were replaced in 1858 by others under the direction of 
 a member of the Yeiraku line, to whose teaching are due the main decorative 
 characteristics of the modern produce now known as Kaga or Kutand ware. 
 
 The Tozan porcelain was manufactured from about 1840, at Hinieiji (Harima), 
 the materials coming from Mount Tozan. It consisted chiefly of celadon and blue 
 and white. The older specimens of celadon are very good, but the ware has now but 
 little reputation. 
 
 Porcelain in imitation of the Hizen ware is now made at Imado, in Tokio, and 
 is known as Imado-yaki. 
 
 The principal changes in faience belong to the Satsuma and Banko ware, and 
 the most important of the new fabriques is that of Makudzu, founded at Ota, a 
 suburb of Yokohama, about fourteen years ago. 
 
 The Satsuma pottery had maintained a sober tone of ornament, except in the 
 iiishikide made for presentation to the Shogun or for the private use of the Daimio, 
 until the early part of the century, when two potters, named Kwabara Jiuzayt^unon 
 and Kin Zenkai (a Korean), introduced methods of decoration from Kioto, and many 
 specimens, now of great rarity, of the creamy-white finely-crackled ware decorated 
 with diapers in raised gold, with chrysanthemums and other flowers, and with figures 
 of Chinese lions or Chinese boys at play, were made at this time; but from about 
 i860 the demand for exportation led to an enormous increase in the size and 
 complexity of the objects, together with considerable modification in the pictorial 
 designs used for their embellishment. Most of the modern Satsuma is painted in 
 Tokio, and undoubtedly gains by the change, but unfortunately the fine quality of 
 the paste and the exquisitely delicate crackle of the glaze, that gave value to the 
 older specimens, appear to be lost for ever. 
 
 The Banko faience lapsed at the end of the eighteenth century until about 1835, 
 when a potter named Mori Yusetsu accidentally discovered the lost formula for the 
 preparation of the old enamels, and, assuming the name of Banko, erected kilns at 
 Kuwana, in Isd. He did more, however, than imitate his predecessor, for he was the 
 first amongst Japanese keramists to adopt the Chinese method of using pattern moulds 
 applied on the inner surface of his pieces, and he also introduced several new features 
 into the enamel decoration. Some five years later his secrets were betrayed by one 
 of his workmen, and another fabrique was established at the neighbouring village of 
 Yokkaichi. The ware, which is now well known in Europe, bears little or no 
 resemblance to the old Banko. It is usually composed of a grey or brownish-red 
 
 F f 
 
I lO 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 clay, of different shades of colour, glazed or unglazed, most commonly hand-made 
 and retaining the imprint of the fingers, and may be decorated with enamels of various 
 colours, or with engraved or moulded designs. The forms are often novel, and the 
 ornamentation efl’ective. 
 
 The Ota ware Avas made at Ota, near Yokohama, from 1871, by a potter named 
 Miyagawa Kozan (more commonly known as Alakudzu, from his former place of 
 residence at Makudzu-gahara, in Kioto). His first efforts were unimportant imitations 
 of Satsuma faience made with Satsuma clay, but more recently he has taken to the 
 invention of a multitude of novel designs that trench rather too closely upon the 
 domains of sculpture, but are full of daring and originality. The same artist has 
 made some good specimens of porcelain. 
 
 The manufacture of lacquered porcelain and pottery for exportation is a feature of 
 the present century, although the application of lacquer to keramic decoration originated 
 as early as the seventeenth century. The combination cannot be praised upon any 
 grounds ; the style and e,xecution of the ornamentation are usually execrable, and the 
 lacquer presents an easily vulnerable surface, while the article of cour.se retains all the 
 weight and fragility of ordinary pottery. It was introduced by a workman of Nagoya, 
 named Toyosukd, about 1825; but the original “Toyosukd Raku-yaki ” consisted of 
 small articles of pottery, and the lacquered decoration was applied with a skill and 
 taste that are entirely wanting in the larger and more recent specimens now made for 
 exportation at Ozaka, \'ashima, and elsewhere, in numbers that speak ill for the 
 judgment of their Western purchasers. 
 
 At the present day the distinctions of style in the different centres of manufacture 
 are tending to disappear, partly owing to the competition for the command of the 
 foreign trade, and partly to the impoverishment of most of the old native patrons of 
 the art. At first the competition was to some extent beneficial, in bringing forward 
 new labour and new ideas, but during the last few years, whether the makers have 
 accjuired a contempt for the taste of their new clients, or whether they find their 
 best profit in the rapid multiplication of cheap and imitative work, it is certain that 
 the level of the produce is steadily falling. The London shops are at this day flooded 
 with low-priced, but unsightly and ill-made wares, that the poorest Japanese kilns of 
 ten years ago would have blushed to own. In face of this fact, it is not to be 
 supposed that the reputation of Japanese keramic art will be saved by a few gigantic 
 and elaborate specimens, manufactured especially for display in American and European 
 exhibitions. 
 
 The Netsukd-carver attained the highest proficiency in his art in the beginning 
 of the present century, but, like the potter, is now beginning to degenerate. The 
 toggle of the old workmen is replaced by the okimono, as a concession to an ungirdled 
 race of patrons; but while the works gain in size, they are losing in originality 
 and power. At the same time, the idol-maker and the architectural sculptor find 
 their occupation reduced within very narrow limits. The first is doomed, but it 
 
GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 111 
 
 may be hoped that the important section of glyptic art developed by the genius 
 of Hidari Jingoro and his followers will not be allowed to perish for lack 
 of the encouragement so freely squandered upon gaudy faience and third-rate 
 lacquer. 
 
 The Encrusted work, which on a small scale was brought to perfection by Ritsuwo 
 at the beginning of the eighteenth century, has shared with ivory-carving and pottery 
 the modern tendency to magnify the dimensions of the object, often at the expense of 
 artistic quality. Some of the huge encrusted plaques embellished with pictorial designs 
 in lacquer, ivory, mother-of-pearl, metal, potteiy, &c., that are now fashioned to meet 
 the foreign demand, are, however, very effective, and the careful reproductions of the 
 well-selected e.xamples in Mr. Audsley’s “Ornamental Arts of Japan ” demonstrate that, 
 if the later work will not bear the test of long familiarity and close study so well as 
 the less assertive specimens of a past era, the old technical skill and spirit of invention 
 are by no means e.xtinct. 
 
 The elegance of design and perfection of technique characterizing the older Lacquer 
 suffered little or no diminution during the first three or four decades of the present 
 century, and many names, including those of Zdshin, Tosen, Taishin, Komin, and 
 Shomin, were added to the long list of distinguished artists who adopted this 
 speciality. The motives of the Chinese, Kano, Tosa, and Korin academies were still 
 e.xtensively utilized, but a new series of original and pleasing inventions were adapted 
 from the sketches of Hokusai and other members of the Ukiyo-yd school, and the 
 Shijo painter Zdshin has infused many novel elements into the art. On the other 
 hand, the ordinary article de commerce in lacquer has reached a point of badness 
 below which it would seem impossible to descend, and the qualities that spread the 
 fame of Japanese lacquer over the world are found only in specimens beyond the 
 reach of all but the most wealthy buyers. 
 
 The Embroiderers of Kioto and elsewhere have found from the caterers for the 
 European market so liberal an encouragement in the production of the large wall 
 hangings and brilliantly tinted screen pictures which now confront us at every turn, 
 that they have no pecuniary reasons at present to regret the decline of the home trade 
 in ornamented wrappers, sashes, and robes ; nor is the quality of the better class of 
 work seriously impaired. The combination of stencil pictures with embroidery has 
 indeed attained a degree of excellence scarcely equalled in former times, for the 
 modern Japanese are the only people in the world who have been able to develop 
 the artistic side of a process apparently so mechanical as stencil printing. 
 
 Another response to foreign demand may be seen in the stamping of varnished 
 and coloured paper with raised designs in imitation of the old leather decoration, 
 learned about three centuries ago from the Dutch, and probably from the Portuguese 
 also. This material is now sold largely for papering walls in European houses, and 
 has very recently been employed with advantage to replace bad hand-paintings in the 
 manufacture of low-priced screens. The Western origin of the art will account for the 
 
I 12 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OP yAPAA\ 
 
 curious reminiscences of almost forgotten arabesques of mediaeval Europe with which 
 we are sometimes greeted in these products of modern Japan. 
 
 The most important advance in glyptic art during the last hundred years has 
 been the rise of a new school of bronzists, who have devoted themselves chiefly to the 
 production of ornamental objects, or nominally useful articles of which ornament is 
 the principal 7 'aison d'etre. Statuettes taking the form of historical or legendary 
 characters or representations of animals, mythical or real ; flower-vases and incense- 
 burners, apparently constructed in open defiance of the simplicity of the old Chinese 
 and Korean types, were amongst the leading productions of the new generation. The 
 ornament pure and simple, the Okiniono of the Japanese, was, however, made by 
 artists in metal from a very early period. The iron eagle of ?\Iiochin Muneharu, 
 brought to England by Mr. Mitford, and a dragon by the same artist, in the 
 possession of Captain Brinkley, as well as some examples in the Cernuschi 
 collection, prove that there were giants, and very great ones, before the days of 
 Toun and Seimin. although the work had not hitherto been the speciality of a school. 
 
 The first of the modern Okimono school appeared to have been a Avoman named 
 Kame or Kamt^-jo, who lived in Nagasaki, and won a considerable reputation by her 
 skill in the representation of animals. Captain Brinkley’s collection includes a quail 
 bearing her signature, which is of high artistic and technical excellence, but her 
 works are now very rare. She was followed by Seimin, a sculptor especially noted 
 for his figures of tortoises. He died at the age of seventy-two, in 1838. The next 
 and greatest name is that of Toun, This master, whose fame has now e.xtended to 
 Europe, was born in 1781, and flourished during the first thirty years of the present 
 century. The remarkable force of design and perfection of finish characterizing his 
 work are well exemplified by the priceless dragon incense-burner in the Cernuschi 
 collection (admirably reproduced in an etching by Guerard in “ L’Art Japonais” of 
 M. Gonse). His works are extensively forged, and sometimes Avith so much skill 
 that practised experts are unable to agree in their decision upon the authorship. 
 
 Teijo, a famous pupil of Seimin, and the sculptor of the “ Five Hundred Arhats" 
 at Kamakura, is regarded as little inferior to Toun. He died about twenty-five 
 years ago, leaving a talented pupil named Gido, Avho aided him in the production of 
 the Kamakura figures. The Avork of Gido resembles that of Toun, and is not less 
 highly finished. His death occurred a few years ago, and a son now maintains the 
 reputation of the line. 
 
 Toriu, a contemporary of Gido, obtained a special celebrity for dragon ornaments, 
 and has left Avorks that in their more limited range are not inferior to those of 
 Toun. His son, Toriusai, has inherited his talent, and has produced some noteAvorthy 
 examples of glyptic art. 
 
 Amongst the more recent bronzists, the names of Somin and Shokaken stand 
 high ; and, lastly, must be named the sculptor of the magnificent incense-burner 
 lately added to the South Kensington Museum, aaIio has attained the highest 
 
GENERAL IlISTORV. 
 
 ■■3 
 
 pitch of artistic realism in the modelling of the peacocks and doves that decorate 
 his masterpiece. 
 
 The artists in arms and armour, the followers of Goto Yujo and the Miochins, 
 have lost their old employment now that the weapons and habiliments of the soldier 
 have become Europeanized, but many find occupation in the manufacture of ordinary 
 articles de commerce, such as brooches, bracelets, and small boxes for the foreign 
 market, and a few are producing ornamental objects of a far higher class, which fully 
 demonstrate that the technical and artistic skill of former days has not yet departed 
 from the Cellinis of the East. 
 
 To understand the e.xtent of the change that is now taking place, the inquirer 
 must see one of the well-selected and carefully preserved collections of the older 
 work, such as native amateurs delight to bring together, and compare it with good 
 specimens of the efforts of the present century. The advantage is, at first sight, 
 
 altogether on the side of the modern art. It seizes the attention, and often excites 
 
 admiring wonder by its boldness of design, and by the beauty and elaborateness 
 
 of its details. Having done this, it has, perhaps, achieved its end. But the 
 
 almost invariable e.xperience of the collector to whom the study of his subject 
 has become a labour of love, shows that sooner or later the judgment undergoes 
 a revolution. The quiet attractions of the elegant little wares of the old potters, 
 the monochromes and lightly tinted sketches of the early Kano and Kara-yd 
 painters, the lacquer of Korin, the iron sword-guards of the past centuries, 
 gain ground with every increase of familiarity—never obtrusive, they are never 
 wearisome; but much of the later produce appears, in the pride of its ornate 
 magnificence, to insist upon admiration at all seasons, and after a time the eye turns 
 with a sense of relief to the harmonious repose offered by the objects once passed 
 over with a hasty glance. The question strikes too near the root of the principles of 
 decorative art in general to be pursued here, but it will be well to understand that 
 the foreigner, in adopting Japanese art, is at the same time indirectly moulding it; 
 that from the Arita jars of the seventeenth century to the highly coloured pictures on 
 silk, the great bronzes, the embroidered screens, and the gilded Satsuma, of yesterday, 
 his favourite acquisitions have nearly all been made to meet his taste, and not that 
 of the connoisseurs of the country whence they came; and that such examples of 
 Japanese art seldom form any part of the decoration of the “guest-rooms” of the 
 Japanese gentleman. 
 
 We must now close this brief sketch of the history of Japanese art, but with a 
 consciousness that the inquiry is but just begun. There is yet in all sections an 
 enormous sum of facts lying entombed in old manuscripts and in the memories of 
 
114 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAX. 
 
 native connoisseurs; and thousands of specimens that will illustrate as many new 
 points for comment still remain in the obscurity of private collections; but the 
 material is already being brought to light, and, let us hope, will soon be utilized 
 for the completion of the story, of which only a few episodes are here narrated. New 
 methods of pictorial reproduction may render it possible to lay facsimiles of the most 
 precious of the ancient works before the world; new schools will arise, to create 
 new matter for the critic and historian ; and, lastly, each of the many branches of art 
 will have its special investigators, and special volumes to record the results of 
 their labours. To all this the author looks forward with eager interest, and will 
 seek his best enjoyment in watching the growth of a study which has filled with 
 pleasant thought and occupation the leisure of half a score of years. 
 
PLATE 43. 
 
 THE RISHI LI T'lEH KWAI. 
 
 ERNEST HART COLLECTION. 
 
 From a painting on paper by Kano Motonobu. Sixteenth centur>’. 
 
 Li T’IEH KwaI (Jap. Tekkai Sennin) is one of the most familiar of the Taoist rishis. According to the Ressen sen den^ 
 he was a pupil of Lao-tsz’, and possessed the power of setting free his spirit from tlie encumbrance of its earthly frame. 
 One day, desiring to visit his instructor in the mountain of the Immortals, he directed a disciple to take charge of 
 his body, saying that he (i.e. his vital or spiritual essence) would return to resume possession in seven days. On the 
 sixth day the guardian received intelligence that his mother was sick, and in conformity with the laws of filial piety 
 was forced to depart and hasten to her succour. On the seventh day the spirit of T'ieh Kwai returned according to 
 promise, but, the material frame having disappeared, it was compelled to take refuge in the dead body of a starved 
 toad that happened to be lying near. Hence the face of the Rishi from that time was ugly, and he was lame in gait. 
 {Ressen sen den, vol. i.) The story as told by Mayers (“ Chinese Reader’s Manual,’^ part i.) differs somewhat in detail. 
 The original form of the Rishi is said to have been of noble proportions and aspect, but the spirit on its return from 
 its journey, finding the body to have become devitalized in consequence of its desertion by the disciple, entered the 
 corpse of a lame and crooked beggar whose soul had at that moment taken its flight, and in this shape the 
 philosopher continued his existence, supporting his halting footsteps with an iron staff 
 
 He is included by the Taoist writers in the category of the Eight Immortals, but no precise period is assigned 
 to his existence upon earth (Mayers). It appears probable that he was a real personage, and that the fable here 
 narrated was an inv’ention by himself or his disciples to explain his physical defects. (British Museum Catalogue, 
 page 300.) 
 

 PLATE 44. 
 
 PHEASANT. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 66i). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Onishi Keisai. Chinese School, 1832. Size of original, 50^ x 19^ inches. 
 
 The vigorous simplicity of colouring and the graceful, freehanded touch of the original are very successfully translated 
 in the engraving. 
 
 WlTllERCV & Co., London, chromolith. 
 

 
APPLICATIONS 
 
 SECTION II 
 
Fig. 42. From a CJaku picture by Kano .Sakon, engraved in the /tsuhishima vhna kagarni (1833). 
 
 SECTION SECOND. 
 
 APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 which, like the 
 
 HE applications of pictorial art in Japan do not differ in many 
 important respects from those in vogue with European nations, but 
 extend somewhat more widely in the direction of embellishment of 
 objects of utility. 
 
 The Japanese gaku corresponds to the framed picture of Europe 
 in form, but the place of honour upon the wall is allotted to the 
 hanging roll or kakemono. Mural paintings are chiefly represented 
 by pictures drawn upon the sliding panels which occupy the place 
 of the doors and, to a greater or less extent, the walls of an 
 English apartment, but certain portions of the solid wall may 
 also be ornamented in a similar manner. Ihe pictorial embellish¬ 
 
 ment of ceilings is confined to temples and mortuary chapels. 
 Painted screens assume many forms, and constitute a most 
 important part of the decorative furniture of a room. The fan, 
 screen, is far more common than in this country, is rarely complete 
 
P/CrORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 116 
 
 Avithout a pictorial or calligraphic ornament. Books and rolls {niakimono) made up 
 of drawings with or without manuscript; and loose sketches, such as -would be 
 preserved in the portfolio in Europe, are produced in unlimited numbers. Lastly, the 
 painter is called upon to furnish designs for the engraver of book and broad-sheet 
 illustrations, for workers in embroidery and lacquer, for the keramist, and for the 
 sculptor. These various phases of pictorial art will be reviewed in detail. 
 
 Kakemonos. The “ kakdmono ” or “ kakeji ” (lit. “ something to hang up ”) is 
 a calligraphic or pictorial scroll, intended for suspension upon the wall, and so 
 constructed that it can be rolled up into the smallest possible compass when not in 
 use. It is the principal representative of the ordinary wall picture of European 
 houses, but the number exhibited at one time is limited to one, a pair, or a set of 
 three, which are displayed in a special recess called the toko-iw-ma, set aside for 
 the purpose in the principal reception-rooms since about the end of the fourteenth 
 century. (See fig. 43.) 
 
 Fig. 43. Guest Room, showing Toko-uoAna and the companion recess for shelves {Chigai-datia). 
 
 The mounting of the kakemono resembles that of the plans and maps hung in 
 offices and schools in England, but is constructed with especial reference to decorative 
 effect. The silk or paper upon which the picture is painted is usually bordered with 
 expensive textiles selected to harmonize with the design, and the roller is capped at 
 each extremity with an appendage of ivory or other material, to which a tasselled 
 pendant may be attached, and special ornaments of chased metal are reserved for 
 the Buddhist altar-piece. 
 
 The kakemono, as known in Japan, was derived from China, where it may be 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 117 
 
 traced as far back as the T'ang dynasty (a.d. 618—905), and may possibly claim a 
 still more ancient origin. The chief varieties are as follows :— 
 
 (i) The usual form, to which no distinctive title appears to have been assigned, 
 is represented in the headpiece to Chapter 9, Section 4. The accompanying diagram 
 indicates the names of the different portions of the mounting. 
 
 The upper and lower {Jo-ge) jidai should be of the same material. 
 
 The fntai may be loose or fi.xed, and in the latter case intersect the upper jidai. 
 If loose, they must correspond in material to the ichimonji; if fixed, to the cliiubiri. 
 A single median fufai occasionally replaces the pair.* 
 
 The measurements of the different parts of the chiubiri may vary considerably, 
 but the upper horizontal portion (chiu no kami) must always be wider than the lower 
 (chiu no Shinto'). If the vertical pieces be w'ide, the mounting is called Do-hoye; if 
 narrow, Rin-hoyi. 
 
 The chiubiri and ichimonji are usually of richer material than the jtdai. 
 
 ' The futai are said to have been originally devised for attaching weights, with a view to lessen the 
 tendency of the picture to sway under the influence of currents of air. The fuckin {“wind weight”) now 
 serves the same purpose, while the futai are reduced to mere ornamental appendages. 
 
 H h 
 
 I 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 There is no fixed proportion between the length and width of the kakemono, but 
 the most common ratio in the Do/idye is three to one. In some cases the width of 
 the picture exceeds its length, the kakemono then receiving the distinctive title of 
 Yuko-mono (yoTo, transverse); while in the Hashira-kake, a kakt^mono intended for 
 suspension in front of the upright posts {Jiashird) which intersect the wall in a Japanese 
 room, the width does not exceed six inches, but the length may reach three or four feet. 
 
 (2) The Shin no hiogu resembles the ordinary kakdmono in most respects, but 
 differs in the omission of the ich 'unonji and in the addition of a narrow bordering of 
 gold paper around the picture, within the diiiiberi. 
 
 (3) The Fukuro hiogu shows no distinction of jidai and cliiubhi, but the chiu 
 110 kavii and chiu no shimo are represented by two pieces of textile, one above the 
 upper and the other beneath the lower icliimonji. 
 
 Fi;^s. 45 to 49. Forms of Kakemono. 
 
 (4) The ToTlibgu, or Chinese mounting, is characterized by the addition of a 
 bordering to each side of the fiitai and above and below the chiiibiri. The jidai, 
 chiiibiri, and ichimonji should all be of the same material. The fiitai are fixed. 
 
 (5) The Mincho, or Ming style, is the plainest form of mounting, the futai, 
 jidai, and chiiibiri being replaced by a single piece of textile, which is bordered on 
 either side by a narrow strip of silk called Miucho-biri. The ichimonji are usually 
 preserved. (See initial letter at head of chapter.) 
 
 (6) The Shinsei hiogu, or Honzon-hiogu, is a more decorative and complex 
 description of mounting, reserved for Buddhist pictures. The brocades are of the 
 richest quality, and commonly bear designs representing Buddhist emblems; an 
 additional bordering, continuous with the jidai, is placed outside the chiiibiri; the 
 ichimonji and fiitai are sometimes dispensed wdth, but generally appear in their 
 
PLATE 45. 
 
 SHOKI AND THE DEMONS. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2355). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Shibata ZtSHiN. Shijo Scbool. Nineteenth century. 
 Size of original, 30 x 10 inche.s. 
 
 The coloured bordering of this kakdmono is painted by hand around the central design, instead of being made up with 
 strips of silk or brocade in the ordinary manner. This expedient has enabled the artist to represent the imps flying 
 out of the picture to escape the vengeance of their merciless foe. 
 
 Chung Kwei (Jap. Shoki), the Demon-queller, a favourite myth of the Chinese, was supposed to be a ghostly 
 protector of the Emperor Ming Hwang (713—762 a.d.) from the evil spirits that haunted his palace. His story is thus 
 told in the ^-hon koji-dan: “ The Emperor Genso (Ming Hwang) was once attacked by ague, and in his sickness dreamed 
 that he saw a small demon in the act of stealing the flute of his mistress Yokihi (Yang Kwei-fei). At the same moment a 
 stalwart spirit appeared, and seized the demon and ate him. The Emperor asked the name of the being, who replied, 
 ‘ I am Shiushi Shoki of the Shunan Mountain. In the reign of the Emperor Koso (Kao Tsu), of the period Butoku 
 (Wu-Teh, A.D. 618—627), I failed to attain the position to which I aspired in the State e.xamination, and, being 
 ashamed, I slew myself; but at my burial I was honoured, by imperial command, with posthumous rank, and now I 
 desire to requite the favour conferred upon me. To this end I will expel all the devils under heaven.’ Genso awoke 
 and found that his sickness had disappeared. He then ordered Go Doshi (Wu Tao-tsz’) to paint the portrait of the 
 Demon-queller, and distributed copies of it over the whole kingdom.'^ 
 
 Chung Kwei is usually drawn as a burly, truculent giant clad in official garb and armed with a two-edged sword. 
 He is sometimes shown riding upon a lion, but more commonly is engaged in punishing or compelling menial service 
 from a band of pigmy demons, who adopt the most comical subterfuges to escape the keen eye of their persecutor. 
 The subject forms one of the most frequent inspirations of the Japanese artist, and appears in numberless specimens of 
 porcelain, ivory carving, and other works. The netsiikt‘ carver usually treats the theme from a comic aspect, and 
 delights in the invention of ingenious devices by which the little spirit of evil is made to outwit his huge enemy. 
 (British Museum Catalogue, p. 217.) 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, chromolith. 
 
.4PPL/CAT/0NS OF P/CTOP/AL APT. 
 
 19 
 
 ordinary places ; and the jikii appendages, in the form of caps, are made of gilded 
 bronze or more precious metals, and are mostly stamped or engraved with the sacred 
 emblem of the lotus. 
 
 The jikit appendages in secular kakt^monos are fashioned out of various materials 
 —ivory, plain or lacquered wood, bone, staghorn, pottery or porcelain, marble, crystal, 
 glass, Szc. They are often utilized for the suspension of the fuchiii, which consist 
 of ornamental objects of bronze, pottery or porcelain, crystal, glass, marble, or other 
 substances, attached to silken tasselled cords. 
 
 Fig. 50. The Ghost. From a picture by Maki Chokusai. 
 
 Pc'pular School (19th century). 
 
 In a few of the more modern kakemonos a single piece of silk constitutes both 
 picture and bordering, the marginal portion being mapped out to imitate the outlines 
 of filtai, chiiiMn, &c., and covered with painted designs of diapers, flowers, 
 &c. This form is sometimes used by the artist to produce ingenious effects, as in 
 plate 45 representing Shoki and the Demons, where the figures of the terrified imps, 
 passing beyond the limits of the picture space, encroach upon the mounting as though 
 they had just been forcibly propelled from the frame by the application of the toe of 
 their very thick-booted enemy; and again, in fig. 50, the weird form of the ghost 
 seems to be in the act of rising from the picture to vanish into space. 
 
1 20 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAX. 
 
 In the mounting of Buddhist kakemonos the brocaded designs are sometimes 
 replaced by hand-painted arabesques or religious symbols. 
 
 The Makimono (lit. rolled object) differs from the kakdmono in opening 
 horizontally, like the old papyrus scroll, and in not being intended for permanent 
 decorative display. It .serves the same purpose as the book or album, and may 
 either be wholly pictorial or calligraphic, or may include both writing and drawings. 
 
 The most common pictorial makimono consists of a number of paintings 
 accompanied by the te.xt of the story illustrated. In the absence of te.xt, the roll 
 may comprise a number of separate pictures or one continuous design of great 
 length. In former times famous makimonos were multiplied extensively by copies, 
 and it is these which mostly appear in the shops of the curiosity dealers, and are 
 sold as originals to foreign purchasers. 
 
 The materials and mounting are usually luxurious, the silk or paper being of the 
 finest quality, and when intended for manuscript, often decorated with faintly stamped 
 designs in gold or C(^lour, suggesting winding streams, nodding grasses, or branches 
 of pine or bamboo. Even the mounting paper, seen on the reverse, is made lustrous 
 with powdered mother-of-pearl and scattered segments of gold-leaf. The rolling-stick, 
 with its caps, resembles that of the kakdmqjio, and the suspension bar of the latter 
 is represented by a narrow rod, which gives attachment to the tying cord, and is often 
 ornamented with silver or plated mounts. 
 
 The outer surface of the first nine or ten inches of the roll is covered with silk 
 or brocade, and upon it, near the cord-stick, is pasted a strip of gold paper, or other 
 material, bearing the title of the contents. The reverse side of this portion is lined 
 with a piece of gilded or ornamental paper or silk, that serves as an introduction to 
 the picture or writing, and the termination of the roll may be decorated in a similar 
 manner. (See title-page to Section.) 
 
 Both kakdmonos and makimonos are preserved in bo.xes when not in use. If the 
 roll be highly prized, it may be guarded by a series of envelopes, commencing with a 
 silken wrapper and ending with a second or third wooden case. 
 
 The Album is usually a volume of the kind called Orihon- which was the 
 primitive form of the Oriental book, and was adopted in certain cases as a convenient 
 alternative for the makimono, the long sheet being folded into double leaves of 
 uniform size (AAM), instead of being rolled around a stick. The Orihon may 
 commonly be opened out into its original form as a continuous sheet, bearing the 
 covers at the two ends, and one or both surfaces of the paper may be utilized ; but 
 should the drawings or writing be limited to one side, the reverse may be pasted in 
 such a way that the leaves can only be unfolded from the front, and the album then 
 bears some resemblance to the European volume, each leaf, however, being composed 
 of a double thickness of paper. 
 
 ’ The term Orihon means “ folding book,” the ordinary sewn book being termed Skomotsu. 
 
APPLICAriONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 I 2 I 
 
 The cover, upon which is pasted a strip of ornamental paper or silk bearing the 
 title, is generally brocaded, and its corners are sometimes protected with chased 
 metal plates. 
 
 Albums may be classified according to their contents as follows: — 
 
 1. Those containing works by a particular artist, by the different members of a 
 school or branch of a school, or by painters of various academies. 
 
 2. The poetical album, containing calligraphic transcripts of verselets, illustrated 
 either with the portraits of the authors, or with drawings suggested by the words 
 of the composition. 
 
 3. The album devoted to illustrations of a special subject, as natural history, 
 scenery, amusements, occupations, &c. 
 
 4. The album of practice sketches, generally in the form of a number of pages 
 stitched together like an ordinary book {sho?nofsii), and used by artists or students 
 for pictorial notes, preliminary sketches, &c. 
 
 5. The album of rough copies, often bearing great resemblance to the last, and 
 commonly mistaken for it. The names of the artists who executed the original 
 sketches are generally appended to the imitation, and rough hand copies of the seal 
 may also be introduced. 
 
 6. Albums of miscellaneous sketches, collected without reference to subject or 
 painter. These are not common, and are ordinarily regarded with little favour. 
 
 Illustrated Manuscript Books. In their more ambitious and typical form, 
 these are bound after the manner of the ordinary Japanese' printed book, strongly 
 sewn at the back, and protected by covers of brocade or dark blue paper. The 
 leaves are of paper of extremely fine texture, decorated with faint designs in gold, and 
 of sufficient thickness to allow both sides of the sheet to be utilized.^ The pictures 
 are usually drawn after the style of the Yamato-Tosa school, and the text is 
 written in cursive characters. 
 
 In the common block-printed books, each leaf is double, the paper bearing the impression on one side only. 
 
I 22 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Loose Sketches. The portfolio is not a Japanese institution, but most of the 
 pictures that would be preserved in such a receptacle by Europeans are the rough 
 sketches, tracings, and practice copies often to be purchased in huge carelessly 
 preserved heaps from the curiosity dealer. The least valuable of these are tracings 
 taken as memoranda from noted pictures, and may be recognized in most cases by 
 their comparatively unskilful execution, and by the bad quality of the paper, the 
 larger sheets of which are made up of smaller pieces hastily pasted together. 
 
 The more carefully drawn loose sketches have usually been intended for mounting. 
 Hayimaze, or small mounts of various shapes, painted for the decoration of screens, 
 are often bought in this form. 
 
 The Gaku, or framed picture, does not play the same important part in wall 
 decoration as in Europe. It is most commonly seen as a votive offering in temples, 
 but is often met with in private houses, suspended above a door or toko-no~ma. The 
 subject is, perhaps, more frequently calligraphic than pictorial. 
 
 The picture is executed upon paper, silk, or wood, and may be bordered with 
 brocade or gilded paper. The frame is generally of lacquered wood, decorated with 
 metallic plates (see figs. 24 and 42), and in cx vofos may assume a gabled form. 
 Glass not being a Japanese product in former days, the painting was left exposed to 
 the air. 
 
 Panel Pictures. The greater part of the walls of a Japanese room, to the 
 height of about six feet from the floor, is generally represented by sliding panels, 
 that may be utilized as doors, or removed altogether when their presence is 
 undesirable. Similar but smaller slides serve to close the little closets called 
 fukitFO-dana and ji-bukiiro, which commonly form part of the cliigai-dana (see fig. 43). 
 
 The large panels are of three kinds, shoji, karakami, and kagami-dd. The first, 
 which serves to transmit light into the room, is merely lattice-work, covered with 
 thin paper. The karakauii consists of a light framework, thickly papered, and 
 bordered with a beading of plain or lacquered wood ; a small metallic plate {liikitt) 
 serves to lodge the hand in moving the slide, and in palatial residences may be 
 provided with large silken tassels ; and the outermost layer of paper may be decorated 
 with stencilled designs, or painted by hand, after the manner of screens (q.v.). The 
 kaganii~dd is made of carefully planed wood, fixed in a lacquered framework, and 
 occasionally crossed by a transverse bar, which is also lacquered. The frame is deep 
 and substantial, and either this or the transverse bar is excavated for the insertion of 
 the sunken hand-plate. The wooden panels, especially if of hi-uo-ki (chamoecyparis 
 obtusa), offer an admirable surface for colour, and in past times were often 
 embellished by the great masters of the brush. 
 
 The paintings upon the karakami of the apartments in the Imperial palace at 
 Kioto, which gave employment to the leading artists of all the recognized schools in 
 existence during the early part of the present century, are deserving of close study 
 by visitors to Japan, as examples of a mode of decoration peculiar to the country, 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 123 
 
 and one for which its pictorial art is especially adapted. All the various styles of 
 painting are represented, from the simple monochrome sketch to the most highly 
 finished work in gold and colours, and all classes of motive—flowers, animal life, 
 landscapes, and scenes of history or legend—appear to fill the allotted area with equal 
 propriety; while the licence as to space is so elastic that the subject of the picture 
 may either extend around a whole room, or each panel may bear its separate design, 
 or a series of small mounts. 
 
 This form of decoration is of great antiquity. In the ninth century, Kose no 
 Kanaoka was engaged to cover the karakmni of an apartment in the Imperial palace 
 with portraits of the famous Chinese sages ; and the wall-pictures said to have been 
 drawn by his predecessor, Ki no Kanawaka, by the command of the Emperor 
 Nimmei, in 837, were, perhaps, also executed upon sliding panels. The use of 
 leaf gold and silver as a ground for panel, mural, and ceiling painting was commenced 
 by the Kanos, in the decoration of the temples of Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji in Kioto. 
 Ma.sanobu and Motonobu are both represented by works in this style, and in the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it became a fashion amongst the Daimios to make 
 the apartments of their castles resplendent in the same manner. The paintings of 
 Kano Veitoku and Kano Sanraku, both protigis of Taiko Hiddyoshi, were especially 
 in request for this purpose; and as the dashing execution and breadth of colouring 
 distinguishing the older masters of the Kano .school were especially adapted for the 
 embellishment of large surfaces, there is, perhaps, nothing that will convey to the 
 foreigner a more favourable view of the true strength of Japanese art as a medium 
 of decoration than a study of the few of these pictorial monuments which are still 
 spared to us. 
 
 Mural Paintings, covering solid portions of the walls, are not common, except 
 in temples, but are occasionally found at the back of the toko-uo-ma recess and above 
 the sliding panels. They are generally e.xecuted upon paper, which is afterwards 
 affi.xed to the surface to be decorated, but in some cases, as in a picture at Horiuji, 
 dating from the seventh century, the colour is applied directly to the cement of the 
 wall. True fresco is unknown in Japan. 
 
 The painting of ceilings was closely associated with mural and panel decoration, 
 but appears to have been almost wholly confined to temples and mortuary chapels, 
 many of which still bear the handiwork of the old masters, from Cho Densu 
 downwards. The favourite motives were the Buddhistic dragon, angels, emblematic 
 flowers, birds, and arabesques. Gold and bright pigments were freely employed, but 
 with a tact that proved a thorough comprehension of the best effects to be obtained 
 with the materials under the circumstances of aspect and distance from which the 
 ornament must be viewed, and in the dim, solemn light allowed to penetrate the 
 lofty, spacious halls. The result was a rich but mellow harmony of tone, and a 
 perfect fitness in style with the character of the surroundings, that stamped a few of 
 these magnificent essays in architectural decoration as lessons by which the whole 
 
124 
 
 nCrORIAL ARTS OF JARARr, 
 
 world might profit. The painted and panelled ceiling of the mausoleum of lyeyasu at 
 Shiba, in Tokio, has been already referred to as one of the most remarkable e.xamples 
 of its kind in the Far East. 
 
 Screen Pictures. A well-appointed Japanese house is furnished with a rather 
 large assortment of screens, a provision necessary on account of the innumerable points 
 of ingress for draughts, and useful to lend additional privacy to the apartment; while 
 as a medium for decorative art it ranks wdth or before the w'all slides. The form of 
 screen called the tsuitate is of Chinese origin, and in old Chinese pictures is 
 represented behind the seat of monarchs and dignitaries of high rank. 
 
 The two principal varieties are the tsuitate, or stand screen, and the biobu, or 
 folding screen. 
 
 3r 
 
 Fig. 52. Stand Screen {(suitate). 
 
 The Tsuitatv consists of a framed panel, decorated upon both sides with pictures, 
 and supported by a pair of massive pediments. The frame is somewhat like that of 
 the gaku, lacquered wood with decorative and protective plates of chased metal, and the 
 feet are of similar construction. The entire screen stands generally about five or six 
 feet high, and has a breadth varying from four to eight feet, but smaller forms of 
 about half this size are very common. The object may be regarded as a gakii 
 supported by feet. 
 
 The Biobu is found in three principal sizes. The largest stands between five and 
 a half and six feet in height, each leaf having a breadth of about three feet; the 
 height of the smallest variety does not usually exceed two feet; while intermediate 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 125 
 
 sizes range from three to four feet high, and are sufficiently tall to conceal the head 
 of a person sitting in the Japanese manner. The typical number of leaves is six, but 
 they may be reduced to two or four, or increased to eight. In the modern screens, 
 made for the foreign market, the usual limit is four. 
 
 Each leaf is made up of lattice-work covered with paper, and the entire screen 
 is bordered with a narrow margin of plain or lacquered wood, protected at the 
 corners and elsewhere by plates of engraved metal. The pictorial decoration, as a 
 rule, occupies one side only, the back being covered with an ordinary wall-paper, 
 but a hand-drawn sketch of some simple motive occasionally appears upon the 
 reverse. Each leaf may present a separate design or set of designs, or a single 
 
 picture may extend over the whole screen, as in plate 24. In the more expensive 
 
 examples the painting is surrounded by a double bordering of brocade (as in the gakii), 
 or by a margin of gilt paper, and the exposed portions of the joints are also gilded. 
 
 In some cases the leaf is decorated with a number of mounts {Iiari-)iiaz£) of 
 various shapes—square, oblong, oval, fan-like, &c.—bearing pictures or calligraphic 
 inscriptions. Toyoharu, the founder of the Utagawa branch of the Popular school, 
 was especially noted for works of this kind. 
 
 The Natsu-biobu, or summer screen, is usually formed in part by slender reeds 
 
 or fine bamboo rods, the interstices of which transmit light and air. In the ordinary 
 
 form the upper half is thus modified, while the lower portion is of plain or painted 
 wood, but many other varieties exist. 
 
 Screen painting, like the painting of slides, was an important part of the artist's 
 occupation, and has been dignified by the labours of the greatest masters, but no 
 painters of high reputation have devoted themselves exclusively to the work. 
 
 Fan Pictures. The fan is an article of more general utility in Japan than in 
 Europe. The ladies of the Court in former times were taught to wield the large Ogi with 
 great effect, and their humbler sisters were not incapable of a very expressive use of 
 the same weapon ; beyond this, the appliance was borne by the Court noble as a part 
 of his ceremonial costume; the general carried into battle a massive “host-directing” 
 fan which served him as a baton, and perhaps, on occasion, as a defence; a formal 
 gift offering was considered incomplete without the accompaniment of a Snyehiro: 
 the scholar's fan was inscribed with odes or maxims in choice calligraphy, or might 
 be used for noting memoranda of ideas or newly acquired facts that the owner thought 
 worthy of preservation ; for the trader the fan was a useful medium of advertisement ; 
 and even the tired coolie could lull himself to sleep with his palm-leaf or paper nchiwct. 
 The fan was the common property of all, irrespective alike of age, sex, or station. 
 
 The many varieties of the object may be reduced within two principal classes, 
 the “ round" or open fan, sometimes called the nc/iiwa, and the ribbed closing fan, 
 the bgi or sensu. 
 
 The Ogi appears in two different forms, both well known in Europe. In 
 one of these, the ribs, made of wood or other material, are broad, and when 
 
 K k 
 
126 
 
 J'ICTORI.IL ARTS OF jAI'JN. 
 
 connected together by a rivet and silk in the usual manner, constitute the whole of 
 the fan. In the other the ribs are reduced to slender rods, which give support to a 
 
 Fig. 53. Fan .Mount From a picture by Satake Veikai (i9t!i ceniurv). 
 
 semicircular piece of silk or paper, plicated for convenience of closing. An iron-ribbed 
 fan (tessen) was sometimes carried by warriors, in place of the open “gitinbai uchiwa." 
 In former times the use of the ogi at Court was regulated by strict etiquette. 
 
 Fig. 54 Fan of Court Lady (Hi-6gi) From the Isaishiki. 
 
 The Emperor and Court nobles often carried it as a part of the ceremonial dress, 
 in the place of a short staff of ivory or wood called the shakti. Mr. Conder^ states 
 
 * Sec " History of Japanese Costume,” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii. 
 
AlV’L/CAy/ONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 127 
 
 that “ the kind most used was constructed of thin flat wooden rii)S, twenty-five in 
 number, fastened by a metai rivet and threaded through near the top with silk 
 strings, which had very long ends, sometimes woven together, and fixed upon the 
 outer scale in the pattern of a wisteria flower or some other device. Sometimes the 
 ends hung loose in a loop ; such a fan was made of Iii-no-ki (Cliamcecyparis obtusa), 
 and was then called Jd-ogi: but before the age of fifteen a fan of a commoner wood, 
 called siigi (Cryptomeria Japonica), was carried, and this was painted on the outside 
 
 l-'ig. 55. Modern bamboo and jtaper Uchiwa. 
 
 and ornamented with silken thread in fi\c colours. The ri\-et head was often made 
 ornamental, representing a butterfly or small bird in metal-work. This fan was 
 generally carried closed. ... In the summer time, in place of the wooden ogi, 
 was used a fan of thin wooden ribs, covered with paper and painted with some 
 device front and back. The portion of the wooden ribs not covered with paper was 
 lacquered or painted in some bright colour, and the outer exposed rib was carved. 
 
 “ In place of the shakii, which is held by the men, the ladies of the Court hold 
 in the right hand a handsome gilt and painted wooden fan, called ht-ogi or 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OR 'JAPAA^ 
 
 yokomi-ogi. These fans are made of broad thin scales of white wood, painted and 
 gilt, and adorned with rosettes and tassels." 
 
 A variety of the Ogi, called the Chiitkei, is distinguished by a slight 
 divergence of the ribs above the handle when the implement is closed. It is now 
 seldom met with. Another kind, having the same peculiarity, but of somewhat 
 different shape, is called the Suyihiro (“wide end") Ogi, and was formerly an 
 
 Fig. 56. Modern wooden Uchiwa. 
 
 essential accompaniment to every formal present, bans are still frequently added to 
 gifts, but are of the ordinary shape, although often called Siiythiro in the written 
 list of items sent with the oftering. 
 
 The ivory and tortoiseshell fans decorated with lacquered and inlaid designs 
 are modern, and for the most part made for exportation. The embellishment is often 
 of extreme beautw 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 129 
 
 The round fan, or Ucliiwa, in its cheapest form, consists of a dried palm-leaf 
 trimmed into shape, the triangular stem forming the handle. The most common 
 variety, however, is made by splitting a piece of bamboo stem for about two-thirds 
 of its length into a number of fine rods, which are then spread out radially, fi.xctl 
 with fine cord, trimmed, and finally covered with paper or some other fabric; the 
 undivided portion of the stem remaining as a handle. These neatly constructed 
 little articles, with their chromoxylographie decorations, are made for an almost 
 incredibly small sum, and are so brought within the reach of the poorest. In the 
 more expensive forms of the nchiwa, silk may be substituted for paper, or the whole 
 fan may be manufactured in wood and decorated with hand-drawn designs. These 
 are nearly all made for the foreign market. 
 
 A Chinese form of the open fan, occasionally seen in Japan, consists of silk or 
 other material, stretched upon an ovoid or pear-shaped wooden framework, ornamented 
 with paintings and provided with a stem, which is sometimes prolonged through 
 the body of the fan to form a kind of mid-rib. The war fan [Gtmibai Uckiu’a) usually 
 assumed this form, and was embelli.shed with the device of the Rising Sun. A fan 
 of the same shape is depicted in portraits of Chinese .sages, and a variety of much 
 larger size, with greatly elongated handle, was formerly carried behind royal personages 
 in the Middle Kingdom as an emblem of rank. 
 
 The designs applied to the decoration of the fan range from a printed outline of 
 a flower or other simple object to a painting by one of the masters of the great 
 academies. The presentation of a fan to the Shogun was once an important periodical 
 ceremony, and the services of the leading painters were engaged for the embellishment 
 of the object. It is said that the growing fame of Kano Motonobu was confirmed by 
 his appointment to e.xecute a design upon one of these complimentary offerings. 
 
 The folding fan of/r/'-z/o-/’/ is said to have been invented in Japan in the reign of 
 the Emperor Tenchi (a.d. 668—671), and its construction appears to have been suggested 
 by the mechanism of the bat's wing, whence the name of Komori (bat), by which 
 the article was originally designated. It was introduced into China at a later period. 
 The nchiwa, Chinese in origin and of much greater antiquity, was probably 
 manufactured in its primitive form from the dried leaf of a palm or plantain, the 
 mid-rib and veins of the latter being distinctly traceable in a conventionalized form 
 in the fans borne by sages in ancient Chinese pictures; but the Japanese may elaim 
 the credit of having devised the construction of the well-known variety made from the 
 bamboo stem. About 1660, a priest of Fukakusa, in Yamashiro, named Gensei, reputed 
 for his artistic and poetical talents, manufactured a number of fans of this kind, 
 which acquired a great reputation under the name of “ Fukakusa Uchiwa." At 
 the present day the best open fans are made in Tokio. 
 
57 - The fabrication of pottery. From the S<iiikai ineisan dzu-yl\ 
 
Ftg. 58. The fabrication of ]tottery. From a drawing by Kwangetsu in the Sankai mcisan dztt-yi: (1779)- 
 
 ClIiVPTER II. 
 
 ITCTORIAI. DliCORATTOK OF I’OTTF.RY AND PORCELAIN. 
 
 has been remarked that pictorial embellishment was not 
 applied to keraniic art until a comparatively late period.' 
 The formal patterns upon the ancient pottery, and even the 
 little outlines of flowers upon the “liana .Shunkei" of old 
 Toshiro can scarcely be regarded as pictorial ; and although in 
 China certain keramic artists of the Sung dynasty are known 
 to have been celebrated for drawings of fowls and other 
 natural objects upon porcelain, the practice does not appear 
 to have existed in Japan until the return of Shondzui from 
 Fu-Chow in 1513, and was not prevalent until nearly a 
 
 ' Some .cncient fragments of Japanese pottery very recently described by Mr. Kurokawa bear rude caricatures 
 of the human form engraved in the paste or drawn in cinnabar, but from the style of the designs it would appear 
 that the intention was rather humorous than decorative. These specimens were found in the province of Chikugo. 
 
■3 = 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 7 A PAR'. 
 
 century and a half later, when the Kioto and Arita potters obtained the secret of 
 employing metals and vitrifiable enamels for the purposes of keramic decoration. 
 After this time the modes of pictorial embellishment were as follows: — 
 
 1. By designs engraved in the paste. ^ 
 
 This is not a very favourite method, and even in modern times is seldom 
 permitted to exceed the limits of formal patterns. In some varieties of Satsuma and 
 \’atsushiro potter)^ linear designs were grooved in the greyish body of the ware 
 with a blunt tool and inlaid with white clay, after the Korean plan; and engraved 
 seal characters or arabesques are occasionally met with in the Rakii-yaki of the 
 Korean Ameya and his descendants. The unglazed clay of the modern Banko is 
 sometimes ornamented with inscriptions and drawings cut with a sharp-pointed 
 style. 
 
 2. By drawings made upon the biscuit ware before glazing. 
 
 Sub-glaze decoration is almost invariably effected with a cobaltiferous oxide of 
 manganese, of Chinese or native origin. The -first porcelain made in Japan was 
 decorated in this manner by Shondzui, in close imitation of the practice of the 
 Chinese, and the process has since been adopted in all the other porcelain fabriques. 
 The best cobalt, known amongst potters by the name of kin-gosn, was imported from 
 China, but the Japanese never attained the standard of purity in tint displayed in a 
 few precious specimens emanating from the Middle Kingdom. A colour of considerable 
 brilliancy and depth is, however, met with from time to time in Arita w'are, as 
 well as in the Seto porcelain anterior to the last two decades, and in recent years a 
 native blue of greater purity, but less power, has been prepared by Kato Gosukc, of 
 Mino. 
 
 Other colours are occasionally used in sub-glaze decoration ; a rather unattractive 
 brown is seen in moderately old specimens, and Gosukd has introduced a very pure 
 green and a pinkish red into some of his specimens of Mino ware; but up to the 
 present time the simple “ blue and white ’ has kept its ground against all innovations. 
 
 3. By designs drawn with ink upon unglazed pottery. 
 
 This is rare, e.xcept in modern Banko. 
 
 4. By designs in gold and enamels upon a glazed surface. 
 
 The use of gold and enamels is not older than the seventeenth century in Japan. 
 It was first adopted in imitation of the Chinese processes by the Kioto potters (amongst 
 whom Ninsei held the first place), and almost at the same time by the Arita keramists for 
 the decoration of the large porcelain jars and vases they were then beginning to make 
 for exportation. Very shortly afterwards it was introduced into the Kaga factories, and 
 perhaps independently, as the curious purple, green, and black enamels met wnth in 
 the old Kaga ware are quite different from those found in any examples of Arita or 
 Kioto produce. A little later the procc.ss extended to Satsuma, where, however, its 
 employment was for a long time very limited (see p. 109); and ultimately it became 
 the property of any fabriqiie that chose to make use of it. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 ’o 3 
 
 5. By enamelled designs upon unglazed pottery, as in some forms of Kioto ware, 
 and in the new Banko faience. 
 
 6. By designs painted in lacquer (see p. no). 
 
 7. By sculptured or moulded ornament in high or low relief. 
 
 The method of decoration with figures, flowers, &c., modelled in high relief is 
 more especially designed for the purpose of attracting foreign buyers, and was seldom 
 employed until within the last twenty years, except in the ornamentation of handles 
 and covers. It is now met with chiefly in Makudzu pottery, and, carried to a less 
 extravagant degree, in Tajima and Hirado porcelain. The designs are in most cases 
 boldly conceived and cleverly executed, but as the object nearly always bristles with 
 awkward projections on parts of the surface most exposed to accidental contact, the 
 owmer is apt to undergo more suffering from perpetual misgivings as to the safety 
 of his treasure than can be fairly balanced by any pleasure to be derived from its 
 contemplation. 
 
 Designs in low relief, or intaglio, e.xecuted by hand or by the mechanical 
 pressure of wooden moulds, are free from the objection just raised, but they are not 
 very important aids to the attractions of the ware. 
 
 The use of the mould in Japan is comparatively recent, but was known to the 
 Chinese potters long before. According to Captain Brinkley, it was introduced 
 about the beginning of the present century by Mokubei, of Kioto; the Second 
 Banko extending its application to the decoration of cups and other objects, about 
 1835. The process is not deserving of much commendation, as the ornament 
 usually looks, as it is, cheap and mechanical, and when employed upon the inner 
 surface of vessels used for drinking purposes is objectionable on the score of 
 cleanliness. 
 
 Keramic decoration seldom fell into the hands of original artists, but was 
 generally entrusted to copyists, who carried out as well as they were able the designs 
 of noted painters of their own country or of China. Occasionally, however, the skill 
 of members of the great academies was brought into play in the ornamentation of 
 prized articles made for the use of noble amateurs, and certain pupils of the 
 Kano and other schools have founded great reputations by their designs executed 
 upon pottery or porcelain. Amongst these have been already mentioned Kenzan, 
 the brother of Korin, who established a fabrique at Kioto ; Tangen, a pupil of Kano 
 Tanyu, who initiated the decoration of Satsuma ware; and Morikage, also of the 
 Kano school, w'ho attached himself to the early Kaga porcelain manufactory. The 
 drawings of Shondzui were copied from Chinese originals. The old Arita jars and 
 vases were generally painted wdth baskets of peonies and other subjects, in imitation 
 of pictures of the Chinese school, but from the end of the seventeenth century the 
 range of decoration became widened, and in some cases included sketches by or after 
 the old Ukiyo-yd artists of the Hishigawa school. The designs of Ninsei were 
 
 i\i m 
 
134 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 chiefly drawn from the Kano and Tosa schools, and it is said that a few specimens 
 of his pottery were decorated by Kano Tanyu himself. The Delft ware imported by 
 Dutch traders was copied by a descendant of Kenzan, and this Omnda no ntsushi 
 (imitation of the Dutch) sometimes presented amusing travesties of European pictures, 
 and, occasionally, unconscious repetitions of Japanese and Chinese designs, which, after 
 having lost their principal characteristics in passing through the hands of the 
 European copyist, were apparently mistaken for specimens of Dutch art by the 
 Japanese potter, and were reproduced with new variations that made it a task of no 
 small difficulty to trace the composition to its original source. 
 
 The early designs on cloisonne, the introduction of which is assigned to the 
 seventeenth century (see p. 72),- were usually simple and conventional, and depended 
 for their effect upon the harmony of colour in the enamels and the grace of outline 
 lent by the metallic tracery; but within recent years the patterns have become more 
 naturalistic, and gradations of tone have been introduced in imitation of those produced 
 by the brush. Despite the triumph achieved over certain technical difficulties, the 
 alteration is not yet a subject for congratulation, since the expense of the work is far 
 above its artistic merits, and the results at their best give only a laborious imitation 
 of effects that could be obtained better, more legitimately, and more economically by 
 the ordinary pictorial processes on paper, silk, or panel. It would be wiser for the 
 manufactories to emulate the purity of the tints of the old Chinese enamels than to 
 misapply the advantages they have already gained. At the present moment, 
 notwithstanding the superiority of Japanese design, the Chinese ware still holds the 
 first place, by virtue of the perfect harmony of its colouring, and particularly of the 
 various tones of blue, in which Japan is very far from perfection Reproductions 
 of specimens of cloisonnd in its best forms will be found in Mr. Bowes’ recent work 
 upon "Japanese Enamels.” 
 
 The modern keramic artist borrows from all sources, and is seldom fettered by 
 academical distinctions of style. There is, however, a strong tendency in the 
 direction of the Shijo and Ukiyo-yd schools, and as yet there has been no serious 
 importation of Western ideas to spoil the pre-eminently decorative qualities of the 
 native art. The modern Satsuma is usually decorated by Tokio artists with 
 elaborately drawn and highly gilded pictures of Buddhist or Chinese subjects, or of 
 scenes in Japanese history or legend, after the manner of the Yamato school. 
 
 The Pictorial Decoratio.n of Lacquer. The principal facts in connection 
 with the development of the lacquer industry have been related in the historical 
 introduction, but a few notes may be added with reference to pictorial decoration. 
 The Kogei Shiriyo and a valuable article by Mr. Quin, in vol. ix. of the Transactions 
 of the Asiatic Society, have been largely quoted in the following account. 
 
 The application of pictorial art to lacquer is of great antiquity. According to 
 
 * “ Champlevi^” enamels are of much greater antiquity, dating probably from the eighth century. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 35 
 
 Mr. Quin, the oldest piece of gold lacquer extant is a Ktsa-bako (or box for holding 
 the scarf worn across the shoulder by Buddhist priests) formerly belonging to Shotoku 
 Taishi (572 — 621 a.d.), and now preserved at Todaiji, in Nara. Nothing, however, 
 is said as to the decoration of this ; but the specimen next in order of antiquity, a 
 scabbard made for the Emperor Shomu (724—748 A.D.), and presented in 750 to 
 the temple of Todaiji, is embellished with pictures of birds, flowers, and other natural 
 objects outlined in powdered gold upon a surface of black lacquer. Other pieces 
 equally or even more venerable are referred to in a list, written in 780 a.d., of the 
 possessions of the temple of Sendaiji, in Nara, and comprised boxes of black and 
 red lacquer (for the preservation of sacred rolls), ornamented with drawings of clouds, 
 birds, and landscapes executed in gold and silver; but unfortunately these are no 
 longer in existence. We may, however, assume that the art had passed through its 
 rudimentary stages before the eighth century of our era. 
 
 The chief varieties of lacquer pictures, in point of technique, are as follows: — 
 
 1. Designs executed in raised gold upon a gold gmound {kin makiye). Certain 
 details of the picture may be strengthened by the application of pieces of thick gold 
 or silver foil, either shaped in accordance with the part of the design to be covered 
 or cut into minute squares or triangles, the metal in both cases being embedded in 
 the lacquer and afterwards burnished. 
 
 According to the views of native connoisseurs, the best examples of gold lacquer 
 are those made in the later years of the Emperor Go-Shirakawa (d. 1192) and under 
 the Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimasa (d. 1490). The most brilliant and attractive work, 
 however, was produced in the early part of the eighteenth century, during and after the 
 Shogunate of lydtsuna (d. 1709). The highly raised gold lacquer {Taka-makiyi) was 
 introduced in the fifteenth century, and it was then that the floral designs hitherto in 
 favour became supplemented by landscapes, figures, and architectural subjects. 
 
 2. Designs executed in gold or silver upon a lacquered surface of black, red, or other 
 colour, or of nasliiji.^ The pattern may be level with the ground surface, as in the 
 most ancient specimens, or more or less raised. The ornamentation of the scabbard 
 of Shomu at Todaiji, previously mentioned, appears to have been outlined in gold 
 upon black lacquer; a second coat of lacquer was then applied, and finally the design 
 was developed by grinding down and polishing the surface, which was left perfectly 
 smooth and even. Another early form, called Hiyo-mon, was made “ by cutting out 
 the figures of flowers and plants on a thin gold plate, which was then lacquered on 
 the article.” (Quin.) 
 
 3. Monochrome designs, usually black, upon a lacquered surface of a different 
 colour. Freely drawn sketches in black upon a red ground are very common. 
 
 ’ Nashiji\% a material formed by the admixture of particles of gold with a yellowish-brown or black lacquer. 
 When polished, it presents a speckled surface resembling that of the NasJii, or Japanese pear. Its use began in 
 the tenth century. Giobu-nashiji, Sl form in which small squares of gold leaf were employed instead of powdered 
 gold, was the invention of a Yedo workman named Giobu Taro, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 136 
 
 4. Designs in gold and coloured lacquers upon any of the grounds mentioned 
 (unishi-yi', or “lacquer pictures”). These are known to have been produced as early 
 as the reign of the Emperor Daigo (8g8—930). 
 
 5. Designs diversified by inlaying with various materials, especially mother-of-pearl, 
 tortoiseshell, ivory, pottery, and various metals, often elaborately carved. The use of 
 mother-of-pearl and shells in conjunction with lacquer is said to have originated in 
 the reign of the Emperor Shomu (724-748). Korin made extensive use of inlaid 
 plaques of lead and mother-of-pearl, and Ritsuwo (p. 79), who was especially famous 
 for works of this kind, introduced also small figures of birds, flowers, &c., fashioned 
 in pottery and other materials. The encrusted work, which is now assuming very 
 ambitious proportions and involves great complexity of technique, is a development 
 of the same process. 
 
 6. Lacquered designs of all kinds upon unvarnished surfaces, as of ivory, coral, 
 tortoiseshell, horn, wood, porcelain, silk, &c. The decoration of keramic ware 
 with drawings in lacquer commenced in the time of Hiddyoshi, before the end of the 
 sixteenth century. Painting in lacquer upon varnished paper and silk was invented 
 by Shibata Zeshin in 1868. 
 
 7. Engraved lacquer {Chinkin-bori). Outline designs, deeply engraved with a 
 
 sharp instrument (knife or rat's-tooth) upon a polished lacquer surface, and rendered 
 distinct by rubbing gold into the linear incisions. The process was learned from the 
 Chinese by a Nagasaki artist, in the period Kioho (1716—1736); and a follower of 
 this man, named Ninomiya Totei, of Tokio, who employed a rat's-tooth as a graver, 
 became greatly noted for the delicacy and skill of his work. 
 
 8. Carved lacquer. Designs cut in relief in a thick coating of red {tsiiishiii), 
 
 black {isuikoku), or other coloured lacquer. It was first introduced from China in 
 the reign of the Go-tsuchi Mikado-no-in (1465—1500)1 by a workman named Monniu, 
 and was carried on with great success in the beginning of the seventeenth century by 
 HeijiurS, an artist in the employ of lyeyasu. In some specimens the lacquer ground 
 consists of layers of different tints, and the stratification is e.xposed in the process of 
 
 cutting. This is the one form of lacquer in which the Chinese have been able to hold 
 
 their own against their pupils. 
 
 Tsuishiu and Tsuikoku must be distinguished from carved and lacquered wood, 
 to which they bear a superficial resemblance. The latter is of much older date, and, 
 under the name of Chomoku, was known as early as the beginning of the tenth 
 century. Kamakura-hori, Echhcn-bori, and Odawara-bori are varieties of Chomoku. 
 
 9. Designs carved in lacquer, revarnished with a different material, and then 
 exposed by polishing and grinding. This is called Zokoku-nuri, after its inventor, 
 Tamakaji Zokoku, of Takamatsu, in Sanuki, who flourished about 1624. 
 
 10. Designs outlined in silver or gold wire. The ware pattern is fixed upon the 
 surface of the object to be decorated ; the whole is then covered with black lacquer, 
 and finally the metal is re-exposed by a process of grinding and polishing. This 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 '37 
 
 form of lacquer, which is called Zogan-nuri, was first made at Nagoya in the early 
 part of the present century. 
 
 The great majority of the decorations seen upon lacquered objects are merely 
 copied by the draughtsman from pictures by noted painters. The first artists in lacquer 
 who invented their own designs appear to have been Honnami Kbyetsu (d. 1627) and 
 Koma Kiuhaku (fl. 1624), the former being the master of the famous Korin; the latter 
 the founder of the Koma school in Yedo. Korin (d. 1716) and Ritsuwo (d. 1747) 
 were distinguished by compositions of striking originality, and both adopted every 
 means of embellishment likely to conduce to the effectiveness of their works. The 
 encrusted lacquer of the versatile Ritsuwo, enriched as it was by wonderful 
 sculpturesque achievements in pottery, wood, ivory, pearl, metal, and other substances, 
 appeals at once to all tastes; but the masterpieces of Korin are caviare to the 
 multitude. It requires a special education to discern the idea of this artist in the 
 midst of the startling disregard for naturalistic canons and the apparent coarseness of 
 detail evident in the majority of specimens bearing his name. His technique, 
 moreover, though sound and substantial, and in perfect harmony with the design, 
 is likely to disappoint the amateur who, looking for the elaborate ornamentation and 
 the brilliant surface of the typical gold lacquer of the last hundred and fifty years, 
 finds big embedded plaques of mother-of-pearl and lead forming part of a rude design 
 upon a ground of dead gold or black. But to those who have learned to understand 
 his aim there appears a strength of character rarely apparent in the resplendent work 
 of later years. Korin as a decorative artist will always be a genius for the few, a 
 charlatan for the many. 
 
 The close of the eighteenth century brought several important artists, of whom 
 six have attained especial note. The best known of these were Kajikawa Kinjiro, 
 \amamoto Shunsho, Nagata Yiiji, Koma Kwansai, Inoiiye HakiLsai, and Kara 
 Yoyusai, all of whom flourished between 1780 and 1790 (Quin). The work is carried 
 on in the present day by a few men of considerable power, including Shibata Zeshin, 
 Watanabe Tosen, and Ogawa Shomin, who are doing much to keep up the standard 
 of an art in which Japan has always been unrivalled. 
 
 The amount of lacquer now made for the foreign market is very large. The best 
 is of great beauty, and of no less costliness; but it is an anxious question 
 whether the minute care regarded as all-essential by the older craftsmen is equally 
 valued in our own time, for it is certain that every fraction of neglect will be avenged 
 upon the objects by time and usage, and eventually upon the manufacturers by a 
 declining clientele. 
 
 For the student of lacquer, the contributions of Mr. Quin in the Transactions 
 of the Asiatic Society, and in Audsley’s “Ornamental Arts of Japan," will be of the 
 greatest service. The industry is also reviewed in “ Le Japon a I'Exposition Universelle 
 de 1878,” by Mr. Matsugata; and a rich selection of beautifully e.xecuted reproductions 
 will be found in Mr. Audsley's work, and in “ L’Art Japonais " of M. Gonse. 
 
 X n 
 
ijS PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Embroidery. The manufacture of silk te.xtiles with diaper designs is said to 
 have been introduced in the year 463 a.d., by a Korean artisan, whose descendants 
 have carried on the work down to modern times. The industry flourished until the 
 tenth century, when the preference shown by the Emperor and his Court for Chinese 
 brocades led to a decline in the home production. The native looms did not resume 
 their activity until a new spur was given by the introduction of the Chinese method 
 
 Fig. 59. Kibi Daijin and the Chinese Embroideress. From a drawing by Tachibana no Morikuni. 
 Engraved in the A-hon Shako hnknro. 
 
 of weaving gold brocade {kinraii) in the sixteenth century. A little later the 
 Portuguese contributed some new features, and at length, before the end of the following 
 century, the proficiency of the native weavers is said to have become so great, that 
 they were able to produce copies of the famous Ming brocades that were superior 
 to the originals. 
 
 Hand embroidery is probably more ancient than loom-made brocades, but there 
 is no clue to its origin. The earliest historical work, which is attributed to Shotoku 
 
APPLICATIONS OP PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 139 
 
 Taishi (sixth century), is still preserved at the temple of Chiuguji, but its authorship 
 is very questionable. There is, however, less doubt as to the famous Mandala of 
 the nun Chiujo Himii (eighth century), at Tayt 5 ma-d(fra, notwithstanding the fable of 
 divine intervention attached to the history of its production.* 
 
 The manufacture of Buddhist pictorial embroidery was probably the first 
 application of the process, which afterwards became e.xtensively employed in the 
 decoration of female dresses, of the broad girdles [obi) worn by young girls, of the square 
 wrappers [fukusa) originally intended as envelopes for presents, but now usually 
 converted by Europeans into cushion covers and fire screens, of costumes of actors in 
 the No performances, of processional dres.ses for firemen, &c. In the majority of these 
 e.xamples the embroidery is supplemented by stamped or stencilled designs, fixed by 
 the resources of the dyer. An account of the technical processes will be found in 
 Dresser’s “ Industrial Arts of Japan.” 
 
 The designs w’ere commonly drawn upon the fabric by artists especially engaged 
 for the purpose, and amongst the few men of note who contributed to this work were 
 Ogata Korin, Hishigawa Moronobu, and Nishigatva Sukenobu. In the case of dresses 
 worn by geishas and courtesans, the motives of the design were often of an elaborate 
 and even startling character—a landscape with its full complement of fields, cottages, 
 rivers, trees, and mountains; a grove of cherry-trees in full blossom; a shoal of 
 carp; a lugubrious array of skeletons; and even, as in plate 41, an epitome of the 
 tortures of hell, being regarded as attractive and appropriate embellishments for the 
 figure of the Japanese hetaira. 
 
 The work is carried on with undiminished energy in Kioto, where the industry 
 has always found its chief centre, and the foreign market has created a call for screen 
 pictures, hangings of imitation tapestry, and other ornamental objects which more 
 than compensate the factories for the diminution of home trade. 
 
 Several books of patterns for embroidered dresses, &c., have been published, 
 amongst which may be noted the Tokiiua gi (1700), and the Tokhua hinagata, by 
 Takagi Kosukd (1732). 
 
 * “ Having entered the monastery (Taydma-d^ra), she devoted herself entirely to religious exercises. In an 
 ecstasy of devotion she made a vow to Amida to starve herself to death unless he would appear to her in his own 
 form. Shortly afterwards she received a visit from an aged nun, who promised to show her heaven and all its hosts, 
 l^y the nun’s command the princess collected a hundred horseloads of lotus stalks, and when their fibres had been 
 .separated, these were plunged into a well, which miraculously appeared in the courtyard of her dwelling on the 
 ground being slightly disturbed. The water of this well was as clear as crystal, but the threads which were put into 
 it came out dyed with all the colours of the rainbow. When all was ready, a beautiful young woman suddenly 
 appeared with a loom, and began to weave the threads together with such swiftness that in six hours she completed 
 a web fifteen feet each way, and the wonder of it was that the room in which the work was performed was only nine 
 feet square. In the morning she stepped out into the courtyard, and cut a bamboo, without a knot in it, to serve as a 
 roller for the picture. Chiu-j'o Hime fell down before the inandara which had thus been created, and adored it. 
 The old nun now prepared to depart, but on being pressed by the princess, revealed herself as Amida, and explained 
 that the woman who had woven the picture was the god Kwan-non. This is said to have been the first representation 
 of the Buddhist heaven known in Japan.” ('■ Handbook for Japan,” p. 398.) A copy of the work is included in the 
 British Museuna Collection. 
 

 Fig. 6o. Indra. Reduced facsimile of wood engraving attributed to the Biiddhi.st priest 
 Nichiren (1222—1282). Satow Collection. 
 
 
 E' 
 
 CHAPTI'R III. 
 
 'NGRAVING ui’ON Wood, Copper, and Stonp:. 
 
 Investigations into the origin of wood engraving 
 in Japan have been seriously complicated by the 
 fabrication of sham xylographic antiquities, and by 
 the invention of imaginary histories devised to 
 give sanctity to really ancient specimens of the art. 
 A large number of Buddhist temples in Japan 
 are owners of engraved wood blocks, from which 
 impressions may be taken for distribution to pilgrim 
 worshippers, and no small proportion of these cuts 
 are announced as the handiwork of priestly celebrities of the early ages of the 
 
 'f 
 
 
PLATE 46. 
 
 JAPANESE BEAUTIES. 
 
 Facsimile of a chromoxylograph after KatsUGAWA ShuNSHo, engraved in the Scird Bijin Awai,' tagami (1776). 
 
 Wilhelm Gheve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 religion, apparently with the double object of stimulating the fervour of the visitor and 
 reflecting some glory upon the establishment in possession of the precious relic. It 
 is, of course, not impossible that Shotoku Taishi, Giogi, Kobo Daishi, Jikaku Daishi, 
 and other apostles of the Church left works of the kind, but it is extremely improbable 
 that most of the examples bearing their names were produced by amateur engravers 
 
 Fig. 6i. Agni Dtv.i, the Fire Divinity. Reduced facsimile of woodcut dated in the second year 
 ofShochiu (1325)- Engraved by a priest named Ribkin. 
 
 when the art was in its infancy.' Many of these pious frauds, indeed, may be 
 condemned at a glance ; but a few, to which reference will presently be made, are of 
 undoubted antiquity, and present no internal evidence of a fraudulent history. 
 
 ‘ In a large collection of impressions of temple wood blocks brought together by a native antiquarian, and 
 conveyed to England by the author, the names quoted above, with others of the same periods, are attached to 
 pictorial representations that have undoubtedly been executed within the last two hundred years. 
 
 o o 
 
142 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAF. 
 
 The earliest authentic specimens of engraving upon wood belong to the history 
 of printing. According to Mr. Satow,- the first application of the art of block-printing 
 of which any record is preserved dates from a.d. 764, at which time a large number 
 of copies of the text of a Buddhist Dharani were thus reproduced for distribution 
 amongst the people. It is probable, however, that the process was known before 
 this time, as it had been practised from the end of the sixth century in China, 
 whence the idea must have been conveyed to the Japanese in the course of the early 
 communications between the two countries. The allied process of seal-engraving is 
 of still greater antiquity, and to evolve from this the art of block-printing would 
 appear to need only the call of necessity. 
 
 The first book known to have been printed in Japan was a copy, dating before 
 1157 A.D., of the Dai'han~nia A'fJ (Maha prajna paramita Sutra), fragments of which 
 are still extant; and from this time commenced a still lingering custom of printing 
 religious books and rolls in workshops within the precincts of the monasteries. It is 
 at any rate beyond question that the engraving of wood blocks for printing was 
 carried on by the Japanese priesthood long before the time when it is said to have 
 been introduced into Europe from China by Marco Polo. 
 
 The technique of pictorial Avoodcuts being identical with that of block-printing, 
 there is every probability that the two branches of engraving are of equal antiquity, 
 but the relics of the former are the less ancient. The oldest specimen with a history 
 worthy of any confidence is a block of willow-wood, kept at Asakusa, upon which are 
 figures of Buddhist divinities, said to have been carved by the priest Jikaku Daishi 
 (d. 864 a.d); after this may be cited an example attributed to Eshin Sodzu 
 (962—1017), representing a vision of Amitabha; another, depicting a collection of 
 divinities, presented to a temple at Kumano, in Kishiu, by the Mikado Shirakawa 
 (1073—1086); a portraiture of Indra (fig. 60), roughly cut on a block of pear-wood 
 by the priest Nichiren (1222—1282); and lastly, a set of blocks engraved with figures 
 of the Twelve Deva Kings, dated in 1325, and bearing the name of Riokin (fig. 61). 
 There is a decided want of skill displayed in the execution of the earlier of these 
 examples, a point in favour of their authenticity, but the engraving of the last 
 evidences considerable manipulative power. It will be remembered that the woodcut 
 of St. Christopher with the Infant Saviour is assigned to the year 1423, nearly a 
 century later than the Riokin blocks, and even the apocryphal story of the Cunio 
 engravings of the career of Alexander the Great carries the European process back 
 no farther than 1285. 
 
 The use of woodcuts in book illustration appears to have been comparatively late. 
 The oldest volume known to the author is an edition of the Ise Monogafari, published 
 in 1608 (British Museum; see fig. 62), but similar embellishments appeared in printed 
 
 - For the history of Japanese printing, see Mr. Satow’s paper in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of 
 Japan, vol. x., from which the facts here given are extracted. Mr. Satow believes that block-printing was suggested 
 to the Chinese by the much more ancient practice of taking impressions from inscriptions on stone monuments 
 by nibbing. 
 
APJ^L/CATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART 
 
 143 
 
 rolls at a much earlier period ; an undoubted example, dated in 1504, being included in the 
 Satow Collection (British Museum). 
 
 These early efforts were not devoid of a certain artistic skill, and were quite 
 equal to the contemporary work of the Chinese, but gave little promise of the 
 
 remarkable power to be afterAvards attained by the Japanese engraver. The art. 
 moreover, for a long time remained almost stationary. 1 he Hogen Monogafari and 
 the Heiji Monogatari, printed in 1626 {Author’s Collection), are inferior to those of 
 the earlier volumes.'* The illustrated histories, romances, Szc., succeeding these 
 
 ’’ The illustrations on these works are coloured by hand for publication, a practice which gave place to 
 chromo.vylography at the end of the seventeenth century. 
 
144 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 indicated little progress, and it was not until the latter portion of the seventeenth 
 century that engraving began to take its rightful place amongst the fine arts. 
 
 The new era in xylography commenced with the revival of the Ukiyo-ye school 
 of Matahei, between 1770 and 1780. The reproduction of the bold designs of 
 Hishigawa Moronobu (see p. 62), which covered nearly the whole of the ground since 
 cultivated by Hokusai and his followers, was in itself an education for the engravers, 
 and the result left little to be desired in point of vigour, although .something was 
 still to be added in grace and delicacy. The almost contemporaneous foundation of 
 
 Fig. 63. Burlesque of Ebisu and Daikoku. Reduced facsimile of engraving after Hishigawa Moronobu (c. 1680), 
 
 the Theatrical School of draughtsmanship by Torii Kiyonobu formed a useful 
 complement to the work of the Hishigawas, and gave the signal for the employment 
 of the Chinese process of colour-printing. 
 
 The style of the Hishigawa school was carried on by Okumura Alasanobii, who 
 flourished in the beginning of the eighteenth century. His drawings, which were 
 engraved both in monochrome and colour, were pleasing, but lacked the strength 
 displayed in those of Moronobu. Fig. 64 offers a fair illustration of his manner. 
 
 The labours of Moronobu had scarcely ceased when the appearance of a number of 
 albums of great utility to the cause of popular art proved that his example had borne 
 good fruit. In 1707, the Gwa-ski kwai-yo, the first of an invaluable series of copies from 
 pictures by the famous Japanese and Chinese masters, was i.ssued by Ooka Shunboku, 
 probably in imitation of the Kaktmono Edziikushi of Moronobu ; this was followed 
 by the E-hon _tk-kagaini (1721); the G'lva-ko seji-ran (1741), the lEa-kan mei-giva 
 yen (1749); the IVa-kan nici-kiisu gwa-yei (1750); the ll’a-kan shih gwa ye 7 i {1760), 
 the IVa-kan mci~liitsu kingio gwa-fit (1764), the JVa-kan nici-hitsu gwa-ho (1767), 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 145 
 
 and the Gwa-soku (1777), the later works being published under the direction of 
 Sakurai ShiCizan. Some of these included appendices, which conveyed technical and 
 theoretical instruction of much interest. A few years after the appearance of the 
 first of Shunboku's albums, Tachibana no Morikuni, an artist who is said to 
 have been a pupil of the Kano school, commenced an independent .series of 
 illustrated books, most of which were devoted to the instruction of students and 
 the suggestion of motives for artisan designers. His labours were introduced by 
 the E-hon Koii-dan (1714), a selection of Chinese and Japanese legends with 
 
 Fig. 64. The Three Sake-tasters. Burlesque of an ancient picture typifying the three religions, Taoism, Buddhism, and 
 Confucianism. From an engraving after Okunuira Masanobu (c. 1700). 
 
 illustrations,'' and the R-hon sha-ho bukuro (1720), of which the most important 
 part was devoted to drawing examples : the E-hon Tsh-hoshi (1725), the Gioa-tcn 
 tsh ko (1727), the Yokiokti gwa slii (1732), the E-hon Oshukiibai (1740), and the 
 E-hon jiki shi-ho (1745) were of a similar nature. These were supplemented by a 
 collection of rough sketches called Unipitsu so gwa, engraved with extraordinary skill 
 in imitation of the rapid strokes of a coarse brush, and three works of larger size. 
 
 The earliest work of this kind was probably the E-hon hokan of Mase^jawa Tdiin, published in i68S. 
 
 P 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OP JAPAN. 
 
 146 
 
 containing illustrations to Japanese and Chinese poetry. The first seven are still 
 utilized e.xtensively by draughtsmen of the Popular school. Nishigawa Suhdnobu, 
 a contemporary of Morikuni, and apparently an imitator of Okumura Masanobu, was 
 still more prolific; but, with the exception of the E-Iwu y’ainnto hiji (1742), a book 
 in the style of the E-hon Koji-dan, and containing an essay on painting, his pencil 
 was devoted to portraitures of women, and illustrations of stories, maxims, and poetry 
 
 Fig. 65. Ono no Komachi in her old age. Facsimile of an engraving after Nishigawa Suk^nobu in the 
 fi.-hon Yaiiialo hiji (1742). 
 
 (published between 1723 and 1768): Shimokawabe Jiusui followed the same style in the 
 illustration of moral stories, between 1765 and 1791 ; Tsukioka Tange contributed an 
 item to a similar class of books in the R-hon Ilimc bimko, or “Young Lady’s 
 Companion" (1760); and others were added at a later time, amongst which the Dojt 
 hid E-hon, or “Boy's Pictorial Instructor” (1806), by Giokuzan, and the Onna 
 Iniaga'iva, a volume of notable examples for women (c. 1830), by flokusai, are the 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 147 
 
 best known. The Doji kio E-hon has been translated by Mr. Chamberlain in the 
 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 1882. 
 
 Religious books did not afford much occupation for the pictorial artist and engraver. 
 The Butsii so dsit-i, first published in 1752, was an early and very important volume 
 depicting the whole calendar of the Buddhist divinities, but after this we meet with 
 little beyond a few biographies of the famous priests and some reprints of the life 
 of Sakyamuni, chiefly illustrated by Hokusai and his pupils. 
 
 Romances and novelettes, on the other hand, were poured forth in astonishing 
 
 Fig. 66. Facsimile of two pages of a Kusa-zoshi (c. 1S20). 
 
 numbers. The early stories of the type of the Gcjiji Monogatari were followed from 
 about the middle of the seventeenth century by contemporary fiction, in the illustration 
 of which almost every popular artist of note appears to have taken part, from 
 Moronobu to Kuniyoshi. The first of this group, issued between 1608 and about 
 1720, were of two sizes, a large octavo, usually devoted to the reprints of the older 
 stories, and a duodecimo, generally less ambitious in style and contemporary as to 
 text. The illustrations in either were confined each to a single page, or covered two 
 
148 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 opposite pages; two blocks, one for each half of the drawing, being required in the 
 latter case. In some instances the cuts were coloured by hand, as in the Heiji 
 Monogdtari (1626) and a few of the works illustrated by Hishigawa Moronobu ; and 
 from the first, as in fig. 67, the design was characterized by the introduction of fictitious 
 clouds, in imitation of the paintings of the Yamato school (see Section 4). About 
 1730 was added an oblong duodecimo, a form still preserved in some of the modern 
 books for artisan designers; but the most curious style of book-printing was 
 that of the kusn-::oshi, which dates from about the same period, and was contributed 
 to by most of the well-known popular artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth 
 centuries, including Torii Kiyomitsu, Torii Kiyonaga, Torii Kiyotsund, Tomikaw'a 
 Ginsetsu, Hokusai, Toyokuni, and Toyohiro. The kusa-zoshi was a book of very 
 small dimensions, usually divided into a number of thin fasciculi, the covers of 
 which in the later specimens were resplendent with chromoxylographic illuminations, 
 and each page or pair of opposite pages bore a design that occupied nearly the whole 
 of the space, the text being relegated to any part of the margins into which it could 
 be intruded without obscuring the picture (see fig. 66). 
 
 From about the beginning of the nineteenth century many of the novels reverted 
 to the octavo form, and the first volume or fasciculus of each work or section of a 
 work was usually prefaced by a few introductory plates, printed from two or three 
 blocks. These works of imagination were often of tremendous length, sometimes 
 extending over sixty, a hundred, or more volumes, and in one class the sentiment rvas 
 apt to run in a somewhat violent strain, bringing before us such an assemblage of 
 ghastly murders, bloody combats, and ghostly apparitions, intermingled with such feats 
 of superhuman strength and ideal heroism, that it is difficult to imagine the w'orks 
 were created by and for the most kindly, gentle, and pacific people in the w'orld, the 
 Japanese keimin. It would be a task of extreme interest to trace the evolution of 
 Japanese fiction from the early days of the Kioto Court, which gave birth to the 
 refined patrician compositions of the type of the Genji and Isd Monogataris, down to 
 the modern era of Kioden, Bakin, Tandhiko, and their fellows, men of the people, 
 who catered for a class that has yet to receive political life. 
 
 It may be noticed that the illustrations to the modern novel or novelette arc 
 always unobjectionable on the score of decency. It would, of course, be strange if 
 pruriency did not find its ministers in Japan as elsewhere, but the garbage was set 
 apart, and, so far as might be, was prevented from offending the nostrils of those 
 who did not take the trouble to seek it out. 
 
 The typical handbook, in its more complete form, is the product of the last 
 hundred years, but pictorial representations of native scenery have been published 
 from about 1680, either in the form of “single sheets” (ichinuu-yi), sewn volumes 
 (shoiHo/sii), or long panoramic pictures, converted into folding books [ori/ion) or rolls. 
 The typical Meisho dza-yc, or Pictorial description of Noted Places, is, however, a work of 
 ambitious scope and of wide utility. It indicates all the spots famous for landscape 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 149 
 
 beauties, collects learned records of the historical and legendary lore of the localities 
 described, enumerates the various objects of curiosity or archeological importance 
 preserved in the neighbourhood, contributes scientific notes upon the flora and 
 fauna of the district, and opens a fund of practical information as to industries, 
 commerce, and a hundred other matters of interest both to resident and visitor. 
 Each of the great cities and of the chief provinces had its handbook carefully edited 
 and printed, and illustrated by the leading popular artists. To Vedo (now Tokio) and 
 its environs were dedicated twenty substantial volumes; Kioto had eleven volumes, 
 exclusive of a large work devoted to its gardens ; the description of Osaka and the 
 province of Settsu occupied twelve volumes; that of the Tokaido, the high road 
 between Yedo and Kioto, six volumes; that of the temple of Itsukushima and its 
 vicinity filled ten volumes ; and the list might be extended up to two hundred volumes 
 or more. The first of the series was the Miako (Kioto) Mcisho dzii-yi (1787), 
 illustrated by Takahara Shunchosai, who also supplied drawings for the handbooks 
 
 Fig. 67. From a drawing by Shunchosai, engraved in the Scttsii Meisho dzu-ye (1787). 
 
 for Yamato (1791), Idzumi (1793), and Settsu (1798): Niwa Tokei, Nishimura Chiuwa, 
 Hokkio Nishikuni, and some others contributed to the work in the first two decades 
 of the present century, but the void left by the death of Shunchosai was not filled 
 until 1837, when the publication of the Vedo Mcisho d:sii-ye introduced striking 
 representations of the scenery and people of the Capital of the Shogun, from the pencil 
 of Hasdgawa Settan. A description of the holiday resorts of the city, forming suite 
 with the last, was issued in 1838, and a smaller work of a similar kind in 1839. 
 Many other popular artists soon appeared in the field, and some guide-books, like the 
 Nikko-zan Shi, included designs by several contributors. The latest of the more 
 
 y 4 
 
‘50 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 important “Meishos" were the Toiivgaiva dan S/ii (1856), illustrated by various 
 artists, and the Kwarakit Meisho dau-yc (1859), with pictures by Hanzan Yasunobu. 
 
 As before remarked, the handbooks embellished by Shunchosai were not the first 
 publications descriptive of well-known places. Views of Yedo appeared before the end 
 
 Fig. 68. From the Sos/iisciig^va-fu (1766). 
 
 of the seventeenth century. The Kwarakii Saiken dzu, published in 1703, contained 
 good drawings of buildings and landscapes, and anticipated the “ Kusa-zoshi ” in placing 
 the te.\t upon the same page with the illustration (but in this case writing and sketch 
 were separated by cloud-like outlines) : the Togokn meisho Shi, a description of noted 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 151 
 
 places in Eastern Japan, illustrated by Tsukioka Tangd, was printed in 1762, and a 
 number of " Orihon ” volumes with hand-coloured drawings in panoramic form were 
 issued between 1710 and 1770. None of these essays, however, merit comparison 
 with the handbooks of Shunchosai and his followers. The Mcizan dsu-y^ of Tani 
 Buncho is an excellent supplement to the group of the “ Meisho dzu-yd," and 
 contains many admirable sketches of the mountain scenery of Japan. 
 
 The illustrations of these works as a class are \'ery spirited, notwithstanding the 
 absence of chiaroscuro and the defects of perspective, and convey a vivid and 
 faithful impression of the scenes depicted. Equal justice was rendered to the people 
 whose figures appeared in the landscape, street, or building, and the more idealized 
 pictorial transcripts of history and folk-lore were well composed, and told their story 
 with good effect. The introduction of arbitrary cloud-forms, used for decorative 
 
 Fig. 69. A Suburban Tea-house. From the llsukushima dzu-yc (1836). 
 
 purposes by the masters of the Yamato-Tosa school, was .adopted for convenience in 
 the “Meisho" drawings, partly to exclude unnecessary details, and partly to secure a 
 space for descriptive text. The picture, when large enough to cover two pages, was 
 divided into halves, and where the range of view was unusually wide, the design 
 often extended in segments over three, four, or more pages, a separate block being 
 necessarily used for each page. 
 
 Books of humorous sketches were amongst the earliest ventures of the publisher. 
 The Imi Hiaku-nin Isshiu (i66g) was a collection of illustrated poems in travesty of 
 the famous classical odes. Hishig,awa Moronobu contributed a .set of drawings 
 burlesquing the Taoist Genii (c. i6go), and Okumura Masanobu, in the Yukei Scunin 
 (c. 1710), produced a work of similar kind. The Kiyd gwa yen (1776), most of the 
 
P/CTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 152 
 
 drawings in which are attributed to Kano Tanyu, treated the semi-religious fables of 
 Buddhism with a familiarity that approached very near to contempt; the ItcJio 
 g^iva-fu, and other copies of the rough sketches of the noted painter, Hanabusa 
 
 Itcho, were full of amusing fancies, like those in plate 26 and fig. 26; the 
 
 Hokusai manguDa included a volume of comic drawings, some of which might well 
 have been omitted ; and finally, the albums of Kiosai, engraved within the last five 
 years, are a mine of reckless wit. 
 
 The doughty deeds of warriors have attracted many artists. The earliest volume 
 devoted to the subject was probably the Kokon Bushido Rdzukushi (1685), by 
 
 Moronobu. At a later time Tsukioka Tange won a reputation in the same field, 
 
 and the motives were treated from a rather more theatrical aspect in some well-known 
 
 volumes by Hokusai and Keisai Veisen. The Zenkcn kojitsu of Kikuchi Yosai 
 
 included portraitures, not only of warriors, but of notabilities of every description. 
 
 The artists who adopted the stage as the principal subject for their pencils were 
 almost always represented by chromoxylographs, to which reference will presently be 
 made. With few exceptions, the engravings in “black and white” were limited to 
 roughly cut play-bills, which rarely bear the name of the designer. The most 
 noteworthy exception was the Shibai gaku ya (1800), illustrated by Shokosai Hanbei, 
 and comprising some interesting perspective views of the different parts of the theatre. 
 
 It is unnecessary to carry the enumeration farther. There is, indeed, little within 
 
 the ken of the reader that has not derived light and strength from the pencil of the 
 
 artist, but the best work of the Popular school was exerted upon the sections already 
 passed under review. 
 
 The following books, illustrated with monochrome wood engravings, have been 
 selected as specimens fairly representative of the different periods, styles, and artists, 
 and may be studied in this country by all who are interested in the subject. 
 
 Isc Monogatari ..... 
 
 1608 
 
 Artist unknown. 
 
 Hogen Monogatari .... 
 
 1626 
 
 n .. 
 
 Chiyc Kaganii ..... 
 
 1660 
 
 n 
 
 Koi no Mina kanii .... 
 
 c. 1685 
 
 Hishigawa Moronobu. 
 
 Yukei Sennin ...... 
 
 c. 1710 
 
 Okumura Masanobu. 
 
 \ O-oka Shunboku, after 
 
 Gwa-shi kwai-yo ..... 
 
 ■ 1707 
 
 [ various artists. 
 
 Hiaku-nin ybro Shina Sadanic 
 
 ■ 1723 
 
 Nishigawa Sukdnobu. 
 
 Rdion Jiki Shihd .... 
 
 ■ 1745 
 
 Tachibana Morikuni. 
 
 UmpifsH Sd-g"iva ..... 
 
 CO 
 
 0 
 
 Tachibana Morikuni. 
 
 R-hon Mush a tadzuna .... 
 
 ■ 1759 
 
 Tsukioka Tange. 
 
 Kiyo giua yen ..... 
 
 ■ 1770 
 
 Various artists. 
 
 IFakaki no Hana siiina no hatsu yuki 
 
 . 1771 
 
 Tomikawa Ginsetsii. 
 
 Buyh Nishiki no Tanioto 
 
 ■ 1767 
 
 Suzuki Harunobu. 
 
 Rndo Riji-bakaina .... 
 
 ■ 1769 
 
 Torii Kiyotsund. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 '53 
 
 Kayiri-bana yci-yu tailici ki 
 Miako VIC is ho d::n-yl’. . 
 
 Itcho gwa yet 
 E-hon Biwa-ko 
 E-lwn A sobi-gusa 
 SIwshoku Yc-kagatni . 
 E-hon Tnikb-ki . 
 
 E-di-hon .... 
 Nenjih Gioji daisci 
 MeEan dzit-yc 
 Shichifuku Monogatari 
 Nanko Seichih giua-dcn 
 Asaina koriu jissan den 
 Knshi hinagata . 
 
 Yedo nicisho dzn-yt 
 Boknehikn hats/nno 
 Kjunanaki kagt . 
 
 Genkosai Inroshi . 
 
 Bnyit saki gake dsu-ye 
 Zenken kojitsu 
 E-hon Taka kagami . 
 Banibutsn Hinagata gwa-fu 
 
 ■ 1779 
 
 Torii Kiyonaga. 
 
 1787 
 
 Takahara Shunchosai. 
 
 1779 
 
 Planabusa Itcho. 
 
 00 
 
 00 
 
 Kitawo Shigt^masa. 
 
 1791 
 
 Shimokawabe Jiusui. 
 
 1795 
 
 Kitawo Keisai Masayosh 
 
 1800 
 
 Ishida Giokuzan. 
 
 1800 
 
 Shunfudo Riuko. 
 
 CO 
 
 0 
 
 Ilayami Shunkiosai. 
 
 c. 1810 
 
 Tani Buncho. 
 
 1809 
 
 Utagawa Toyokuni. 
 
 1815 
 
 Katsiigawa Shuntei. 
 
 1819 
 
 Utagawa Toyohiro. 
 
 1829 
 
 Katsushika Hokusai. 
 
 1837 
 
 Hasdgawa Settan. 
 
 1831 
 
 Kenkensai Umpo. 
 
 c. 1840 
 
 
 1840 
 
 Genkosai. 
 
 C. 1835 
 
 Keisai Yeisen. 
 
 1836 
 
 Kikuchi Yosai. 
 
 c. 1870 
 
 Kawanabd Kiosai. 
 
 1881 
 
 Sensai Yeitaku. 
 
 The art of CuROMoxYLOGRArHY was closely associated with that of the older 
 manner of engraving from the end of the seventeenth century; but while certain of the 
 leading artists of the Popular school, as Moronobu, Sukdnobu, and Morikuni, did 
 nothing for the former, many others, including the Toriis, Nishimura Shig( 5 naga, the 
 Katsugawas, and Suzuki Harunobu, owed their reputations mainly to the beauty of 
 the colour prints e.xecuted under their direction, and have left nothing of importance 
 in black and white. Only a few became equally renowned under both manners of 
 interpretation. 
 
 In the early days of wood engraving a single block only was employed, but as 
 soon as the Chinese process of chromoxylography, by the use of a series of wood 
 blocks, became understood in Japan, it was adopted with an energy and intelligence 
 that soon left its authors far in the rear. The date of the invention in China is 
 uncertain, but colour-printing is known to have been carried on extensively in the 
 seventeenth century, and, as shown by a very rare volume in the Ale.xander collection, 
 the Ling Mao Hwa-hwiti, published in 1701, had reached a high degree of merit 
 while the Japanese imitation was still in its infancy. 
 
 The origin of the art in Japan is assigned by most native authorities to the 
 end of the seventeenth century, when it is said to have been introduced by one 
 
 R r 
 
154 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Idzumiya Gonshiro, who made use of a second block to stamp certain parts of his 
 engravings with bcni, or extract of carthamus (whence the name bem-yi applied 
 to the early colour-prints). M. Gonse, however, refers to a printed version of the 
 ancient story of Urashiina (the Japanese Rip Van Winkle), containing some very 
 coarsely executed works of the kind, and bearing the written date of 1653 
 against the owner's name. It is possible that the colouring in this specimen was 
 effected by a different process from that afterwards employed, but, however this 
 be, the art was fitr all practical purposes merely in posse before the time of 
 Gonshiro. The late Mr. Ninagawa believed the earliest known e.xample of 
 printing in colours to be a portrait of the actor Ichikawa Danjiuro (the histrionic 
 ancestor of the present leader of the Tokio stage), sold in Vcdo in 1695.^ It appears, 
 at any rate, to have been amongst the earliest of the pictures known as Ycdo-ye, 
 which afterwards became a commodity of much artistic and commercial importance. 
 
 The history of artistic chromoxylography, as demonstrated by existing specimens, 
 began about 1700, when "single-sheet" engravings [ic/iinini-ye) printed from three 
 blocks, in black, pale green or blue, and pale pink, were executed after the designs of 
 Torii Kiyonobu, and a little later after those of his pupil Kiyomasu, and of Okumura 
 Masanobti. About 1720, a fourth block was added by Nishimura Shigenaga, and 
 the number was increased to five nr six about forty years hater; the colours gaining 
 in purity with each successive generation of artists, until the art was brought to 
 perfection between 1765 and 1785, in the “single-sheet" pictures of Torii Kiyonaga, 
 Suzuki Harunobu, Ippitsusai Buncho, and Katsugawaa Shunsho. The level of 
 excellence was well maintained for another twenty-five years under Utagaw'a Toyokuni, 
 who added to the number of colours, and was successful in securing increased 
 brilliancy without impairment of harmony; under Yeishi, Kitagaw'a Utamaro, 
 Katsugawa Shuncho, Kitawo Ma.sanobu (the artistic name of the famous novelist 
 Kioya Denzo, or Kioden), Yeizan and Hoso'i Chobunsai ; and in the “ new year's 
 cards" of Hokusai and his associates. 
 
 From 1830 a decadence set in, the colours became crude, and were no longer 
 balanced with the happy daring of Toyokuni. It was the adoption of cheap 
 European pigments that gave the conp-de-grace, and the colour sense of the 
 people, after having been trained for generations by the tender harmonies of the 
 Toriis and Katsugawas, was first to be shocked, then perverted by the chromatic 
 discords that in the present day have transformed the shops of the single-sheet 
 vendors into places to be jtassed with averted head. 
 
 The earliest application of chromo.xylography was in the production of 
 single-sheet portraits of noted actors. The history of colour-printing is in.separably 
 connected with that of the popular stage (which must be distinguished from the 
 
 * This date is of course considerably posterior to that of the chiaroscuro engravings of Ugo da Carpi and 
 Lucas Cranach, and of the still earlier colour-prints of Peter Schoffer. It is not certain, however, whether the 
 process adopted by Schoffer was .similar to that employed in China and Japan. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 155 
 
 classical and aristocratic “ Bugaku " and “ No"). The position of the Japanese 
 actor has been until recently a peculiar and somewhat anomalous one; his 
 professional fame might assume magnificent proportions within the large plebeian 
 circle from which his audience was almost exclusively drawn, but socially he was a 
 pariah. 1 he townsmen whose passions and sentiments he could sway at will, and upon 
 whose memories he engraved the noblest traditions of the past, might esteem his 
 death or retirement a public calamity, but would have regarded any kind of personal 
 alliance with him as a degradation. As for the samurai and nobles, every man of 
 gentle birth who respected himself and his order, either avoided the theatre or yielded 
 to the indulgence in .secret. The player was, nevertheless, a tempting subject for the 
 new set of artisan painters, and although some of these men considered the theme 
 beneath the dignity of their occupation, there were many, and of the best, including 
 the loriis, the Katsugawas, and the Utagawas, who were ready to devote their 
 talents to the perpetuation of the features and impersonations of the Garricks and 
 Listons of their day. Some of these artists exercised a commensurate liberality of 
 spirit in favour of the celebrities of the courtesan quarter, but it was as recorders of 
 the stage that their reputation was established. 
 
 Next in popularity to the actors, as subjects for single-sheet pictures, came beauties 
 of local repute, or disrepute as the case might be; and Suzuki Hariinobu, Kosuisai, 
 ^'eishi, Kitaw'o Ma.sanobu, and Kitagawa Utamaro, all of whom despised the stage, 
 together tvith Ippitsusai Buncho and Katsugawa Shunsho, who were superior to 
 prejudice, endeavoured to immortalize the forms of their fair townswomen by the 
 chromoxylographic art. Their works almost attained the limits of perfection in beauty 
 of colouring, the poses were natural and easy, and the lines of drapery were full of 
 grace ; but the supple curves of figure and the sweetness and vivacity of expression 
 that have warmed into a glow of eloquence the pen of more than one susceptible 
 European touri.st, met with scanty justice at the hands of the artist, and the shapely 
 limbs were caricatured by ill-drawn lines that a little painstaking study of nature 
 would have made impossible. 
 
 The wrestler, too, as a favourite caterer for the amusement of the public, shared 
 the attentions of the single-sheet draughtsmen. He considered himself many grades 
 above the actor by calling, and at times was pleased to assert his superiority with 
 an arrogance that would have caused the hair to bristle tipion the head of the meanest 
 stroller of modern Britain. The artist, however, could make but little of the heavy 
 features and elephantine form, and having no appreciation for the grand display of 
 muscular force that would often reveal itself beneath the hide of the athlete, his 
 studies have given us little that is worthy of preservation. 
 
 Subjects of a more classical type were occasionally selected for reproduction in 
 colour-printing by the early popular artists. The famous poets and poetesses of 
 Japan inspired the pencils of Katsugawa Shunsho and Hosoi Chobunsai, but the 
 portraitures, founded upon old pictures of the Yamato masters, were not characteristic 
 
56 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAP AX. 
 
 of the Ukiyo-yd school. Birds, flowers, &:c., were less frequently chosen, but Hokusai 
 and Hiroshige! have bequeathed many interesting and attractive colour sketches of the 
 scenery of Japan. Scenes of history and legend rose into favour near the middle of the 
 present century, but not until chromoxylography was on its downward path ; and still 
 later, caricatures and illustrations of current events were circulated by the same 
 medium. It is amongst these modern essays that the “ red-haired barbarian ” of the 
 treaty ports may see himself as some others see him, and when he views, as his own 
 image reflected by the Oriental mirror, the awkward, unprepossessing mortal, swaggering 
 in garments fearfully and wonderfully made, and grimacing vilely from the midst of 
 his fiery hair and bristling beard, let us hope he will learn a lesson of humility. 
 
 Near the close of the eighteenth century, about 1780, there arose in Yedo a 
 custom of circulating at the new year complimentary cards, known as Adsuma 
 Nishiki-yi or Surimono, containing a verselet or longer composition, with an illustration 
 printed in colours, after designs by artists of the Popular school, amongst whom were 
 included Hokusai, Hokkei, and many of their contemporaries. Most of these works, 
 although generally trivial in motive, were models of chromo.xylography, and as their 
 technique appears to have been superintended with especial care, they place the resources 
 of the engraver in the most favourable light. It was probably in these that the use 
 of metals in colour-printing first began, but as the substances employed were for the 
 most part base alloys, instead of silver and gold, the decorative value of the addition 
 was very questionable. The fashion began to die out before the end of the third 
 decade of the present century, and hence the specimens are now rare. The very best 
 e.xamples of the work may, however, be studied in the collections of Messrs. Burty, 
 Montefiore, and Duret, and a few have been successfully reproduced by M. Gonse 
 in “ L’Art Japonais.” 
 
 Paper fans and sunshades decorated with roughly executed colour prints have 
 been made in enormous numbers in the last thirty years, but are usually devoid of 
 artistic value. 
 
 In book illustration, chromoxylography in its more ambitious forms was mostly 
 utilized in volumes referring to the stage, the courtesan quarter, and public holiday¬ 
 making, and was most importantly represented by Katsugawa Shunsho, Utamaro, 
 and Hokusai; but the use of one or two tint blocks, where colour was to play a 
 secondary part, appeared in most of the albums of miscellaneous sketches published 
 during the present century. Good e.xamples of the different styles and periods will 
 be found in the subjoined list:— 
 
 Kdbi no Tsubo .... 
 
 1770 
 
 ^ Katsugawa Shunsho and 
 ( Ippitsusai Buncho. 
 
 Seiro Bijin Aioasb .... 
 
 . 1776 
 
 Katsugawa Shunsho. 
 
 Toriymna Sekiyen gwa-fit 
 
 ■ 1774 
 
 Toriyama Sekiyen Toyofusa. 
 
 Yido Meisho (JYaka Miirasaki) 
 
 . c. 1790 
 
 Utagawa Toyokuni. 
 
 E-hon Haru 110 nishiki 
 
 1771 
 
 Suzuki Harunobu. 
 
APPL/CAT/ONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 >57 
 
 Giobai riaku d::u-sliiki 
 
 . c. 1810 
 
 Kitawo Keisai Masayoshi 
 
 Onna Sanjin-rok’ Kasen , 
 
 • 1798 
 
 Hoso’i Chobunsai. 
 
 Momo Chidori kioka Awasi 
 
 . c. 1800 
 
 Kitagawa Utamaro. 
 
 E-hon Sumida-gawa riogmi ichiyan . 
 
 . c. 1802 
 
 Hokusai. 
 
 Nafsu no Ftiji .... 
 
 1827 
 
 Utagawa Kunisada. 
 
 Hoitsu Shonin shinsei kagand . 
 
 , c. 1820 
 
 Hoitsu. 
 
 Tokaido Fiikci Togwa 
 
 1851 
 
 Hiroshige. 
 
 Hiaku Clio g-toa-fn .... 
 
 1882 
 
 Bairei. 
 
 The complication of the internal affairs of the country, which was brought to a 
 crisis by the advent of foreigners in 1852, led to an almost sudden decline in the issue 
 
 Fig. 70. Reduced facsimile of a drawing upon thin paper, made for the engraver by Hokusai, c. 1830. Ernest Hart Collection. 
 
 of pictorial books. The last of the important ‘ Meishos ’ appeared soon after the middle 
 of the century. The novelists, who had availed themselves so gladly of the aid of 
 the Ukiyo-yl’ artists, ceased to write. The books of miscellaneous sketches, to which 
 Hokusai owed his chief renown, lapsed about 1849. The theatrical and other colour 
 prints, although undiminished in quantity, lost nearly the whole of their artistic merit; 
 and for many years nothing appeared to show the old skill, except the landscape pictures 
 of Hiroshigt^, the continuation of the Zoiken kojitsii of Vosai, which did not reach 
 its last volume until 1864, and the pale reflex of Hokusai visible in the works of his 
 pupil Isai. The reign of the present Mikado has, however, been more propitious, and 
 a torrent of albums, upon the model of those of Hokusai and his contemporaries, 
 have been poured forth within the last six years, some of considerable merit, but none. 
 
 s s 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 '5S 
 
 except those of Kiosai, Yeitaku, and Bairei, adding anything to the sum of originality 
 expended by the older members of the school. 
 
 It is unnecessary, here, to enter into the technical details of wood engraving 
 farther than by reference to a few main facts. The picture, which is drawn for the 
 engraver upon thin translucent paper (see fig. 70), is pasted face downwards upon a 
 block of wood, usually cherry, sawn in the direction of the grain, instead of 
 across it, as in Europe; the superfluous thickness of paper is then removed by 
 a process of washing, until the design is clearly visible; and the interspaces between 
 the lines of the drawing are finally excavated by means of chisels and other tools of 
 various shapes. The printing is always effected by hand, and to this procedure may 
 be attributed much of the beauty of the result. Certain gradations of tone, and 
 even polychromatic effects, were produced by simple means from one block, and on 
 looking at these examples it is often apparent that a great deal of artistic feeling 
 had been exercised in the execution of the picture after the designer and engraver 
 had finished their portion of the work. It is on this account that the reproduction 
 of Japanese woodcuts in Europe is commonly so unsatisfactory, unless a sum 
 out of all proportion to the cost of the original be expended for the purpose 
 of securing a facsimile. Thus the expense of the e-xecution of plate 46 by 
 chromolithography, after an engraving in the Seiro Bijin Awast, is at the least 
 twelve times that of the Japanese wood blocks, and it would probably have been 
 found very difficult to obtain an equally good result by an imitation of the original 
 process. It may be mentioned that the use of uninked blocks for the purpose of 
 embossing portions of the design, as an aid to the effects of colour-printing, is seen 
 in the works of Nishimura Shigenaga, executed about 1730, and was, perhaps, 
 practised at an earlier date. It was employed w'ith the best results by Kitagawa 
 Utamaro in the Monio Chidon kioka A'sjasi, and is frequently seen in more recent 
 productions of chromoxylography. 
 
 The effect of printing from two or more blocks was in some cases obtained by 
 preparing a single block with inks of different colours, or with different shades of 
 the same colour. This appeared as early as 1769, in the Soshistki gioa-fii, and in 
 some landscapes in the Gwako senmu (1740), where the distance is represented by 
 pale ink, against which the dark foreground stands out in bold relief. Sky and 
 water tones are in like manner graduated in colour-prints, the superfluity of colour 
 where the lighter shade is required being removed by the simple process of wiping 
 the inked block with a cloth, according to directions previously given by the engraver. 
 
 Etching upon Copper has been little employed by the Japanese, although the 
 process is well adapted for the reproduction of some of the most characteristic of 
 their pictorial designs. It was introduced before the end of the last century, by Shiba 
 Gokan, who had studied the process in Naga.saki, under the instruction of a 
 native of Holland; and draw'ings of European etching tools were given in the 
 
APPLICATIONS OF PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 '59 
 
 Komo safsuwa, published in 1785. Examples of the art were issued at inter\als, 
 but were of little importance, except for the fact that most of them bore traces of 
 “Western" perspective, and even showed the rudiments of chiaroscuro—a part of the 
 lesson taught by the Dutch master of Gokan. The principal albums of copper-jdates 
 arc the Doban Sai-giua did, by Okacla Shuntosai, and Tokaidd go-jiu-saii Hki, a 
 series of views on the road between Tokio and Kioto, both published about 1855, 
 
 Fig. 71. Designs for Sword-guards. From drawings by Hokusai, engraved in the Banshoku dzu-kd. 
 
 and a few volumes of miscellaneous sketches, executed within the last few years. 
 Plate 70 may be regarded as a fair specimen of the work. The process employed 
 in this case, as probably in all others, involves the use of acid as a mordant, the dry 
 point being employed only to correct defects in the biting in. Incised designs upon 
 ornamental objects of bronze and other metals are of much older date, and the 
 impressions taken from some works of this kind have all the effect of the most 
 vigorous work of the book etcher. Some very beautifid printings from Kagami-buta, 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 i6o 
 
 little button-like plaques forming part of a certain kind of netsuke, have been 
 obtained by AI. Burty in illustration of his collection. 
 
 Lithography has been practised to a small extent during the last twelve years, 
 but as yet with little success. A portrait of the botanist linouma Yokoussai, executed 
 as a frontispiece to the Shincho Somoku lUusctsii in 1874, a plate in the Meiji 
 Tai-heiki, of about the same date, and the illustrations to the Kioanko dzusetsu 
 of M. Ninagawa, may be regarded as average examples of the work. In the last 
 five years, however, some very successful essays in chromolithography have been 
 produced, notably the Kok’kwa Yo/w, an illustrated description of native antiquities, 
 published in 1880, and the Nairn no Nisluki, an album of Japanese fishes (1883). 
 
 Processes of Stencilling have been applied to the decoration of wall-papers, textile 
 fabrics, and leather for a long period. In the latter part of the seventeenth century 
 a workman named Yuzen adopted the use of stencil plates to obtain pictorial effects 
 
 in colours for various industrial purposes, and some designs executed in this manner 
 in kakemono form may be seen in the British Museum Collection. It is employed 
 with remarkable success, in Kioto, as an adjunct to embroidery, the stencd-work often 
 being very difficult to distinguish from hand-painting (see plate 47). 
 
 Fig. 72. Decorative design for a wood-carving. From a drawing by Hokusai, engraved in the Shin /iwagata. 
 
 The Application op Pictorial Art to Sculpture, as manifested in the 
 reproduction of the painter's designs in wood, stone, or metal, can scarcely be said 
 to have existed in Japan before the fifteenth century, although there are a few ancient 
 examples of designs of a more or less pictorial character, executed in relief in all these 
 materials. 
 
 The first glyptic artist who availed himself systematically of the painters skill 
 was Goto Yujo, whose famous sword-guards and hilt ornaments (niimiki) were 
 engraved after the sketches of his friend Kano Motonobu, and, in later productions of 
 
PLATE 47. 
 
 HAWK AND WILD GOOSE. 
 
 From a stencil-picture upon a silk wrapper [fiihisa), designed after the style of the Naturalistic School. 
 Made in Kioto in 1779. Size of original, 32 x 2S inches. 
 
 It would be difficult for any but an expert to distinguish this work, reproduced at a trifling cost by an almost purely 
 mechanical process, from a sketch direct from the brush of a skilled artist. See page 159- 
 
APPLICATIONS Of PICTORIAL ART. 
 
 l6l 
 
 the same kind, the paintings of any of the older academics were adopted as the basis 
 for the metal-workers' designs. Pictures carved in bold relief were executed as a 
 means of architectural decoration in the seventeenth century by Ilidari Jingoro and 
 his followers, who relied principally upon the Kano family for their inspirations, 
 Jingoro himself usually following the drawings of Tanyu ; and lastly, two stone carvings 
 in Shiba (a.d. 1644), representing the Nirvana of S’akyamuni and the Twenty-five 
 Bodhisattvas, were apparently adapted from kakemonos of the Buddhist school. In 
 modern times a large number of the works sculptured in metal, wood, and ivory 
 for the home and foreign market arc copied from the Hokusai Mang'ion and other 
 popular albums of this century. 
 
 I wo .special forms of pictures may be noticed, in wTich the effect is reinforced 
 
 I'ig- 73 - The Alicndant of the Fairy Queen Sciobo (Si Wang Mu), with the White Dragon. From a wood-carving 
 at Koniagi, near Tokio. Nineteenth century. 
 
 by throwing the objects depicted into relief. In one of these, which may be 
 regarded as a phase of glyptic art and is not older than the present century, 
 the design is executed in basso-rilievo in plaster, and afterwards painted in the 
 style of the pictorial schools. An example is offered in plate 48. In the other, 
 figures of men and women are built up upon a paper surface by means of various 
 textiles cut and folded in such a manner as to convey the idea of a doll executed 
 in low relief. These Oslii-yc, or raised pictures (fig. 74), were fashioned merely for 
 the amusement of children, and hence the amount of art expended upon them was 
 limited ; but the manufacture was of sufficient importance, even as early as 1736, to 
 call for a special book of instruction for the workmen engaged in the industry, 
 the Oshi-ye tc-kagaiiii, illustrated with cuts by Ooka Michinobu, copies of which are 
 still in existence. 
 
 T t 
 
I'ICrORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 In conclusion, a few words may be spared upon the subject of the tattooed 
 
 l''ig. 74. Oslii-yt?.’ 
 
 designs seen upon the limbs and bodies of coolies in Tokio and its neighbourhood. 
 
 ' In the original, the face and hands are drawn upon the paper in the usual manner, while the different portions 
 of the attire arc represented by carefully shaped and folded pieces of cloth, the patterns of which are probably 
 designed for the purpose upon a miniature scale. 
 

PLATE 48. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 Reproduced from a basso-rilievo in piaster by KaNDO, after a drawing by Tachibana Mortkuni. C. i860 
 Size of original, 21 X 30 inches. 
 
 The whole picture, including the frame, which is an exact imitation of wood, consists of a single slab of pla.ster of 
 paris modelled in low relief, and touched here and there with colour. 
 
PLATE 49. 
 
 MODERN WOOD CARVINGS. 
 
 TiiE originals of these reproductions, as well as that of fig. 73, form part of the ornamentation of a small temple building 
 at Komagi, near Tokio. The name of the sculptor appears to have been forgotten, but it is said that the works were 
 executed about 1820. 
 
 The subject of the upper design is the miraculous conversion of the water of the Yoro cascade into wine (sake 
 or rice spirit) ; that of the lower is the oft-repeated motive of the Ancients of Takasago and Sumiyoshi. 
 
 In the former a woodman is seen kneeling by the side of a cascade, showing to the Mikado a gourd containing 
 the metamorphosed liquid. The Yoro no taki, a fall of about seventy feet in height, is situated in the province of Mino, 
 five miles from the town of Tarui. The story attached to it, upon which has been founded one of the best known of 
 the lyrical dramas called No, relates that a poor woodman had long been accustomed, by dint of great industry, to 
 purchase sake for the use of his aged father and mother; but on one occasion, being unable to obtain money for the 
 customary luxury, sat himself down by the side of the cascade buried in profound distress at the thought of the 
 privation that his parents were to undergo, and the gods, moved by his filial piety, converted the falling water into 
 purest wine. The event is said to have happened in the early part of the eighth century. 
 
 The song or poem of Takasago is the first of the hundred compositions called utai, written for the No stage. It 
 tells how one, Arakida Tomonari, the guardian of a Shinto shrine of the temple of Aso, in the province of Higo, betook 
 himself to the Court of Kioto in con.sequence of a divine revelation which promised him a promotion of rank, and 
 there finding his hopes realized by an elevation to the fifth grade of nobility, proceeded to mark his rejoicing by a 
 devout offering at the temple of Sumiyoshi. 
 
 Two ancient pine-trees that had grown from time immemorial upon the opposite shores of Sumiyoshi in Tsu 
 and Takasago in Banshiu, were the object of much reverence, and had been tenanted by the poetic fancy of the people 
 with the spirits of a venerable couple—man and woman—familiarly designated by the term Ai-oi (a punning expression 
 which has the double meaning uf o'd man and woman, and longevity). Tomonari. arriving at Takasago with two 
 companions, beholds these Japanese Dryads in the form here depicted (an aged man and woman in the dress of the 
 Samurai class, holding a besom and rake), and converses with them. The .spirits, after chanting in alternate verses the 
 praise of poetry and long life, embark in a boat in the direction of Sumiyoshi, and disappear in the distance, followed by 
 Tomonari and his companions, who arrive in time to be spectators of a sacred dance performed by the old man in 
 honour of the gods of the great temple there. 
 
 The crane and tortoise in the design are introduced as emblems of longevity. ^ 
 
 A poetic version of this composition, with valuable annotations, has been given in an appendix to Mr. h. V. 
 Dickins’ translation of the Chiftshiugura. 
 
■IPPL/CAT/OiYS Of- P/rrOP/A/, ART. 
 
 163 
 
 1 he practice, which is now forbidden, is said to have been almost confined to Yedo, and 
 is not older than the Tokugawa dynasty ; in fact, it appears to have scarcely become 
 generalized until the present century. The designs are sometimes very elaborate, and 
 are occasionally drawn with some pretension to artistic skill, but the ideas are mostly 
 taken from cheap colour-prints. The operators are usually men of the labouring class, 
 whose natural ability as draughtsmen has procured for them a reputation amongst 
 their fellows; but the result often proves that the selection of the artist must have 
 been based upon other than aesthetic grounds. 
 
 I he materials required are a bundle of needles, Chinese ink, cinnabar, and white 
 lead (?); the black, red, and white pigments being rubbed into the punctures made 
 with the needles. As the operation is very painful and induces a good deal of local 
 infiammation, only a small area can lx; decorated at one time ; and hence the owner 
 of an extensive skin picture enjoys a certain consideration amongst his fellows, less, 
 perhaps, on account of the addition to his personal attractions, than as a tribute to 
 the fortitude which enabled him to bear the severe and repeated suffering involved 
 in its execution. Women are not expected to adopt the fashion, except amongst the 
 Ainos, with whom the custom prevails of celebrating the bride’s entrance into wedded 
 life by decorating her u])pcr lip with a false moustache, indelibly imprinted by a 
 process of tattooing. 
 
 Fig. 75. From a lacquer painting (on paper) by Sbib.ata 
 Zesliin (c. 1880). Ernest Hart Collection. 
 
SECTION III 
 
 TECHNIQUE 
 
Fig. 76. Hokusai and Riukdsai. From the E-hon riyo-hitsu. 
 
 SECTION THIRD. 
 
 TECHNIOl'E. 
 
 CHAI’TliR I. 
 
 HE present Section is limited to a brief descriptive notice 
 of the methods and materials employed by Japanese 
 painters before their art had become, in a certain degree, 
 denationalized under the influence of ill-comprehended 
 European theories. With a view to eliminate Western 
 elements as far as possible, the principal items of 
 information have been gathered from authorities belonging 
 to a period anterior to the closing decades of the last 
 century, uhile the older traditions were still preserved 
 in their full integrity. These traditions however, be it 
 remembered, were of necessity largely Chinese.’ 
 
 M,\terials. The materials will be noticed in the 
 following order:— 
 
 I. Receptive surfaces—Paper, Silk, Wood, &:c. 
 
 The following arc the more important 
 Honcho giva-shi (Appendix) 
 
 Giva-sen ..... 
 
 of the works referred to; — 
 
 1694 fi-hon Yanuito-hiji (Appendices) 
 
 1722 Wa-Kan Shin-giva yen (Appendix) . 
 
 1742 
 
 D59 
 
 U U 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 166 
 
 2. Ink and Pigments. 
 
 3. Acce-s.sorics to Pigments —Gold, Silver, Mica, &:c. 
 
 4. Pencils. 
 
 Paper. The principal varieties of paper employed for calligraphic and pictorial 
 uses anterior to the present generation were four in number. 
 
 1. (“ Fowl's-egg " paper). So called on account of its smoothness 
 and whiteness. The finest quality was manufactured in the province of Echizen, 
 but ordinary kinds have been produced in many parts of the country. 
 
 Gasen-shi {gazen, immediate) is a kind of Tori-no-ko paper that requires no 
 preparation before use. 
 
 Haku-shi {haku, white) is a white but inferior variety upon which the ink is 
 apt to run. 
 
 2. I'o-s/ii (Chinese paper). An imported fabric in great favour with the artists 
 of the Sesshiu, Kano, and Chinese Schools. The most highly esteemed variety is 
 termed Kwan-ski, or official paper. 
 
 Ordinary To-shi is of a pale brownish tint, with a .somewhat coarse surface; 
 the best quality is thick, dense, of very fine texture, and being less bibulous than 
 the ordinary kinds, does not adhere to the tongue when brought in contact with 
 it. It is inferior to the best Japane.se paper, in its tendency to crack after 
 repeated rolling and exposure. 
 
 3. Mino-gaini. A paper of good quality, made in the province of Mino, from 
 the Broussonetia papyrifera {kaji or kozo). Of this there are several varieties, 
 including a thin material used for sketches intended for transfer to wood. 
 
 4. Gampi-shi. A paper manufactured chiefly from the bark of the Wickstroemia 
 canescens (ganipi), to which may be added a small quantity of Edgworthia 
 papyrifera {mitsu-utala). A thin variety is employed for drawings made for engra\'ing 
 upon wood. 
 
 The manufacture of paper ' in Japan was probably introduced from Korea not 
 later than the sixth century. -Sir E. J. Reed, in an interesting account of the 
 industry as carried on at Oji, near Tokio, quotes the following historical facts:— 
 " In the Nihon-ki mention is made of the matter in the year 590 a.d., and the 
 words ‘ paper is manufactured ' are there recorded; but this was probably suggested 
 by the introduction of some improvement from Korea, rather than by the invention 
 of paper-making, as it is known that books were already in existence. In the year 
 goo A.D., three descriptions of paper were produced in Japan : — 
 
 " I. Mashi, made from hempen pulp. 
 
 '■ 2. Hishi, made from such plants as Gainpi (Wickstroemia canescens). 
 
 “3. Kokushi, made from kozo (Broussonetia papyrifera), which was like the 
 paper now in use in the country.” 
 
 - See Blue-book Reports on the Manufacture of Paper in Japan, iSja; Matsugata, “ Lc Japon a I'E.xposition 
 Universellc dc 1878 Sir Ik. J. Reed, “ Japan,vol. ii. 1881 ; Burty, " Republique I'ran^'aisc,” 23rd Oct., 1885. 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 167 
 
 There is no doubt that paper was used in Japan before the period first named, 
 but it is questionable whether the material was of native produce. The importation of 
 paper from China has been actively carried on from a very early date, but the structural 
 peculiarities of the Japanese material may be recognized in existing relics dating 
 from the ninth and tenth centuries, and it is certain that the limit of excellence 
 in point of texture and durability was attained a thousand years ago. Through 
 the courtesy of the Abbot of the Monastery of Chion-in, in Kioto, the author had 
 the privilege of inspecting a number of rare manuscripts dating from the tenth 
 century, and amongst these, one from the hand of the celebrated calligraphist 
 Ono no Tofu (894—964) was especially remarkable, not only on account of the 
 perfection of the written characters, but for the quality of the paper, which appeared 
 in nowise impaired by weight of years. 
 
 According to M. Burty, Japanese paper was first used in Europe in the middle 
 of the seventeenth century by Rembrandt, who no doubt obtained it through some of 
 his seafaring compatriots; and it was employed in England by Captain Baillie in 
 the last century. It is, however, only within recent years that its qualities have been 
 more generally recognized, but its durability and toughness, and the exquisitely soft, 
 vellum-like surface of the best varieties are now placing it in advance of any other 
 fabric of the kind in the world. It is a matter of congratulation that agencies have 
 at length been established to further its sale in Europe, and there is reason to hope 
 that w'ith increased demand the expense of production will be so far diminished that 
 the only obstacle to a far wider use, its relative costliness, will be removed. 
 
 It is usually necessary to prepare Japanese paper for the reception of ink or 
 colour by a process of " sizing,” but this may be omitted when the material is 
 required only for rapid ink sketches. 
 
 The size is represented by a preparation called Dosa, the composition of which 
 is thus given by the Gwa-sea (1772): — 
 
 Transparent glue (iiikawa') 10 momme.“ 
 
 Powdered alum (mioban) . 5 momme. 
 
 Water . . . . i sho. 
 
 The proportion of glue should be somewhat increased in summer, that of alum 
 in winter. 
 
 The Nikawa (Suki-nikawa or Akiyo) is extracted from ox-hide by boiling. A 
 variety called Saraslii-nikawa is a glue softened before use, by burial in snow for 
 several days. The addition of a little vermilion and gamboge to stiki-nikawa makes 
 Ki-nika-isa, or yellow glue. 
 
 In the preparation of dosa, the glue is left immersed in water until it has 
 become soft; boiling water is then poured upon it, while the mixture is stirred. 
 
 ^ I momme = 58-33 grs. Tro>'. 
 I sho = 109752 cubic inches. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OP JAPAN. 
 
 168 
 
 until the solution is completed. Finally, the alum is added, the ingredients are 
 well commingled, and the preparation is allowed to cool. It is recommended that 
 the dosa should be boiled and filtered through a cotton bag before use {E-hon 
 
 Yamato Iiiji). 
 
 The dosa is applied by means of a brush, after cooling. Should the paper 
 be made too wet, it must be stretched upon a board and left for two days to dry. 
 In the case of Mino-ganii a double coating of dosa may be used. 
 
 ^\'hen paper of extra large size was required, smaller sheets of prepared 
 Mino-gami were joined together at their edges by means of wheaten paste, and so 
 skilfully was this done that it is often hard to di.stinguish the line of union. 
 
 Transfer paper is prepared by coating a thin paper, which has been softened 
 by rubbing between the hands, with a paste made of wood ashes and sake, and 
 drying it in the sun. It is used in the same manner as in Europe. 
 
 Silk. A special fabric called E-ginn (picture silk) has been woven in Kioto 
 since the seventeenth century, when the workmen arc said to have received pcisonal 
 directions from Kano Tanyu, with a view to the production of a native material 
 which should replace the imported (Chinese) silk previously favoured by Japanese 
 artists. There are several qualities of i-ginu, but most of these are distinguishable 
 from the ordinary Chinese picture silk by the comparative closeness of the threads. 
 It may now be obtained as wide as five feet, but in former days it was much 
 more narrow, and consequently it was necessary to join pieces together for very 
 large pictures. A thin silk called Ura-haku ginn is commonl)' used for Buddhist 
 pictures. 
 
 Fig. 77, Stretching silk or paper for painting. From the Kan^va slnton keika {1808). 
 
 The silk is prepared for the reception of colour by stretching it, face downwards, 
 upon a frame of well-seasoned hi-no-ki, and ajiplying a coating of dosa to the back. 
 By this means the wrinkles are removed, and the pigments are prevented from running. 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 169 
 
 The manufacture of silk in Japan is of considerable antiquity. According to the 
 Kogei shiriyo it was known in “remote” times, but the ancient material was of 
 a different kind from that used in the present day; and it is said that Korean silk 
 Avas introduced as early as the ninth year of the reign of the Hmperor Chiuai 
 (180 A.D.). We are also told that, in the year 283 a.d., a naturalized Chinese brought 
 silk from his own country as an offering to the Emperor Ojin, and taught the Chinese 
 methods of weaving at Waki-nakami, in the province of Yamato; and that two years 
 
 later the King of Korea sent over a silk weaver who settled in Japan, leaving 
 
 descendants by whom the art was carried on during many generations. 
 
 Unfortunately these details are more precise than trustworthy, and can only 
 be accepted as proof that the fabric was made at an early period, probably as far 
 back as the fifth century. It was about this period (in 472 a.d.) that the organization 
 of the industry is said to have taken place under the Emperor Yuriaku, and it 
 is at least certain that pictures were painted in Japan upwards of a thousand years 
 ago upon silk of very good quality. If we may accept as authentic the portrait of 
 Shotoku Taishi at Tennoji, in Osaka, the date may be carried back for nearly 
 
 thirteen centuries. It is recorded that Chinese silk was imported for the use of 
 
 painters during the Sung dynasty (960—1280). 
 
 Wood. There are three principal kinds of wood used for pictorial decoration; 
 Keyaki (Zelkowa Kt^yaki Sieb.), very hard and durable, but with a somewhat coarse 
 grain ; Hi-iio-ki (Chamcecyparis obtusa), durable, with great smoothness of surface 
 and delicacy of grain; and Sugi (Cryptomeria Japonica), a cheap, inferior wood 
 resembling deal. 
 
 The surface is usually prepared by a preliminary coating of Odo-no-gu (a mixture 
 of chalk and yellow ochre), which in the case of keyaki also serves to fill the 
 rather wide vascular channels between the denser fibrous layers. A coating of dosa 
 of twice the strength of that used for paper or silk is then applied, and the wood 
 is ready for the reception of colour. 
 
 In painting upon damp Avood, the Shiu-gwa yen recommends that the ink 
 should be admixed Avith “ear wax” in order to prevent the colours from running, 
 and it is said that ink may be made to penetrate deeply into the substance of the 
 Avood by admixture Avith the juice of a AA'eed called Nanwmi. 
 
 By exception other surfaces may be employed, as plaster (see page 161), leaves, 
 woven lotus fibre, shells, ivory, metal, tS:c. 
 
 Ink [Sunii'). There are two principal kinds of ink in use, one of Japanese 
 manufacture, the other imported from China. Both are made up into cakes of 
 various sizes, sometimes moulded into capricious forms, and commonly decorated 
 with characters and pictorial designs stamped in gold and colours. 
 
 Nanto-zumi or Nava Vuyen-zitmi has been manufactured from ancient times at 
 Nara, in the province of Yamato, from pine smoke mixed with a solution of gelatine. 
 There are A'arious qualities, but even the best is inferior to good Chinese ink. 
 
 X X 
 
J>ICT0R1AL 
 
 ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 170 
 
 Hcian-aumi was a highly prized ink formerly made at Kioto {Hciaii-jd), but is 
 now scarce. It is distinguished by the impress of one of the Imperial crests, or 
 by an old date mark. 
 
 Kara-suuii., or Chinese ink, has been largely imported in all qualities, the best 
 commanding a very high price. A variety called Mokkei-ziimi, after the famous 
 Chinese painter, Muh-ki, and bearing the characters with which the name is written, 
 was greatly prized. 
 
 Chinese ink is generally used, in preference to Nauto-zumi, upon Tori-no-ko 
 garni, and paper prepared with dosa. 
 
 Red ink [Shiii-ziuni) is sometimes used in place of black, especially in drawings 
 representing Shoki, the demon quellcr. I he best is imported from China in sticks, 
 but it may be readily prepared by admixture of vermilion and iiikawa. A more 
 complex formula is as follows :— 
 
 SkiK’Zuini (vermilion, Chinese preferable) . 10 momme.' 
 
 Shin-pi (Fraxinus longicuspis, bark) . . i ,, 
 
 KiicJii-nashi (Gardenia floribunda, seeds) . 1 ,, 
 
 So~kaku (Gleditschia Japonica, pod) . . i ,, 
 
 Hadsn (Croton tiglium, decorticated seed) . i fun. 
 
 The vermilion is mixed with glue, the other ingredients are boiled together 
 with glue and water, and the whole is well commingled and then dried in the shade. 
 
 ‘ 1 mommO = 5S'33 grains troy. 
 
 1 fun = about iSgrain.s. 
 
 Fig. 7S. From a sketch by Hokusai. British Museum Collection. 
 
Fig 79. Rough sketching, from an engraving after Nishigawa Sukifnobu in the E-hon lama kadzura (1736). 
 
 CllAPTI-R II. 
 
 COLOURS. 
 
 HE following is a fairly complete list of the colours prepared 
 from native or Chinese materials, before the intercourse of the 
 Japanese with European traders had led to any important 
 change in the technique of painting. At the present day 
 European pigments are largely imported, and to a great 
 extent replace the native and Chinese materials. 
 
 Specimens of most of the pigments now enumerated 
 have been procured from trustworthy sources, and, through 
 the kindness of Professor Divers, F.R.S., Principal of the 
 Imperial College of Engineering in Tokio, have been 
 submitted to a careful analysis. 
 
 I. Roknslw. This is an aceto-arsenite of copper, obtained in the crude state 
 from the copper-mines in Japan. It is prepared for use in the following manner:— 
 The crude material is mixed with a solution of glue, and pounded thoroughly by 
 means of a pestle; water is then added, and after the pigment has settled, the 
 upper part of the sediment is removed to another vessel, leaving the lowest deposit 
 as the First Roknslw, or Iwa-rokiis/io, which is of the finest colour, and possesses 
 a tint somewhat resembling that of our emerald green. The portion that had 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 been removed is then re-admixed with water, rubbed with the pestle, and allowed 
 to deposit; after two or three days the upper part is removed, leaving the lower 
 as the Second Roknslw, a whiter and less powerful colour. The remaining part 
 is left to settle as before; the water is then poured off, and the sediment 
 
 dried in the sun, forming the Third Rohnsho or Biaku RoknsJid^ a very inferior 
 produce, and commonly mixed with many impurities. 
 
 Some authorities recognize as many as six shades (liwo) of Roknsho. 
 
 A form called Kiyo-rokusho is made by leaving copper immersed for a long 
 
 time in vinegar, until it becomes coated with verdigris. The impure acetate is 
 
 then scraped off, dried, and pounded, and when mixed with glue-water is ready for use. 
 
 A preparation known as Cha-rokuslio is made by the admixture of the first 
 roknslw with a decoction of kaya (a kind of rush), the tint being afterwards fixed by 
 the addition of borax (Satow). 
 
 Do-roktisko is a mixture of roknslw and go-fnn (a kind of chalk). 
 
 A dull green powder, sometimes sold as Roknsho, was found by Dr. Divers 
 to consist of o.xychloride of copper, mixed with common salt and other substances. 
 
 In using the pigment it is recommended by the author of the Gioa-sen to paint 
 
 first with the third, then with the second, and finally with the first roknslw, 
 mixed with thick glue-water. If it be required to apply another colour over the 
 roknsho, it is recommended that the latter should be prepared by anointing with 
 "human nose-oil,” applied with the point of the finger. 
 
 Roknsho is used most extensively by the artists of the Tosa school. It has 
 
 the defect of a great tendency to pulverize after long exposure or on repeated friction, 
 
 as in rolling or unrolling pictures, and hence in old paintings it is frequently 
 found to have nearly disappeared, leaving only a faint greenish stain to mark its 
 place. 
 
 2. Konjo, or blue carbonate of copper, was first discovered in the province of 
 Settsu, in a.d. 1041. It is prepared for use in the same way as Roknsho, and 
 like this, is obtained in different shades or qualities; numbers one, two, three, and 
 four, or R'onjd, Gunjo, Gnnsho, and Biakn Gnnjo, being commonly distinguished. 
 The larger particles first separated give the deeper lines, the last the palest (Satow). 
 The powdered Konjo, if genuine, should adhere to the finger. 
 
 3. Shin-sha or Tan-sha, cinnabar. Shiu-snmi, vermilion. 
 
 The best vermilion, which is known as Komid-shm, is imported from China. 
 
 A Japanese vermilion, called Gin-shin (silver vermilion), is made by rubbing 
 together yellow sulphur [siki-teishi) with mercury {sni-giu). 
 
 A compound of shin-snnii and Chinese ink is called shiit-znnii-iro (iio — coloui). 
 Shin-znmi with go-fnn produces a kind of carnation called Asa-knrinm. 
 
 4. Tan. Red oxide of lead. The best is imported from China, and is called 
 Koinio-tan. It must be mixed with glue-water before use. Its employment is limited 
 by its tendency to tarnish. 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 '73 
 
 A mixture of tmi and go-fun, called Tnu-no-gu, is sometimes used as a flesh 
 colour. 
 
 5. Go-fun. The elutriated powder of the calcined shells of the clam or oyster. 
 It is mixed with various colours to produce the body tints known by the suffix 
 of no-gu. 
 
 6. 0 -go-fun or Hakwa. ^\'hite clay. 
 
 7. Td-no-tsuchi. Lead carbonate. 
 
 This and the preceding material arc also known as varieties of go-fun. 
 
 8. Odo. Yellow ochre. Prepared by pounding and admixture with glue-water. 
 
 Odo-no-gti, or light kaki-iro (persimmon colour), is a mixture of odo and go-fun. 
 
 Odo-cha is a compound of odo, airo, and fans/m. 
 
 Tsitkuri odo is odo and vermilion. 
 
 Awasi odo is a compound of gamboge (i part) with vermilion (i part) and 
 go-fun (2 parts). It appears to contain no ochre. 
 
 9. Shido. Red oxide of iron. One kind is named Bini-gnya, and must be 
 distinguished from Beni or Btni-ko. 
 
 Shido-no-gn is shido with go-fun. 
 
 Shido-no-gu-cha is shido-no-gu with the addition of gamboge. 
 
 10. Sikiwo. Orpiment. Rarely used by painters. 
 
 11. Sha-siki. Haematite. A mi.xture of haematite and gamboge is called 
 Shawo-shoku. Haematite and vermilion combine to form Soroku-shoku. 
 
 12. Shisao or 7 'owo. Gamboge. Imported from China. 
 
 Skiwo-no-gu is made by the addition of go-fun. 
 
 Shiwo-no-gu-cha is shiiod-no-gu with red lead. 
 
 13. Ra-sei. Indigo refined by elutriation. 
 
 14. Sho-yenji or JVata-yenji. A Chinese pigment, said to consist of the juice 
 of a herb called Oto-giriso, imbibed by cotton or cloth, but it bears a close 
 resemblance to cochineal dye. Two forms are described, fni-rin (large circle or 
 wheel) and slw-rin (small circle) : there is probably no difference except in the size 
 of the impregnated wad. 
 
 When required for use, the cotton or cloth must be moistened, and the colour 
 squeezed out and dried in the sun or by a fire. It has a delicate purplish pink tint. 
 
 Shd-yenji-no-gu is sho-yenji with go-fun. It is also known as Asa-murasaki 
 (light purple). 
 
 Sumi-yenji is sho-yenji with ink. 
 
 15. Beniko. Pou'dered safflower. It is used also as a rouge. 
 
 16. Aiyo. An infusion of Polygonum tinctorium. A blue dye. 
 
 A mixture of diro and go-fun is called Asngi-no-gu. 
 
 17. En-shi. . The purple juice of sapan wood (suwo or subokn), mixed with 
 go-fun and glue-water. 
 
 18. A'iro-ho is a colour extracted from old blue rags by boiling. 
 
 Y y 
 
■74 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 'JAPAN. 
 
 19. Ai is in like manner extracted from a blue paper by soaking in water. The 
 tint is improved by the addition of a little vinegar. 
 
 20. Sango-matsn (powdered coral). A permanent red used by Chinese artists, 
 but rarely employed in Japan. 
 
 21. LMpis lazuli. Used chiefly by Chinese artists, but with great economy on 
 account of its costliness. 
 
 The following are the principal compound colours (in addition to those already 
 named) to which special names have been given: — 
 
 Ntdzumi-iro or Sitmi-no-git (rat colour). Go-fun and ink, mixed with glue-water. 
 With the addition of diro it becomes Ai-ncdzumi iro (bluish grey); and if glazed 
 with a coating of gamboge it forms a tint known as Sumi-no-gu-clia. 
 
 Yamabato-iro (dove colour). Biaku-rokusho and gamboge mixed with glue-water. 
 A yellowish green. It is known also as Awo-cha or Moyigi (from moyiru, to 
 sprout or germinate). 
 
 Kusa-no-shini (“grass juice”). A compound of airo and gamboge. When mixed 
 with hmmatite it is used for imitating the tint of fading leaves. 
 
 Fuji-iro (Wistaria colour), called also nikn-iro. A mixture of diro, go-fun, and 
 sho-yengi. 
 
 Kuchiba-iro (dead-leaf colour). Vermilion glazed with gamboge. 
 
 Moino-iro (peach colour). A mixture of red lead, go-fun, and shb-yenji. 
 
 Urmni-iro (urmnii, to become black and blue, like a bruise; or discoloured, like 
 a cicatrice [Hepburn]). A bluish flesh colour used for representing the complexion 
 of sickness or death. It consists of slw-yenji, airo, and go-fun. 
 
 Kuri-iro (chestnut colour). A mixture of vermilion, ink, and go-fun, glazed 
 with shb-yenji. 
 
 Cha-iro (tea colour;. A mixture of vermilion, ink, and gofun, glazed with 
 gamboge. Awa-cha-iro, a greenish tea colour, is produced by glazing asagi-no-gu 
 (see airo) with gamboge. 
 
 Hiwada-iro (Chamcecyparis-bark colour). A mixture of biaku-rokusho with 
 kusa-no-shiru or aiuase-odo. 
 
 Niku-shiki or niku-iro [uiku, the lean of meat). A mixture of red lead and 
 go-fun. This tint, when glazed with gamboge, produces Niku-shiki-cha. 
 
 Beni-iro (rouge colour). Go-fun glazed with shb-yenji. 
 
 Shijimi-iro {shijimi, the name of a small shell-fish). A mixture of vermilion, 
 shb-yenji, ink, and go-fun. 
 
 Many other compounds of greater complexity were also used by artists, but do 
 not appear to have received distinctive names. 
 
 Gold and Silver.— Gold, as an aid to pictorial embellishment, is employed by 
 artists of all schools, but is chiefly in requisition for the decoration of screens 
 and slides {karakami or fusumd), and in the kakdmonos and makimonos of the 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 175 
 
 Yamato-Tosa and Buddhist schools. Its application in the form of leaf, small 
 segments, dust, and paint is a speciality in which the Japanese have attained a 
 remarkable degree of skill. 
 
 Silver is occasionally found upon old screens and Buddhist pictures, but its 
 liability to tarnish on exposure forbids its use under ordinary circumstances. 
 
 According to the late Mr. Ninagawa, leaf-gold was first applied to paintings 
 about the end of the eighth century, but it is uncertain whether the metal was 
 imported in this form, or was beaten into sheets by the Japanese, who had already 
 discovered and melted a native ore as early as a.d. 749. As before stated, its use 
 in mural and ceiling decoration dates from the latter part of the fifteenth century. 
 
 The Leaf is usually employed in the following manner. The surface to 
 be gilded is painted with an infusion of boiled cloves, and over this is laid a 
 coating of gold size, prepared from a kind of seaweed called funoi'i (fucus 
 vesiculosus ?); the gold leaf, cut as nearly as possible to the required shape, is 
 then made to adhere to a piece of paper greased with oil of walnuts, and is 
 transferred to the prepared area. The implements required for the process are a 
 board upon which to lay the leaf, a pair of bamboo pincers (Imkii-basJii) for 
 manipulation, and a bamboo knife (taki-gatand). The board is about six inches 
 square, covered on one surface smoothly w'ith hosho ganii (memorial paper),' over 
 which is stretched a piece of soft deer leather, fixed at the edges by means of 
 paste. Upon this the leaf is transferred by means of the pincers, and is then cut 
 with the bamboo knife. When a highly gilded surface is required, the leaf is 
 applied in a twofold layer. 
 
 If it be intended to paint over the gold, the adherent oil must be removed 
 by covering the leaf with a piece of thin paper, and sprinkling over this a layer 
 
 of hot charcoal ashes; the grease then becomes imbibed by the paper. It is 
 
 recommended also to mix the ink used for the drawing with a little rice gluten 
 itnochi-gomi). In the decoration of walls and ceilings the metal is usually applied 
 upon a coating of varnish or lacquer, which, in the case of the temple of Kinkakuji, 
 is painted over hempen cloth. 
 
 The leaf is not only applied entire, but also in the form of small segments 
 (termed generically Smingo), which are sprinkled by means of a sieve over the surface 
 to be gilded. These are often used as an economical substitute for the entire leaf 
 
 in gilding decorative clouds, or may be employed in combination with it to produce 
 
 effects of gradation. 
 
 The segments are cut by means of the bamboo knife upon the gilders’ board. 
 They have been named according to their shapes, as follows ;— 
 
 Simago (lit. fine sand). Square or oblong pieces, the former measuring one line 
 in diameter, the latter one by twm lines, 
 
 ‘ Hosho paper was used for dispatch writing under the Tokugawa government, and is still employed for 
 semi-official notes (Satow). 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OR JAPAN. 
 
 Mijpt-nwiiiisiinago (tiny sand rubbed between the fingers). Small irregular 
 particles about the size of “ grains of sand " 
 
 Mijin (tiny). Square or oblong pieces of about half the size of sunago. 
 
 Ko-zansho (small peppercorn). Large square pieces of about three lines in 
 diameter. 
 
 0-::anslid (large peppercorn). Large oblong pieces measuring about four lines by 
 two or three lines 
 
 Matsu-ba (pine leaves) or nogi (grain of corn). Narrow, oblong, or triangular 
 pieces of four or five lines or more in length. The segments are removed with 
 a feather from the board to a bamboo sieve (Imkn-furm), and by this means may 
 be dispersed over the prepared surface, (jold-dust {Jzin-dci) is applied in the same 
 manner as sunago, but with a finer sieve. 
 
 The sieve is made from a segment of bamboo, the dissepiment of which is 
 pierced with holes of the requisite size, or a woven network may replace the 
 natural septum. 
 
 Gold or Silver Powder may be prepared in the following manner: The leaves 
 are placed in a plate or saucer with a few drops of glue, and rubbed briskly with 
 
 the finger. After the addition of a little water the saucer is heated ovei the fire, 
 
 and the rubbing repeated; this process is carried out “ several half-scores of times, 
 until the metal is reduced to a fine powder; water is then poured upon it, the 
 gold is allowed to subside, and the fluid is drained off. 
 
 Gold Paint is made by mixing the powder with glue-water. It is recommended 
 to prepare the surface upon which it is to be applied with a coating of Ki-nikawa 
 or a mixture of gamboge and clove juice. 
 
 It is considered necessary that the preparation or application of the precious 
 metals should not be carried on near any place from which offensive smells arise. 
 
 In some cases the gold laid on in the form of leaf or powder is raised, 
 
 as in European illuminations, by a thick substance of a chalky and glutinous 
 nature. The process is most often used in Buddhist pictures, but is not in 
 great favour with artists in general, owing to the liability of the material to 
 become detached by the rolling and unrolling of the picture, or as a result of 
 exposure. 
 
 Copper and Bronze have also been employed, either as substitutes for the more 
 noble metals or to produce special effects. 
 
 Mica (Kirara or Kwasstki), pounded and admixed with mucilage, is occasionally 
 used to give lustre to representations of the scales of fi.shes, the petals of certain 
 flowers, etc. 
 
 Brushes {Fudi). The pencils employed by arti.sts not only assume a great 
 variety of shapes and sizes, in conformity with the uses for which they are destined, 
 but present certain minor peculiarities characteristic of the various schools. They are 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 177 
 
 mostly of native manufacture, but some artists have preferred brushes imported 
 from China and Korea, and, in the present day, from Europe. 
 
 They are classified according to the material from which they are made and 
 according to their uses. The principal varieties are as follows:— 
 
 1. Deer hair {S/iil’a-gt). This is of two kinds, ftiyii-gc, or winter hair, which 
 is very soft and durable; and natsu-gc, or summer hair, which is hard and wears 
 quickly. The former comes chiefly from Shikoku, the latter from Akita (Dewa). 
 
 2. Tanuki hair [Ninio or 1 amt/ci-ge). The taniiki is the racoon-faced dog, or 
 Nyctereutes procyonoides. The hair is black at both extremities, and intermediate 
 in hardness between summer deer hair and fox hair. The best is brought from 
 Hizen. Pencils of this kind are chiefly used for fine outlines. 
 
 3. Fox hair {Kitsunc-gi or Konkwai-gi). Very soft and durable. That procured 
 in Shikoku is considered the best. 
 
 4. Marten hair {Tcu-gt). Softer than the last. 
 
 5. Hare hair {Usagi-ge). Softer than marten hair. 
 
 6. Rat hair (NhEntni-ge). Hair taken from the rat's back is sometimes used by 
 lacquer painters. The ordinary summer hair is reddish, but the best hair is a white 
 variety obtained from Echigo. The pencil is not suitable for use upon coarse paper, 
 as it quickly wears out, but it works well upon a smooth, polished surface. 
 
 7. Cat hair {/Vi'ko-gi). Used chiefly by artists of the Tosa school. 
 
 8. Goat hair {Hitsuji-gc). Imported from China. A pencil made of goat hair 
 applied around an axis of deer hair, is said to date from the Chow dynasty (1122 to 
 255 B.C.). Horse-hair brushes were also imported from China, but were rarely used. 
 
 9. Straw pencil {IVara fndi). Brushes made from straw are said to work very 
 much in the same manner as some Chinese hair pencils. They are made by 
 macerating decorticated rice-straw for about half a year in a briny fluid used for 
 pickling vegetables (tnika-miso), and the fibres, freed from adherent matter by boiling, 
 are made up into brushes in the ordinary way. 
 
 The principal pencils, named according to their uses, are as follows: — 
 
 1. Ke-gaki, for painting fine lines. 
 
 2. Shita-gaki, for the first sketch. 
 
 3. Saishiki-fudi, for colouring. 
 
 4. Kuma-fudi, for shading. 
 
 5. Taki'-gaki, for painting bamboos. 
 
 The section of the pencil is usually cylindrical, but wide flattened brushes are 
 used for broad washes of colour. 
 
 Preliminary sketches may be drawn with a charcoal pencil {Ki-fude), made by 
 burning one end of a piece of w'ell-dried Chamoecyparis obtusa [Hi-no-ki) or common 
 firewood. 
 
 The handle of the brush is usually fashioned from a piece of bamboo stem. 
 Lacquered and ivory-handled brushes are occasionally met with as objets dc luxe, 
 but do not form a serious part of the artist’s tools. 
 
 z z 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MANIPULATION. 
 
 r is not proposed to discuss at any length the methods of manipulation, 
 as the most minute descriptions would fail to convey any serviceable 
 idea of the manual section of the art. This fact is fully recognized 
 by native authors, who limit their written directions to details that 
 are purely supplementary to oral and practical instruction. 
 
 The method of holding the pencil is peculiar. The handle is 
 usually grasped as in writing, between the thumb and the inde.K 
 and middle fingers, far from the point, and in such a manner that 
 it forms nearly a right angle with the forearm (.see figs. 8o, 8i, 
 and 83). The arm is wholly unsupported, leaving the shoulder and 
 elbow free to direct the motions of the hand—a mechanical 
 advantage upon which depends much of the remarkable ease and 
 range of stroke so characteristic of the work of the Japanese painter and calligraphist. 
 
 As a rule, only the point of the brush is used in sketching, but in certain styles 
 (see Section 4) the whole thickness of the hair may be brought into contact with 
 the paper. 
 
 If the artist purpose to make a highly finished or important drawing, the silk 
 or paper is stretched upon a frame in the manner already described, and may then 
 be either laid flat upon the ground or upon a low table, or supported upon an easel, 
 as convenience may direct; but in rough sketches the stretching process may be 
 omitted, the material being merely spread out smoothly upon a board which rests 
 
TECHNIQUE. 
 
 >79 
 
 upon the floor, or upon the floor itself, and fixed by means of weights at the most 
 convenient points. The artist can then reach any part of the surface without 
 difficulty, by rolling up any portion of the sheet that may be in his way. (See figs. 
 76, 79, 80, 82, and 83.) 
 
 The outlines of the component parts of the picture may be drawn at once in 
 ink, a special brush being kept for the purpose ; or, if necessary, a preliminary rough 
 sketch may either be made upon common paper and transferred in the ordinary 
 manner; or lightly touched in with a charcoal point upon the picture silk or paper, 
 and brushed away as soon as it has served its purpose. 
 
 The permanent ink-outline, as the most important part of the picture, never to 
 
 be obliterated or concealed, is always limned with the greatest care. It is said 
 that certain Chinese painters were in the habit of applying the colours without a 
 preliminary outline drawing, but the practice has not been followed in Japan. 
 
 The point at which the drawing is commenced varies with different schools and 
 individuals. In landscapes it is usually at one or other corner of the silk, and the 
 spot selected is sometimes marked, in accordance with a Chinese custom, by a special 
 seal impression called the Kwambd. 
 
 The rules guiding the choice of the initial lines of any particular object are 
 subject to similar variations, as well as to the caprices of an artistic sleight of hand 
 by which the Japanese draughtsman may occasionally choose to amuse himself or 
 his friends and patrons. 
 
,8o PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 The colouring is begun after the full completion of the outline, and it is in 
 paintings upon silk that we find one of the striking peeuliarities of Sinico-Japanese 
 technique. Strongly coloured pictures (goku-zaishiki) are most frequently executed 
 upon silk, because the artist may obtain certain advantages from the material by 
 applying his ground tints upon the reverse of the sheet. The pearly semi-transparency 
 of the fabric then aflords a medium through which the crude pigment appears with 
 a wonderfully softened e.xpression, and is at the same time protected to a great 
 e.xtent from atmospheric and mechanical injury; while the requisite strength or 
 modulation of tone may be conferred by means of a few touches of pure colour upon 
 
 Fig. 82. The manner of painting upon a vertical surface. From a sketch 
 by Kikuchi Yo-sai, engraved in the Zenken kojitsii. 
 
 the face of the picture. The practice is said to have first appeared in Chinese 
 pictures of the Sung dynasty. 
 
 The use of “ glazing,” “ scumbling," and washing, to produce certain effects, is 
 fully understood, and the processes are often employed with great success, especially 
 by artists of the Shijo school. 
 
 The tricks of manipulation are manifold, but nearly all are familiar to European 
 artists. Dr. Dresser, in his “ Architecture and Art Manufactures of Japan, gives a 
 graphic description of the tom's de force by which the painter can display his mastery 
 of the brush ; but it must be remarked that when not on e.xhibition the Japanese 
 is too practical to indulge in any flourishes that are not advantageous to his work. 
 
lECHNlOUF.. 
 
 i8i 
 
 and save for the peculiarities of technique referred to, he labours in a manner that 
 differs but slightly from that of his European brother. 
 
 In the education of pupils, the main element of in.striiction, in addition to 
 mechanical details referring to materials and manipulation, consists of the imitation 
 of drawings by the master, and by the leaders of the particular .school to which the 
 aspirant may be attached, or any of the old Chinese or Japanese masters that may be 
 selected to .serve for his models. Such copies are multiplied under the supervision of 
 the teacher until a satisfactory command of brush and correctness of eye are attained, 
 and the essays, when not destroyed, are accumulated in loose sheets, or made up 
 roughly into albums or rolls, in which forms they were often to be obtained from the 
 native curiosity dealer. 
 
 Fig. 83, Japanese artisi at work. From the Kimnio dzu i (1 79S). 
 
SUCTION IV 
 
SECTION IT)URTH. 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 HE ideal of the Japanese painter differs in so many respects 
 from that of his European confrere, that it is not possible 
 to adopt the same standard of criticism for the \rorks that 
 express the msthetic instincts of the two races. The 
 Japanese picture is the avatora of an art now extinct, that 
 of ancient China, and until recently has maintained intact 
 almost the whole of those characteristics that distinguished 
 its forerunner from the more .scientifically constructed art of 
 modern Europe. In its present form it must be judged by 
 itself, with a generous appreciation for its merits and a liberal indulgence for such 
 shortcomings as result from errors of teaching. We must recollect that the Japanese 
 painter, fettered as he has been for centuries by traditions of practice that exaggerated the 
 importance of calligraphic skill and excluded the study of chiaroscuro, perspective and 
 anatomy, has, nevertheless, succeeded in revealing to us a wealth of grace and 
 suggestivencss that might induce the sternest critic to forgive all the faults of his system, 
 though it may not justify the ardent admirers who cite those very faults as models for 
 imitation. .4 study of his best works may show defects of detail which any student 
 trained in European schools could readily perceive and correct, but to the true artist 
 it will present something that lies beyond the reach of academical philosophy—a 
 something that defies scientific analysis, and gives evidence that the imperfect 
 
184 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 mechanism has been guided by the motive power of genius. Although he has, indeed, 
 missed a portion of the exquisite forms of nature, and is sometimes guilty of deliberate 
 violations of truth, he has seized with a wonderfully comprehensive grasp the spirit 
 and meaning of his subject as a whole; and if there is much that he may learn from 
 his European fellow-workers, he has certainly proved his ability to teach some 
 memorable lessons in return. 
 
 But while every allowance is granted for the influence of time-honoured errors 
 of theory, the consequent peculiarities of practice must not be dismissed without 
 comment; for these eccentricities, and the almost unconscious efforts of the artist to 
 compensate for them by a variety of ingenious expedients, lend to the result many 
 of its most striking features, and may provide material for curious speculations in 
 some future study of comparative art as a part of the general history of man. With 
 a view to this end, some observations are proffered, in the succeeding chapters, upon 
 the main characteristics of Japanese representations of natural objects in pictorial form. 
 
PLATE 50. 
 
 CHINESE LANDSCAPE. 
 
 From a painting by Kano MOTOXOBU, engraved in the Wa-Kan mci-Idtsu g^vn-hb. Sixteentli century. 
 
Fig. 84. From a drawing by Renzan Ganloku. Ganku School (circa 1S40). 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LARGE proportion of the paintings most highly valued 
 in the older days of Japan were simple monochrome 
 outlines, and the style of the framework or " skeleton ” 
 {koppo) of a picture was the touchstone of the work. 
 Provided that this approached the recognized ideal of 
 perfection, fidelity of imitation was of minor importance. 
 The painter was nought if not a perfect master of the 
 mechanical section of his art, for nothing could atone for 
 
 a lack of elegance or decision of stroke, and it was in minute differences of touch 
 
 that the practised eye of the native connoisseur would recognize the work of a 
 particular school or artist, and adjudge the degree of merit to which it was entitled. 
 The young draughtsman received his first lessons in his infant scrawlings at the 
 writing-school, and the labours of the early years of his training in the art of 
 painting were devoted to tiresome repetitions of the copies which his teacher laid 
 before him. It was not until long afterwards that he would be called upon to 
 reproduce an object from nature, and when the time arrived for this demand upon his 
 
 skill, his translation of the facts generally took the form of a paraphrase, not wanting 
 
 in boldness and grace, often daringly suggestive, but overburdened with a kind of 
 artistic rhetoric, shown by fancies and flourishes of brush that seemed to mock at the 
 unpretentious accuracy of the truth-seeker. A painstaking study of anatomical form 
 presented few attractions for the pupil and received little encouragement from the 
 
 3 I! 
 
4 - 
 
 iSe J’lCTORIAL ARTS OF JARAK. 
 
 master, until in more recent times it formed a basis, half real, half nominal, for a 
 naturalistic school. Sometimes, it is true, we meet with remarkably correct drawings 
 of plants or animals, which, as a rule, have been made by or for the native botanist 
 
 or zoologist and have none but scientific interest, but such e.xamples of combined 
 
 artistic feeling and close observation as are afforded by many of the drawings of the 
 Shijo masters, and by the ivory skeletons of the modern nctsnki carver, Asahi, must 
 be received as the outcome of a new principle. The views of the older Japanese 
 critics upon this point are expressed by Shiuzan in the G'dia-soku (1777): “Amongst 
 pictures is a kind called naturalistic {sha-sct), in which it is considered proper that 
 flowers, grasses, fishes, insects, &c., should bear e.xact resemblance to nature. This 
 is a special style and must not be depreciated, but as its object is merely to show 
 the forms, neglecting the rules of art, it is commonplace and without taste. ... In 
 ancient pictures the study of the manner of sketching (lit. the art of outline) and of 
 the laws of taste were respected without attention to close imitation of form. 
 
 The imitative qualities of the design vary considerably in the difterent schools, 
 but except in the works of the Shijo artists, and of others who adopted the main 
 
 principle of the Naturalists, it will be seen that the painter seldom went beyond a 
 
 .symbolization of the facts he attempted to reproduce. His symbols usually showed 
 an e.xtraordinary power of seizing the effect of general truth; but the elements of 
 a mistaken conventionalization were nearly always present as the aniari aliqutd 
 sufficient to spoil the feast for a too sensitive art epicure of the prc-Raphaelite school. 
 In a certain .sense, the Japanese artist almost always went to nature for his subjects, 
 a fact upon which admirers have not forgotten to dwell ; but the foreigner r\ho 
 secs the works and not the process of their production would be surprised to learn 
 
 the truth, well known to all who have .studied the subject in the country, that the 
 
 painter of the classical schools did not often draw from nature. The vast majority 
 of the pictures of the old masters represented mythical animals, fictitious or historical 
 personages immortalized in Chinese literature, and imaginary Chinese landscapes; 
 while even the birds and flowers that filled their rolls and kakhnonos were more often 
 borrowed from the works of Chinese masters than transcribed from life. During the 
 last hundred years, however, the Shijo and popular artists, following a difterent ideal, 
 have taken inspiration almost exclusively from their actual surroundings; yet the 
 manner of design has undergone only a partial change. They have in most cases 
 carefully studied the natural objects, but still close their eyes to truths that conflict 
 too strongly with their traditional teaching. It is owing to this tendency that the 
 Japanese appears at his best in subjects that present the least complexity of physical 
 characters, and in the style marked by the least pretension to finish or detail. His 
 
 rendering of the anatomical outlines of men and animals, or of the geological and 
 
 botanical features of a landscape, will rarely bear scientific criticism; while the 
 attempts at foreshortening in his figure drawing would discredit any European art 
 student; and as a necessary consequence, the more highly finished the work, the 
 
c//.i/ijcr£/i/sr/cs. 
 
 1S7 
 
 more obvious the faults. 
 There is indeed little 
 doubt that his conscious¬ 
 ness of this accounts in 
 some degree for the 
 “ sketchiness " of the 
 typical Japanese picture, 
 and the careful evasion of 
 representations of faces 
 and limbs in positions 
 that offer any difficulties 
 of perspective. When 
 realistic elaboration is 
 introduced, it is usually 
 found in details that lie 
 upon the surface, such 
 as the scales of a carp 
 or serpent, the hair of a 
 monkey, the wings of an 
 insect, or the feathers of 
 a bird; but the grander 
 details of form are too 
 often .symbolized by arbi¬ 
 trary lines, which claim 
 every' merit e.Kcepting that 
 of truth. 
 
 The drawings of the 
 older schools may then be 
 described as primarily cal¬ 
 ligraphic, and only in a 
 secondary degree imitatir’e. 
 This may enable us to 
 realize the fact that writing 
 holds in Japan, as in China, 
 a position at least equal to 
 that of dra^^■ing; that Kose 
 no Kanaoka and Ono no 
 Tofu, the great native 
 representatives of paint¬ 
 ing and calligraphy, are 
 
 PI 
 
 .^3 
 
 
 
iSS 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 honoured alike; and that a single character by Wang Hi-che, the fourth-century 
 calligraphist of the Middle Kingdom, will command as high a price as a masterpiece 
 of W'u Tao-tsz', his great artist compatriot of the T'aiig dynasty. There is, of course, 
 no point of comparison between the ordinary handwritings of England and Germany 
 and the complex, minutely proportioned ideographic signs invented by the Chinese. 
 An ordinary Japanese or Chinese student will in a year or two acquire a power of 
 writing our current hand as well or better than his teacher; but the foreigner who 
 after a decade of persevering effort to master the calligraphy of China or Japan fails 
 to produce a character that would pass muster with a well-educated native as the 
 w'ork of a skilled hand, will understand the importance of the accomplishment in the 
 educational system of both countries. A performance like that reproduced in fig. 85, 
 might be copied by a Western artist, but none but an Oriental calligraphist could 
 have originated the master-strokes of which it is composed. 
 
 It maybe remarked that the Japanese word " kaku," like the Greek -fpaijtsw, has 
 the double significance of writing and painting. Pictures, moreover, are frequently 
 classified according to their graphic analogies, as .S/iiIi, So, and Giyd, corresponding 
 respectively to the formal "square" character, the curvilinear or “grass" character 
 employed in the running hand, and the form intermediate between these. Thus 
 a drawing of the S/ii/i class is characterized by the formal elaboration of its parts, 
 the So picture is sketched with a free brush, while the Giyd lies between the extremes. 
 
 There are several styles of touch (Jap. "ten") recognized by artists, and many of 
 these are enumerated and figured in the G-wa-ko sen-ran (l.c.), in association with 
 a list of the great Chinese and Japanese masters by whom they were respectively 
 practised. The written description is rather fanciful and obscure, but the illustrative 
 sketches are very clear, and demonstrate perfectly the calligraphic system of outline 
 which the painter has been tempted to cultivate at the expense of other elements in 
 his art. It is noteworthy that in two of the drawings (figs. 89 and 93) the resemblance 
 of the component touches to Japanese waiting is so close that some foreign authors 
 have been misled into a belief that the figures are ingenious constructions out of the 
 characters of the katakana and hiragana syllabaries. The following reproduction of 
 this valuable series, with the accompanying text, will teach more than the most 
 lengthy treati.se. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the variety of styles adopted in the drawing of the human 
 figure by different artists in successive periods, all, without exception, may be reduced 
 to one or other of the following half score of types, and although apparent 
 distinctions of manner may be noticed between Chinese and Japanese pictures, the 
 essential principles are always the same. 
 
 “ These styles are termed (i) Suikaku ten, (2) Ansha ten, (3) Chisoku ten, 
 (4) Kiuha ten, (5) Shiu-im ten, (6) ShoJiS ten, (7) Ankwa ten, (8) Toku-hitsu ten, 
 (9) Kenro ten, and (10) Nanro ten. They embrace all the general rules guiding 
 
CHA RA C TER IS TICS. 
 
 the manipulation of the pencil, and it is of great assistance to the beginner that 
 he should be acquainted with the principles of drawing before he enters into the 
 practice of the art. 
 
 “(i) Smkakii fen [sm^ a drill; kakn, outline; ten, style or manner). This style 
 corresponds to the Shin, or square character type in calligraphy. The name is 
 derived from the resemblance of the strokes of the pencil to the outlines made by 
 
 etching with a drill upon a stone surface, the lines being uniform in breadth 
 throughout. It is chiefly exemplified in the drawings of the Chinese artists Kiubunhan 
 (K’u Wen-yang?), Yonei-i (^^ang Ning-wei), Doho (Taou Li-sang), Kwankiu (Kwan Hiu), 
 Rishiukiu (Li Chuh), Enriutoku (Yen Li-teh), Enriidion (Yen Li-pun), Shiuho (Chow 
 Fang), Godogen (Wu Tao-tsz’), Kankiu (Han K’iu), Shiuyo (Chu Yaou), < 5 cc.; and 
 the same manner is followed by Japanese painters in simple pictures from ancient 
 times to the present day. 
 
igo 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 “ Although there are ten different styles of drawing the human figure, the Sutkaku 
 is the only manner appropriate for the delineation of birds and other animals, 
 flowers and plants, rocks, clouds, water, and other objects. It is the fashion 
 originally applied to the portraiture of living creatures ; and, the other styles being 
 modifications of this, the pictures in which they appear must diverge more or less 
 from the natural outlines. 
 
 Fig. 87. Ansha ten (2). 
 
 “ Nofe.—As already mentioned, this style is the most appropriate for copying the 
 figures of living creatures, and is therefore the most truthful. \ et it is well to 
 remember that a too-cxact imitation of nature ought to be avoided in painting. 
 
 “ The brush is held in such a manner that it makes a uniform outline, neither 
 too heavy nor too light, and the pencil point should be used to g'ive the effect 
 of a thread drawn upon paper, without break or variation of strength. It can be 
 
CHARA C TERIS TICS. 
 
 191 
 
 accomplished only by working with the extreme point of the brush, and a want 
 of power will always be visible if the middle portion should touch the paper. 
 
 “(2) Ausha ten {an, dark; stia, sloping). This also belongs to the Shin type. 
 It is employed both in China and Japan; and amongst the Japanese artists by 
 whom it has been practised, may be more particularly named Shiubun, Sotan, Kohogen 
 (Motonobu), and more recently, Shoyei, Veitoku, and Sanraku. In the present day the 
 style is followed by some artists in a form more or less modified in the direction 
 
 Fig. 88. Chisoku ten (3). 
 
 of the So or cursive type, but the general principle is still adhered to. It is chiefly 
 utilized in the delineation of distant figures, as in a landscape. 
 
 “Note.—'Y'ci^ brush is held in such a manner that it presses more strongly upon 
 the paper at short intervals. The stroke looks as though effected by contact with the 
 belly of the pencil, but the point only is u.sed. It is important to recollect this in 
 drawing the natural folds of drapery. 
 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 “ 3. Clusoku feu. {chi, slow; sokn, quick). This style is found in the pictures of 
 the Chinese painters Geppo (Yueh P ang), Chinshowo (Ch en So-ung), Sokanshin 
 (Su Han ch'cn), and Risu (Li Ju); and in those of the following Japanese artists: 
 Shiubun, Sotan, Kawo, Keishoki, Cho Densu, and others ; and more recently amongst 
 pictures of the Sanraku school, in which the manner of Cho Densu has probably 
 
 been imitated. It presents great difficulty for the beginner, but may be accomplished 
 without much effort by a skilled artist. 
 
 .. Although the picture has the appearance of the So or cursive type, it 
 
 really belongs to the Shin class, a fact which is proved by the impossibility of 
 executing the drawing very swiftly. The touch is not effected by vibrations of the 
 pencil, but by making momentary and repeated pressure with the point of the brush 
 
CHARA C TRRIST/CS. 
 
 '93 
 
 upon the paper, while the stem is held fairly perpendicular to the surface. It somewhat 
 resembles the fashion known in calligraphy as Chochin ten, or the ‘ worm-eaten ’ style. 
 
 "4. Kiiilia ten {'rapid wave’ style) This is the manner most frequently seen 
 in the pictures of the old Chinese artists of the T’ang, Sung, and Yuen dynasties, 
 especially Riokai (Liu Kiai), Bakashi (Ma Ho-chi), Shiubunki (Chow Wen-chi), Kotaiehi 
 (Kung Nai-hwang), &c. Amongst Japanese it was adopted by Shiutoku, Giokuraku, 
 bftanosukd, Hokkio Koi, and others. It may be regarded as belonging to the more 
 
 ancient Shin type, and is seldom employed Ijy recent artists. All the four styles 
 mentioned above are modifications of the Shin type, the next three belong to the 
 Giyo, and the three last to the So. 
 
 “ Note .—In this style the brush is carried on rapidly for a short distance, and 
 is then reversed just before it is taken off. This may be regarded as an amalgamation 
 of the Shin with the So type. 
 
 3 D 
 
94 
 
 PICTOR/AL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 “ 5. SJiin-iin ten (mountain-cloud style). This style is also employed both by Japanese 
 and Chinese artists. Among the Japanese may be mentioned Tosa (Mitsunobu ?), Sesshiu, 
 and Kano (Motonobu); and the most distinguished of the Chinese painters were Bujun 
 (\Vu Chun), Shiugetsu (Ts'iu Vueh), Giokkan (Yuh Kien), Godogen (Wu Tao-tsz’), 
 Ririumin (Li Lung-yen), Sofutsuko (Tsao Fuh-hing), Zengetsu (Shen Yueh), lYc. It 
 receives its name from lending to the delineation of folds of drapery an appearance 
 
 like that of the outlines of clouds rising from the mountains. It has been used both 
 in ancient and modern times in China and Japan. 
 
 “AWr.—After the principal folds and lines of drapery have been made, the 
 details are completed by further disjoined touches. It is principally employed in 
 portraits of Buddhist divinities and priests. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 195 
 
 “6. Slidlio ten (‘straight point’ style). This style is practised both in China and 
 Japan. It is the mean of the three leading types of Shin, Giyo, and So, and therefore 
 appears to a greater or less extent in all styles and in the works of all painters, 
 for which reason it is unnecessary to specify names. 
 
 "Note .—The point of the brush should be held at right angles to the surface 
 of the paper, and e\-ery detail of the folds and lines of drapery should be carefully 
 drawn. Notwithstanding that this style belongs to the Giyo group, it can easily be 
 
 modified in the direction either of Shin or of So; therefore it may be regarded as 
 the mid point of the ten types. 
 
 “7. Alnkwa ten (an, dark; k-ioa, transition or gradation). This style is a 
 combination of the ist and 2nd, modified to the Giyo type. It is practised by the 
 majority of artists. 
 
 “As previously remarked, the three last styles (5, 6, and 7) belong to the Giyo 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 type, and are very commonly used in ordinary painting, so that it is unnecessary to 
 
 mention the names of any particular artists. It may be said that Kohogen, who 
 
 did not follow any particular school, extracted that which was best from all these 
 
 manners, and applied it as circumstances required. 
 
 "Note .—The Ankica ten, although partially derived from the Ansha ten (2), differs 
 from it in that the middle of the line is thicker than the two extremitie.5—hence 
 the name of ‘dark transition.’ 
 
 Fig. 93- Toku-liitsu ten (8). 
 
 " 8. Tokii-liitsu ten (‘ blunt pencil ’ style). This illustrates one of the uses of the 
 broad-pointed brush, and appears in the works of the ancient and modern artists both 
 of China and Japan. It may be accepted as a modification of the Smkaku ten (i), 
 in the direction of the Skoko ten (6), softening into the So type by the use 
 of a blunt pencil. It was employed by Sesshiu and Kano (Motonobu), and 
 
c y/A A’A c ry;A/s t/cs. 
 
 '97 
 
 by other artists of later times, and is a style that cannot be easily imitated by 
 beginners. 
 
 ''No 7 e.—Th(i manner of manipulation is expressed by saying that the brush runs 
 straight from the commencement to the end of the stroke. It is not necessarily 
 effected with a blunt pencil, but can be made with one much worn by use. The 
 
 essential point in the style is to make the lines appear as though drawn with the 
 bone of the brush after the removal of its skin and flesh. 
 
 “g. Kenro ten (kenro, manifestation or display). The Kcnro ten also belongs 
 to the So type, and is used by Japanese and Chinese artists. It is frequently met 
 with in the pictures of Sonkuntaku (Sun Kiun-tseh), Choshikiyo (Chang Sze-kung), 
 and others; and Japanese drawings of the So class all belong to the same category. 
 In all the styles before mentioned the brush is held perpendicular to the paper 
 
 3 E 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF 7 A PAM 
 
 igS 
 
 .-.urface, and used in such a way as not to manifest its full capacity of stroke; but 
 in the Kcnro ten the brush should be allowed free play, and thus the powers of the 
 implement are made manifest; whence the name ‘Kcnro ten'. 
 
 The pencil is moved freely, as in writing the characters of the 5J class; 
 it rests more heavily upon the paper than in the other styles, and not only the 
 
 Fig. 95. Nanro ten (lo). 
 
 point, but any part of the brush may come in contact with the surface. The essential 
 object is to show the swift running character of the stroke. 
 
 “ 10 . Nanro ten (the touch of the ‘Southern Road'). This style was followed 
 by the Chinese painters ilokkei (Muh Ki), Giokkan (Ytih Kien), Ganki (Ngan liwui), 
 Sotsu-wb (Shwai Ung), Gessan (Yueh Shan), Ensuhin (Yen Tsz'-p'ingj, kbnenki (kao 
 
CHARACTERIS TICS. 
 
 >99 
 
 Jan-hwui), Beigensho (Mih Ytien-chang), and others; and in Japan by Sesshiu, 
 Scsson, Togan, Unkci, Tanyu, Yasiinobu, Shumd, Tohakii, linsho, cvc. 
 
 “There are many styles in the So calligraphic type, such as those called ' /tnlti/sii,' 
 
 ‘ hihakul and others, but they are all modifications of these last three fashions, 
 the 8th, gth, and loth. All pictures sketched with flat pencils or straw brushes 
 belong to this group. We may compare the Shin type with sitting, the Giyd 
 with walking, and the So with running. 
 
 "Note. —In the So class it is essential to attend to the varying depth and 
 thinness of the ink as produced by manipulation, which is a prime factor in the 
 effect of the drawing." 
 
 Much of the foregoing is very obscurely e.xpressed in the original, and 
 would be unintelligible were it not for the graphic sketches of the artist. The 
 illustrations show that the only pure outline in all the ten styles is that of the 
 Suikaku (ist), the others being characterized by various manipulative affectations 
 which are evidently based upon the manner of drawing the component strokes of 
 the numerous modifications of the written characters ; and it also appears that the 
 rules apply less to the delineation of the figure than to that of the garments; in 
 fact, most of the styles are obviously inapplicable to the undraped figure. 
 
 The four 5 /«Vi styles {i, 2, 3, and 4) are all very carefully drawn with the point of 
 the brush, while the handle is held at right angles to the paper. In the 2nd, the line 
 loses the natural flowing character of the ist or basis style, and is represented by a 
 series of strokes broad at the commencement, narrow at the end, and joined to each 
 other abruptly in such a manner as to give the effect of a decisive but angular and 
 arbitrary touch. In the 3rd, a new vagary is introduced by a manipulation which 
 leaves one side of the stroke jagged while the other is entire. The outline is, 
 however, more flowing than in 2. In 4 appears a further eccentricity, the lines 
 being made up of a number of short curves, the union of which results in a series 
 of sharp projections. It is this drawing which has been reproduced in two foreign 
 books as a combination of the characters of the Hiragana Syllabary, No. 8 appearing 
 as the associated representative of the Katakana. 
 
 In 5, 6, and 7, the three varieties of the Giyo type, the drawing is less laboured, 
 but is still executed with the pencil point as in i, 2, and 3. No. 5 is a pious artifice 
 to suggest heavenly cloud forms in the portraiture of divine beings. No. 6 approaches 
 to the simplicity of No. i, but is complicated by a little angularity and a certain 
 amount of arbitrary variation in the breadth of the different portions of the stroke; 
 and No. 7 is composed of graceful flourishes that bear no small resemblance to the 
 fanciful European penmanship of the last century. 
 
 The rapid style corresponding to the So calligraphic type, e.xemplified in 8, 9, 
 and 10, may be divided into two classes: the angulai', seen in 8, in which the whole 
 drawing appears to be constituted by coarse zigzags of the most uncompromising 
 
200 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 stiffness ; and the flowing, shown in two different phases in 9 and 10, in both of 
 
 whieh eertain parts of the design, usually portions of the lower borders of garments, 
 
 are represented by lines of enormous breadth. In all three, but especially in the 
 two last, a liberal use has been made of the body of the brush. 
 
 It must be recollected that these fashions of touch, which were supposed to 
 e.xhaust the orthodox manner of wielding the brush in sketching the draped figure, were 
 recorded nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, and that the rules here laid down 
 have not been strictly observed by the artists of the last century. 
 
 No attempt has yet been made to subject the drawing of landscape, birds, trees, 
 
 flowers. See., to a correspondingly minute analysis, and in these cases, even the three 
 
 main distinctions of Shin, Giyo, and So can seldom be established as satisfactorily 
 as in figure drawing. 
 
 Fig. 96. Calligraphic figure. From an old engraving (c. 1720). 
 
 All the lines of the drapery are comprised in the characters written above the figure. 
 
 Fig. 96. Calligraphic figure. 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 HE following passage occurs in the E-Iion Yamato hiji, a 
 well-known book issued by the ‘Ukiyo-yd’ artist Nishigawa 
 Sukdnobu, near the middle of the last century:—“It is 
 necessary to understand the distribution of light and shade 
 in vegetation and figures. Thus, in painting the leaves of 
 plants or grasses, the outer surface must show the sunlight, 
 while the under or darker parts are in shadow. Trees and 
 rocks must be treated upon similar principles, and in figures 
 the folds of the dress must present lighter and darker 
 parts. All this should be minutely studied.” This appears 
 sufficiently e.xplicit to persuade us that the laws of Chiaroscuro were perfectly 
 appreciated ; but such e.xpressions in Japanese writings are as symbolical as are many 
 of the elements of a Japanese drawing. The author of the book does not refer to 
 the real lights and shadows of nature, which arc conspicuous by their absence in his 
 own illustrations, but to ideal substitutes fabricated by the Chinese artists of past 
 ages. The true Japanese picture, a term that excludes the modern hybrid productions 
 often accepted in Europe as types of Japanese art, never shows a high light or 
 a reflected light, and most commonly offers nothing at all that is representative 
 of chiaroscuro; but in certain of the schools various false or theoretical shadows 
 are introduced to give effects of relief or solidity. For example a Shijd artist, in 
 painting a rounded object, such as a grape, fills his brush with water, immerses 
 its point in ink, and then by a happy turn of the hand shapes in a moment the 
 dark contour gradually softening into an almost colourless centre, and so conveys an 
 impression of solidity while evading all consideration of reflections from adjacent 
 
 3 ! 
 
202 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF TAPAX. 
 
 objects. By similar tricks of the pencil are expressed the cylindrical form of a 
 bamboo stem, and the curves of a leaf. Again, an artist of the Chinese school 
 may throw the features of his portrait into relief by increasing the depth of the 
 colour below the eyelid and naso-labial line, or may accentuate folds of drapery by a 
 kind of shadow beneath the plication ; but in no case is there any evidence of a 
 direct struly of the natural appearances. 
 
 liven this apology f<ir chiaroscuro is commonly absent. A black garment may 
 be painted absolutely black, excei)t where the folds are defined in white or by a line 
 bordered on either side with a narrow streak of untouched paper or silk; a black man 
 or any other .sable object, as in figs. 97 and 42, being treated with a similar 
 
 Fig. 97. Negroes. YxQWiHokusai 
 
 impartiality of tint, is only saved from a reduction to silhouette by omitting the 
 colouring around any part which it is desirable to detach from the surface. Conversely, 
 when a white object is depicted, the traditional tabooing of shadow makes the artist 
 try to strengthen the effect by surrounding the figure, or whatev'er it be, with a 
 halo of darkness, into which, however, it seems only to recede in still more ghostly 
 insubstantiality. Lastly, as the schools ignore high lights as well as shadows, it 
 is impossible to convey the impression of a shining surface, and hence, while wc 
 admire in a Japanese picture the life-like fluttering of the sparrow or the majestic 
 swoop of the crane, the eye of the bird, dull and expressionless for want of a 
 touch of light, is strangely incongruous with the powerful vitality infused into the 
 drawing of its head and limbs. 
 
 Some of the drawings of the Naturalistic school offer many of the appearances 
 of a just distribution of light and shade, as in the pictures of Sosen (plates 31 and 
 68) and Okio (plates 29 and 30); but projected shadows are always absent, and it 
 
CHA RA C TER IS TICS. 
 
 203 
 
 would seem that the chiaroscuro in evidence has been introduced by the painter almost 
 unconsciously in his endeavours to realize the character of surface presented to his eye. 
 
 'I'he Colouring is one of the most attractive features of Japanese art. Our 
 appreciation of colour is perhaps more sensual and less intelligent than that of form, 
 and a departure from truth in the tints of a pictured object does not necessarily 
 offend the eye so long as harmony is respected ; and as the Japanese painter is 
 a master of harmony, we are disposed to overlook most of his liberties with nature. 
 His delicacy of perception in the use of gradations and contrasts is often marvellous, 
 and more than one of our painters, of European fame, will ungrudgingly confess 
 their obligation to the pictures and colour-prints of old Japan for many a welcome 
 suggestion. Nor is it only in the cpiict, mellowed tones of the Nis/iiki-ye of the 
 Toriis and Katsugawas that the faculty is shown, for some of the later followers 
 of the same school, as well as the more ancient and orthodox masters of the Tosa 
 Academy, while startling us by the reckless daring with which they have struck 
 the highest notes in the chromatic scale, making the sheet vivid with energetic 
 pigments, sometimes arranged in direct opposition to the theories of European art, 
 are rarely guilty of any touch of harshness or discord that can bear witness to a fault 
 of judgment. They had studied the capabilities of their resources too deeply to 
 misapply them. 
 
 Curiously enough, the same men, gifted as they seemed to be with an unerring 
 instinct of beauty in the use of colour, often fell into strange blunders when 
 materials of a different kind from those to which they had been accustomed were 
 placed in their hands. In recent years the intercourse with Europe has led to an 
 importation of large quantities of indifferent pigments, which being cheaper and 
 more showy than those formerly used in Japan, have been adopted by many of the 
 popular artists, but with the most unhappy results. It is not uncommon to meet with 
 modern pictures that retain much of the old skill of drawing, damned by an ill- 
 advised touch of a crude crimson, green, or blue of Western origin; while the 
 chromoxylographers, who have adopted the most violent of the new colours, fill 
 the shops of the fan dealers and broad-sheet sellers with obtrusively offensive prints 
 that well might raise the spirit of old Katsugawa Shunsho in protest from its 
 resting-place. 
 
 The style of colouring varied considerably in the pictures of the dift’erent schools, 
 ranging from the thin washes most in favour with the early Chinese and Kano artists 
 to the striking contrasts that marked some of the works of the Tosas, but rarely 
 either overshot the mark of brilliancy to fall into garishness, or permitted its quiet 
 cheerfulness to sink into the murky tones which for some Western critics represent 
 the sublime essence of all that is msthetic in art. 
 
 Great power is also shown in the imitative use of colour, up to a certain point ; 
 but the subtle gradations of tint which the painter so well knows how to produce. 
 
204 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 do not entirely compensate for the absence of true chiaroscuro, and hence a certain 
 effect of flatness is often noticeable even in the works of the best artists. Again, 
 while in some cases the general tone of an object may have been reproduced with 
 remarkable accuracy, in others the artist unhesitatingly makes use of arbitrary colours 
 to represent those of nature. The orthodox colour for the sun is vermilion ; the 
 pale sea-green or yellowish mats that constitute the floor-covering of a Japanese 
 house appear in the Tosa picture in the brightest verdigris; and the pellucid 
 stream or lake may be caricatured as a dull blue surface, scored with wavy lines of 
 white or black. Every collection will afford many other e.xamples in which the 
 artist, more obedient to tradition than to conscience, has employed symbolical colours 
 that he knew to be more or less in contradiction to the truth. 
 
 The acquaintance of the Japanese with the processes of “glazing,” “scumbling,” 
 and impasto, and their practice of softening and modifying their tints by painting 
 at the back of a semitransparent silk, have been mentioned in Section 3. The use 
 of gold in association with colour may be reverted to, as a feature that distinguishes 
 the art of Japan from that of modern Europe, but allies it to the work of the 
 
 early missal illuminators and old Italian masters. The general effect of some of our 
 
 mediaeval illuminations, indeed, is strongly recalled by certain parts of the Buddhist 
 
 and Tosa pictures, while the tone of colouring adopted by the earlier masters of 
 religious art in Japan is no less suggestive of the style of their Italian 
 
 contemporaries. 
 
 Pictures are classified according to their mode of colouring as follows :— 
 
 1. Siinii-ye, or simple ink drawings without colouring. 
 
 2. Sai-shiki, or coloured paintings. 
 
 (ix) Gokii-zaishiki. Highly coloured with many pigments, as in certain pictures 
 of the Buddhist, Tosa, Chinese, and Kano schools. 
 
 ip) Usu-zaishiki. Thinly coloured, as in the early Chinese, Scsshiu, and Kano 
 paintings. 
 
 (c) Chiii-zaishiki. Intermediate between a and b. This class is exemplified in 
 
 most of the pictures of the Shijo school, and in many of the Kano paintings 
 of the middle period. 
 
 Pictures painted entirely in gold, or in a single colour, as red, may be mentioned 
 as unclassified varieties. 
 
 In Composition the artist is more indebted to an innate judgment than to fixed 
 rules. There are no written laws for his guidance; yet the almost invariably 
 
 effective disposition of the parts of his design, whether it be a simple sketch of 
 
 a flower or a complex scene of history, appears to have been dictated by a natural 
 
 instinct of fitness and sense of the picturesque. The subject may be nothing more 
 ambitious than a spray of plum blossoms or bamboo, which appears to be thrown 
 across the sheet at random, with an utter contempt for symmetry: there is no sign of 
 
CHA RA C TER/S TICS. 
 
 205 
 
 premeditation in the arrangement, and the parts of the tree are wholly free from 
 distortion; but although the art is concealed, its existence and cunning will be 
 realized when we try to conceive an alteration of the artist's scheme, and still more 
 when we compare his work with such imitations as those that England is now 
 producing—then the rapidly conceived sketch of the Japanese will be recognized as a 
 picture, complete in itself. 
 
 The same skill is displayed in more complex works. The grouping and 
 distribution of the principal figures, and the introduction of accessories, all combine 
 to express the painter’s meaning with propriety and effect. The eye will at once 
 perceive the leading elements in the scene, and estimate with tolerable accuracy their 
 relation to the rest; and at the same time a perfect equilibrium is preserved both in 
 colour and in form. The intelligence of the artist is manifested as well in the choice 
 as in the disposition of his items, and whether he represent a view of courtly ceremony, 
 bloodthirsty combat, noisy jollity, or of ghostly horrors, the various parts are related 
 to each other and to the general plan of the composition with a propriety that offers 
 one of the best proofs of the pictorial capacity of the race. These various forms of 
 excellence are exemplified by the flower sketches in Mr. Frank Dillon's reproductions 
 of Japanese drawings; by the little group of tortoises in plate 60; by the arrangement 
 of figures in plate 13; and, in greater or less degree, by every illustration offered in 
 these volumes. 
 
 The peculiar responsibility assumed by the Japanese painter in the composition of 
 his ideal Chinese landscapes will be alluded to hereafter. 
 
 3 ^ 
 
Fig. 98. Dutch Perspective. From the Hokusai Maugiva. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I ''I IE question of Japanese perspective has been frequently 
 
 discussed, but while some writers maintain that perspective, as 
 understood in Europe, forms no part of Japanese art, there are 
 others who confidently assert to the contrary. The disagreement, 
 however, rests upon differences in the interpretation of the 
 
 term “ Japanese art. " If the work of some half-score of 
 the artisan artists of the last hundred years, who have 
 
 imbibed from Dutch sources a few ill-comprehended rudi¬ 
 ments of the science in association with a smattering of other 
 branches of European knowledge, be considered representative of the national art 
 practice, then there will be no difficulty in producing hundreds of examples in favour 
 of the latter view. It is, however, certain that not one of the orthodox schools 
 
 recognized by the native connoisseur has departed from the old Chinese practice, in 
 
 which the laws of linear perspective were entirely ignored. 
 
 The early artist would undoubtedly have been glad to dispense with perspective 
 altogether, in order to escape the perplexing task of reconciling the differences between 
 his visual impressions of size and shape and his consciousness of the reality. He 
 was, however, forced to admit the fundamental principle that remote objects appear 
 relatively smaller than those which are nearer; but he refused to apply it any further 
 than was necessary to enable him to make a picture. He would draw a distant 
 mountain smaller than a foreground cottage, and was even taught to adopt a rough kind 
 of ratio for adjusting the proportionate size of an object according to its distance 
 
 from the spectator, and thus secured a certain degree of approximation to the true 
 
 
 
 O' 
 
C//A KA CTERIS TICS. 
 
 20- 
 
 appearances without the guidance of scientific rules. Having conceded so much to 
 optical laws, it would seem to require little inductive power to bring the painter a 
 stage further, to comprehend that the same rule of apparent diminution of the 
 various objects in his picture, in proportion to their distance, should apply to the 
 different parts of an individual element. But like a child in his first attempt to draw 
 a house, he will not see the impropriety of representing as parallel in his sketch the 
 lines which he knows to be parallel in nature, and while his perspective is 
 approximately “linear” for a landscape distance as a whole, it is always isometrical 
 for the parts of a single object. 
 
 For the European the effects of the system are sometimes curiously illusive. The 
 parallel lines of a surface receding from the spectator are maintained parallel in the 
 
 Fig. 99. Roofless Interior. From a drawing in the style of the Yamato School, by Nishigawa Siikunobu, engraved in the 
 
 A-hon Yanialo hiji (1742). 
 
 drawing; but to the Western eye they appear to diverge as they recede, or, in other 
 words, to converge towards the point of station, and it is only by admeasurement 
 that the error of interpretation is corrected. A tesselated floor looks like a vertical 
 wall, to which the feet of the figures in the picture seem to adhere by some unknown 
 laws of gravitation ; and a room interior never displays more than two walls and a floor, a 
 third side and the ceiling being excluded by the method of representation. The 
 limitation of pictorial space associated with the last peculiarity was often found so 
 inconvenient in practice, that an artist Asmodeus, of the earliest days of the Yamato 
 school, hit upon the plan of removing the roof of any building of which he wished 
 to show the interior, and by this means was enabled not only to expose the whole 
 ground-plan, but to throw in, if desirable, a view of the outside premises, and even 
 of the landscape beyond. But this ingenious device only emphasized the need of 
 scientific training. (See plate 13 and fig. 99.) 
 
,oS PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 With the intention of increasing the range of view, some of the older painters 
 were in the habit of raising the horizontal line nearly to the top of the picture, as 
 though the scene were regarded from an immense height, but at the same time they 
 would frequently contradict the fiction of a bird's-eye view in the drawing of the 
 foreground objects: the practice, however, was not general, as many drawings by the 
 ancient Chinese and Japanese masters offer no special peculiarities with respect to 
 point of sight. The modern painters of the Shijo and Popular schools usually keep 
 the horizontal line down to a moderate elevation ; and hence, although they adhere to 
 the old laws in other respects, their errors are not often sufficiently prominent to spoil 
 our enjoyment of the charming glimpses of Japanese scenery in the compositions of 
 the followers of Maruyama Ohio and in the illustrations of the native guide-books. 
 
 It has been mentioned that a few artists of the Popular school have derived 
 
 Fii;. roo. Chinese Temple Interior. Perspective drawing by Hokusai, engraved in the Suiko gim den (iSio). 
 
 some imperfect ideas of linear perspective from foreign sources. The first of these 
 was Shiba Gokan, a draughtsman of the last century, who, having acquired a few 
 rudiments of European art under the instruction of a Dutch resident in Nagasaki, 
 introduced his slender science to his countrymen in the illustrations of a book of 
 travels, entitled Gitia-to Sai-yii den (1794), and in other ways. The scene painters 
 for the theatre quickly perceived the advantages of perspective, and at once employed 
 the little they were able to acquire. Subsequently Katsushika Hokusai, in one or 
 two of his drawings for Bakin's novels (see fig. too), and in a few other volumes, 
 showed that he kneiv at least as much of perspective as his predecessors ; but he 
 has utilized it only when he could not produce the required effect in any other way. 
 Hasegawa Settan, the artist of the Yedo Meisho dan-ye and Toto Saijiki, has in the 
 
CHARA CTERIS TICS. 
 
 209 
 
 latter work also brought into service a partial acquaintance with the science, in order 
 to show the interior of a tea-house, but has intermixed the new and old theories 
 in a very curious manner in the same plate, while adhering to the Chinese practice 
 in nearly the whole of his remaining illustrations. Many other well-known books 
 contain occasional examples of perspective, but the artists always showed their 
 preference for the older style. In fig. 105, from the Itsiikushima-dau-yi, it will be 
 noticed that the designer has chosen to represent a street as it would be seen by 
 looking over the tops of the houses, and abandons foreign teaching altogether; although 
 in fig. loi he has attempted, but unsuccessfully, to find a vanishing-point for an interior. 
 
 A more consistent convert to the practice of linear perspective was Hiroshigd, 
 one of the best of the modern designers for colour prints, whose principal works 
 appeared between 1830 and 1850. He had evidently taken some pains to study 
 European drawings, and rarely omitted to display his knowledge in his landscape 
 
 Fig. loi. Per,spective drawing engraved in the ftsukushima-dzu-ye (1836). 
 
 designs; but he had failed to penetrate the real mysteries, and when he attempted to 
 solve any difficult problem in the application of the theory, he fell into misfortune, 
 
 as in a clever painting in the British Museum collection, where he has endeavoured 
 
 to represent a verandah in perspective, and has carefully drawn the lines of roof, 
 floor, and balustrades converging towards a vanishing-point in the sky, far above the 
 horizon. It requires little knowledge of the subject to detect the errors in fig. loi, 
 and even in fig. 98, which appears to be a careless imitation of a foreign picture, and 
 indeed in every instance where a really intelligent grasp of the subject has been called 
 for. Hokusai, in one of his illustrations to the “Twenty-four Paragons of Filial 
 
 Piety, ' gives us a picture with two distinct points of sight; and in the more recent 
 
 3 H 
 
210 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OP ■/ARAM 
 
 case of an unintentionally comic book, the Yokohama Kaiko kcmmon ski (1862), 
 descriptive of the foreign settlement at Yokohama, the artist’s convulsive efforts to 
 secure the advantages of the practice of perspective without having taken the trouble 
 to study its theory, have produced such curious results that it is, at first sight, 
 almost doubtful whether he has not been amusing himself at our expense and that of 
 our science. We hardly know, in fact, whether we ought to laugh at him, or with him 
 at ourselves. 
 
 The Doba/i Sai-giva Cho, a little album of copper-plates by Okada Shuntosai, 
 published about 1857, gives a better idea of the “ Ran-gwa,” or Dutch style, than any 
 other work of earlier or later date, and presents not only a little passable perspective, 
 but even some attempts at chiaroscuro. It must be recollected, however, that the 
 Japanese regard this as purely European art. Another well-known volume of 
 copper-plates of about the same period, entitled Tokaido go-jiii-san Eki, or “ The 
 Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido," belongs to the same category; and a few other 
 similar examples might be quoted. 
 
 It is certain that no painter of any acknowledged Japanese School, including 
 that of the Shijo Naturalists, has accepted our laws of perspective, while even 
 the more eclectic artisan artists, who were ready to learn from any source, have 
 not often departed from the teachings of their old masters. The imperfect efforts 
 made by a few of the number merely serve as exceptions to prove the rule—that the 
 science of perspective no more enters into the constitution of Japanese art than that 
 of chiaroscuro or anatomy. 
 
 In compensation for the absence of linear perspective the artist makes use of 
 an exaggerated aiirial perspective, and often aids his interpretation of distance by the 
 introduction of fictitious cloud-forms. His expedients have a certain basis of observation, 
 for the hazy atmosphere and vaporous strata of the hot, moist seasons in tropical 
 and semi-tropical climates are strongly recalled in some of the pictures of the 
 Kano and Chinese schools ; but unfortunately the proprieties of hour and season are 
 not always respected, and it is sometimes obvious that the artist, in securing the 
 effect he requires, cares little whether it be obtained truthfully or othenvise. 
 
PLATE 51. 
 
 A SPRING MORNING ON THE RIVER YODO. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2726). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Shiwogaiva Bunrin. Ganku School (c. 1870). Size of original, 45 x 20^ inches. 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 


 
 Fig. 102. Chinese Landscape. Moonlight. From a painting by Flara Zaisho. SliijO School (c. 1S40). 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SOMEWHAT broad distinction must be made between the 
 principles of design followed by the Japanese artist in 
 landscape pictures, and in representations of animal life. 
 
 It is necessary to recognize two classes of Japanese 
 landscape drawings: those which represent ideal Chinese 
 scenery, and those depicting actual views in Japan. The 
 masters who preceded the Josetsu school, from Kanaoka 
 downward, are said to have drawn scenery from nature in 
 various parts of the country; but we have few good 
 examples of their power in this direction. The Tosa artists, 
 who are the lineal successors of the founders of the Native or “ Yamato" school, 
 seldom painted landscape except as an accessory to incidents of history or court life ; 
 and the glimpses thus introduced were almost as conventional as the artificial Chine.se 
 views of Shiubun and the Kanos, and were far less bold and effective. 
 
 The Shijo artist, when copying from nature, accepted the arrangement of the 
 elements of the scene very much as he found it, merely omitting details unessential to 
 his end, but adding little or nothing from his own invention. On the other hand, 
 the typical “ Chinese landscape ” of the older schools was a compilation of imaginary 
 rocks, mountains, fields, rivers, bridges, buildings, and figures, borrowed from the 
 pictures of the old masters of the Middle Kingdom and disposed in accordance with 
 
212 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 the ideal of the artist. At a later period, with a view to facilitate the labours of 
 the student, there were fabricated innumerable copies from Chinese drawings in the 
 form of sketches and engravings, and books of instruction were imported from China 
 to aid in the workall the elements of the landscape being thus presented in a 
 classified form, the learner, after persevering for a few years m repeating the designs, 
 might consider himself equal to the task of making an “original" picture. The 
 genius of the older painters, however, often enabled them to succeed so tvell in the curious 
 exercises of artistic ingenuity required for the evolution of a Chinese scene, that the 
 artificiality of the process could not destroy the bold picturesque effect of the result. 
 It has been said that Moore, before composing Lalla Rookh, had so imbued himself 
 with the spirit of the localities of his .story by literary study, that nothing m the 
 
 Fig. 103. Chinese Landscape. From a drawing by Roren, engraved in the Gwa-to sut fuyo (1809). 
 
 internal evidence of his work betrayed that the poet had not transcribed his scenes 
 directly from nature. Wdiether this be true or not, it conveys in parallel the impression 
 created by many of the Chinese landscapes of Motonobu and Tanyu (as in plates 50 
 and 23), who had never left their native country, and indeed had passed their lives 
 in the midst of a scenery that differed widely in character from that which appears 
 in their mo.st famous pictures. The same artists, however, have so well proved their 
 
 ' .Vmongst the Chinese books imported or reprinted in facsimile for the use of Japanese art students may be 
 named the Dzu-yi So-i (iS90), the Kaishiyen gwa dm (idyg), the Meiko Semfn and five companion volumes (1711), 
 and the Jiu-chiku-saigzm-fu {1817). With similar objects were issued by native artists, the Gmtatgwa-fu {l>i\o), 
 by Uchida Gentai ; the Kan-giaa shitori geiko (1807), by Kanzan ; the Toshi CkSko giza-dm (1803); the Kan-gwa 
 Ski-nan (1779), by Kanyfisa! ; another series by Bumpo (1810) 1 the Chiknto gwa-ko (1812). by Nakabayash. Chikuto; 
 and a ho.st of recent imitations. The dates appended to the titles of the Chinese reprints are those of the original 
 works. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 213 
 
 ability to do justice to the landscape beauties of Japan when choice or necessity 
 turned their efforts in the right channel, that the habitual misdirection of their power 
 is so much the more a subject for regret. 
 
 The influence of a Chinese ideal is sometimes visible even in drawings of Japanese 
 scenery. The artist, indisposed to trust his own eyes, considered that every rock or 
 tree must be translated into Chinese before it could make its appearance in his 
 picture; wdrile the differences between Chinese teaching and the visible evidences of 
 perspective were too complex to encourage him in attempting a scientific analysis 
 of his impressions. The force of habit, too, is said to have been occasionally .so 
 strong amongst the adherents of the Chinese school, that one of them, when called 
 upon to paint a view in Kioto, inadvertently peopled the streets of the Japanese 
 capital with Chinese figures and accessories. 
 
 The more naturalistic artists of the last hundred years have done much towards 
 the creation of a new style in land.scape painting. They are still influenced to 
 some extent by the example of their predecessors, and even yet hold aloof from the 
 complications of perspective and chiaro.scuro; but their brushes, inspired by the 
 scenery they love and with which they are perfectly familiarized, give to the tout 
 ensemble of their work a veracity and sympathy that could scarcely exist in the most 
 scientific rendering of the subject by a foreign hand, while at the same time the 
 innate and delicate sense of beauty, and the unvarying precision of touch inherited 
 from the old Kanos and Tosas, add graces of execution that might go far to 
 propitiate the most uncompromising anti-impressionist. The combination of simplicity 
 and truth in the landscape sketches of Hokusai, and in the draw'ings from nature 
 by modern painters, reproduced in plates 51, 54, and 55, and figs. 33 and 104, will 
 be recognized by every one who has visited the scenes depicted, and will be 
 appreciated by all lovers of art. 
 
 An analysis of the elements of the Japanese picture will show many peculiarities 
 of interpretation in the rendering of natural objects, and to the consideration of the 
 chief of these are devoted the following chapters. 
 
 3 I 
 
Fig. 104. From a picture by Reuzan Gantoku, in the Dillon Collection, (ianku School (c. 1850). 
 
 CHAPTER \’. 
 
 STUDY of the heavens, as understood by Turner, never 
 appears to have entered the mind of an Oriental artist. The 
 Japanese painter, who commonly depicts or ignores the 
 natural properties and characters of objects as he regards 
 their introduction necessary or superfluous to the aim of 
 his picture, does not seem to have regarded the subject 
 as one that demands much thought or observation. His 
 treatment of cloud-forms is both conventional in style and 
 deficient in variety. The modern naturalistic artists have 
 indeed caught some breath of inspiration, and occasionally 
 give us sketches which, even in the wood-cutters translation, 
 show that the poetry of the clouds has not been altogether 
 lost to them ; but the old masters were too fully occupied 
 with their Chinese ideals to do justice to their immediate surroundings. The cloud 
 for them was a useful symbol, as an aerial chariot for a Buddhist divinity or Taoist 
 rishi, or an accessory to the threatening figure of the storm dragon, and in its 
 
PLATE 52. 
 
 THE WIND THAT SWAYS THE WILLOW BRANCHES.” 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2315). 
 
 From a painting on silk by TOGAKUSEI SllIKlo. C. 1830. Size of original, 45 } x 27 l !"ches. 
 
 THE inscription open the .picture is rendered in the title, but the details of the design appear to indicate a 
 coming storm. 
 

C//A RA C 7 -RR/S 77C.S. 
 
 215 
 
 decorative applications formed a convenient surface for gold and colours; but it 
 rarely tempted them to a careful study of nature. 
 
 In the screen and panel paintings of the Tosa and Kano schools, cloud-forms 
 were employed as decorative spaces for gold or colour, and served this purpose 
 so admirably that it would be beside the mark to discuss the question of 
 propriety of time, place, or shape; but it is somewhat curious that the Ukiyo-ye 
 guide-book artists, in their transcripts of native scenery, made use of the same forms 
 and arrangement w'ith a wholly different object (see fig. 105); for the capricious 
 outlines of cumulus and stratus that wandered hither and thither across their pages, 
 now in the sky, now in the street, could have no decorative intention, but they 
 saved the draughtsman an infinity of trouble by obliterating details he did not 
 
 Fig. 105. Street Scene. From the Itsukmhima dzu-ye. Showing use of arbitrary clouds, and a mode of compensating 
 for ihe want of linear perspective. 
 
 care to represent. The same practice was in vogue with the book illustrators of 
 the Monogataris in the early part of the seventeenth century (see fig. 62) ; and in 
 their case appears to have been adopted in direct imitation of the old masters of 
 the Yamato school, with whom it probably originated. 
 
 Although the storm cloud of the semi-tropical skies of Japan, so characteristic in 
 its sombre grandeur, is rarely, if ever, attempted by the artist as a study of nature, 
 the downpour of the storm is often vividly depicted, and nothing is omitted that 
 can help to tell the story—the dismal blending of earth and sky, the sloping 
 sheets of rain through which appear the ghostly outlines of the landscape, fainter and 
 fainter as they melt in the distance, the quivering leaves, the yielding reeds and 
 grasses, all are there to demonstrate the power of observation that is so often permitted 
 to lie dormant. Fig. 106 will convey some idea of the Shijo artist's capacity to treat 
 
2I6 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF yAPAN. 
 
 the subject, and many of the book illustrations of Hokusai and his pupils offer 
 rvonderful suggestions of rain effects. The Japanese is also unsurpassable in his power 
 
 Fig. io6. Rain Scene, from a painting by Rioko. Shijo School (c. 1840). 
 
 of expressing the filmy mists and strata that hover low above the plain when evening 
 
 Fig. J07. Winter Scene. I'toxn l\\Q Hokusai Mangwa. 
 
 is about to throw its veil over the scene, and often utilizes his skill to compensate 
 for his defects of perspective in rendering landscape distances. 
 
CflA RA C I'ER/STICS. 
 
 217 
 
 In sketches of winter scenery the painter often secures an impressionistic effect 
 of the most perfect kind with a minimum of manual labour, by leaving the white 
 surface of his paper or silk to represent the snowy covering of the mountains and 
 valleys, and, by means of a few broad washes of dilute ink, clothing the sky and 
 the landscape with the cheerless, grey, freezing atmosphere of a sunless winter day. 
 Fairly typical examples of the snow scene are offered in plate 54 and in fim 107. 
 
 The light of the Japanese picture is always independent of the apparent source of 
 illumination, and neither by shadows nor by any other indication can we calculate 
 the nature or position of the presiding luminary. The heavenly bodies give no light 
 and cast no shadows ; the vermilion disc that represents the sun is a mere decorative 
 symbol; and the moon has no other function than to serve as a sign of night, for 
 which purpose, however, it is essential, as the nocturne of the Japanese—except in 
 modern book illustrations—resembles the day picture so closely, that the intention of 
 
 Fig. 108. Moonlight Scene. Shijo School (c. 1S40). 
 
 the painter can only be announced by labelling the sky with the satellite. The 
 popular draughtsman, on the other hand, while ignoring projected shadows, occasionally 
 offered very forcible suggestions of the night sky, and increased the effect by a 
 clever use of silhouette. Good e.xamples of this will be found in fig. 56 and jdatc 
 56, and the same idea has been put into force in the much earlier drawing of crows, 
 by Korin, in plate 27. 
 
 The landscape engraved in fig. 108 is a poetical and at the same time, an almost 
 realistic sketch of a moonlight scene ; but the artist of a Shijo picture in the British 
 Museum collection has made a greater stride in the direction of truth by drawing 
 the reflection of the rising moon upon a lake in the form of a band of light 
 stretching towards the spectator, instead of merely figuring a duplicate image upon 
 the surface of the water, in the manner of his forefathers. Plate 55 and fig. 102 
 
 3 K 
 
2,s PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 represent other styles of treating the subject. It may be remarked that artificial 
 light is symbolized as unscrupulously as that of day and night. We should be 
 unable to conceive that the marriage scene in fig. 109 is illuminated by lamp and 
 candle, were it not that the blackness of the sky, of which the artist has purposely 
 afforded us a glimpse, tells that the ceremonial is nocturnal. 
 
 ^Vater in some form is rarely absent from the landscape picture ; * but its protean 
 aspects have offered difficulties too great for the resources of an art like that of China 
 and Japan, and the painter has been forced to symbolize where he is unable to imitate. 
 The pictured river, bay, or pool is deprived of almost every property that lends variety 
 and beauty to the original. Its surface ceases to reflect, unless the exigencies of 
 poetry demand an exception in favour of the moon ; its transparency disappears when 
 
 Fig. 109. Japanese Wedding. Night Scene. From a drawing by Utagawa Toyotnni (the first), engraved m the 
 Shichiftiku Monogafari (1809). 
 
 not required for a like utilitarian purpose, to show the head of a diving duck, 
 or the passage of a carp amongst the river weeds ; and it has no power to refract the 
 beams of light allowed to pierce its depths. It is ordinarily degraded to a flat expanse 
 of blue, traversed by sinuous or festooned lines of black or white, and in some 
 pictures of the Tosa school may even be caricatured in a dull opacity of cobalt, m 
 which reeds, boats, and other objects seem fixed as firmly as in well-set gypsum. 
 The more ambitious phases of the subject were not likely to be more truthfully rendered. 
 The representation of the waves of the sea da.shing against the rocks, as m fig. no, a 
 favourite theme with the older masters, was seldom more than a series of flourishes 
 
 ' The Japanese word used as an equivalent for landscape drawings is san-sm, literally mountains and water. 
 The term has become generic, and may be used for pictures of scenery in which neither mountain nor water appears. 
 
PLATE 53, 
 
 WATERFALL. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2293). 
 
 From a painting on silk by ISHIBASHI Richo. Shijo School. Nineteenth century. 
 Size of original, 47} x 20 inches. 
 

PLATE 54. 
 
 SNOW SCENE. THE TEMPLE OF KIYOMIDZU. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION {No. 2717). 
 
 From a painting on silk by CiiiKUDfj G.A.NKI. Ganku School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 43^ x 15^ inches. 
 
 The Temple of Kiyomidzu, one of the most ancient edifices in Kioto, is said to have been originally built in 
 79S .\.D. by the novice Enchin, with materials derived from the house of the warrior Tamuramaro (d. 811 .A..D.). .-V 
 
 portion of the present erection dates only from the Ashikaga dynasty (133S—IS 97 }- 
 
 Standing upon a hill, and raised to a great height above the ground upon a massive framework of pillars, it is 
 the most conspicuous and picturesque object of the outskirts of the city. The view of Kioto from the temple is very 
 e.Ktcnsive and beautiful. For a detailed description of the building and its contents, see Satow and Hawes’ “ Handbook 
 for Japan,” p. 369. 
 
PLATE 55. 
 
 MOONLIGHT VIEW OF LAKE BIWA. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 272S}. 
 
 From a framed picture in silk, painted in monochrome, by Shiwogawa Bunrin (died c. 1878). Size of original, 
 
 14! y 40 in. Ganku School. 
 
 Lark Biwa, in the province of Omi, is the largest lake in Japan. According to Dr. Rein, it is nearly equal in size to 
 the Lake of Geneva. It lies about 1000 metres above the level of the sea, and it.s greatest depth is said to be nearly 
 too metres. The legend says that it appeared in a single night, coincidently with the upheaval of IMuunt Fuji, on the 
 borders of the provinces of Kuruga and Kai ; and it was believed that the excavation of the depths now filled by the 
 waters of the lake, provided the material for the construction of the Peerless Mountain. 
 

 

PLATE 56. 
 
 DAY AND NIGHT SCENES IN VEDO. 
 
 From a woodcut after KeiSAI Yeisen, engraved in the Keisai Ukiyo g-jja-fii. Popular School. C, 1836. 
 
CHARA ClERISnCS. 
 
 219 
 
 suggestive of the hand of the writing-master rather than of the painter ; and even tlie 
 later artists, influenced though they were by the naturalistic theory of the Shijo school, 
 failed to make a great advance. Hokusai, indeed, has attempted an honest realization 
 in his drawing of the advancing and receding waves in vol. ii. of the Mangwa, and 
 has given many evidences of similar originality of observation in other albums ; and 
 Kicho, a Shijo contemporary, has displayed no little power in depicting the magnificent 
 sweep of the descending mass of water and the misty veil of spray raised by the 
 concussion of its fall, in the sketch of the cataract in plate 53; but it is manifest 
 that in the treatment of water in general, the teachings of Japanese art arc too narrow 
 to allow results at all commensurate with the power of the artists. 
 
 Fig. no. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 HE trees and flowers which appear in Japanese drawing's have 
 already been familiarized to Europeans by modern reproduc¬ 
 tions and imitations. The trees most frequently represented 
 are the bamboo, pine, plum, cherry, maple, camellia, and 
 wistaria. Of these the first three appear individually or in 
 combination as emblems of longevity; the plum, cherry, 
 camellia, and wistaria are drawn only in the state of bud 
 or blossom, and the maple is almost invariably portrayed in 
 the bright red of its spring and autumn foliage. Many 
 other trees are introduced in landscapes, but seldom form the principal motive of a 
 picture. 
 
 The favourite flowering plants are the peony, the chrysanthemum, the lespedeza, 
 the lotus, the convolvulus, and the orchid ; but the artist has laid under contribution 
 the whole flora of his country. 
 
 As a rule the representation is distinguished rather by graceful composition and 
 harmonious colouring than by botanical accuracy, and suffers considerably from the 
 
C//.'i /L'l C TERIS T/CS. 
 
 22 1 
 
 absence of chiaroscuro ; but the quality of truth may also be preserved when required 
 for scientific purposes, as in the drawings in the Dillon collection before referred to, 
 of which fig. 113 is an example. 
 
 The bamboo stands foremost amongst the art trees both in China and Japan, 
 and is nearly always drawn in silhouette.' The painter is here upon familiar ground, 
 and is able to preserve the form of stem, leaves, and branches, to define the varieties, 
 and to show the changes under influences of season and weather, with an appreciation 
 of form and a correctness of observation that w'ould effect marvels if carried into 
 wider fields. 
 
 The admirer of the bamboo will have no difficulty in making a collection of 
 drawings in Japan, and may obtain many books devoted to the same subject. The 
 work called Bokuchiku Hatsuino, originally published in 1831, is especially to be 
 recommended as an e.xample of the manifold effects the artist can obtain by the 
 simplest means. As a book of instruction, for which it was intended, it is perfect. 
 It will be seen how carefully the teacher conducts his pupil from root to leaf, 
 pointing out the sharply defined joints that subdivide the strong elastic stem and 
 
 ‘ In the Jiki Shi-ho, the origin of the silhouette picture is attributed to a Chinese lady of remote times, 
 who traced with ink the shadow of a bamboo cast by the moon upon the translucent paper slide which separated 
 her chamber from the garden. 
 
 3 I' 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 straight but flexible branches, marking in skeleton outline the characters of ramification, 
 dwelling tenderly upon the delicately curved margin of the lanceolate leaf, and 
 analyzing into simplicity the apparently complicated overlapping of the foliaceous 
 groups (see fig. 112). As the work advances, the pupil learns to show the pliant stem 
 and branches swaying gently in the breeze under the burden of its summer foliage, 
 bowing low beneath superincumbent masses of snow, or yielding before the tempest, 
 clinging to its fellows as if in terror of the force that threatens to uprend its tangled 
 roots ; and every succeeding lesson presents some new phase of beauty to reveal the 
 originality of genius even in the most hackneyed of all the art themes of the Far East. 
 
 The chief rival of the bamboo is the cherry-tree. The cherry in its greatest 
 pride of blossom can be seen only in Japan, as in the famous plantations of Yoshino, 
 the fairy-land avenue of Mukojima, or the groves of Uydno; but all that art can 
 realize of its beauty is to be found in the sketches of the Shijo painters. Plate 58, 
 from the British Museum collection, well exemplifies the feeling with which the painter 
 can make his study of the rounded stem and straight tapering branches, the shining 
 bark mapped into unequal ring-like segments by rough horizontal fissures, the delicate 
 texture and translucency of the white or pinkish petals, the warm reddish-green of 
 the young leaves, and the graceful curve of the flower-stalk inclining under the weight 
 of blossom. It appears strange, in sight of such an achievement, that some of the 
 later Kano and Tosa painters should have preferred an idealism that magnified the 
 blossoms tenfold, disposed them with heraldic symmetry all upon the same plane, 
 turned their faces all in the same direction, and conventionalized the most lovely 
 of the flowering trees into a mere decorative arabesque. 
 
 The plum blossom, which opens in early spring while the snow is yet upon the 
 ground, was regarded by the Chinese artists as equal in importance with the bamboo, 
 and is frequently met with in the rvorks of the Japanese adherents of the Chinese school. 
 The blossoms springing from the leafless branches have a peculiar aspect, especially 
 when appearing, laden with snow, amid the bare wintry trunks of the congeners; but 
 its decorative qualities are inferior to those of the cherry, to which it has yielded 
 in popularity in the pictures of the later schools. As a symbol of longevity, how'ever, 
 it possesses a meaning which will always secure for it a prominent place amongst art 
 motives. 
 
 The peach, again, has a mystic value derived from ancient Chinese legends. 
 The peach-tree of the Taoists, which grows within the gardens of the fairy Si Wang 
 Mu, blossoms but once in three thousand years, but each of the fruit confers three 
 thousand years of life upon the fortunate or unfortunate mortal who consumes it. 
 It is seldom employed as an art motive, except in association with the emblematic 
 significance which links it to the pine, and its representations are not usually 
 conspicuous for either accuracy or beauty. 
 
 The pine, forming the chief element of the Sho-chiku-bai, the triple emblem of 
 vigorous old age, as a rule is more conventionally rendered than cither of its fellows. 
 
PLATE 57. 
 
 BAMBOOS. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (NOS. 2i 15-6). 
 
 From paintings in monochrome by KlITSU- Kurin School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 43§ x iS inches. 
 
 The masterly handling of the brush in the delineation of the bamboo stems is worthy of notice. The introduction of 
 a fictitious atmosphere, in which the more distant branches are here seen to disappear as in the obscurity of a white 
 mist, is a common resource of the Japan painter. 
 
yi\ 
 
 / 
 
PLATE 58. 
 
 THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS OF MIKAWA. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION {No. 2302). 
 
 From a painting on silk by Ota Kinkin. Shijo School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 56 | x 22 | inches. 
 
 In the original the overlapping edges of the petals are thrown into relief by a process of impasto: this effect has been 
 somewhat exaggerated in the reproduction. 
 
 The picture is signed “ Ota no Musume” (the Daughter of Ota), and dated in the “Tiger year” of Bunkwa (1806), 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 especially by the Kano and Tosa artists, and in most cases represents the horticulturist's 
 miniature, dwarfed by compression of the roots and tortured and twisted into simulated 
 antiquity by cords and training sticks, rather than the noble forest tree permitted to 
 grow, unrestrained by artifice, in its native soil. It is in .some respects a fair type of 
 the pseudo-classical Japanese art that provoked the rise of a Naturalistic school. 
 
 The willow, the cryptomerias, the paulownia, and other trees that take a place in 
 landscape compositions, require no especial notice. All are more or less conventionalized, 
 but the main characteristics are sufficiently well preserved to allow easy recognition. 
 1 he drawings of flowering plants, grasses, and other kinds of vegetation owe their 
 chief interest to their common decorative applications ; and even the ordinary specimens 
 of modern industrial art, now imported into Europe, are enough to show that the 
 poorest weed may furnish material for a graceful picture when studied by a mind so 
 .sympathetic as is that of the Japanese with most of the broader aspects of nature. 
 
 Fig. 113. From a drawing in the Dillon Collection. Shijd School (circa 1840). 
 The annotations consist of directions for colouring. 
 
CHAPTER VI 1 . 
 
 \PANESE drawings of animal life may be classified under 
 three headings—as purely mythical compositionSj such as 
 the dragon and “ phoenix,” which owe their construction to 
 heterogeneous contributions from various sections of the 
 animal kingdom; foreign animals, like the lion, tiger, 
 elephant, and mule, which the painter seldom or never had 
 opportunity to study from life; and familiar animals, native 
 to or naturalized in Japan. 
 
 In the first and second groups the Japanese, as a rule, have merely copied Chinese 
 models with more or less fidelity. In some cases, however, the importation from the 
 Asiatic continent of animals strange to Japan, enabled the artist to draw from life 
 certain specimens of natural history, like the tiger in plate 66, which he had before 
 seen only through the eyes of his brethren of the Middle Kingdom. In other 
 instances the painter has made native animals do duty as models for those of foreign 
 birth, the domestic cat appearing in an enlarged form as a tiger, as in plate 67 ; 
 the horse, by means of a little elongation of ears and attenuation of tail, undergoing 
 
CV/.-! RA C TERIS TICS. 
 
 225 
 
 transformation into the mule; while the dog', adorned with mane and tail of 
 calligraphic curls, disports mildly amid peonies in the character of the Chinese lion. 
 
 The third group, represented by animals which the painter might draw from 
 nature if he would, gives the true measure of his naturalistic power, and here it 
 
 hukurd. 
 
 Fig. 117. The Elephant. From a drawing by 
 Morikuni, engraved in the E-hon Sha-ho hukmv. 
 
 is seen that his success, from a scientific point of view, is in direct ratio to the 
 simplicity of the anatomical forms of his subject, and, from the artistic aspect, 
 usually in inverse ratio to his elaboration of details; but under all circumstances 
 
 3 M 
 
226 PICTOR/AL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 his faculty for expressing life and action lends a striking character to his work. Plate 
 62 and figs. 114, 118, 121, and 123 will serve to illustrate the latter point. 
 
 He does not concern himself greatly with the lower members of the animal 
 kingdom; and although moths, cicadas, snails, and other creatures of similar grade 
 
 S. Turning the Tables. The Frogs and their Oppressor. From a drawing by Kiosai (1879), 
 
PLATE 59. 
 
 "THE THOUSAND CARP." 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 8i8). 
 
 From a picture on silk, painted in monochrome, by Inagaki (fl. 1840). Size of original, 33 t^ 4^7 Chinese School. 
 
 The spectator is supposed to be looking into the water, as through the glass front of an aquarium, at an approaching 
 shoal of carp, the nearest of which appears to be coming out of the picture, while the more remote are dimly seen in 
 the far perspective of the liquid depth. The painting in many respects contradicts the ordinary practice of Sinico- 
 Japanese art, in comprising a careful observance of the laws of apparent size in ratio to distance, and an almost 
 scientific conception of high lights and shadow gradations. 
 
 The style of colouring is that of the Chinese school, but the design is more suggestive of Shij 5 teaching. The 
 use of gold in the original to render the effect of high lights is worthy of remark. 
 
 Little is known of the artist, a daimio, whose name does not appear in any of the published biographical lists, 
 but it is evident from this and another work in the same collection that he was a master of the brush, and that he had 
 a decided leaning in the direction of naturalism. The characters of the appended signature read To-SAI. 
 
PLATE 60. 
 
 TORTOISES. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2130). 
 
 rom a sketch on paper by Tonan Yosiiixawo. Korin School. Nineteenth century. 
 
CHAR A CTERIS TICS. 
 
 227 
 
 may occasionally be seen in pictures, they are usually left for the naturalist, or for 
 the metal worker and netsiikc carver. Mis extraordinary power is first manifested 
 in his drawings of fishes, and particularly of the carp, which he loves to depict 
 in full vitality in its own element, as in plate 59. Frog life is a speciality of certain 
 artists, as of the living Kiosai, whose talent in adapting the batrachian form to caricature 
 the pursuits of the human family almost amounts to genius (see fig. 118). The 
 serpent is less elaborately treated by the painter than by the glyptic artist, whose 
 work in the reproduction of the minutiae of the scaly covering is often scrupulously 
 exact; but both have studied the movements of the reptile carefully, and never 
 shock the zoologist with the impossible contortions into which the European 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Fig. 119. Sparrows flitting through the rain-light. From a painting by Keibun in the British Museum Collection. 
 
 Shijo School (c. i8io). 
 
 draughtsman believes the ophidian coils may be twisted without prejudice to the 
 vitality of the animal. The tortoise is another source of triumph ; and the groups in 
 plate 60 show how much artistic force the painter could manifest in the portraiture 
 of one of the most unpromising subjects ever offered to his pencil. 
 
 It is, however, in the delineation of birds that the Japanese artist attains his 
 most surprising results ; and in his interpretation of action, and especially of flight, 
 he is equalled only by his teachers, the old Chinese masters. Ihc many examples 
 reproduced in this and other works will show that from the sparrow to the falcon, 
 from the crow to the peacock, the feathered tribe is a motive peculiarly his own. 
 
 In the four-footed race his good qualities are still preserved unimpaired, but his 
 
22 S 
 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 'JAPAN. 
 
 defects appear in stronger relief. This is especially noticeable in the more finished 
 drawings of the horse, where his utter failure to understand the perfect grace of 
 nature's outlines almost unfits us to appreciate the energy he can infuse into the 
 misshapen trunk and limbs ; and yet, while the great painters of Europe with all their 
 
 Fig. ISO. From .I bkolch by Kano Tanyu, engraved in the Gwato stti-mii (1741)' Kano School. 
 
 anatomical lore had devised but one position, and that a bad one, to express rapid 
 motion, the Kanos of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries could make their 
 pictured steeds gallop and curvet with a freedom and grace that found no expression 
 in Western art until the beginning of the last generation. 
 
 Fig. J2I. From a roll attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu. Sixteenth century. 
 
 Japanese drawings of the ox, the deer, the dog, and the cat are less striking, 
 and although often clever and spirited, will bear no kind of comparison with the 
 work of European animal painters ; the simpler form of the domestic rat has led to 
 
PLATE 61. 
 
 FALCON. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 228). 
 
 From a painting on silk by lTAY.\ KeishiO, at the age of 61. Tosa School. Latter part of eighteenth century. 
 Size of original, 47^ x 17k inches. 
 
 Hawking in Japan, as in Europe, was once a much esteemed pastime of the aristocratic classes, and was jealously 
 guarded as a privilege of class. There still remain in the suburbs of Tokio and elsewhere enclosures laid out for the 
 preservation of wild ducks, and here even in the present day favoured visitors may see the last representatives of 
 famous stocks of trained falcons prove their power of wing, claw, and beak at the expense of the devoted teal. In 
 former days the crane was the most approved quarrj', and the bird when caught was reserved for the table of the 
 daimio or noble. There is no doubt that the sport was introduced from China, and even the forms of the perch and 
 the jess are identical with those depicted by the ancient Chinese artists (see Plate 73 )- is well known, moreover, 
 that in the time of Marco Polo hawking was enthusiastically pursued by the Tartars, and was regarded as one of great 
 antiquity. 
 
 Portraits of falcons have been painted by most of the noted artists of Japan, and the representations were nearly 
 always both vigorous and truthful. In this motive, indeed, the masters of the older schools long anticipated the 
 naturalistic teachings of Okio and his followers. 
 
 -The picture is signed Sumiyoshi Keishiu Fujiwara no Hiromasa. 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 
PLATE 62. 
 
 CRAN ES (Gn/s Viridirosfris). 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2275). 
 
 Fron a painting on silk by MORI Ippo. Size of original, 56^ x 35I inches. Ninetcciith century (c. 1840). Shijo School. 
 
 Two kinds of crane are represented by Japanese artists^ one, the Gnis Leiicnnchen (Temm.), or white-naped crane, with 
 ashy grey and black plumage, relieved by a crown and nape of pure white ; the other, the G. Viridirostris (Veillot), or 
 Mantchurian crane, characterized by a plumage of white and black, and by a bare crimson patch upon the forehead and 
 crown. It is the latter that appears in the works of Chinese artists and of the Japanese painters of the older schools, 
 and is regarded as especially emblematic of longevity. The white-naped crane, which is rarely depicted except by the 
 modern popular artists, is the national crane of Japan, and was formerly reserved as noble sport for the falcons of the 
 Daimios. Three other varieties are known in Japan, the G. Leucogeranus, G. Conimums, and G. Monachns, but are 
 seldom introduced into paintings. (See “ Monograph on the Natural History of the Cranes,” by the late Mr. Edward 
 Blyth, enlarged by Mr. Tegetmeier, and recently reprinted.) 
 
 These birds must not be confounded with the egrets, which owe whatever good repute they possess to their 
 utility as worm-destroyers in the paddy-fields. 
 
 The crane is familiarly known in Japan as the Tsuru—or with the honorifics, “ O Tsuru Sama,” and lends its 
 name to many places (e.g. Tsuru-mi, or Crane view,” near Yokohama). Its status in popular estimation, at the end 
 of the seventeenth century, may be judged from the following quotation from Kcempfer’s " History of Japan,” book i,;— 
 •' The Tsuru, or crane, is the chief of the wild birds of that country, and hath this particular imperial privilege, that nobody 
 may shoot him without an express order front the Emperor, and only for the Emperor’s own pleasure or use. In 
 Saikokf, however, and other provinces remote from Court, a less strict regard is had to the like Imperial commands. 
 The cranes and tortoises are reckoned very happy animals in themselves, and thought to portend good luck to others, 
 and this by reason of their pretended long and fabulous life, of which there are several remarkable instances in their 
 historical writings. For this reason the Imperial apartments, walls of temples, and other happy places are commonly 
 adorned with figures of them, as also with figures of firs and bamboos, for the like reason. I never heard country 
 people and carriers call this bird otherwise than O Tsuri sama, that is, ‘ my great lord crane.’ There are two different 
 kinds, one white as snow, the other ash-coloured.” 
 
 In Chinese mythical zoology four varieties of crane are enumerated—the black, the yellow, the white, and the 
 blue—and of these the black is supposed to attain the greatest number of years. The bird is supposed to become 
 superior to the necessity for other sustenance than water after completing its sixth century. 
 
 In pictures it is nearly always associated, as an emblem of longevity, with the conventional vermilion sun, or 
 with the bamboo, and in a well-known composition (known as Kai-kaku-ban-F) appears swimming upon the waves 
 near to a rock upon which grows a fruit-laden peach-tree. In paired kakemonos it is a companion to the Tortoise, 
 and is there depicted in multitudes upon the pine-clad shore of the Mount of the Immortals. As an accessory it is met 
 with as the attribute of Fukurokujiu and occasionally of Jurojin, as the aerial steed of the rishi Wang Tsz’ Kiao, as the 
 associate of the poet Lin Hwa-ching, and in various other connections where the artist wishes to introduce an allegory 
 of the blessings of long life. (Extract from the Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, p. 130.) 
 
 Wilhelm Gkeve, Berlin, Chromolith. 
 


 
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PLATE 63. 
 
 I. CRANE. 
 
 From a painting by KaKO Yeino, engraved in the Wa-Kan mei-gwa yen. Kano School. Seventeenth century. 
 
 2. CRANE AND YOUNG. 
 
 From a painting by I.SHIVAMA MOROKA, engraved in the Wa-Kan mei-gwa yen. Tosa School. Seventeenth century. 
 
 Compare with Plate 69. 
 
PLATE 64. 
 
 COCK. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2262). 
 
 From a painting on silk, in colours, by Rantokusai Shundo. Popular School (Naturalistic Style), 1785. 
 Size of original, 43.'- x 16^ inches. 
 
iktllliFBill 
 
Cl/ARA C TER IS TICS. 
 
 229 
 
 better results, especially in the hands of Hokusai and Kiosai; but the highest point 
 of Japanese naturalistic art is attained in the monkey portraits of the Shijo school, 
 which display an attention to detail that might satisfy a pre-Raphaelitc. Plates 68 
 and 32 may be referred to as fair examples of the manner of the two artists who 
 
 Fig. 122. From a sketch by Hokusai, in the British Museum Collection. 
 
 achieved most renown in this speciality, Sosen and Shiiiho. The subject has perhaps 
 been an unfortunate one for Mori Sosen, the better known of the pair, although his 
 reputation as a painter of monkeys is now spreading over Europe; for there are 
 in existence specimens of his powers in other directions that prove him to have been 
 
 Fig. 123. 'I'engu on Boar. From a ilrawing by Kokan, engraved in the Wa-kan niei-hitsu kingioku-gica-fK (1771). 
 
 capable of laying claim to far higher estimation than is due to a painter who has 
 confined his labours almost exclusively to a single and not very elevated motive. 
 The deer in plate 31, the fish in plate 42, a hare in the British Museum collection, 
 and a peacock from the collection of Mr. E. Dillon, exhibited at the Burlington Fine 
 
 3 N 
 
230 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF ^APAN. 
 
 Arts Club in 1878 (fig. 36), will serve as e.xamples of his range. M. Gonse, in 
 “ L'Art Japonais," is the first critic who has done justice to the memory of the 
 artist in this respect (see p. 89). 
 
 The principles already laid down with regard to the peculiarities of the Japanese 
 reproduction of animal forms in general, are applicable to that of the human figure. 
 All that could be conveyed without laborious portraiture was well done. The general 
 proportions were nearly always correct, and the expression and action of the body as 
 a whole was life-like to a degree that could scarcely be surpassed ; but a portrait 
 as conceived by Vandyck, or even by the Chinese Si-kin Kii-sze (see Appendi.x), or an 
 observation of foreshortening or of anatomical contours as aimed at in every European 
 academy, can scarcely be found in the whole range of Japanese pictorial art. Both 
 the strength and weakness of the artist are illustrated in the drawing of the athletes 
 in fig. 126. 
 
 Kig. 124. A Tragedy. From a drawing by Utagawa Kunisada, in the Haikai kijin den. Popular School. 
 
 The subjects favoured by the older schools were usually selected with a view to 
 calligraphic effect, and it was not deemed at all es.sential to the reputation of the 
 picture that it should have been taken directly from nature. The painters of the 
 Chinese and Kano academies covered acres of silk and paper with Chinese sages 
 and Buddhist .saints and divinities, who.se features and attributes were for the most 
 part traditional and called for little realistic study. The Tosa painters, on the other 
 hand, directing their efforts chiefly to illustrations of history and legend, should have 
 escaped the conventionality of their classical brethren ; but, on the contrary, they 
 chose to depart still farther from the standard of truth, and have given us to 
 represent the rank, authority, and intellect of Old Japan little more than a .set of lay 
 figures-inane nobles with limbs hampered by ungraceful robes of ceremony, and 
 gravely imbecile ladies whose lives must have been spent in pre.serving the propriety 
 
C//y} A’ ACTE RIS TICS. 
 
 231 
 
 of the stiff folds of their gorgeous brocades. But the popular art of the later 
 centuries changed all this, and brought upon the scene a new exposition of heroic and 
 historical art motives that replaced the inoffensive but rather wearisome personages 
 of the Yamato-Tosa school by a very different order of beings. It has conjured 
 
 Fig. 125. Court Nobles playing .it Football {kanari). From a drawing by Tosa Tsuncmitsu, engraved in the Wa-kari meiԤ^i'a yot. 
 
 up an army of swashbucklers, with scowling faces and fiery eyes, who seemed to revel 
 in blood; now slashing off the heads and limbs of their foes with Berserker strength 
 and fury, now immolating themselves in proud self-sacrifice to an unflinching code 
 of honour ; with an exaggeration of action and expression that, curiously enough, made its 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF 'JAPAN. 
 
 appeal to the mildest and most pacific class in the world, the Japanese hcimin, whose 
 caste and instincts bade them to respect fighting and Iiara-kii'i as the privilege of thcir 
 betters, but whose imagination, nevertheless, found its keenest gratification in the 
 swaggering bluster of the stage hero. It was reserved for Kikuchi Yosai, himself a 
 samurai of good descent, to combine force and dignity into a true ideal of the 
 Japanese hero and gentleman, in the remarkable series of historical portraitures 
 engraved in the twenty volumes of the Zenken ko-jilsii, of which plate 35 and figs. 
 127 and 131 are examples. 
 
 The artisan artist, however, developed a speciality in which he had no rivals. The 
 earlier painters, aristocrats by birth and training, concerned themselves but little with 
 
 Fig. 126. A Trial of Strength. From a drawing by Hokusai, engraved in the ]Valiaii homarc (1S37). 
 
 the masses; introducing the coolie or trader into their pictures as an accessory that 
 scarcely claimed any more individualization than an elbow-stool or sake-cup; and 
 even the U/Tiyo-yi masters of the seventeenth century showed no great sympathy 
 with the populace at large, but left it for their successors to record the most 
 
 characteristic phases of Japanese life. We must seek in the mirror presented by 
 the albums and guide-books of the last hundred years, the true reflection of the 
 happy, unambitious plebeian—child-like in his joys and sorrows, polite and kindly in 
 disposition, astute withal, even beyond the limits of an ideal honesty, m a bargain, 
 and careless as to who the masters and what the state religion, so long as his 
 sufficient allowance of rice, his inexpensive luxuries, and periodic holidays came 
 
 without undue effort to earn them. The men who were able to convey all this 
 without the consciousness of a difficulty overcome, were, however, scarcely fitted by 
 education or associations to undertake the motives treated by the older artists. for 
 the warrior, statesman, or prince the artisan sought no higher models than those 
 
 afforded by the stage, and it is not surprising that their samurai critics, easily 
 
CI/AR. IC TERIS TICS. 
 
 233 
 
 detecting the despised actor posturing in the robes of the grandee or in the panoply 
 of the hero, esteemed as empty and vulgar the art that could be satisfied with such 
 a counterfeit. 
 
 The drawing of the face in Japanese pictures is marked by peculiarities that must 
 
 appear strange to a European. The conventional inanity of most of the figures in 
 the Tosa paintings has been referred to; but the features were usually not 
 only expressionless, as in the woodcut of the court nobles in fig. 125, but were 
 outlined with an utter disregard fur truth and beauty. The artist of the Chinese 
 
 3 o 
 
=34 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 school generally conferred upon his sage or saint a dignified and fairly well-drawn 
 countenance, so long as he avoided profile ; but the types of female beauty adopted 
 by all the older painters were singularly devoid of grace and character; and even 
 the portraitures of the Seibbos and Yokihis,' which they sought to endow with 
 more than mortal charms, could bear no comparison in point of attractiveness with 
 the women by whom the artists were surrounded, and offered no more resemblance to 
 
 Fig. 12S. Portraits of the actor Ichikawa Hakuyen in three different characters. From a drawing by Utagawa 
 Kunisada, engraved in the Ilaikai kijiri d(n (1833). 
 
 the Japanese maiden than to the beings whose perfections the sketch was intended 
 to realize. 
 
 The first pleasing transcripts of the female face were those of the Ukiyo-ye 
 
 of the end of the seventeenth century. Ifishigawa Moronobu and his follower 
 Okumura Masanobu did some justice to their countrywomen. The ideal was improved 
 by Nishigawa Sukenobu in the middle of the eighteenth century, varied a little 
 by Katsugawa Shunsho, Yeishi, Hokusai, and Kita-wo Shigemasa and others a 
 generation later. No Japanese, indeed, need be ashamed to accept as w’orthy 
 
 portraits of his gentle compatriots of the plebeian class, the pretty little, smiling, 
 modest damsels and the sweet, venerable old ladies that greet him from the pages 
 of the Mangwa, but the more refined ideal of feminine beauty belonging to the 
 higher social grades has still to find a fitting record. In the last half-century has been 
 
 added a new type, that of the stage. The purchaser of the showy chromo-xylographs 
 
 ' Seiobo (Si Wang Mu) was the fabled Queen of the Genii, and Yokihi (Yang Kwei Fei) the mistress of the 
 Emperor Ming Hwang. The beauty of the latter is proverbial. 
 
 / 
 
CHAR A C TERIS TICS. 
 
 235 
 
 pasted upon cheap fans will observe that the features of both the men and women 
 represented have assumed a new character. The countenance is long and narrow, the 
 eyes are diminished in size and exaggerated in obliquity, the mouth is straight and 
 wide, with thin but sharply defined lips, and the nose, which some of the Tosa painters 
 had reduced to an unimpressive snub, has developed into a powerful aquiline. These 
 peculiarities are not altogether imaginary, and although in most cases the portraitures 
 are really those of noted actors, in male and female parts, they probably boast an 
 aristocratic prototype, one that may still be traced in some of the descendants of the 
 old courtiers of Kioto. It may have been the acceptance of this as the ideal of 
 patrician beauty that led to its e.xubcrant imitation by the players, and through them 
 by the popular draughtsmen. 
 
 There has been no Japanese Le Brun to provide students with a series of pictorial 
 models for the delineation of the e.xpressions of the various emotions, and no Bell 
 or Darwin to reduce the study to a science. The artists of the Tosa and those of the 
 classical schools paid little attention to the subject, for the stately personages depicted 
 by the former rarely lost their mask of vacuity, while the saints and rishis in the 
 works of the latter preserved almost unchanged the traditional facial lines with 
 which they had been characterized by the old Chinese masters. It was only when 
 the subject was outside the stereotyped class, as in the sketches of the drunken 
 philosopher and of the yawning priest in figs. 129 and 130, that the painters of the 
 Kano and Chinese academies depended upon their own observation to seize a play 
 of feature. In the popular school, however, the nature of their motives compelled 
 the artists to .secure an intelligible translation of the sentiments of the persons brought 
 
236 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OP JAPAN. 
 
 upon the scene, and hence in the work of Hanabusa Itcho and Hishigawa Moronobu 
 there are abundant indications of physiognomical observation. The effort was carried 
 farther by their artisan successors of the nineteenth century, who, taking as their 
 models the Danjiuros and Sandanjis of the stage, were accustomed to render the 
 more tragic emotions in a style that fully made up by energy whatever it lacked in 
 truthfulness. The stress laid upon e.xpression in theatrical performances was so great 
 that candle-bearers were engaged as attendants upon the footsteps of the “star,” 
 to illuminate his countenance during especially striking passages, in order that the 
 spectators might not lose the smallest gradation in the subtle play of feature. 
 
 Fig. 130. Hotei yawning. From a drawing engraved in the Sho-f^i'a shin ran (1835). 
 
 The comprehensive eloquence of Lord Burleigh s shake of the head, in Mr. Puffs 
 tragedy of the “ Spanish Armada," was meaningless compared with the vast significance 
 attached by the Japanese audience to some of the facial contortions of their favourites ; 
 and the Utagawas and other histrionic artists did their best to record the dumb show 
 upon the colour-printed broadsheet for the benefit of an admiring public, augmenting 
 the effect, when necessary, by the addition of capriciously disposed lines and patches 
 of rouge that, to the uninitiated foreigner, are far more striking than intelligible (see 
 fig. 128}. For the more educated Japanese this extravagance was rather amusing 
 than impressive: but it agreed perfectly with the conceptions formed by the popular 
 draughtsman’s clients, to whom a more refined interpretation would have failed to 
 serve its end. 
 
CHA RAC TERISTICS. 2 3 7 
 
 Fortunately the scope of the Ukiyo-yi designer's motives was not confined to the 
 delineation of the eounterfeit emotions of men who tore passions into shreds for the 
 amusement of their audience. His genuine power was drawn forth in transcripts of 
 social life, where he was required to show the naive play of feature that e.xpressed 
 
 Fig. 131. Goto Sanemoto and the daughter of Yoshitomo. From a drawing by Kikuchi Yosai. 
 
 or concealed the feelings of the people themselves ; and how well he has succeeded 
 may be imagined by all who know the albums of the last seventy years, but the full 
 extent of his success can be realized only by those who have lived in the midst of 
 the men, women, and children who served him as models. The Yido Meisho, the Toto 
 
 3 I’ 
 
PlCrORIAL ARTS OF JAPAK. 
 
 = .’,8 
 
 Saijiki, the Hokusai iMangwa, and the Fugaku hiak'kci give some of the most 
 representative of these physiognomical studies; but nearly all the contemporary works 
 of a similar kind illustrate the same ability for drawing character as well as form. 
 Pig. 131. from the Zenken ko-jitsu, representing the hero Goto Sanemoto assuming 
 in the hour of danger the protection of his absent chieftain's daughter, shows a higher 
 application of the same faculties by an artist of more gentle culture, who has here 
 delineated a sentiment with a delicacy and force that tell the story far better than 
 the whole sheet of Chinese characters given to describe it. With this our analytical 
 task may fitly end. 
 
 Kg- 
 
 A Business Confabulation. From the Hokusai 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 T O observer of the better class of the Japanese works of art 
 ^ of the present century will need to be convinced of the 
 capacity for artistic invention inherent in the people who have 
 designed them; but a deeper study of the subject motives 
 than most admirers or collectors could find opportunity or 
 leisure to bestow is required to enable them to render 
 strict justice to the artist, for it is certain that very much 
 of what is generally believed to be original in Japanese art 
 is really Chinese; and, on the other hand, much that is without meaning for the 
 foreigner, is full of suggestion for those who share with the artist a common stock 
 of experience, ideas, and learning. In the early periods of Japanese progress the 
 painters, like the scholars and clergy, were too fully engaged in absorbing and 
 assimilating the flood of knowledge pouring in from China and Korea to find much 
 leisure for the origination of ideas of their own, and for many centuries their higher 
 faculties were benumbed by that veneration for antiquity which appears to be developed 
 with peculiar force in the Oriental mind. They were taught that the best . means of 
 attaining success was to be found in a reverential study and imitation of the Ancients, 
 and that it would be presumption to hope to excel them. Hence the designs of the 
 classical schools—Buddhist, Kano, and Chinese—tended chiefly in the direction of 
 adaptations from Chinese masters; and when there was no longer anything to be 
 learned from the Middle Kingdom, the artists, from the end of the seventeenth 
 
240 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 'JARAX. 
 
 century, began to repeat themselves, until their Kwanyins, Fukurokujius, Hoteis, and 
 Tekkais became as familiar as the devices upon the tempo and sini of the old native 
 currency. The Yamato-Tosa painters, as pictorial romancers and historians, were forced 
 to call the imaginative faculties to their aid, but the treatment of their principal 
 subjects was usually formal and arid ; while the Toba-yi caricaturists, on the contrary, 
 were too extravagantly ludicrous to be artistic. The later schools—Korin, Shijo, and 
 Ukiyo-ye—owed their existence to seceders from the more ancient academies ; and all 
 contributed to the evolution of the style which appears in the products of to-day. 
 Korin, a master of decorative design, if not a great painter of pictures, gave to the 
 workmen some of their first lessons in independence, and left an impression of 
 originality upon Japanese industrial art that remains to the present time. His 
 contemporaries, Moronobu and Itcho, as recorders of the habits, amusements, and 
 folk-lore of their fellows, exercised an equal inventive faculty in other directions, and 
 established the popular school upon a solid foundation ; and Maruyama Okio, a 
 century later, led the practice of pictorial art into a more strictly naturalistic path. The 
 fusion of all these teachings, aided by the tinge of European influence introduced by 
 Shiba Gokan, resulted in the formation of the nineteenth century Artisan school, which, 
 if it be the least cultured phase of Japanese art, is yet the most varied in motive, and 
 the most representative of the inventive power of the Japanese people. 
 
 The men who developed the Ukiyo-yd brought to their task an eclectic .spirit that 
 impelled them to select from the e.xamples set by their predecessors all the elements 
 that seemed best adapted to their end. For their themes they relied more largely 
 upon their personal experience than did those who went before them ; and as the 
 sources of their art were inexhaustible, so were their inventions of unlimited variety. 
 Every familiar object was converted into capital of suggestion, and the absence of 
 classical prejudice enabled them to view the old motives from new aspects, and by a 
 few touches of mother wit to galvanize the dry bones of the aneient legends into 
 active life, perhaps often into unseemly agility. Their work, it is true, was not 
 infrequently in “bad form” and more or less crude in execution, owing to the 
 social disadvantages and defective technical training of the humble designers; but it 
 possessed truth and energy, and while the classical schools, from which the popular art 
 had borrowed its graphic and chromatic strength, w'crc slowly drifting aw'ay to join the 
 parent art of China in the limbo of Oriental archaisms, the new men were able to carry 
 the fame and commerce of New' Japan into the most remote parts of the outside w'orld. 
 
PLATE 65. 
 
 RETRIBUTION. THE RATS AND THE CAT. 
 
 Engraved in wood (two block.s) from a drawing by KioSAi. Popular School. 1878. 
 
 The Rats having secured their arch-enemy, are preparing to clear oft' old scores, and during the preparation of 
 the scaffold for the execution of the unlucky beast, are insulting and tantalizing her with malignant ingenuity. A 
 similar sketch appears in the British Museunt Collection (No. 1849), but in this the captive’s woes are crowned by 
 the sight of the corpse of her murdered offspring stretched out upon a fish-plate at her feet. 
 
PLATE 66. 
 
 TIGER. Fro:\i Life. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2358). 
 
 From a painting on silk by KlUHo TuVEl. Dated 1803. Size of original, 70 x 435 inche.s. 
 
 The Tiger, for the Japanese, is rather a Buddhistic symbol than a zoological entity, and its pictorial representations 
 arc usually of the conventional type handed down by the Chinese masters of the Sung dynasty. Certain artists, both 
 in China and Japan (as Chao Tan-Iin and Ganku), were especially renowned for these traditional portraitures. It is 
 probable that in many cases the imagination of the artist was aided by a reference to the domestic representative of 
 the tribe, as in Plate 67 (after Gantai, the son of Ganku), where the resemblance to an enraged cat is almost perfect. 
 The present work, however, is an actual portrait of a real animal, probably imported from Korea, and was 
 painted at the special request of the artist’s patron. It will be seen how conscientiously the painter has discharged 
 his task, save in a few details, and how minute accuracy has been attained without any loss of vigour ; and yet it was 
 probably his first attempt at purely naturalistic art, for the conventional treatment of the eyes, the rock, and the waves 
 indicates that his hand had been trained in the classical schools. 
 
 The Tiger (Ch. Hu ; Jap. Ko or Tora) is often classed by the Chinese with the “ PhiKni.x,” Tortoise, and Dragon 
 in the group of the Four Supernatural Animals.’ It is described as the King of Beasts, the greatest of all four-footed 
 creatures, and the representative of the masculine or active principle of nature. It attains the age of one thousand 
 years, and after passing the half of this term its hair becomes white. 
 
 The name Peh Hu, or White Tiger, is given to the Western quadrant of the Uranoscope and, metaphorically, to 
 the West in general (Mayers). 
 
 The tif^er is one of the commonest Buddhist symbols, and probably made its first appearance in Chinese art in 
 that capacity. In Japanese and Chinese Btitsu-y 6 it is seen in association with the dragon, apparently as an emblem 
 of the power of the faith, and is then usually represented crouching by the side of a clump of bamboo grass in the 
 midst of a storm {“ U-chiu 710 Tom"). It is also the attribute of the Arhat Bhadra ; the companion of the Taoist 
 Rishi Ku Ling-jin; the steed of the Genii Ts’ai Lwan or Wen Siao ; one of the “ Four Sleepers" (with Han Shan, 
 Shih-te, and Feng Kan) ; and in later legends the victim of the prowess of various Japanese heroes. (See British 
 Museum Catalogue, page 51.) 
 
 Wilhelm Greve, Berlin, chromolith. 
 
 ' The Four Supernatural Animals, according to the Zi A7, one of the Five Chinese Classics, are the Feng (‘‘Phienix’)i Kwei 
 (Tortoise), the Lung (Dragon), and the Lin (“ Unicorn ”). 
 
PLATE 67. 
 
 TIGER. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No, 2710). 
 
 From a painting on silk by G.iNTAI. Ganku School. Nineteenth century. Size of original, 37! x 14! inches. 
 
 See description of Plate 66. 
 
PLATE 68. 
 
 MONKEYS. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (No. 2279). 
 
 From a painting on silk by MORI SOSEN. Naturalistic School. C. i8io. Size of original, 46^ x 20J inches. 
 Compare with Plate 31 for style of drawing, 
 
Kig. 134. From a drawing by Isai, engraved in the /sat s/iiki (1864). 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 i criticism of pictures as to aye, authenticity, and merit is much 
 cultivated in Japan, and the dicta of acknowledged connoisseurs are 
 no less persuasive in that country than elsewhere with the many who 
 delight to chant the strange tongue of mstheticism in unison with the 
 orthodox high priests of art. The learning which constitutes the 
 stock-in-trade of the critic is, however, nearly independent of books. 
 It is handed down from generation to generation, and augmented year 
 after year by minute, untiring study of all the illustrative e.xamplcs 
 that eagerly sought opportunities can bring within reach. To reduce, 
 or attempt to reduce, this science of tradition and demonstration to 
 written laws w'ould have been, in the opinion of its possessors, to 
 vulgarize it; and hence, all that has been published of Japanese ideas 
 upon Japanese art is comprised in a few brief essays, mostly written as supplements 
 to oral instruction, but which, amid much that is loose and unpractical, offer a few 
 passages of much value and interest. 
 
 The following scraps are drawn from the Gwa-sen, Giva-soku, Gwa-ko sen-ran, 
 and a few other books of the last century. The first passage may be taken as a 
 summary of the impressionistic views of the Japanese. 
 
 “ It is necessary to exercise the understanding in painting, or as it were to carry 
 the mind at the point of the pencil. To introduce too much is commonplace, and the 
 artist must exercise his judgment in omitting everything .superfluous or detrimental 
 
 3 U 
 
242 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OP JAPAN. 
 
 to the attainment of his object. It is the fault of foreign pictures that they dive too 
 deeply into realities, and preserve many details that were better suppressed. . . . Such 
 works are but as groups of words. The Japanese picture should aspire to be a 
 poem of form and colour." 
 
 “ It is not essential to copy nature exactly. A drawing may closely resemble the 
 object it represents, and yet be an indifferent work of art. On the other hand, a 
 picture may deserve to be ranked high, and yet not realize the facts of nature.” 
 
 “We must not fail to study carefully the rules of the ancient masters. If a man 
 paint in accordance with his own theories, and in opposition to the laws laid down in 
 the works of the Sages of the art, even though he be gifted with talent, his practice 
 will be vicious. . . . We must, however, recollect that the most skilful artists of past 
 ages sometimes committed errors, and in imitating their paintings we must endeavour 
 to select that which is good, and improve upon that which is defective.” 
 
 “ It is often very difficult, even for the experienced judge, to pronounce an opinion 
 upon a picture, and hence, if he feel a doubt in his heart, he should study the work 
 again and again. Under the T’ang Dynasty there was an artist—the best of his period 
 —named Yen Li-pan. Once he went to Kiangling to see a picture drawn by Chang 
 Sangyiu (3rd century a.d.) upon the wall of a temple. He was at first disappointed, 
 and believed that the celebrity of the painting was due rather to the renown of the 
 artist than to any intrinsic beauties. On a second visit he perceived indications of 
 talent, and felt that the work came from no common hand. Returning to his house, 
 reflecting upon what he had seen, his recollections gave him keen gratification, and 
 he went a third time to repeat his examination, when he found in every line and 
 touch the evidence of skill and judgment, and that perfect taste reigned throughout, 
 and he sat before it many days, taking no thought either to eat or to sleep. We 
 must hence remember that the works of great artists are not to be estimated by their 
 attractiveness at first sight, but must be earnestly studied before they can be correctly 
 appreciated.” 
 
 “ It often happens that a wealthy man wishes to buy an expensive picture, but 
 being unable to form an opinion as to its authenticity, consults a person reputed as 
 a judge. The adviser, misled by ignorance or influenced by bribery, may say falsely 
 that the painting is genuine. Consequently the rich man buys at a high price, and 
 believing his possession an original, shows it with pride to his friends, who praise 
 it highly and talk of it to others. But when it is placed before a man having 
 ‘ true eyes,’ he detects the counterfeit and smiles inwardly. The picture is handed 
 down to the descendants of the buyer, until at length one of these wishes to sell 
 it, and then the deception is brought to light.” 
 
 “ In making an examination of a picture, the mind of the judge must be unbiassed 
 and free from self-interest in the decision: if his personal benefit be concerned, he 
 
CHA RA C TER/S TICS. 
 
 243 
 
 may wilfully dose his eyes to the truth or falsehood of the work, perhaps pronouncing 
 a counterfeit genuine, to gratify a friend or to obtain a bribe ; or, wishing to buy the 
 painting at a low price, he condemns it as a forgery, though believing it authentic.” 
 
 “ A picture should not be examined by the light of a lamp; or during times of 
 feasting and drinking ; or on a day on which there is rain, snow, wind, smoke, clouds, 
 or mist; or in the twilight; lest the intention of the painter be obscured, or the picture 
 be injured. Ordinary people are ignorant of the manner in which a painting should 
 be looked at, and lay their hands upon it, or approach their faces to its surface. 
 But to study a picture properly, it should be hung upon the wall and seen first at a 
 distance, to note the general effect; afterwards nearer, to observe the touch and 
 colouring. The silk mounting must not be regarded, since counterfeits are always 
 adorned with rich brocades to beguile the eyes. First distinguish whether the painting 
 is Chinese or Japanese, then examine the silk or paper upon which it is executed, 
 then the manner of the painting, then Judge of the period of its execution—whether 
 recent or old—notice the colour of the ink, and, lastly, seek the meaning of the 
 artist; but do not look at the seal. Roll up the picture and put it in its box, and 
 later on—at mid-day—e.xamine it again with care, and comparing the opinion so formed 
 with the stamp, see if there be an agreement between the work and the name.” 
 
 The following notes upon Japanese painting emanating from Moto-ori, a famous 
 writer who died at the beginning of the present century, have been published in an 
 English form by Mr. B. H. Chamberlain in vol. 12 of the “Transactions of the 
 Asiatic Society of Japan,” but did not reach the author until the foregoing pages 
 were in type. The views here propounded, however, bear so directly upon the subject 
 under discussion that the translation has now been quoted, with the permission of its 
 author, almost in its entirety. 
 
 The criticism is terse, incisive, and, so far as it goes, little open to contradiction. 
 The writer, however, says nothing with regard to the merits of the art which he 
 castigates. Whether his silence on this point be the result of an incapacity to appre¬ 
 ciate artistic excellence, or of a notion that panegyric had already been exhausted by 
 others, it is difficult to say; but the essay is well worthy of consideration as an 
 honest e.xpression of opinion by one whom Mr. Chamberlain denominates “the 
 greatest mind of modern Japan.” It is perhaps none the less interesting on account 
 of the stand-point assumed by the writer, who, disavowing all pretension to artistic 
 skill, has formulated the conclusions suggested by an unprejudiced comparison of his 
 countrymen’s pictorial transcripts of nature with the objects they were intended to 
 represent. One passage has been italicized because it appears to touch a defect with a 
 well-directed hand, by implying that certain artistic merits in a picture may atone 
 for the disregard of fidelity to nature, but do not justify it, and that it is the artist’s 
 duty to combine observance of truth with the other functions of his pencil. It 
 must, of course, be recollected that Moto-uri probably knew little or nothing of the 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 244 
 
 naturalistic school of Ohio, which had only commenced to attract attention when the 
 philosopher was in his prime of mental vigour. 
 
 The reader is referred to the “Transactions” for many instructive remarks by 
 the translator. Thus Moto-ori;— 
 
 " The great object in painting any one is to make as true a likeness of him as 
 possible, a likeness of his face (that is of course the first essential), and also of his 
 figure, and even of his very clothes. Great attention should therefore be paid to the 
 smallest details of a portrait. Now, in the present day, painters set out with no 
 other intention than that of showing their vigour of touch, and of producing an 
 elegant picture. The result is a total want of likeness to the subject. Indeed, likeness 
 to the subject is not a thing to which they attach any importance. From this 
 craving to display vigour and to produce elegant pictures there results a neglect of 
 details. Pictures are dashed off so sketchily, that not only is there no likeness to 
 the face of the person painted, but that wise and noble men are represented with an 
 c.vpression of countenance befitting none but rustics of the lowest degree. This is 
 worthy of the gravest censure. If the real features of a personage of antiquity are 
 unknown, it should be the artist’s endeavour to represent such a personage in a 
 manner appropriate to his rank or virtues. The man of great rank should be repre¬ 
 sented as having a dignified air, so that he may appear to have been really great. 
 The virtuous man, again, .should be painted so as to look really virtuous. But far 
 from conforming to this principle, the artists of modern times, occupied as they are 
 with nothing but the desire of displaying their vigour of touch, represent the noble 
 and virtuous alike as if they had been rustics or idiots. 
 
 " The same ever-present desire for mere technical display makes our artists turn 
 beautiful women's faces into ugly ones. It will perhaps be alleged that a too elegant 
 representation of mere beauty of feature may result in a less valuable work of art; 
 but when it does so, the fault must lie 'with the artist. His business is to paint 
 the beautiful face, and at the same time not to produce a picture artistically 
 inferior. In any case, fear for his own reputation as an artist is a wretched e.xcuse 
 for turning a beautiful face into an ugly one. On the contrary, a beautiful woman 
 should be painted as beautiful as possible; for ugliness repels the beholder. At the 
 same time it often happens, in such pictures as those which are sold in the Yedo 
 shops,’ that the strained effort to make the faces beautiful ends in excessive ugliness 
 and vulgarity, to say nothing of artistic degradation. 
 
 “ Our warlike paintings, that is, representations of fierce warriors fighting, have 
 nothing human about the countenances. The immense round eyes, the angry nose, 
 the great mouth, remind one of demons. Now will any one assert that this unnatural, 
 demoniacal fashion is the proper way to give an idea of the fiercest w'arrior’s look ? 
 No! The warrior's fierceness should indeed be depicted, but he should at the same 
 
 ' The cheap coloured prints called Ycdo-c or Nishiki-c. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 =45 
 
 time be recognized as a simple human being. It is doubtless to such portraits of 
 warriors that a Chinese author alludes when, speaking of Japanese paintings, he says 
 that the figures in them are like those of the anthropophagous demons of Buddhist 
 lore. As his countrymen do not ever actually meet living Japanese, such of them as 
 read his book will receive the impression that all our countrymen resemble demons 
 in appearance. For though the Japanese, through constant reading of Chinese books, 
 are well acquainted with Chinese matters, the Chinese, who never read our literature, 
 are completely ignorant on our score, and there can be little doubt that the few 
 stray allusions to us that do occur arc implicitly believed in. This belief of foreigners 
 in our portraits as an actual representation of our people will have the effect of 
 making them imagine, when they see our great men painted like rustics and our 
 beautiful women like frights, that the Japanese men are really contemptible in 
 appearance, and all the Japanese women hideous. Neither is it foreigners alone who 
 will be thus misled. Our own very countrymen will not be able to resist the 
 impression that the portraits they see of the unknown heroes of antiquity do really 
 represent those heroes’ faces. 
 
 “ It may be thought impertinent of me, as one totally ignorant of art, to express 
 any opinions upon the subject. Yet all through the world individuals are unconscious 
 of their own good or bad qualities, which can only properly be seen by lookers-on. 
 It is the same in the case of the arts. Artists themselves are, of all men, those least 
 able to judge, while the good points and the bad often reveal themselves to outsiders. 
 It is because this is the case with painting that I venture to give expression to my 
 views. 
 
 " Now, as I have not minutely studied, or, indeed, seen a sufficient number of 
 specimens of the art produced both in China and Japan during the successive ages 
 of antiquity, I will leave that alone, and treat only of such pictures as are to be 
 commonly seen at the present day, viz. Indian ink sketches, tinted pictures, and highly 
 coloured pictures {swni-e, usu-sai-shiki, and gokn-sai-s/iiki). 
 
 “As for the Indian ink sketches, their raisoit-d’Hre being simply a display of 
 touch by indicating an object as lightly and briefly as possible with a few strokes 
 just daubed on, some of the most skilful of them are doubtless worth looking at, 
 and make one e.xclaim, ‘Yes, indeed! that is the way to draw!' But the productions 
 of the great majority of these artists are worthless eyesores, and the particular 
 favour accorded by the public to all this rubbish is a mere blind following of a 
 fashion once set. The enthusiasm for these same Indian ink sketches, and the 
 rejection of all coloured paintings affected by our modern adnrirers of the so-called 
 ‘Tea Ceremonies’ [C/ia-uo-yu), is another case in point. It is not that these men 
 have really formed ah independent opinion, but that they perpetuate conventional rules 
 formulated by the originators of their favourite pastime. Indeed, none of the things 
 in which those persons who practise the ‘ Tea Ceremonies ’ find such pleasure, 
 possess a particle either of beauty or of interest—the written scrolls no more than 
 
 3 R 
 
246 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 the pictures; and the care and admiration lavished on them proves nothing but the 
 obstinacy of their admirers. 
 
 "Tinted pictures are attractive, delicate, and pleasant to look at. When we 
 proceed to consider the more highly coloured style, we also occasionally find some¬ 
 thing to admire. But not infrequently they offend the eye by their heaviness, as 
 when the sea is represented of a deep indigo colour. 
 
 “ Of the many Japanese schools of painting, some have been handed down in 
 certain families who make art their profession. Most of the pictures painted by 
 members of these families are produced by a mere rigid observance of certain artistic 
 conventions current in those families, without any regard being paid to the true 
 shapes of the things themselves. Paintings of this class have their merits, and also 
 their defects. Thus nothing can be more repulsive than the already mentioned 
 travesty of great men as rustics and of beautiful women as frights. It is a defect, 
 too, to mark the folds and borders of garments by a very deep line. All such things 
 are mere tricks for the display of mastery over the brush. Again, our artists, in 
 painting pine-trees in a Chinese scene, make a point of delineating a special kind to 
 which they give the name of ‘ Chinese Pine ’ {Kara-inatsii), leading people to imagine 
 that they are painting some particular variety of pine found in the old art products 
 of that country. But there is no such species of pine in China. It is simply the 
 ordinary pine-tree drawn badly—a defect which, will it be believed? has here been 
 regarded as a beauty, and has been handed down by successive generations of 
 artists I 
 
 “Of all drawings, the most repulsive are badly e.vecuted Indian ink sketches, 
 representations of the above-mentioned ‘ Chinese Pine,’ garments with the folds 
 painted thick, and pictures of Daruma, Hotei, Fukurokujiu, and such like. They are, 
 without exception, tedious enough to look at once, and I cannot imagine wishing to 
 look at them twice. 
 
 "To observe ancient rules is doubtless an excellent thing; but then regard must 
 be had to circumstances, and above all to the subject-matter. In painting, for instance, 
 it is a practice by no means to be always followed ; for it w'ere bigotry to refuse to 
 adopt an improvement introduced by others. On the other hand, there are some 
 excellent things to be found among the conventions of the schools. What could be 
 better, for instance, than the plan of showing the interior of a house by taking away 
 the roof, or of dividing the nearer and the farther distance by means of clouds? 
 Many are the defects to which a neglect of such conventions leads, and many are 
 the excellences not easily to be attained to by the freer sketchers of the present day. 
 
 " Again, there is a variety of styles now in vogue purporting to be imitations of 
 the Chinese, whose votaries make a point of painting each object in exact conformity 
 to nature. This is what is, I believe, called ‘Realistic Art.’’ Now I doubt not that 
 
 * This reference probably points to the school of Ohio. (W. A ) 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 247 
 
 the principle is an excellent one. At the same time there must be some differences 
 between real objects and the pictures of such objects. Indeed, there are cases in 
 which a literal reproduction of the object as it is in nature produces a bad picture, 
 unlike the object delineated. This is the origin of the conventions of the schools, 
 and of the neglect by the latter, in certain cases, of the facts of nature. Hence, too, 
 the value of these conventions, and the perils attending their non-observance. 
 
 “ Again, of recent years we have witnessed the rise of a large class of artists 
 w'ho neither hold to the traditions of the schools, nor derive their inspiration from 
 China, but who are freely eclectic as their own taste may dictate. Thus, culling the 
 good and rejecting the bad, they seem to be preserved from any very glaring 
 defects.” ^ 
 
 It may not be inappropriate here to append a few remarks upon the manner in 
 which opinions are sometimes formed in Europe upon the age and authenticity of 
 Japanese works of art. 
 
 The combination of opportunity, leisure, and artistic intelligence necessary for the 
 education of a connoisseur is less rare than the honesty of purpose that gives the 
 courage to sacrifice a showy dogma to a scientific doubt. In the case of pictures, 
 several elements are to be studied before the questions of time or artist can be decided 
 upon, and to each of these may attach sources of fallacy even for the most learned. 
 
 The signature,'' of course, gives the true or professional name of the reputed artist, 
 but after this has been correctly read, it is still necessary to decide whether the 
 writing is or is not a forgery. It is to be feared that the European is rarely 
 competent to distinguish a clever forgery of Chinese characters from the original, and 
 he is hence obliged, in cases of doubt, to refer to experts, who themselves may 
 hesitate to come to a decision. Some assistance may often be gained by careful 
 comparison of the ink used in the writing with that employed in the drawing. 
 
 The seal is more constant and, perhaps, more trustworthy than the signature, for 
 the former being stereotyped, any ordinary forgeries may be detected by comparison with 
 impressions known to be genuine; but it may happen that the actual seal has fallen 
 into bad hands, that it is repeated in absolute facsimile, or that the doubtful impression 
 is .so blurred as to make it impossible to distinguish an accidental defect from a 
 fraudulent imitation. In some cases the ink used for stamping may offer characters 
 that will aid the judgment. The true signature, however, is to be sought in the quality 
 of execution, as showm by touch, mode of colouring, and style generally, and this 
 is infinitely harder to forge than characters of writing, which might have an unlimited 
 number of successful imitators ; and seals, which may be copied by mechanical processes. 
 
 * Moto-ori would seem to have in his mind such men as Hokusai and Yosai, who struck out a line of their own 
 during the eighteenth century. (Note of Translator.) 
 
 * Sec Appendix on “Signatures and Seals,” in the Catalogue of the British Museum Collection. 
 
248 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Few artists are equal to the task of a good imitation of the touch of a master, and 
 those who are most competent are for obvious reasons most free from temptation to 
 dishonesty; yet in some instances, as in that of many of the reputed works of 
 Okio and Sosen, clever pupils of the same school have degraded their talent to supply 
 drawings to which the false marks have been appended, and have so closely observed 
 all the proprieties that it is sometimes almost impossible to detect the fraud. A 
 knowledge of the various materials used by certain artists, or favoured at certain epochs, 
 may be of great importance, especially where the work under consideration is old, 
 but occasionally old silk or paper is obtained and pigments are carefully manipulated 
 for the purpose of giving currency to a recent forgery. 
 
 Certificates of authenticity, bearing the signature of recognized connoisseurs, are 
 of considerable value, and in some cases conclusive, as where a later member of an 
 artist family certifies to a picture by one of his ancestors. It must, however, be 
 remembered that the certificate itself may be dishonest, or forged, or other pictures 
 may be substituted for those to which the document relates. Inscriptions upon the 
 outside of pictures, or upon the bo.xes which contain them, are of little value if taken 
 alone. 
 
 In estimating the verdict of an e.xpert it is always necessary to recognize, in 
 addition to the natural limits of his craft, the large place in its foundations occupied 
 by tradition and conjecture; and, as indicated in the quotations already given, the 
 possibility of a warping of judgment by complaisance or self-interest. 
 
 It is perhaps in connection with keramic art that the greatest amount of 
 charlatanism e.xists. Here the opportunities offered to unscrupulous Japanese traders 
 for securing booty from a more trusting and helpless prey than their own countrymen 
 are likely to afford, have led them to .systematize fraud into an industry. Obscure 
 fabriqucs are to be found at the present day in Yokohama, Tokio, and elsewhere, in 
 which articles imitating the style and bearing the marks of the famous potters of 
 past generations can be made to order; where the workers of evil heighten the effect of 
 their forgeries by burying them in the ground, boiling them in dye solutions, rubbing 
 or scratching the salient prominences, soiling the depressions with an artificial dust of 
 ages,—all to imitate the effects of a wear, e.xposure, and neglect from which most real 
 antiquities of any value were guarded with .sedulous care. That an equal amount 
 of systematic dishonesty has not yet been imported into pictorial art is merely 
 due to the fact that the foreign demand in the latter case has not reached the same 
 dimensions. 
 
 The catalogues of sales of Oriental art works in Europe sometimes display such 
 extraordinary and complicated falsehoods in the description of the articles to be 
 disposed of, that the reader is in doubt whether to regard the authors as agents or 
 victims of imposture. As a rule, perhaps, they are victims, though not always unwilling 
 or suffering ones. The collector is often entirely dependent upon the statements of 
 Europeans who either find a pecuniary interest in deception, or who, having committed 
 
C//. I RA C TER IS TICS. 
 
 249 
 
 thcmsch'es to accept an unearned reputation in sucli matters, are ashamed to confine 
 
 their information within the bounds of their knowledge. Even when the owner 
 
 or intending purchaser finds an opportunity of consulting a “ real native,” considering 
 he may by this means silence all future scepticism upon the subject, he is apt to 
 forget that as nine hundred and ninety-nine Englishmen out of a thousand would 
 be unable to offer an opinion upon a doubtful Gainsborough or piece of Chelsea 
 china, the average Japanese is not likely to know more about the art of Japan than 
 the average Briton, wdth infinitely greater facilities at his command for acquiring 
 the requisite instruction, cares to learn about the art of England. The safest 
 
 practice for the European collector of Japanese pictures is, perhaps, to make his 
 .selection solely with reference to artistic merit. In most instances the best works will 
 be found to proceed from the hands of the best-known masters; and if, in following 
 this rule, the buyer should have chanced to reject a production of a noted painter, 
 he is not likely to have lost a really important specimen; if a picture, to which 
 
 he was inclined to attribute an antiquity of tw'O or three centuries, prove to be a 
 roughly used w'ork of a living artist, he will have gained a salutary hint; and if many 
 of his favourite possessions are found to belong to obscure or unknown pencils, his 
 unprejudiced recognition of their merit may render service to the art as well as justice 
 to the painter. 
 
 Fit;. 135. LaoTsz’. From a drawing by Takata Keiho, 
 engraved in the Kei/io giou-fu (1804). 
 
 3 s 
 
Fig. 136. The Takara-moiw.'' 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 suni up—Japanese pictorial art in its main principles of style 
 and technicpie must be regarded as a scion of the more ancient 
 art of China, in which the characters of the parent stock 
 have been varied by native grafts. In its motives it claims a 
 share of originality at least equal to that of any art extant; 
 in the range and excellence of its decorative applications it 
 takes perhaps the first place in the world ; but in the qualities 
 of scientific completeness it falls much below the standard of 
 modern Europe. 
 
 ’ The Takara-mono are a collection of emblems of good fortune, but their origin and precise significance are 
 little understood. The objects included are the Hat, the Hammer, the Key, the Straw Coat, the Bag or Purse, the 
 Sacred Gem, the Rolls, the Clove {Choji), the forma! de.sign called the Shippo, and the Fundo, or weight (for balances). 
 
CHAR,IC ri'.KIS TICS. 
 
 Regarded as a whole, it is an art of great potentiality but incomplete development. 
 It displays remarkable beauties and obvious faults ; but while the latter are pardonable 
 and remediable effects of a mistaken reverence for the traditional conventions, the former 
 demonstrate the e.xistence of cjualities that mere aeademical teaching could never supply. 
 
 To differentiate the principal features of its leading schools, it may be said 
 
 that, of the older, the Buddhist is the most ancient, the most strictly traditional, 
 
 the most ornate, but in certain examples the noble.st and most impressive; the 
 Chinese school, with the .SesshiCi and Kano branches, displays the greatest 
 calligraphic power, but the least invention ; and the Yamato-Tosa is the most national 
 in style and motive, but the lea.st forcible. Of the later schools, the Korin is the 
 most purely and boldly decorative; the Shijo the most natural and graceful; and 
 
 the Ukiyo-yd the most original and versatile, but the least cultivated. The four 
 
 latter, with the Toba-ye caricatures, represent the native, the first four the “ classical " 
 phases of the art. European pictorial art, hitherto imperfectly understood, has 
 exercised little appreciable influence over that of Japan, except in some of the popular 
 book illustrations and a few very modern ])ictures, and has, so far, weakened the 
 national characteristics of the work without advancing its .scientific ideal. 
 
 The typical Japanese artist is a calligraphist and impressionist. As an impressionist 
 he fairly claims the right to represent no more of his subject than he considers 
 sufficient to convey his meaning, and .seeks rather to awaken ideas by suggestion than 
 to explain them by elaboration of detail ; but he does not care to admit that all 
 he elects to reproduce should be true, or at any rate free from obvious falsity. 
 
 Those who are most inclined to admit his main principle would find it hard to offer 
 an excuse for placing a front view of the eye upon a profile, for caricaturing the 
 
 muscles of an athlete by misplaced and misshapen slabs of flesh, for introducing 
 
 the light of day into a night scene, or for wilfully ignoring the facts of chiaroscuro 
 and the optical phenomena of perspective ; but in all these vagaries and many others 
 the painter indulges him.self hardily and habitually. His work is not a lie, for he 
 does not deceive himself or others ; but it is weak in accepting an inefficient sham 
 when the reality is within his reach. He .sacrifices the substance of nature for 
 its hazy and distorted reflection in the mirror of conventionality, and is tempted 
 
 to veil by a fatal facility of brush the defects of interpretation which a more complete 
 " finish " would only throw into di.sagreeable prominence. 
 
 Regarding the art from a calligraphic standpoint, we must grant that the leaders 
 of the schools of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some of their predecessors, 
 attained the extreme limits of excellence ; yet we must recognize at the same time 
 that they were neither the originators nor the sole representatives of their style. 
 As art calligraphists they were only the pupils of the Chinese masters of the T’ang, 
 Sung, and Yuen dynasties, and could not—in fact did not—claim to have surpassed 
 their instructors; but even were they without precursors or rivals in this direction, 
 the comparative value of a calligraphic basis for pictorial art remains open to 
 
I'ICTORIAL ARTS OF JAI'AX. 
 
 discussion. The Chinese or Japanese painter can undoubtedly stamp his work with 
 an unmistakable impress of mental culture and artistic feeling, but he can give 
 e.xpression to all this as clearly—for his countrymen at least—in a line of writing as 
 in a portrait of a Buddhist god. We may, perhaps, accept writing, especially that 
 of China, as a branch of art; but the Japanese teaching in the past tended 
 to reduce painting to the contracted dimensions of a branch of calligraphy. 
 
 On the other hand, the Japanese painter has endowments which leave a 
 heavy balance in his favour,—a large share of that quality in art which, for want 
 of a better name, may be called “ potver"; a perfect appreciation of harmony in 
 colour; an instinctive sense of effectiveness and propriety in composition; unequalled 
 command of pencil ; a ready and fertile invention ; and, when he is disposed to 
 exercise it, a keen and intelligent gift of observation. Let him learn to use all the 
 wealth with which nature has favoured him, and shake off the encumbrance of 
 unprofitable conventions, and his triumph in the higher sections of painting will be 
 worthy of that which has placed him beyond rivalry in the more practical sphere of 
 decorative art. 
 
 This ancient phase of pictorial art is destined to pass away, and already its images, 
 overlapped by those of a new ideal, betray all the confusion of the change in a 
 dissolving view; but it will leave indelible traces on that which is to replace it, and 
 it must always possess a powerful attraction for the student, not only as matter for an 
 important and interesting section of art history, but as a record of the mental, moral, 
 and social characteristics of the people and castes by whom it was nourished and in 
 some degree created. It is not, however, in the past or in the present that we 
 must seek to discover the full range of the capacity of the Japanese painter, but in 
 the future; and while we appreciate earne,stly all that he has already effected, we 
 re,serve our highest admiration for the evidence that his work affords of an 
 unmeasured force yet to be brought into action. 
 
Fig. 136. \Vu Tao tsz’ and tlie pictured Dragon. From a drawing by Tachibana Morikuni. 
 
 CHIN E S E A R T. 
 
 OTWITHSTANDING the e.xtrcme antiquity of the use of 
 writing in China, there is to be found no substantial basis 
 for a history of the Pictorial Art of the country until within 
 comparatively recent times. The invention of drawing as 
 one of “the six branches of calligraphy” is indeed referred 
 by tradition to the period of the legendary monarch Fuh-hi, 
 who is supposed to have reigned from 2852 to 2737 b.c., 
 and a passing allusion to a portrait is found in the works 
 of Confucius; but the first painter of whose labours we 
 possess any definite record, belonged to an age no more 
 remote than the third century of the Christian era, over 
 600 years after the period of Zeuxis. There can be no 
 doubt, however, that a nation so far advanced in other 
 respects must have attained to some proficiency in the art of 
 drawing even before the era of Chinese Buddhism, but, as stated in .Section I., it is 
 probable that the higher development of painting in China was due to the influence 
 exercised by specimens of Indian and Greek art introduced with the Buddhist religion. 
 
 The first painter whose memory has been rescued from oblivion, was a retainer 
 of the Emperor Sun K’uan (d. 251 a.d), named Tsao Fuh-hing (Jap. Sofutsuyo), 
 who became famous for Buddhist pictures and sketches of Dragons, but all that 
 remain to commemorate his genius are two fabulous legends—one of which repeats 
 the story already familiar to European ears, of a representation of a fly so skilfully 
 introduced into a picture that the critic (in this case an Emperor) raised his hand 
 to brush the supposed insect from the paper; the other relating how the timely 
 
 3 T 
 
254 
 
 J’JC'rOR/AL ARTS OF 'JAPAN. 
 
 display of a dragon limned by the same artist, caused the clouds to gather in the 
 sky, and the rain to fall upon the parched earth in time to avert a famine that 
 threatened the whole landd 
 
 I'he next artist whose name has reached us was Chang Sang-yiu (Jap. Chosoyu), 
 who was engaged by the devout monarch Wu Ti (r. 502—549, a.d.) as a painter of 
 Buddhist pictures. It is doubtful whether any of his works are now in existence, but 
 his style has been handed down by followers, amongst whom are numbered many 
 famous masters of the brush. He is the subject of a fable which credits him with 
 the delineation of a dragon of such miraculous semblance to “ nature,’' that with the final 
 touches the pictured monster became suddenly inspired with life, and in the midst of 
 sable clouds and deafening peals of thunder burst through the walls to vanish into 
 space. A similar story is also attached to the name of Wu Tao-tsz’ (see fig. 136). 
 
 ’ 37 - ’ 4 he last picture of Wu Tao-tsz’. From a drawing by Tachibana Morikuni. 
 
 The seventh century brought two famous painters, whose biography is free from 
 supernatural embellishment, the brothers Yen Li-teh (Jap. Enriutoku), and \en Li-pun 
 (Enriuhon), the latter of whom is especially remembered for a series of historical 
 portrait studies of ancient paragons of loyalty and learning. 
 
 The most substantial figure in the history of the earlier Chinese art belongs to 
 the eighth century, and is that of Wu Tao-tsz', the Go Doshi or Go Dogen of the 
 Japanese. This painter is said to have failed in his efforts to gain distinction as a 
 calligraphist, but his genius in the higher regions of pictorial art recommended him to 
 the notice of the Emperor Ming Hwang (713—756 a.d.), with whom he remained 
 in high favour until his death. His style is .said to have been formed upon that 
 of Chang .Sang-yiu, whose spirit was believed to have reappeared upon the earth in 
 
 See Mayers, “Chiiic.se Reader’s Manual." 
 
PLATE 69. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 I. HORSES. 
 
 From a picture by Han-KAN (Jap. Kankan), engraved in the Wa-Kan v\d-givayen. Eighth century. 
 
 2. CRANE. 
 
 From a picture by an unknown artist, engraved in the G'va-ko sen-ran. Sung dynasty (?). 
 
 A TAlXTiNii alnuist identical in detail with this work is included in the British Museum Collection (Chinese, No. i6), 
 and bears tlie signature Siang Lang-lai (Jap. Joyobet). The inscription upon the box in which it is preserved attributes 
 it to Mih Vuen-chang (Beigenshd), a famous artist and calligraphist of the Sung dynasty. 
 
 The design is frequently repeated in Japanese industrial art. 
 
PLATE 
 
 (Chinese Art.) 
 
 7 0. 
 
 THE EIGHT INCIDENTS OF THE NIRVANA OF S’AkVAMUNI 
 
 (Jap. “ Hasso no nihan ”). 
 
 Engraved on copper from a picture by Wu 7 'ao-tsE, a Chinese artist of the eighth century. 
 
 The subject-s represented are as follows :— 
 
 1. (The lowest subject on the left) “ The scene of the preaching to Moki (?) by the World Honoured (Bhagavat).” 
 S’akya is seated upon a throne surrounded by a kneeling audience of disciples. 
 
 2. (The lowest subject on the right) “The scene of the World Honoured accepting the offering of Tchunda. 
 S’akyamuni, supported by the Two Kings (Ni O) and his disciples, receives the devotees who kneel before him holding 
 their votive alms-bowls, one of which, reverently tendered by the believer Tchunda, contains the fatal offering of pork 
 that caused the last illness of the Teacher. 
 
 3. (Above the last) “ The scene of the Tathagata * ascending into the air as a manifestation before the great 
 assembly.” S’akya is seen rising in the air above his seat before an assemblage of princes and disciples, who gaze upon 
 the miracle in ecstasy. 
 
 4. (The central design) "The scene of Buddha entering into the state of Nirvana. Sakya appears lying 
 extended upon his right side in the midst of the grove of Sala trees. He is surrounded by a large body of mourners, 
 whose energetic expressions of grief contrast strongly with the placid aspect of the Buddha. Brahma and Indra, the 
 Dragon Kings, mighty Devas and Devis, the most beloved Disciples of the Master, and even the animal world, whose 
 welfare had been secured by the doctrines of the Faith, unite in the mourning for the close of the material existence of the 
 Great Prophet. Ananda, his relative and favourite pupil, has fallen unconscious at the feet of the couch ; the Kingly 
 Pair, Brahma and Indra, have cast themselves to the earth, their athletic limbs writhing in strong convulsions ; and even 
 the lion and elephant, types of brute strength, roll upon the ground in uncontrollable transports. Conspicuous by its 
 absence amongst more familiar quadrupeds is the cat, whose murderous spirit is fabled to have caused the death of the 
 rat that was appointed to bring for the dying Tathagata the medicines for his relief, but which are to be perceived tied to 
 the extremity of a Ringed Staff hanging upon a limb of one of the sacred trees. 
 
 Approaching upon a cloud that hangs above the grove is seen the deified Lady Maya, the mother of S akya, 
 accompanied by her Heavenly retinue, and escorted by a priestly figure (Kshitegarbha ?) bearing the Ringed Staff 
 of the Buddhist pilgrim. 
 
 5. (Above the last) " The scene of the Tathagata stretching out his feet towards Kasyapa. ’ The coffin of the 
 Buddha raised upon a lofty pyre is surrounded by worshippers. Two priests have mounted the erection, and are 
 kneeling before the remains, while the feet of the corpse arc miraculously extended through the end of the coffin. 
 
 6. (Above No. i) “ The scene of the vain endeavours of the Wrestlers to raise the coffin.’ 
 
 7. (Above the last) “ The scene of the spontaneous flight of the Holy Coffin around the city of Kus i. The 
 coffin, which is supported by a cloud, and guarded by a Devi, who holds above it a canopy of royalty, has emerged 
 from the gateway of the mausoleum and is sailing through the air. 
 
 8. (Above No. 3) "The scene of the distribution of the S'artra (cremation relics) by the Brahmana Gandakula. 
 I'he sacred Reliquary emitting streams of light is placed upon a table, around which stand and kneel an assemblage of 
 princes, each of whom holds a vase for the reception of a fragment of the ashes of the Buddha. Gandakula is seen 
 approaching the urn for the purpose of dividing its contents. 
 
 In the left lower corner of the picture is the inscription, To Go Dvshi hitsu. From the brush of \\ u Tao-tsz , of 
 the T'ang Dynasty. A line at the bottom of the picture records the name of the temple in which it is preserved. 
 " Kiuchiozan Manju Zenji.” Tlie monastery of the Zen sect Manju, or Kiuchiozan (Kioto).” 
 
 The original painting is executed upon silk, and measures 4 feet by 6 feet. The colours and outlines are still in 
 a good state of preservation. __ 
 
 Wu Tao-tsz’, the artist, one of the most famous Masters of China, was in the service of the Emperor Ming 
 Hwang (a. D. 685 to 762), and left so great a reputation for pictorial realism, that his countrymen could only express 
 their admiration by the most extravagant flights of fancy. Another of his works is reproduced on plate jx. 
 
 The engraving was executed in 1S80 by Ishida Aritoshi. 
 
 • The highest of ail epithets given to every Buddha. “ The literal meaning is sic profectus, i.c. one whose coming and going is in 
 accordance witli that of his predecessors” fEitel). 
 
CHINESK ART. 
 
 255 
 
 the person of his follower. Like the older master he won his chief renown in the 
 section of religious art, but his landscapes were remarkable for picturesque feeling and 
 strength of design, and of his life-like portraitures of animals there are many strange 
 stories. The few works that have survived, two of which are reproduced on plates 
 70 and 71, are sufficient to convey some idea of his power, and to prove how feeble 
 is the art by which China is now known, compared with that which flourished 
 upwards of 1100 years ago. 
 
 The somewhat Taoistic legend that closes his life-story is worth repeating, as 
 an example of a kind of ingenuity in fiction almost peculiar to the Chinese. It 
 runs somewhat as follows:—Ming Hwang having commanded Wu Tao-tsz’ to paint 
 a landscape upon the wall of one of the apartments in the palace, the artist screened 
 the surface prepared for his work by the folds of a curtain, behind which he retired 
 to carry out the task unseen. After a while he reappeared to announce its com¬ 
 pletion, and drawing aside the veil, revealed to his patron a glorious scene, spreading 
 out into infinite space, diversified with glade and forest, winding streams and azure 
 mountains, and vying in all its myriad details with the fairest aspects of nature. 
 While the Emperor gazed in rapture upon the marvellous creation, the painter, 
 indicating a gateway before a stately building in the foreground of the picture, 
 chapped his hands, and the entrance flew open." " The interior is beautiful beyond 
 conception,” said the artist. “ Permit me to show the way, that your Majesty may 
 enter and behold the wonders it conceals.” Then, passing within, he turned to beckon 
 his master to follow; but in a moment the gate closed behind him, and before the 
 amazed sovereign could advance a step, the scene faded like a vision, leaving the 
 wall blank as before the contact of the painter s brush. And Wu Tao-tsz’ was never 
 seen again. 
 
 Two lesser celebrities of the same period were Wang Wei (Oij, a landscape painter 
 who held high rank at the court between 713 and 742 a.d., and his protigt Han 
 Kan (Kankan), who is chiefly remembered as a painter of horses. One of the sketches 
 of the latter, engraved in plate 69, demonstrates a closer observation of nature than is 
 usually exhibited in the treatment of the same subject by later artists, and lends colour 
 to the excuse by which the painter is said to have evaded an Imperial order to place 
 himself under the instruction of a rival—that “ he had already the best of teachers in 
 the steeds of his sovereign’s stables.” Of many other names remembered in association 
 with painting under the T'ang dynasty, the principal are those of Li Tsien (Rizen) and 
 his son Li Chung-ho (Richiuwa), noted for drawings of figures and horses; \uen Ying 
 (Genyei), best known for his minutely drawn representations of insect life; and two 
 masters, Kiang Tao-yin (Kiodoin) and Li Cheng (Rise!), who, like Wang Wei, 
 devoted their brushes chiefly to landscape. 
 
 The frequent references to famous masters of landscape in this period, supported by 
 such evidence as that afforded by the picture engraved on plate 71, prove that the artistic 
 
 - In some versions of the stor>’ the gateway is referred to as tlie entrance to a grotto. 
 
256 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 'JAPAX. 
 
 appreciation of natural scenery existed in China many centuries before landscape played 
 a higher part in the European picture than that of an accessory. 
 
 Fig. 138. From a Chinese Landscape of the Sung Dynasty. 
 
 The Sung dynasty, extending from 960 to 1279 a.d., was rich in famous artists. Of 
 these Mull Ki (Mokkci), Liang Chi (Riokai), Kwoh-hi (Kwakki), the Emperor Hwei 
 Tsung (Kiso Kotei), Li Lung-yen (Ririumin), Ma Yuen (Bayen), Ilia Kwei (Kakei), Y'uh 
 Kien (Giok'kan), Ihvui Su (Keiso), and Mill Yuen-chang (Beigensho) may be named as a 
 few of the men whose example guided and stimulated the development of the revived 
 
 h^'g- ^ 39 - From a Chinese Landscape of the Sung Dynasty. 
 
 Chinese art of Japan. Ngan Hwui (Ganki), who lived in the thirteenth century, is usually 
 associated with the great painters of the Sung dynast)', and his name appears together 
 

PLATE 71. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 LANDSCAPE. ROCKY SCENERY, WITH WATERFALL. 
 
 From a picture by \Vu Tao-TSZ’ (eighth century), engraved in the Shifiko Jisshifi. 
 
 No comment is required upon the historical and artistic importance of this work, the power and naturalistic feeling of 
 which is apparent even in the woodcut translation. A hand-drawn copy of the same picture may be seen in the 
 British Museum Collection (No. 173, Chinese), and a fine modern adaptation of the design, by Tano Buncho, has been 
 reproduced by M. Gonse in “ L’Art Japonais.” 
 
 See also plate 70, after the same artist. 
 
CHINESE ART. 
 
 257 
 
 with those of Ma Yuen and Hia Kwei in the compound word " Bakagan " (Ba-yen, Ka-kei, 
 and Gan-ki), under which the three were grouped by their Japanese admirers into a 
 trinity of pictorial eminence. 
 
 The style developed under these masters, who represented the “ Northern School ’’ 
 of China, was a remarkable one, characteristic in its nobility, its simplicity, and in its 
 somewhat capricious limitations. As might be expected from a people with whom 
 writing had assumed so exaggerated an importance, the calligraphic element in their 
 works was predominant and all-important, but it was strengthened by traces of a 
 rare naturalistic power. There was no attempt at perspective, as we now understand 
 the word, no true chiaroscuro, nor any such comprehension of anatomical form as 
 appears in early Greek art, but the painters had studied nature from the aspect of the 
 impressionist, and while closing their eyes to some of its teachings, succeeded in other 
 directions in rendering its meaning with a felicity that appeared to be as much the result 
 of inspiration as of study. In colouring, the tendency of the artist, except in his Buddhist 
 compositions, was in favour of tender harmonies, secured by the u.se of pale, tran.sparent, 
 local tints, with a very sparing application of bright pigments; but many of the 
 most highly prized rvorks were executed in simple monochrome. Their motives were 
 almost identical with those adopted by their Japanese imitators of the Chinese, Sesshiu, 
 and Kano schools (see Section i). A bird, an orchid, or a branch of bamboo or flowering 
 plum-tree sufficed as the subject for a picture, but trivial as such objects may appear to us, 
 they often possessed an abstract meaning for the artist and his patrons in recalling a 
 famous verse, illustrating a sentiment, or symbolizing a moral or physical quality. Land¬ 
 scape appeared to have a peculiar charm for many of the most gifted painters, who 
 delighted in perpetuating the wildest scenery that nature offered to their pencils, and 
 dreamed not of the combinations of hand-made rockery, toy-shop vegetation, and unin¬ 
 habitable dwelling-places which modern porcelain and tea-chest decoration introduces to 
 the world as pictures of China. Portrait painting, such as Vandyck pr.actised, appears 
 to have had no e.xistence, but the want was compensated for as well as might be 
 by traditional or imaginary portraitures of ancient sages or warriors, or of the supernatural 
 creations of Taoist fiction. Lastly, the more complex and dramatic motives were 
 furnished by incidents of history, Buddhistic and Taoistic legendary lore, and moral 
 anecdotes. From this fairly comprehensive selection, some artists were contented to 
 adopt a single item as the speciality upon r\'hich they hoped to found a reputation ; 
 like Han Kan, who is known only as a painter of horses, and Hwei Tsung, whose 
 name is identified with drawings of the falcon ; others sought a larger field for their 
 efforts, like Muh Ki, who delineated birds, quadrupeds, and the human figure, all with 
 equal skill; while a few’, like Mih Yuen-chang, won fame in every section of their 
 art, and even extended their triumphs to pure calligraphy. It must not be forgotten, 
 moreover, that the higher artistic qualities of the Buddhist picture, which differed so 
 widely in character from the secular compositions, are probably to be accredited to 
 the Chinese painters of the T'ang, Sung, and Yuen dynasties. 
 
 3 u 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 The materials were good and sufficient within their limited range. The artist 
 possessed a fair supply of colours, and expended great care over their preparation, 
 if we may judge by their durability; and gold was freely used in sacred, and 
 occasionally in secular art. The picture was usually painted upon silk or paper, but 
 
 Fig. 140. The Rishi Li T’ieh Rwai. Copied from a picture by Ngan Hmii, of the Yuiin Dynasty, by Kano Tanyu. Compare 
 
 with fig. 20. 
 
 a variety of other surfaces might be employed for the same purpose. The brushes 
 were similar to those of the Japanese artist—in fact, nearly all that has been said 
 as to the materials of Japanese pictorial art might be repeated here with little change. 
 

PLATE 7 2. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 THE PHYSICIAN AND THE GENIUS. 
 
 From a picture by Li Lung-yen (Jap. RiriOmjn), of the Sung dynasty, engraved in the Wa-Kan mei-gwa yen. 
 
 Eleventh century ? 
 
 The physician Pien Ts'iao (Jap, Henjaku), in the attire of a scholar, is receiving the instructions of the genius 
 Ch'ang Sang Kung (Jap. Ch 5 so Kun), a wild-looking being with massive features and prominent eyes. 
 
 Pien Ts'iao was a famous Chinese physician of the sixth century B.C., who is said to have dissected the human 
 body, and to have been the “discoverer” of those imaginary channels for the vital spirits which are still accepted as 
 an article of faith and a basis for practice by the vast majority of Chinese and Japanese professors of medicine. His 
 supernatural powers in the art of healing were attributed to the teachings of the Rishi Ch'ang Sang Kung. 
 
PLATE 7 3 . (Chinese Art.) 
 
 DOVE AND FALCON. 
 
 From paintings by the Emperor Hwei Tsung (reigned iioi —1126), engraved in the ITa-Kcjn vid-gwayen. 
 
 Collectors of Japanese art curiosities will recognize these drawings by their frequent repetition in the decorative 
 designs upon modern lacquer and porcelain. The tendency of the style is distinctly naturalistic^ as in most of the 
 pictures anterior to the Ming dynasty. 
 
 Compare with Plate 61. 
 

 
 
 4 ’ 
 
 y^ 
 
 #?'V/ 
 
 vf„ 1^^' 
 
 
 iisL 
 
CHINESE ART. 
 
 259 
 
 The Chinese knew nothing of fresco or encaustic painting, and never, so far as we 
 can learn, made any use of oil as a medium for their pigments, but it must of course 
 be remembered that the latter addition to the painter’s resources was equally unknown 
 in Europe down to the fifteenth century. 
 
 Fig. 141.’ From a picture by Yiich Shan (Gessan). Ming dynasty. 
 
 With the Ming dynasty commenced the decadence of Chinese pictorial art. The 
 Japanese painter Sesshiu, who visited China in the fifteenth century and attached 
 himself to a famous monastery there for some years, regarded the works of the 
 
 * The reproduction is incomplete. In the original, the horse is seen to have thrown its rider, whose shoe 
 appears at the feet of the animal. 
 
26 o 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAK. 
 
 Chinese artists of his time as incapable of conveying any lessons to a man who had 
 studied nature and the old masters ; and it is true that the immense augmentation of 
 the members of the craft in later years * not only failed to bring any permanent 
 accession of strength, but did much to weaken the force of the example set by their 
 
 Fig. 143, Hotel and Children. From a Chinese picture of the Ming dynasty. 
 
 precursors. There were, however, as late as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 many painters of great merit; but the best of these, including Lin Liang (Rinrio) 
 
 ‘ A Japanese reprint of a Chine.se book, called the Gem min-sci roku, published in I 777 i which enumerates 
 the leading painters and calligraphists who lived under the Yuen, Ming, and Tsing dymasties, includes over three 
 thousand names of artists. 
 
PLATE 74. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 DRAGON. 
 
 From a picture by Ch't-n So*ung {Jap. Chinshowo), a Chinese painter of t!ie Sung dynasty (A.D. 960—1280). 
 Engraved after a cut in the Wa-Kan mei’gxva yen. 
 
 The Japanese Dragon (Ch. Lung; Jap. Rio or Tatsu) is a faithful transcript of the models received in early times from 
 Chinese artists, and although long since thoroughly incorporated with the native traditions, its original characters do 
 not appear to have undergone any alteration, for the nineteenth-century Dragon of Hokusai might, in point of 
 physiognomy and attributes, claim twin-brotherhood with the creature depicted by the Sung Master, Muh-ki. 
 
 In its usual form it is a composite monster, with scowling head, long straight horns, a scaly serpentine body, a 
 bristling row of dorsal spines, four limbs armed with formidable claws, and with curious flame-like appendages to its 
 shoulders and hips. The claws are usually three on each foot, but the number may be increased to five. According 
 to the Japanese Cyclopedia, which quotes from a Chinese authority, the Dragon has the head of a camel, the horns of 
 a deer, the eyes of a demon, the ears of an ox, the body of a serpent, the scales of a carp, and the claws of an eagle. 
 The artist, however, does not adhere very strictly to these laws of composition. 
 
 Zoologically, it is regarded by the Chinese as the King of the Scaly Tribe. Its attributes are very varied ; like 
 the Rishis, it can assume other forms, and has the power of rendering itself visible or invisible at will. According to 
 Kwan Tsze {seventh century B.C.), as quoted by Mayers, it “ becomes at will reduced to the size of a silkworm, or 
 swollen till it fills the space of heaven and earth." It is, however, subject to Buddha and his disciples, and is not 
 only susceptible to fleshly ailments, like the sickly monster that submitted its enfeebled frame to the curative needles 
 of the physician Ma She Hwang, but is even amenable to human affections, as in the case of the dragon which assumed 
 mortal form as the Princess Toyotama and became an ancestress of the Mikados. 
 
 In Chinese Buddhism it plays an important part either as a force auxiliary to the law, or as a malevolent 
 creature to be converted or quelled. Its usual character, however, is that of a Guardian of the faith under the direction 
 of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or Arhats. As a Dragon King it officiates at the baptism of S’akyamuni, or bewails his 
 entrance into Nirvana; as an attribute of saintly or divine personages it appears at the feet of the Arhat Panthaka, 
 emerging from the sea to salute the goddess Kwanyin, and as an attendant upon or alternative form of Sarasvati, the 
 Japanese Benten; as an enemy to mankind it meets its Perseus and St. George in the Chinese monarch Kao Tsu, and 
 the Shinto God, Susano no Mikoto ; as an emblem of majesty its name is an euphemi.sm for that of the Emperors of 
 China and Japan, the Imperial throne becoming the Dragon Seat, the face of the Ruler the Dragon Countenance; and 
 lastly, the days of the Dragon and Tiger are chosen for the publication of the list of graduates at the examinations of 
 the Middle Kingdom, because the former is emblematic of the Sovereign, the latter of the Government. 
 
 As the presiding genius of the Rain-fall, it quits the waters to soar through the heavens enshrouded in the 
 murky wreaths of the storm-cloud, through which are dimly shown its hideous head, menacing claws, and snaky coils. 
 In times of drought, moved by the prayers or incantations of the people, it brings the refreshing showers upon the 
 parched earth. As appendages to Taoist legends, it appears under the spell of the Rishi Ch'en Nan, or bearing the 
 physician Ma She Hwang, to heaven. In Shintoism it appears as the true form of the wife of Hikohohodemi no 
 Mikoto, Toyotama Himd, from whom the Mikados of Japan derive their Dragon blood. Lastly, as a symbol of time 
 and place, it gives its name to certain days and years, and to a point of the compass. 
 
 There is little doubt that it was originally one of the many products of the ingenuity of the Chinese, who were 
 especially fond of evolving supernatural forms by the combination of heterogeneous parts drawn from many natural 
 sources. Its figure is essentially that of a snake idealized by the addition of contributions from various parts of the 
 animal kingdom, and in Chinese and Japanese story, as in Aryan legend, the names Serpent and Dragon are sometimes 
 interchangeable. Its early Buddhistic representative in India appears to have been a serpent, for no dragon is to be 
 seen in the relics of Indian Buddhistic art, but in the Amravati sculptures its place is filled by the Cobra de capello, 
 the fierce horned head being there substituted by a perfectly realistic portraiture of the vicious face and expanded 
 hood of the venomous reptile. (British Museum Catalogue, p. 49.) 
 
CHINESE ART. 
 
 261 
 
 and Lii Ki (Rioki), were avowed imitators of the older masters. Nearly all that had 
 its origin or chief development in this and the subsequent period fell .so far below 
 the level attained by the masters of the T'ang and Sung dynasties that it amply 
 justified the later Chinese in their reverence for the superior e-xcellencies of their fore¬ 
 fathers. One set of painters brought into favour a laboured design and a minutely 
 decorative colouring that, although sufficiently well adapted for the embellishment 
 of porcelain, was meretricious and feeble when compared with the more ancient 
 manner. Another group of men, composed chiefly of adepts in literature and calli¬ 
 graphy, fostered a mannerism that had received its first breath of life before the 
 close of the Sung dynasty—“ the style of the Southern school,” which involved an 
 exaggerated appreciation of calligraphic dexterity and a compensating disregard for 
 naturalistic canons. The third and latest manifestation of pictorial decay is too 
 conspicuous, in the decoration of every piece of ill-made lacquer and every taw'dry 
 plate and vase that deface the shelves of European and American dealers in 
 Orientalisms, to require special notice here. The one exception to the general 
 decay in later centuries was a style which, so far as we are aware, numbered 
 only tw'O important followers, Ch'ilng Chung-fu (Chinchiufuku) and Si-kin Kii-sze 
 (Seikin Koji), both of whom lived under the Ming dynasty. These artists, .seeking 
 better results in the painting of portraits than had been found attainable by 
 pursuing the calligraphic ideal, ventured to represent the outlines and shadows 
 of the face as they saw them, and with a success that may be estimated by an 
 examination of the two specimens in the British Museum collection (Nos. 13 and 37, 
 Chinese). But the e.xperiment does not appear to have tempted a single painter of 
 ability to follow' in the same path, and the originators scarcely find a mention in 
 the records that give prominence to hundreds of imitative mediocrities who had no 
 strength to wander from the well-worn track of convention. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no section of art that has been so completely mi.sapprehended 
 in Europe as the pictorial art of China. For us the Chinese painter, past or 
 present, is but a copyist who imitates with laborious and undiscriminating exactness 
 whatever is laid before him, rejoices in the display of as many and as brilliant colours 
 as his subject and remuneration w'ill permit, and is original only in the creation of 
 monstrosities. Nothing could be more contrary to fact than this impression, if we omit 
 from consideration the work executed for the foreign market—work which every 
 educated Chinese w'ould disown. The old masters of the Middle Kingdom, who, as a 
 body, united grandeur of conception with immense power of execution, cared little for 
 elaboration of detail, and, except in Buddhist pictures, sought their best effects in the 
 simplicity of black and W'hite, or in the most subdued of chromatic harmonies. 
 Their art was defective, but not more so than that of Europe down to the end of 
 the thirteenth century. Technically, they did not go beyond the use of water-colours, 
 but in range and quality of pigments, as in mechanical command of pencil, they 
 
 3 
 
262 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 had no reason to fear comparison witli their contemporaries. They had caught only 
 a glimpse of the laws of chiaroscuro and perspective, but the want of science was 
 counterpoised by more essential elements of artistic excellence. In motives they 
 lacked neither variety nor elevation. As landscape painters they anticipated their 
 European brethren by over a score of generations, and created transcripts of scenery 
 that for breadth, atmosphere, and picturesque beauty can scarcely be surpassed. 
 In their studies of the human figure, although their work was often rich in 
 vigour and expression, they certainly fell immeasurably below the Greeks; but to 
 counterbalance this defect, no other artists, e.xcept those of Japan, have ever infused 
 into the delineations of bird-life one tithe of the vitality and action to be .seen in the 
 Chinese portraitures of the crow, the sparrow, the crane, and a hundred other varieties 
 
 of the feathered race. In flowers the Chinese were less successful, owing to the 
 absence of true chiaroscuro, but they were able to evolve a better picture out of a 
 single spray of blossom than many a Western painter from all the treasures of a 
 conservatory. 
 
 If we endeavour to com])are the pictorial art of China w ith that of Europe, we must 
 carry ourselves back to the days when the former was in its greatness. Of the art 
 that preceded the T'ang dynasty we can say nothing. Like that of Polygnotus, Zeuxis, 
 and Apelles, it is now' represented only by traditions, w'hich, if less precise in the former 
 than in the latter case, are not less laudatory; but it may be asserted that nothing 
 produced by the painters of Europe between the .seventh and thirteenth centuries of 
 
PLATE 7 5 . (Chinese Art.) 
 
 DRAGON. CROW. 
 
 I-rom pictures by I\IUH-KI (eleventh century), engraved in the i.-hon te-kagavti. 
 
 1 HERE are few existing works that demonstrate better than these, both the relationship of Japanese and Chinese art, 
 and the modern decadence of the latter. Paintings attributed to, and copied from the same master will be found in 
 the British Museum Collection (Xos. 9, 10, 161, and 162, Chinese). 
 
PLATE 7 6 . (Chinese .Art.) 
 
 BAMBOOS. 
 
 From a picture by YlU-K’lEN Ts'ien-tun {Jap. Yuken Sendon), engraved in the S/iiuki} jisshi. Eleventh century (?). 
 

PLATE 7 V. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 I. SQUIRREL AND VINE. 
 
 From a picture by Waxg Yuen-Chang (Jap. OgENSHO), engraved in the (i-lwn ti-kagami. 
 
 2 . BIRD. 
 
 From a picture by Wan Chin (Jap. Bunsiiin), engraved in the Wa-Kan mei-paa yen. 
 
 End of fifteenth century. 
 
 Sixteenth century. 
 
PLATE 7 8. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 I. BOY AND PUPPY. 
 
 From a picture by KTU-Ying (Jap. KlUVEI), engraved in the &-lwn U-kagami. Si.xteenth century. 
 Compare with fig. 21. 
 
 2. BIRDS AND PEONIES. 
 
 From a picture by Wang Lieh-pUX (Jap. Oriuhon), engraved in the Wa-Kaii mci-hitsu gwa-yei. 
 
 Sixteenth century. 
 
CHINESE ART. 
 
 263 
 
 the Christian era approaches within any measurable distance of the works of the 
 great Chinese masters who gave lustre to the T'ang, Sung, and \'uen dynasties, nor— 
 to draw a little nearer to modern time—is there anything in the religious art of Cimabue 
 that would not appear tame and graceless by the side of the Buddhistic compositions 
 
 of \Vu Tao-tsz’, Li Lung-yen, and Ngan Hwui. Down to the end of the Southern 
 Empire in 1279 a.d., the Chinese were at the head of the world in the art of painting, 
 as in many things besides, and their nearest rivals were their own pupils, the 
 Japanese. 
 
 
264 
 
 /VCTOAV^iL ARTS OF 'JA/TIN. 
 
 The relation of Chinese to Japanese painting has already been touched upon. 
 Japanese culture has lent many elements of poetry and grace to the parent art: in 
 the Shijd school it added something in truth; and chiefly through the Yamato and 
 Ukiyo-ytf schools it contributed numberless original features in motive; but in 
 strength the palm must still rest with the Middle Kingdom, and China may claim 
 as its own every main artistic principle that guided the brushes of Kanaoka, Meicho, 
 and Motonobu. It is, indeed, often difficult for any but an expert to distinguish a 
 work of the early Japanese leaders of the "Chinese school” from a Chinese picture, 
 and many a design that adorns the modern porcelain and lacquer of Japan is to be 
 traced almost line for line to a Chinese original of eight or nine centuries ago. The 
 
 Fig. 145. Reduced facsimile of Chinese woodcut in the K'wanyin Siilra (1331). 
 
 Japanese artist will not gainsay the tribute to his continental neighbours, for he has 
 acknowledged in graceful language, as well as by the more substantial flattery of 
 imitation, the genius of the old masters of China, and the goal of his ambition in 
 former days was to deserve a comparison with such men as Muh Ki and Ngan liwui. 
 But in the last hundred years, while the Chinese have been content to rest upon 
 the achievements of their forefathers—who would despise them for it could they live 
 again—the energy of their quondam pupils has brought Japan before the world as the 
 sole heir to almost all that is most beautiful in the art of the great Turanian race. 
 
PLATE 79. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 CHINESE SAGES. 
 
 BRITISH MUSEUM COLLECTION (Ch. No. 99). Presented by Mr. A. W. Franks, F.R.S. 
 
 From a lightly coloured painting on paper by PiNG-KlANG U-KIO (Jap. Heiko Ukio.) Eighteenth century (?). 
 Size of original, 487^ x 29! inches. 
 
 This picture, which was purchased in China as a native drawing by the late Mr, C. W. Goodwin, bears a striking 
 resemblance to Japanese work in the style both of its painting and calligraphy. The attempts to trace the identity of 
 the artist have been unsuccessful. 
 

PLATE 8 0. (Chinese Art.) 
 
 I. BIRD. 
 
 From a picture by Shih Ts’ao (Jap. Sekiso), engraved in the Wa-Kan nm-gvjayen. Eighteenth century. 
 
 2 . CROW. 
 
 From a picture by Ch’an Nan-PING (Jap. ClliNNANPiN), engraved in the Givashi kzaaiyd. Eighteenth century. 
 
 The originals of these cuts were both executed in Japan by Chinese immigrants in the early part of the eighteenth 
 century. The inscription upon the first states that the drawing was made with the finger-nail. 
 
 Sekiso is probably the same as Sdshiganj or Sekiko, who is referred to in the Giuajo yoriakii in association with 
 a number of other Chinese refugees who settled in Nagasaki at the time above mentioned, and earned a reputation as 
 painters. The best known of these men is Ch’an Nan-ping, who appears to have been a man of high literary culture 
 as well as an artist. Some of his works will be found in the British Museum Collection. 
 
i 
 
 CHINESE ART. =65 
 
 In the various applications of pictorial art the Chinese have long fallen behind 
 the industrial artists of Japan. In book illustrations they have produced nothing to 
 rival the woodcuts that decorate the Japanese literature of the past two hundred years. 
 Their engravings are tame and mechanieal to the last degree, and have gained nothing 
 in quality since the date of the fourteenth-century embellishments of the Kwanyin 
 Sutra (see fig. 145). In the decoration of lacquer, China has never been able to compete 
 with the artisan artists of Yedo, Osaka, and Kioto, and the designs that appear upon 
 even the most valuable specimens of Chinese keramic ware usually show poverty of 
 invention and unskilfulness of execution in equal degree. In every direction the 
 story is the same, and in the present day the only superiority that China can boast 
 is dependent upon secrets of composition which secure beauty of colour to a few 
 enamels and a single variety of lacquer. Were any further evidence needed as to the 
 relative merits of the two empires in modern art industries, it is only necessary for 
 visitors to the Inventions Exhibition of last year to compare the displays in the 
 Japanese and Chinese sections. Such a contrast, however, cannot last. The Chinese, 
 once mighty in intellect and inventive power, still gigantic in numbers and resources, 
 arc beginning to awaken, and they will soon discover that they can better employ 
 the edifice erected by their forefathers than by sleeping beneath it. 
 
 3 Y 
 
 Fig. 746. Reduced facsimile of woodcut in the T'u Invui Isutig i (iS 9 °)- 
 
ART. 
 
 KOREAN 
 
 Little can be said with reference to Korean art; partly on account of its close 
 resemblance to the art of China, and partly because of the difficulty in obtaining 
 access either to authentic historical facts, or to a sufficient number of representative 
 specimens. It is, however, beyond doubt that Korean art in general could claim in 
 ancient times a far higher position than that to which it is now entitled. 
 
 The early painters in Japan, before the time of Kanaoka, were mostly Korean 
 immigrants, who were treated with marked respect by the Japanese. The Horiuji 
 wall painting (see page 8) was probably the work of one of these, and the Nara 
 wood-carvings of the Deva Kings (plate i), which are also attributed to a Korean of 
 the seventh century, are worthy of a sculptor of ancient Greece; the casting of 
 some of the greatest Buddhist bronzes was effected under the superintendence of 
 Korean workmen; brocade weaving was learned in the fifth century from a native 
 of Korea; while in keramics, the well-known grey and white ware of the old 
 Satsuma and Yatsushiro potters was made after the Korean fashion, and the Raku 
 yaki of the Korean Amdya and his descendants has provided aesthetic feasts for 
 the connoisseurs of the “ Cha-no-yu" during the last three centuries. Iliddyoshi’s 
 invasion of the country, at the end of the si.xteenth century, unfortunately appears to 
 have led to a rapid decline in the Korean arts; and the recent experience of those 
 Japanese who have effected an entrance into the kingdom, points to a condition of 
 poverty and ignorance that must form a painful contrast with the state of culture 
 that existed in the days when Korea was the teacher and Japan the pupil. It is 
 worthy of remark that the drawings made by the artist who accompanied the Korean 
 Ambassador to Japan in 1878, .some of which are now in the British Museum, are 
 identical in manner with those of the old Chinese painters; while a portrait in the 
 same collection, executed in Korea within the last few years, is characterized by an 
 attempt at chiaroscuro that indicates a certain acquaintance with European practice. 
 It may be necessary to point out that the keramic pottery recently advertised as 
 “Korean” in London shops is Japanese ware of indifferent quality, and that nothing 
 of the kind has ever been produced in a Korean fabrique. 
 
 The Kun in Hosho, a collection of the seals of painters and calligraphists, 
 enumerates many Korean artists, including one of the sovereigns of the country, but 
 the names would be of too little service to the foreign investigator to justify their 
 repetition here. 
 
ADDEN DA. 
 
 An erudite critique by Professor F. E. Fenollo.sa, of Tokio, upon “ L'Art Japonais," 
 appeared in the Japan Mail of 1884, but did not reach the author until too late 
 for reference in the appropriate place. Mr. Fenollosa, who has inv'estigated the 
 subject deeply, speaks with enthusiasm of the perfections of the old Japanese painters, 
 and especially of those who dominated the art during the period extending from the 
 ninth to the twelfth century. His remarks with regard to Kanaoka and Cho Densu 
 are of great interest. 
 
 In referring to the former artist he says:—“For us, the Shotokutaishi in Ninnaji, 
 Kioto, the Wind and Thunder Gods in Raikoji, Bizen, and the Shi Ten G formerly in 
 Todaiji, Nara, are not only the greatest unquestionable originals of Kanawoka, but 
 absolutely the most stupendous paintings in existence from a native brush, so far as our 
 personal knowledge extends. We ought, perhaps, to. mention the famous standing Jizo 
 belonging to the Sumiyoshi family, as also the celebrated Rakan owned by Yechimata. 
 These are indeed very splendid pictures, but as to their authorship critics disagree. 
 
 . . . We think it quite probable that the future will produce other original Kanawokas 
 from their present hiding-places, and with those already known make up a total of 
 ten or fifteen authentic works of the master.” 
 
 Of Cho Densu :—“ lie is the grand, vigorous figure painter who appals us with 
 the vastness of his conceptions. It is the very gravest mistake to assert that the 
 style of painting previous to the days of Cho Densu had been invariably careful and 
 minute. Colossal figures of gods and goddesses, rivalling in power the conceptions 
 of Michael Angelo, had from time to time been produced. Stupendous ink paintings 
 were not uncommon in the century following Kanawoka. The great Chinese influence 
 of the T'ang had indeed never wholly died out, and Cho Densu, five hundred years 
 later, did but rekindle into flame the smouldering heat. A Buddhist might well 
 believe that Cho Densu was a reincarnation of the spirit of Kanawoka.” 
 
 Quite recently two important paintings attributed to Kanaoka have been brought 
 under the notice of European students of Japanese art by MM. Wakai and Hayashi. 
 There is every reason to accept the guarantee of authenticity offered by these experts, 
 but the works, whatever be their origin, must rank amongst the most precious 
 gems of Buddhistic pictorial art ever produced by a Japanese pencil. Both are 
 representations of the Bbdhisattva Kshitegarbha (Jap. Jizo Bo.satsu). One, a sitting 
 figure, has already been engraved and commented upon by M. Gonse in “ L’Art 
 
268 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 Japonais;” the other has lately been exhibited in London by M. Hayashi. 
 In this, the figure stands erect, clothed in gorgeous robes, holding the Sacred 
 Gem and Ringed Staff, and is further characterized by the shaven head, the mild 
 and youthful countenance, and by the vnia or brow-mark of the Bodhisattva—in 
 complete accordance with the traditions which have been handed down by generation 
 after generation of priestly artists almost to the present day, and which were 
 probably adopted by Kanaoka himself from Wu Tao-tsz’ or some other of the early 
 Chinese masters. The firmly pencilled outlines, nowhere concealed by pigment, 
 are those of a master hand, and the pose of body and the expression of feature 
 suggest perfectly the combination of gentleness and dignity of the beneficent 
 divinity who submitted to the tortures of hell to give a brief respite to the wretched 
 souls expiating their sins in the realms of King Yama; but the distinctive superiority 
 of the work lies in the marvellous richness and harmony of the colouring, the 
 freshness of which is scarcely impaired by the thousand years that have elapsed 
 since the artist completed the masterpiece. The tints, amongst which a dark 
 green predominates, form a kind of mosaic in the areas mapped out by the ink 
 outlines, and are opatpie, without gradations, and diversified by a delicate tracery 
 of gold. As a peculiarity of technique, it is noticeable that the metal has been 
 applied in the leaf, not in the form of “ paint," after the custom of later artists. 
 There is nowhere any attempt at realism in the treatment of the details of the figure, 
 but the effect is nevertheless impressive to a remarkable degree, and as a specimen 
 of decorative religious art the work has rarely if ever been surpassed by any 
 Oriental artist. 
 
 The following anecdote of Kawanari (for which I am indebted to Mr. K. 
 Suyematz) is of sufficient interest to quote here. Amongst the most intimate 
 friends of the painter was one Hida no Takumi, a court noble famous for his 
 great scientific attainments. It is said that this personage once invited Kawanari to 
 inspect a newly-finished concert pavilion of which he was the architect. When 
 the painter arrived, he saw a square building presenting an open doorway on 
 each side, and was about to pass through the nearest entrance, when to his 
 surprise it was closed in his face by some unseen agency. Thinking he had made 
 a mistake, he tried another door with the same result, and so with the rest, only 
 to be left baffled and perplexed on the outside of the mysterious erection. At this 
 moment Hida no Takumi made his appearance, and laughing at his visitor’s 
 confusion, explained the hidden mechanism by which the phenomenon had been 
 accomplished. In acknowledgment of this reception, Kawanari invited his friend 
 to call upon him at a future day, and in due course the practical joker presented 
 himself at the artist's residence. Finding the outer door open, he was about to 
 enter, when he recoiled in terror at the sight of a dead man stretched out at his feet. 
 
ADDENDA. 
 
 269 
 
 Faint and sick with the shock, the odours of putrefaction seeming to poison the 
 air around him, he turned to hasten away, when his expectant host suddenly showed 
 himself, and saluting him, inquired politely what he thought of his new picture. 
 The corpse was a thing of paint and paper, and imagination had done the rest. 
 
 In the account of the Shijo school in Section I., and again in Section IV., 
 mention was accidentally omitted of the practice which was largely followed by the 
 naturalists (though not originated by them) of dispensing with the visible ink outline 
 that formed so fundamental an element of nearly all the works of the older painters. 
 In a considerable proportion of the Shijo compositions (as on plates 32 and 58) the 
 objects depicted owe their relief to the contrast of the colour with the untouched 
 surface of silk or paper, and not to any limiting ink outline; but in other instances, 
 however, it will be seen (as on plates 45 and 62) that the classical rules had been 
 followed without important modification. 
 

 Actors, 235, fig. 124, 128. 
 
 Adzuma Nishiki-ye, 156. 
 
 Agni DC-va, fig. 61. 
 
 *AlMi {Kos6), 22. 
 
 Albums, varieties, 120. 
 
 Amitabha, pi. 10, fig. 15. 
 
 Anami Kwaikei, 38. 
 
 Animal life, representations of, 224. 
 
 Aoki Renzan. See Renzan. 
 Arcliitectural decoration, 75. 
 
 Arhat, pi. 8 and 9. 
 
 Ariuisa (K.osi), 31. 
 
 ARiiyf; (Kos^.), 31. 
 
 Arimun^; (K.os 6), 3r. 
 
 Arish!g 6 (iCosi), 31, 58. 
 
 Aritada (Kost), 31. 
 
 Ariyasu (Kos^:), 31. 
 
 Ariyuki (Kos6), 31. 
 
 Armour of Yoshilsund, pi. 7. 
 
 Arms and Armour, decoration of, 19, 40, 
 
 Aston, comparison of Korean 
 Japanese language, 3. 
 
 Awadaguchi Hogen, 31. 
 
 Rairei, 158. 
 
 “ Bakagan,” 256. 
 
 Bamboos, pi. 57, 76, fig. i r r, 112. 
 
 Banko, 109. 
 
 Basso-rilievo in plaster, i6r. 
 
 Bayen (Ma Yuen), 256. 
 
 Beigensho (Mih Yue.v-chang), 256, 
 Bell, history of the, 15. 
 
 Bell, prehistoric, fig. 4. 
 
 Bhaichadjya-guru, pi. 2. 
 
 Boar and Tengu, fig. 123. 
 
 BONSHI, 46. 
 
 Brinkley on Satsuma pottery, 7 
 use of the mould in keramics. 
 
 Bronze images, pi. 2, 3, figs. 6, 
 
 Bronze relief, fig. 5. 
 
 Brushes, varieties, 176. 
 
 Buddhist architecture, 19. 
 
 Buddhist images in wood and metal, 12, 
 
 17- 
 
 Buddhist school of painting, 
 
 Bunxho (Tani), 104, fig. 40. 
 
 Buncho (Ippitsus.ai), 93, 154, 155. 
 Bunjin-giva, 46. 
 
 Bunkwado, 65. 
 
 BUNRIN (ShIWOGAWA), lOI, pi. 51, 55 
 BUNSHIN (WaN-CHIN), pi. 77. 
 
 Burty on Japanese paper, 167. 
 
 BusoN, 47, 89. 
 
 Biitsu-gtva or Bulsu-ye, 27. 
 
 ; on the 
 33 - 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Calligraphy, 19 ; in its relation to pictorial 
 art, 187, figs. 85, 96. 
 
 Caricature, school of, 32. 
 
 Carp, pi. 30, 59. 
 
 Cat and Rats, pi. 65. 
 
 Chamberlain on prehistoric Japan, 4; 
 on the Korean conquest, 5 ; on the 
 Japanese language, 20; translation of 
 Motobri’s remarks on painting, 243. 
 Cha-no-yu, history, 81; garden, pi. 28. 
 Chang Sang-yiu, 254. 
 
 Characteristics of Japanese pictorial art, 
 183; summary, 250. 
 
 Ch’an Nan-ping. See Chinnanpin. 
 Ch’iin So-ung, pi. 74. 
 
 Ch’Sng Chung-fu, 261. 
 
 Cherry blossoms, pi. 58, fig. 113. 
 Chiaroscuro in Japanese pictorial art, 
 202. 
 
 Chikanobu (Kano), fig. 22. 
 
 Chikuden (Tano), 103. 
 
 Chikud 5, ioo, pi. 54. 
 
 Chikuto, 103. 
 
 Chinchiufuku, 261. 
 
 Chinese boys, pi. 78, fig. 21. 
 
 Chinese pictorial art, 253. 
 
 Chinese woodcuts, 265, figs. 145, 146. 
 Chin Gen-pin, 72. 
 
 Chinkin-bori, 79, 136. 
 
 Chinnanpin, 47, pi. 80. 
 
 Chinshowo (Ch'en So-ung), pi. 74. 
 Chiuan, 4'5. 
 
 Cho Densu. See Meicho. 
 
 Chobunsai (Hosdi), 94, i54i i55- 
 Choga (Taruma), 31. 
 
 Choki (Miyaoawa), fig. ir, 12. 
 
 Chokuan (Soga), 46, fig. 17. 
 
 Chokusai (Maki), fig. 50. 
 
 Chomok'Uy 136. 
 
 Choson, 43. 
 
 Chosoyu, 254. 
 
 Chromoxylography, history of, 153; fac¬ 
 simile of specimen, pi. 46. 
 
 Chung Kwei (Shoki), pi. 45. 
 
 Cloisonne enamels, 72, 134. 
 
 Cock, pi. 15, 64. 
 
 Colouring in Japanese pictorial art, 203. 
 Colours, varieties, combinations, 171. 
 Comic sketches, pi. 36, fig. 10, ir, 12, 
 
 38. 
 
 Composition, 204. 
 
 Cranes, pi. 29, 62, 63, 69. 
 
 Cray-fish, fig. 75. 
 
 Criticism of pictures, 241. 
 
 Crow, pi. 27, 75. 
 
 “ Daibutsu ” of Kamakura, 39, fig. 15 ; of 
 Nara, 17, fig. 6. 
 
 Daikoku, fig. 133- 
 Damascening, 73. 
 
 Deer, pi. 31. 
 
 Demon, pi. 5, 38. 
 
 Demons’ nocturnal march, pi. ii, 12. 
 Deva king, pi. i, 4. 
 
 Devas of Sun and Moon, pi. 3. 
 Dhritarachtra, pi. 5, p. 6. 
 
 Dickins on Hokusai, 95. 
 
 Doan (Yamada), 50. 
 
 Dohachi, to8. 
 
 Donho, 35. 
 
 Dragon, pi. 17, 74, 75 > 
 
 Drunken sage, fig. 22, 129. 
 
 Duret on Hokusai, 98. 
 
 Dutch school, loi. 
 
 fibisu and Daikoku (burlesque), fig. 63. 
 ^ckt 'zen-bor:\ 136. 
 
 ^IcHIZEN-NO-SUKli (GaNKU), IOO. 
 idokoro, 8. 
 
 Egret, fig. 17, 35, 41- 
 
 Eison, portrait sculpture, fig. 14. 
 
 Elephant, fig. 117. 
 
 Embroidery, 19, iii, 138. 
 
 Encrusted work, 111. 
 
 Engraving upon wood, 140; copper, 1 
 stone, 160. 
 
 Enriuhon (Yen Li-pun), 254. 
 Enriutoku (Yen Li-teh), 254. 
 lishin Sodzu, 38, 142. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 (’jANTAI, pi. 67. 
 
 (jANTOKU, too, fig- S4, 104. 
 
 Geia.mi, 46. 
 
 Genyei (Yukn Ying), 255. 
 
 Gekkei (Matsumura), 47, 89. 
 
 (lENKEI, 31. 
 
 GeNK!, 89. 
 
 Gensen, 46. 
 
 Genson (Kos6), 31. 
 
 Gensuk^, 72. 
 
 G.enya, 53. 
 
 (’rESSAN (Yl’eh Shan), 259, fig. 141. 
 (Lessen, 103. 
 
 Gessho (Cho), 104 
 (ihost, fig. 50. 
 
 Gido, 112. 
 
 Gionu NO Taiyu, 29. 
 
 Giogi, 14. 
 
 Giokkan (Yuh Kien), 256. 
 
 (ilOKUHO, fig 7. 
 
 Giok-URaku (Kano), 53. 
 
 Gioruransai Sadahide, 99. 
 
 Giokuzan (Ishida), 94, 146. 
 
 Giro (Shibata), 8g. 
 
 Glyptic art. See Sculpture. 
 
 Go Doshi (Wu Taotsz’), 254, pi. 70, 71. 
 
 (io Doshi and the Dragon, fig. 136. 
 
 Go Doshi's last picture, fig. 137. 
 
 Goc.aru (Fukuhara), 104. 
 
 Goran (Shiba), ioi, 158. 
 
 Gold, use of, in pictorial art, 1 74. 
 
 Gonbei, 72. 
 
 Gonse on Korin, 66; on Hokusai, 98; 
 
 on chromoxylography, 154. 
 
 (iorodaiyu Shondzui, 69. 
 
 Goshun. See Gerkei. 
 
 Goto Sant^moto, fig. 131. 
 
 Goto YQjd, 74, 160. 
 
 G\ya-ri6 Rojin Man, 95. 
 
 Hachizo, 72. 
 
 Hadesu slaying the Korean tiger, pi. 34. 
 Hakusai, 137. 
 
 Ham^da Goro, 78. 
 
 Han Kan, 255. 
 
 Hanabusa Itcho, 57, 63. pi. 26, fig. 
 26. 
 
 Hanabusa Ittei, 64. 
 
 Htina Shunkti, 131. 
 
 Jlatiiwa, 10. 
 
 Hanro, 103. 
 
 Hanroku, 72. 
 
 Hanzan, 79. 
 
 Hara Yoyusai, 137. 
 
 Hara ZaichiD, 91. 
 
 Hara Zaimei, gi. 
 
 Hara Zaisho, gi, fig. 102. 
 
 Haruri Nammei, pi. 41. 
 
 Harunobu (Suzuri). 93, 154, 155. 
 Has^gawa Kiuzb, 53. 
 
 Has^gawa Toharu, 53. 
 
 Hashikura, visit to Rome, ici. 
 
 Hawk, pi. 47, 61, 73, fig. 17, 114. 
 
 Heiro Urio, pi. 79. 
 
 Hen and chickens, pi. 42. 
 
 Henjiaku and the Rishi, pi. 72. 
 Henreisho, 262, fig. 143. 
 
 Hetaira, pi. 41. 
 
 HtA K\vei, 256. 
 
 Hidari Jingoro, 75, 161. 
 
 Hidari Katsum,a.sa, 76. 
 
 [ Hidari Yeishun, 76. 
 j Hideyoshi as a patron of the arts, 84. 
 
 I Higashima Tokuyemon, 70. 
 
 I Hijir.ata Torei, 103. 
 
 ' Hikoshiro (Hirato), 72. 
 
 Hikosuk^ (Ichikawa), 74. 
 
 Hinaya, 78. 
 
 Hirochira (Sumivoshi), 58. 
 
 Hirok.ata (Sumivoshi), 103. 
 
 Hiromasa (Sumivoshi). See It.wa 
 Keishiu. 
 
 Hiromichi (Sumivoshi), 59. 
 
 Hirosada (Su.mivoshi), 103. 
 
 Hiro.sawa Kuro, 73. 
 
 Hiroshig^ 99, 156, 157. 
 
 Hirotara (Kos6), 22. 
 
 Hirotaka, death of, fig. 23. 
 
 Hikotsura (Sumivoshi), 103. 
 
 Hirovuki (Sumivoshi), 103. 
 
 Hishigawa Moronobu, 62, 139, 144, 
 Sg- 63. 
 
 Hishigawa Moronaga, 62. 
 
 Hishigawa Moroshig6, 62. 
 
 Hitomaro, portrait of, fig, 9. 
 
 Hoitsu, 105, pi. 42. 
 
 Hokrei, 99, 156. 
 
 Horuba, 99. 
 
 Horusai, 94, 154, 156, ]ll. 36, 37, 38, 
 %• 37 . 3 ^. S'. 70. 7 i. 72, 77 , 97 . 9 ^, 
 100, 107, 122, 126, 132, 135. 
 
 Hokusai sketching Fujiyama, fig. 37. 
 Hokusai and Riukosai, portraits, fig. 77. 
 Honi, 105. 
 
 Honnami Kovetsu, 72, 137. 
 
 Honnami Kuchiu, 72. 
 
 Horiuji, mural picture, 8. 
 
 Horse, pi. 69, fig. 42, 120, 121, 141. 
 Hosaiven, 47. 
 
 Ho.sof Chobunsai, 94, 154, 155. 
 
 Hotei, fig. 130, 14?, pi. 21. 
 
 Hoyen, 90, pi. 40, fig. 35. 
 
 Hozan, 72, 108. 
 
 Human figure, representations of, 230, 
 Hwei Tsung, 256, pi. 73. 
 
 Hwui Su, 256. 
 
 Ichimai - yc , 154, 
 
 Idzumiya Gonshiro, 154. 
 
 Ifuriu, 47. 
 
 Iidaya Hacliiroye’mon, 109. 
 iNAGAKt, t04, pi. 59. 
 
 Indra, fig. 60. 
 
 Ink, varieties of, 169. 
 
 Inouyii Hakusai, 137. 
 
 Insect procession, pi. 39. 
 
 Invention in Japanese art, 239. 
 
 Ippitsusai Buncho, 93, 154, 155. 
 
 Ippo (Mori), 64, 90, pi. 62. 
 
 ISAI, 99, fig. 133, 134. 
 he Monof ^ aturi , scene from, fig. 62. 
 
 Isen in Hoin, 103. 
 
 Ishida Yutei, 87. 
 
 ISHIRAWA IZAIVfiMON TdSHlUKI, 62. 
 ISHIRAWA 'i'OVONOBU, 64. 
 
 ISHIVAMA MOROKA, pi. 63. 
 
 Ii.AYA Keishiu (Hiromasa), 103, pi. 61. 
 Itcho (Hanabusa), 57, 63, pi. 26, fig. 26. 
 Ito Jaruchiu, 103. 
 
 Ittei (Hanabusa), 64. 
 
 Iwakurazan, 108. 
 
 Iwasa Matahei, 59. fig, 24, 25. 
 
 Jaruchiu (Ito), 103. 
 
 Jasoru (Soga) 45, pi. 16. 
 
 Jidai - viono , 79. 
 
 JlRARU DaISHI, 142. 
 
 Jikoku 'I'en, pi. 5, fig. 2. 
 
 Jingoro (Hidari), 75. 
 
 Jinko, 78. 
 
 JiUSLT (SHIMOKAWAB^), 146. 
 
 Jocho, 38, pi. 5. 
 
 JoRo (Taruma), 31. 
 
 Joset.su, 43. 
 
 35 ’ 
 
 Kaihoku YCsho, 54- 
 Kadzunobu (Kano), 105. 
 
 Kci ^ ami - buta , 159. 
 
 Kagami-do, 122. 
 
 K.ajikawa Kinjiro, 137. 
 
 Karando, ioo. 
 
 Karei (Hia Kwei), 256. 
 
 Kakemono^ 116, fig. 44, 50, 134. 
 
 Karuvu, 32. 
 
 Kamakuri - bori ^ 40, 136. 
 
 Kamejo, 112. 
 
 Kanaoka (Kt'S^.), 21, 27, 267. 
 
 Kan Densu, 43. 
 
 Kando Sanjin, pi. 48. 
 
 Kanran (Han Kan), 255. 
 
 Kano Chiranouu, 58, fig 22. 
 
 Kano Gioruraru, 53. 
 
 Kano KoRf:NOnu, 103, 
 
 Kano Masanobu, 50, pi. 19. 
 
 Kano Michinobu or Tenshin (Yeisen) 
 
 58. 
 
 Kano Mitsunobu, 54. 
 
 Kano Motonobu, 51, 160, pi. 20, 21, 22. 
 
 43 . 50 - 
 
 Kano Naganobu (Isen), 103. 
 
 Kano Naonobu, 55, 72, fig. 21. 
 
 Kano Osanobu (Seisen), 103. 
 
 Kano Saron, fig. 42. 
 
 Kano S.\nraru, 54. 
 
 Kano Sansetsu, 54. 
 
 Kano school, 50, 103. 
 
 Kano Shovei, 53. 
 
 Kano Suv^yori, 53. 
 
 Kano Tadanobu (Shosen). 103. 
 
 Kano Takanobu, 54. 
 
 Kano Tangen, 57, 
 
 Kano Tansetsu, 57. 
 
 K.vno Tanshin, 57. 
 
 Kano Tanyu, 55, pi, 23, 25, fig, 20. 23, 
 120. 
 
 Kano TOshun, 58. 
 
 Kano Toun, 57. 
 
 Kano Tsun^nobu, 57, pi. 25. 
 
 Kano Utanosur^, 53, 
 
 Kano Y.asunobu, 55, pi. 24. 
 
 Kano Yeino, 58. 
 
 Kano Yeitoru, 53. 
 
 Kano Y^-rishin, 57. 
 
 Kano Yosetsu, 53. 
 
 Kano Yoshinobu, 58. 
 
 Kano Yukinobu, 53. 
 
 Kano Yusetsu, 53. 
 
 Kanshin Hogen, 5S. 
 
 Kanzan Denshichi, 108. 
 
 Karakami or Fusunta, 122. 
 
 Kasuga, 14. 
 
 Kasuga Keion, 29, 
 
 Kasuga Mitsuchika, 29. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 273 
 
 Kasuga Mitsunaca, 29. 
 
 Kasuga Motomitsu, 29. 
 
 Kasuga Takauhika, 29. 
 
 Kasuga Takayoski, 29. 
 
 Kato Kichizayt-mon, 107. 
 
 Kato Shirozaytmon, 37. 
 
 Katsugawa Shunxho, 154. 
 
 Katsugawa Shunsho, 154, 155, i5(>, 
 p!. 46. 
 
 Katsushika Hokusai, 95. 
 
 Kawanari, 8, 26S. 
 
 Kawo, 35. 
 
 Kazuyuki, 43. 
 
 Kkihun (Matsumura), 89, fig. 119. 
 
 Keibunkai, 14. 
 
 Kcicho, 72. 
 
 Kicion (Kasuga), 29. 
 
 Keisai (Onishi), 104, pi. 44. 
 
 Keisai Masayoshi, 94. 
 
 Keisai Yeisen, 99, pi. 56. 
 
 KeishSki, 45, fig. 31. 
 
 Keishun Hugen, 58. 
 
 Keiso (Hwui Su), 256. 
 
 Kenzan, 72. 
 
 Kenzan the Third, 73. 
 
 Keramic Art, 2, 9, 37, 69, 106, 131, 
 fig- 6 a, 57 , 58. 
 
 Kiang Tao-ying, 255. 
 
 Kibi Daijin and the Embroiderers, fig. 
 59 - 
 
 Kichieei (Hishicawa), C2. 
 
 Kiixsu, 105, pi. 57. 
 
 Kikuchi Yosai, 91, pi. 34, 35, fig. 8, 82, 
 
 127, 131- 
 
 Kiniimaro, 17. 
 
 Kimura Nagamitsu, 53. 
 
 Kimura Sanraku, 54. 
 
 Kin Zenkai, 109. 
 
 Kinjiro, 137. 
 
 Kinkin (Ota), 91, pi. 58. 
 
 Kinkozan, 72, 108. 
 
 Kinmochi (Kosii), 22. 
 
 Kinso, 14. 
 
 Kintada (Kos^;), 22. 
 
 Kiodoin, 255. 
 
 Kiosai, 99, 158, pL 39, 65, fig. 118. 
 Kishi Doko, ioo. 
 
 Kiso Kotei (Hwei Tsung), 256, pi. 
 73 - 
 
 Kitagawa Utamaro, 93, 99, 154, 155, 
 158. 
 
 Kitawo Keisai Masayoshi, 99. 
 
 Kitawo Masanobu, 154, 155. 
 
 Kitawo Shig6masa, 93. 
 
 K’lU Ying, pi. 78. 
 
 Kiuhaku (Koma), 137. 
 
 Kiuho ToVEI, pi. 66. 
 
 Kiuyei (K’lu Ying), pi. 78. 
 
 Kiuzo (Has^gawa), 53. 
 
 Kiyen (Yanagisawa), 46. 
 
 Kiyomasu (Torii), 64, 154. 
 
 Kiyomidzu temple, pi. 54. 
 
 Kivomitsu (Torii), 64. 
 
 Kiyonaga (Torii), 154. 
 
 Kivonobu (Torii), 64, 144, 154. 
 
 Kizo, 72. 
 
 Kobori Masakadzu, 72. 
 
 K 6 ch 5 , 39. 
 
 KohOgen, 52. 
 
 Koran, fig. 123. 
 
 Koma Kiuhaku, 79, 137. 
 
 Koma Kwansai, 79, 137. 
 
 Komachi, Ono no, fig. 65, 127. 
 
 Komin, 111. 
 
 Korean art, 266. 
 
 Kor^hisa (Kosi), 31. 
 
 KoR^NOBU (Kano), 103. 
 
 KoRiiSiiicE (Kos6), 31. 
 
 Korin (Og.\ta), 59, 65, 79, 137. i 39 . 
 
 pi. 27, fig. 27, 28, 29. 
 
 Kurin school, 105. 
 
 Kost Aimi, 22. 
 
 Kos£ Arihisa, 31. 
 
 Kos6 Ariiy6, 31. 
 
 Kosii; Arimun6, 31. 
 
 Kos6 Arishige, 31. 
 
 Kost Aritau.a, 31. 
 
 Kosi: Ariyasu, 31. 
 
 Kosfi Ariyuki, 31. 
 
 Kosfi Fukaye, 23. 
 
 Kosft Genkei, 31. 
 
 Kos£ Genson, 31. 
 
 Kos6 Hirotaka, 22. 
 
 Kost Kanaoka, 21, 27. 
 
 Kos6 Kinmochi, 22. 
 
 Kosfi KoR^SHiGii, 31. 
 
 Kosfi Kor^uusa, 31. 
 
 Kos£ Mitsuyasu, 31. 
 
 KosA MuNfcYOSHI, 31. 
 
 Kosfe Nobushige, 31. 
 
 Kos^ SONCHl, 31. . 
 
 Kosii SOKEN, 22. 
 
 Koson, 89. 
 
 Kosuisai, 155. 
 
 Kotokwan, 100. 
 
 Koy£mON,7 2. 
 
 Kovetsu (Honnami), 59, 72, 137. 
 Kuchiu (FIonnami), 72. 
 
 Kuuara no Kawanari, 8, 268. 
 Kunisada (Utagawa), 99, fig. 124, 12S. 
 Kunitaka (Tosa), 30. 
 
 Kuniyoshi (Utagawa), 99. 
 
 Kusa-zosht, 148, fig. 66. 
 
 Kusumi MoRiKAC.i:, 57, 70, 72. 
 
 Kwabara Jiuzayemon, 109. 
 
 Kwaikei, pi. 4. 
 
 Kwakki (Kwoh-hi), 256. 
 
 Kwangetsu, fig. 57, 58. 
 
 Kwan-ko dzusctsu, 73. 
 
 Kwapsai (Koma), 137. 
 
 Kwanyin Sfitra, 264. 
 
 Kwanyu, fig. 144. 
 
 Kwoh-hi, 256. 
 
 Lacquer decoration, 14, 40, 78, in, 
 134 - 
 
 Landscape drawings, 211. 
 
 Landscapes, pi. 14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 23, 
 24, 30, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54. 55, 56, 
 71, figs. 23, 31, 33, 40, 102, 103, 104, 
 106, 107, 108, 138, 139. 
 
 Lanterns (for temples), 18. 
 
 Laughers, the three, pi. 21. 
 
 Li Ch’£ng, 255. 
 
 Li Chung-ho, 255. 
 
 Li Lung-yen, 256, pi. 72. 
 
 Li T’ieh Kwai, pi. 43, figs. 20, 140. 
 
 Li Tsien, 255. 
 
 Liang Chi, 256. 
 
 Light in Japanese picture, 217. 
 
 Lin Liang, 260. 
 
 Lion (Chinese), fig. 115. 
 
 Lithography, 160 
 
 Lu Ki, 261. 
 
 Mnkimono, i 20. 
 
 Makudzu, i j o. 
 
 Maniac, pi. 37. 
 
 Manyemon, 71. 
 
 Maruyama Ojiu, 89. 
 
 Maruyama Okio, 87, pi. 29, 30, fig. 33, 
 
 34 - 
 
 Maruya.ma Ozui, 8g. 
 
 Masanobu (Kano). 50, pi. 19. 
 
 Masanobu (Okumuka), 144, 154, 155, 
 
 fig. 64. 
 
 Masayoshi (Kitawo Keisai), 94. 
 
 Mask. 13, pi. 6, fig. 13. 
 
 M.\tahei (Iw.asa), 59, 60, fig. 24, 25. 
 
 Matayemon, 75. 
 
 Materials employed in painting, 165. 
 
 Matsu.mura Gekkei, 89. 
 
 Matsumura Keidun, 89, fig. 119. 
 
 Ma YuiiN, 256. 
 
 Meicho, 42, pi. 8, 9. 
 
 Meisho dzu-yt', 148. 
 
 Metal work, history of. 15. 
 
 Michinobu (Kano), 58. 
 
 Mm Yuen-chang, 256. 
 
 Milne, prehistoric researches, 1, 3. 
 
 Ming dynasty, painting in, 259. 
 
 Minzan, 103. 
 
 Mioye, 83. 
 
 Mirror, 16, pi. 6. 
 
 Mitsuaki (Tosa), 30. 
 
 Mitsuchika (Kasuga), 29. 
 
 Mitsuchika (Tosa), 58. 
 
 Mitsunaga (Kasuga), 29. 
 
 Mitsunobu (Tosa), 54, 58, fig. 121. 
 Mitsunori (Tosa), 59. 
 
 MitsCoki (Tosa), 59. 
 
 Mitsusada (Tosa), 103. 
 
 Mitsushig^; (Tosa), 58. 
 
 Mitsuyasu (Kose), 31. 
 
 Mitsuyoshi (Tos.a), 59. 
 
 MiYAGAWA ChoKI, 34, fig. II, 12 . 
 Miyagawa Choshun, 63. 
 
 Miyagawa Kozan, no. 
 
 Miyamoto Rinyeraon, 109. 
 
 Mivotaku, 35. 
 
 Mokkei (Muh Ki), 256, pi. 75. 
 
 Mokuan, 46. 
 
 Mokubei, 133. 
 
 Monkey, pi. 30, 32, 68, fig. 68. 
 
 Moonlight scene, i, 217, pi. 55, 56, fig. 
 
 108. 
 
 Mori Ippu, 90, pi. 62. 
 
 Mori Sosen, 89, pi. 30, 31, 42, 68, fig. 
 
 36. 
 
 ' Mori Tessan, 90. 
 
 Mori Yusetsu, 109. 
 
 MoRiKAGf: (Kusumi), 57, 70, 72. 
 Morikuni (Tachibana), 64, 145. fig. 59, 
 115, 116, 117, 136, 137. 
 
 Morimichi (Tanshinsai), 103. 
 MORlZANli, 103. 
 
 Morofusa (Hishigawa), 62. 
 
 Moroka (Ishiyama), pi. 63. 
 
 Moronaca (Hishigawa), 62. 
 
 Moronobu (Hishigawa), 62, 139, 144, 
 
 fig- 63- 
 
 Moroshig^ (Hishigawa), 62. 
 
 Morse on prehistoric pottery, 2. 
 
 4 A 
 
274 
 
 PICTORIAL ARTS OF 7 A PAN. 
 
 MoTOMiTau (Kasuca), 29. 
 
 Motonobu (Kano), 51, 160, pi. 20, 21, 
 22, 43, 50; rambles of, fig. 19. 
 
 Motbori on Japanese pictures, 243. 
 Moye'nion, 71. 
 
 Muh Ki, 256, pi. 75. 
 
 Mun£yoshi (Kos^:), 31. 
 
 Mural paintings, 123. 
 
 Murata Shiuko, 83. 
 
 Musu Kokushi, 35. 
 
 Nagamitsu (Ki.mura), 53. 
 
 Nagamori, 40. 
 
 N.auanoou (Kano), 103. 
 
 Nagasawa Rosktsu, 89. 
 
 Naoawasa Roshil', 89. 
 
 Nagata Yiiji, 137. 
 
 Naoataka (To.sa), 30. 
 
 Nakabayasui Chikuto, 103. 
 
 Nakagawa (lonzayeniun, 73. 
 
 Nammki (Haruki), 104, pi. 41, 
 
 Nanko (Haruri), 104. 
 
 Nankiu, 7. 
 
 Naonobu (Kano), 55, 57, 72, fig. 21. 
 
 Napoleon at St. Helena, fig. 39. 
 
 Kara “Daibutsu,” 17. 
 
 Nara school of idol carvers, 38. 
 
 Nara Yasuchika, 75. 
 
 Negroes, fig 97. 
 
 Nen K.awo, 35. 
 
 Netsukes, 77, no. 
 
 Ncan Hwui, 256, fig, 140. 
 
 Ni 0 (Deva Kings or Temple Guardians), 
 pi I, 4 - 
 
 Ni O Gate, Nikko, fig. 30. 
 
 Nichi-nichi Shimbun on Japanese paint¬ 
 ing, 102. 
 
 Nichiren, 142, fig. 60. 
 
 Night scene, wedding, fig 109. 
 
 Ninagawa on early art, 15, 16. 
 
 Ninsei, 71. 
 
 Nishigawa SuKf;NOBU, 64, 65, 139, 146, 
 % iS, 19, <)3. 79, 99- 
 Nishigawa Ukiyo. See Sukt^nolni. 
 Nishimvra Shig^naga, 64, 93, 154. 
 Nisliimura Zengo, 108. 
 
 Noami, 45. 
 
 Nobukatsu, 64. 
 
 NonusHiGfi, 31. 
 
 Nobuzan6 (I'ujiwara), 29, fig. 9. 
 Norisuyc, 40. 
 
 Northern school of Chinese art, style of, 
 = 57 - 
 
 Oi (W-ANG Wei), 255. 
 
 Odaivam-bori, 136. 
 
 Og.ata Korin, 59, 65, 139, pi. 27, fi<^. 27, 
 28, 29. 
 
 Ogawa Shumin, 137 
 
 Ogensho (Wang Yuen-chang), pi, 77. 
 
 oil 125- 
 
 Ogochi, 70. 
 
 Ogiichi, 14. 
 
 Oguri Sotan, 46, pi. 15. 
 
 GiNOSUKii (Kano), 52. 
 
 Oraha Shuntusai, 159. 
 
 Oramoto Hugkn, 89. 
 
 Okimono, 112. 
 
 Orio (.Maruvama), 87, pi. 29, 30, fig. 
 
 337 34 - 
 
 Orl'-mgra Masanobu, 63, 144,154, fig. Q ^. 
 
 Onishi Keisai, 104, pi. 44. 
 
 OoKA NO I.MIKI, 7. 
 
 OoRA Shunboku, 144. 
 
 Orihon, 120, fig. 51. 
 
 Oriuhon (Wang Lieh-pun), pi. 78. 
 OsANOBu (Kano), 103. 
 
 Oshi-yi, 161, fig. 74. 
 
 Ota Kixrin, 91, pi. 58. 
 
 Otsu-yb, 61. 
 
 Paper, varieties of, 166. 
 
 Peacock, pi. 33, fig. 36. 
 
 Perspective, 206, fig. 98, 99, 100, loi. 
 Pheasant, pi. 25, 44. 
 
 “ Phcfiiiix,” fig. 72. 
 
 PiEN Kinc-chao, 262, fig. 143. 
 
 Pien 'I's'l-io and the Rislii, pi. 72. 
 Pigeon, pi. 73. 
 
 PlNG-RIANG U-RIO, pi. 79. 
 
 Plaster basso-rilievo, pi. 48. 
 
 Porcelain, introduction of, 70. 
 
 Pottery. See Keramic Art. 
 
 Prehistoric .krt, i. 
 
 Printing, history of, 19. 
 
 Quin on lacquer, 134. 
 
 Rain scene, 215, fig. 106. 
 
 Ran-giihi, roi. 
 
 Rantokusai, pi. 64. 
 
 Rats, pi. 65, fig. 53, 122. 
 
 Reizen Tenno, 22. 
 
 I Reliquary, 19, pi. 6, fig. 3. 
 
 I Renzan Gantoru, ioo, fig. 84, 104. 
 
 I Richiuwa, 255. 
 
 RiCHU (IsHIB-ASHi), pi. C3. 
 
 Rifiiho, 78. 
 
 Rikei, 72 
 
 Rinken Hogen, 58. 
 
 Rinrio ( Lin Liang), 260. 
 
 Rioga (Taruma), 31, 
 
 ' Riurai, 50, 256. 
 
 Riuri (Li; Ki), 261. 
 
 PloRIN, 142, fig. 61. 
 
 Rioku, fig. 106. 
 
 RidZKN, 35. 
 
 Riozon (Taruma), 31. 
 
 RiriOmin (Li Lung-yen), 25S, pi, 72. 
 Risampei, 70. 
 
 Risei, 255. 
 
 Ritsuwo, 64, 79, 137 
 Riuririo, 46. 
 
 RiOsen (or Yanac.awa) Shig^nobu, 99. 
 Rizen (Li Tsien), 255. 
 
 Rokubei, 108. 
 
 RokuzO, 72. 
 
 Roofless interior, pi. 13, fig. 99. 
 
 Roren, fig. 103, 129. 
 
 Rosktsu (N.agasawa), 89. 
 
 Roshiu (Nagasawa) 89, pi. 30. 
 
 Sadahid^ (Giokuransai), 99. 
 
 Sadayasu, 40. 
 
 Sairiorio Yusei, 91. 
 
 Saito, 95. 
 
 Saron (Kano), fig. 42. 
 
 Sarurai Shiuz.an, 145. 
 
 S'akyamuni, eight incidents of Nirvana, 
 pi. 70. 
 
 San.setsu (K.ano), 54. 
 
 ' Satow on the pottery of Kodzuk^, 10, 20 ; 
 i on the history of printing, 19. 
 
 ' Screen pictures, 124, pi. 24, fig. 52. 
 Sculpture, it, 38, 75,112,136. See Wood 
 carvings, Netsukes, and Metal work. 
 Seiami, 78. 
 
 Scifu Yohei, loS. 
 
 Seikin Koji (Sirin KOsze), 261. 
 
 Seimin, 112. 
 
 Seisen Hogen, 103. 
 
 Seisuke, 71. 
 
 Sf:Risi), pi. 80. 
 
 Senkukushi, 83. 
 
 Sen-no-Rikiu, 84. 
 
 Sensai Yeitaru, 158. 
 
 Sessuiu, 47, pi. 17, fig. t6. 
 
 Sessliiu and the pictured rats, fig. 18. 
 
 Ses-SOn, 50, pi. 17. 
 
 Sha Buson, 47. 
 
 Sh.a-san-ro, 104. 
 
 Shiba Goran, 101, 158. 
 
 Shiba Keishun, 58. 
 
 Shiba Kwanshin (or Kanshin), 58. 
 Shiba Rinken, 58. 
 
 Shiba Sonkai, 58. 
 
 Shibata Gito, 89. 
 
 Shibata Zeshin, 91, 137, pi. 45, fig. 75. 
 Shigi^imasa (Kitawo), 93. 
 Shig£naga(Nishimura), 64, 93,154, 15S. 
 Shig^nobu (Yanagawa), 99. 
 
 Shih Ts’ao (S^kiso), pi. 80. 
 
 Shijb Naturalistic school, 86. 
 
 Shikio, pi. 52. 
 
 Shiko SOrin, 104. 
 
 Shi.mokawab£ Jiusui, 146. 
 
 , Shinbei, 71. 
 
 Shinki, 7. 
 
 Shinsho (Kano), 53. 
 
 Shirojiro (Kano;, 52. 
 
 Shiubun, 44, pi, 14. 
 
 Shiubun (Soga), 44. 
 
 SmuGETsu, 50, pi. 18. 
 
 Shiugo, 35. 
 
 Shiuho, 90, pi. 32. 
 
 Shiui, 35. 
 
 Shiuki, 104, fig. 114. 
 
 Shiuko (Murata), 83. 
 
 Shiutenduji, pi. 13. 
 
 Shiutoru, 50, pi. 15. 
 
 Shiuzan (Sarurai), 145. 
 
 Shiwogawa Bunrin, ioi, pi. 51, 55. 
 Shoga (Taruma), 31. 
 
 Siidi, 71. 
 
 Skbji, 122. 
 
 Shojo (Soga), 46. 
 
 Shokaken, 112. 
 
 Shorei, 58. 
 
 Shoki, pi. 45. 
 
 Shumin, in, 137. 
 
 Shondzui (Gorodaiyu), 69. 
 
 Shoriken Sennin (Chung-li K’iian), pi. 20. 
 ShoSen in Hoin, 103. 
 
 Shotoku Taishi, 21 ; portrait of, fig. 3. 
 Shoun, 76. 
 
 Shoyei (Kano), 53. 
 
 SnUMit (Kano), 57. 
 
 Shunboku (Ooka), 144. 
 
 Shuncho (Katsugaw.a), 154. 
 
 Shunchosai (Takahara), 94, pi. 28, fig. 
 
 67. 
 
 Shunkei, 38. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 2/5 
 
 Shunro, 95. 
 
 Shunsho (Katsugawa), 137, 154, 155, 
 
 156, pi, 46. 
 
 Shunsho (Yamamoto), 79, 137. 
 
 Shuntusai, 159. 
 
 Siebold, H. von, on Japanese Archeology, 
 3 . lo- 
 
 SlKIN KUSZE, 261. 
 
 Silk used in painting, 168. 
 
 Silver aiiplied to paintings, 174. 
 
 Snake and frogs, fig. 118. 
 
 Snow scene, pi. 54, fig. 107. 
 
 SoAMi, 46, 84. 
 
 SooA Chokuan, 46, fig. 17. 
 
 SOGA (lENSEN, 46. 
 
 SocA Jasoku, 45, pi. 16. 
 
 SOGA ShIUBUN, 44. 
 
 SOGA SHUJu, 46. 
 
 SOGA SoYO, 46. 
 
 Sohaku, 71, 72. 
 
 Suin, 75. 
 
 SOKEN (Kos6), 2 2. 
 
 Somin, 112. 
 
 SoNCHi (Kos£), 31. 
 
 SONKAI HoGEN, 58. 
 
 SoHiN (SniKo), 104. 
 
 SosEN (Mori), 89, pi. 30, 31, 42, 68, 
 
 fig, 3 (>- 
 
 SoSHIGAN, 47, 103. 
 
 SGshis6ki, 103. 
 
 SOTAN (OgURI), 45, pi. 15. 
 
 SOTATSU, 59. 
 
 Sotei, 75. 
 
 Southern school of Chinese painting, 261. 
 Sovo (Soga), 46. 
 
 Sparrows, jil. 40, fig. 84, 119, 143. 
 Squirrel and vine, pi. 77. 
 
 Stage tragedy, fig. 124. 
 
 Stencil pictures, 160, pi. 47. 
 
 Street scene, fig. 67, 105. 
 
 Sugawara no Michizane, 22. 
 
 SUGIMURA JiHEI MaSATAKA, 62. 
 SuKfiNOiiu (Nishigawa), 64, 65, 139, 
 146, fig. 18, 19, 65,79, 99. 
 
 SUMIYOSHI HiROKATA, 103. 
 
 SUMIYOSHl HiRO.MICHI, 59. 
 
 SUMlYOSHl HiROSADA, I03. 
 
 SuMivosHi Hirotsura, 103. 
 
 SUMIYOSHI HiROYUKI, 103. 
 
 SU.MIYOSIII HoGEN, 29. 
 
 Sun, representation of, 217. 
 
 Sung dynasty, painters of, 256. 
 
 Surimono, 156. 
 
 SuythirOy 12 8 . 
 
 SuvftYORi (Kano), 53. 
 
 Suzuki Harunobu, 93, 154, 155. 
 Swallow and willow-tree, pi. 25. 
 Sword-guards, designs for, fig, 71. 
 
 TaCHIBANA IVfORIKUNI, 64, I45, fig 59, 
 115. 116, 117, 136. 137. 
 
 Tadahika, 23. 
 
 Tadanobu (Kano), 103. 
 
 Taoa Chuko, 63. 
 
 Taianii, 78. 
 
 Taishin, in. 
 
 Taizan, 108. 
 
 'i'AK-ACHIKA (KaSUGA), 29. 
 
 'I'ak.ygi Kosuk6, 139. 
 
 Takakan^; (Tosa), 30. 
 
 Takamitsu (Tosa), 31. 
 
 j Takanobu, Fujiwara no, 29. 
 i Takanobu (Kano), 54. 
 
 Takaj-a-mono, fig. 135. 
 
 Takasago and Harima, the ancient couple 
 of, pi. 49. 
 
 Takayoshi (Kasuga), 29. 
 
 Takuma ChOga, 31. 
 
 TaKUMA jr.KO, 31. 
 
 Takuma Rioga, 31. 
 
 Takuma Riozon, 31. 
 
 Takuma Shoga, 31. 
 
 Takuma TAMf;His.A, 31. 
 
 Takuma T-ym^nari, 31. 
 
 Takuma TAMfird, 31. 
 
 Takuma Tam£Cji, 31. 
 
 Takuma TamIcvuki, 31. 
 
 Taku.ma Veiga, 31. 
 
 Takumi no Kami, 29. 
 
 TAMfiHiSA (Takuma), 31. 
 
 TamCiciii, 95. 
 
 Tam^nari (Takuma), 31. 
 
 'I'AMliTd (Takuma), 31. 
 
 Tame'tomo and the Demons, pi. 38. 
 
 Tameuji ('I'akuma), 31. 
 
 Tam6yuki (Takuma), 31. 
 
 Tamuro Gonzayemon, 70. 
 
 TanchO, 76. 
 
 T’ang dyna.sty, painters of, 254. 
 
 TANof; (Tsukiok.y), 146. 
 
 Tani Buncho, 104, fig. 40. 
 
 Tancen (Kano), 57, 71. 
 
 Tankei, 38. 
 
 Tano Chikuden, 103. 
 
 Tansetsu (Kano) 57. 
 
 Tanshin (Kano), 57. 
 
 Tanshinsa! Morimicui, 103. 
 
 Tanyu (Kano), 55, 161, pi. 23, 25, 
 fig. 20, 23, 120. 
 
 Tanzan (Tsurukawa), 108. 
 
 Tatemono, 10. 
 
 T.atsumasa, 95. 
 
 Tattooing, 162. 
 
 Tea-making appliances, fig. 32. 
 Technique of painting, 165. 
 
 Teijo, 112. 
 
 lekkai Sennin, pi. 43, figs. 20, 140. 
 Tengu, fig. 123. 
 
 “Tenjin Sama," 22. 
 
 1'enkai-kutsu, too. 
 
 Tenshin or Michinobu (Kano), 58. 
 Tessan (Mori), 9c. 
 
 Tessen, 126. 
 
 Tesshiu, 35. 
 
 Teyama, 72. 
 
 Tiger, 224, pi. 66, 67, fig. n6. 
 
 Tiles, 10. 
 
 Toba Sojo, 32. 
 
 Toba-ye, 32, fig. 10, ii, 12. 
 
 TuGAN, 50. 
 
 Tohaku (HasiIgawa), 53. 
 
 Tokitaro, 95. 
 
 Toko-no-ma, 116, fig. 43. 
 
 'I'UNAN, pi. 60. 
 
 Topographical handbooks, 148. 
 
 Turei (Hijikata), 103. 
 
 Tori Bussbi, 13. 
 
 ToRi't Kiyomasu, 64, 154. 
 
 Torii Kiyo.mitsu, 64. 
 
 ToRii Kiyonaca, 154. 
 
 ToRii Kiyonobu, 64, 144, 154. 
 
 Turiu, 112. 
 
 Turiusai, 112. 
 
 Tokiyama Sekiyen, 94. 
 
 Tortoises, pi. 60. 
 
 'I’osA Hikochika, 58. 
 
 Tosa Kunitaka, 30. 
 
 Tosa Mitsuaki, 30. 
 
 Tosa Mitsuchika, 58. 
 
 Tosa Mitsunobu, 58, fig. 121. 
 
 To.sa Mitsunori, 59. 
 
 Tosa Mitsuoki, 59. 
 
 To.sa Mit.susaua, 103, 
 
 Tosa Mitsuhhig^ 59. 
 
 Tosa Mitsuyoshi, 59. 
 
 Tosa Naga'I'aka, 30. 
 
 Tosa school, 58, 103. 
 
 Tosa Takakank, 30. 
 
 'I'osA 'Fakamit.su, 31. 
 
 'I'osA Tsune-mitsu, fig. 125. 
 
 Tosa Tsun^taka, 30. 
 
 Tosa Yoshimitsu, 30. 
 
 Tosa YuKimuf;, 58, 
 
 Tosai (Inagaki), ]j 1. 59. 
 
 Tosen (Walanabe), in, 137. 
 
 'loshiro, 37. 
 
 TOshun (Kano), 58. 
 
 Touch, various styles of, 1S8, fig. 86 to 
 95- 
 
 Toun (Haskgawa), 65. 
 
 Toun (Kano), 57, 112. 
 
 Toyei (KiuhO), pi. 66. 
 
 Toyohiko, 89. 
 
 Toyohiro (Utagawa), 94. 
 
 Tovokuni (Utagaw’a), 94, 154, fig. 109. 
 Toyonobu (Ishik.awa), 64. 
 
 Toyosuke, 110. 
 
 Trees and flowers, representation of, 220. 
 2 'suchi-nin^w, 10. 
 
 Tsui-koku, 79, 136. 
 
 Tsui-shiu, 79, 136. 
 
 Tsuitate, 124, fig. 52. 
 
 Tsukioka TANci, 146. 
 
 T-SUNksiiTSU ('I'osa), fig. 125. 
 T.sun£nobu (Kano), 57, 58, pi. 25. 
 TsuNf;NORi, 23. 
 
 TsuNf:TAKA (Tosa), 30. 
 
 Tsuruzawa Tanzan, 57. 
 
 Uckm'a, 129. 
 
 UuA Tenno, 22. 
 
 Ukiyo-ye school, 93. 
 
 Umashi-niate, pi. 35. 
 
 Unkei, 38. 
 
 Unkoku, 48. 
 
 Utagawa Kunisada, 99, fig. 124, 12S. 
 Utagawa Kunivoshi, 99. 
 
 Utagawa Toyohiro, 99. 
 
 Utagawa Tovokuni, 99, 154, fig. 109. 
 Utamaro, 93, 154, iS5 . 158- 
 Utanosuke (Kano), 53. 
 
 UTANOSUKt (GaNKU), IOO. 
 
 Vairotchana, fig. 6. 
 
 Vimalakirtti, pi. iS. 
 
 riu, 28. 
 
 \\’AN-cmN, jjl. 76. 
 
 Wang Lieh-pun, pi. 78. 
 
 \\’ang Wei, 255. 
 
 Wang Yuen-chang, pi. 77. 
 
 Wanjin, 71. 
 
 B'atanabe Tosen, in, 137. 
 
PICTORIAL ARTS OF JAPAN. 
 
 276 
 
 Water, representation of, 218, pi. 53, fig. 
 110. 
 
 Wood carvings, pi. i, 4, 5, 6, 49, fig. 3, 14, 
 72. 73- 
 
 Wood, varieties used in painting, 169. 
 Wood engraving, 140. 
 
 Wu Tao-tsz’, 254, pi. 70, 71. 
 
 Yamada Doan, 50. 
 
 Yamamoto Shunshu, 79, 137. 
 
 Yamato school, 28, 29, 58. 
 
 Yamato-takt^, pi. 35. 
 
 YaNACAWA SHIGliNOBU, 99. 
 
 Yanagisawa Kiyen, 46. 
 
 Yasunobu (Kano), 55, 57, pi. 24. 
 
 Yeiga (Takuma), 31. 
 
 Yeino (Kano), 58, pi. 63. 
 
 Yeiraku, 108. 
 
 Yeisen in Hoin (Kano), 58, 103. 
 Yeitaku (Sensai), 158. 
 
 Yeitoku (Kano), 53. 
 
 Yeishi, 154, 155. 
 
 Y^ktshin (Kano), 57. 
 
 Yen Li-pun, 254. 
 
 Yen Li-teh, 254. 
 
 Yenichibo Seinin, 31. 
 
 Yufuku, 8. 
 
 Yokoya Somin, 75. 
 
 Ydro cascade. The water turned into 
 wine, pi. 49. 
 
 Yusai (Kikuchi), 91, 157, pi. 34, 35, fig. 
 
 8, 82, 127, 131. 
 
 Yosen in Hoin, 103. 
 
 Yosetsu (Kano), 53. 
 
 Yoshimasa, 78, 83. 
 
 Yoshimitsu (Tosa), 30. 
 
 Yoshimura Shiuzan, 78. 
 
 Yoshinawo, 40. 
 
 Yoshinobu (Kano), 58. 
 
 Yoyusai (Hara), 137. 
 
 Yueh Shan, fig. 141. 
 
 Yuen Ying, 255. 
 
 Yuh Kien, 256. 
 
 Yuima Koji, pi. iS. 
 
 YOji, 137- 
 
 YuKiHiDi; (Tosa), 58. 
 
 Yukinaga (Kasuga), 29. 
 
 Yukknobu (Kano), 53. 
 
 Yusei (Saikiorio), 91, pi. 33. 
 
 Yusetsu (Kano), 53. 
 
 Yusetsu (Mori), 109. 
 
 Yutei (Ishida), 87. 
 
 Yuzayemon, 75. 
 
 Zaichiu (Hara), 91. 
 
 Zaimei (Hara), 91. 
 
 Zaisho (Hara), 91, fig. 102. 
 
 Zengo (Nishiraura), 108. 
 
 Zengoro Riozen, 108. 
 
 ZisHiN (Shibata), 91, III, 137, pi. 45, 
 
 %• 75- ^ 
 
 Zogan - nnri , 137. 
 
 Zujoji, Abbot of —picture of Amitabha, 
 pi. 10. 
 
 Zokoku - nitri , 136. 
 
 Zoroku, 108. 
 

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