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The Tale of Gengi, Murasaki Shikibu, Heian Period, Japan 1st century

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The Tale of Gengi, Murasaki Shikibu, Heian Period, Japan 1st century

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The tale of Genji is assumed to have 54 chapters with about one to three pictures in each chapter. Roughly 20 pictures from The Tale of Genji survive today the others are not none to what happened to them but we can guess they were ripped out of the chapters and sold. The novel had five teams for creating the illustrations the nobleman, principal artists, and pigment specialists. In the illustrations they used the term “Line for an Eye, hook for a nose” They did not like having fascial features recorded as it was a superstition. Another technique is the blown-off roof which is where you can have insight on what the house looks like inside. You could see if it was in disarray or clean. The whole story is in onna-e which depicts private emotion more introverted style. A story about Gengi in the novel is that he had a lot of affairs and one of them was that his dad had many wives he got with one of the wives and later she had the baby. They never told Gengi's dad about this and he had to live with that his whole life watching someone take care of his kid. In the Suzumushi II Chapter, a picture shows a poetry competition happening, and that is when the son realizes who his real father is. Gengi's true son is Emperor Reizei. Shikibu also put facial expressions in his paintings as well The Tale of Gengi has two different unique themes to the novel one being mono no aware which is pathos of things and the last theme is karma which is Gengi sinned the whole story.

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Animal scroll, taba Sojo, Heian period, japan, 1st century 

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Animal scroll, taba Sojo, Heian period, japan, 1st century 

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The Animal Scroll was written during the Heian period in Japan which consists of four scrolls. There is no written document to see who made the scroll but people believe the Buddhists made it. They at least know the High Mountain Temple owned it from the stamps on it. The animal scroll is an otoko-e style. This style shows different classes, choreographic lines, facial expressions, and everyday life scenes. What's unique about this scroll is that there is no text at all simply reading it by the actions of the figures in the scroll. It has four scrolls so that you can visualize a story going on. The scroll has rolling hills which is Yamato-e style which means Japanese pictures no more of the Chinese mountains. When reading the scroll you can see various scenes of archery competitions, one owl, a monk, and some animals. The scroll also had aristocrats; you can see these by the hats they are wearing. The animals that are wearing the clocks would be the Shinto priests. The animals that are wearing straw hats are peasants. The animals you can kind of picture what age they are because it is shown by the markings on their face. In one scene they are having a ceremony where the animal appears to be Amida Budda. Another saw a monkey receiving gifts and the people giving are receiving good karma. They are gifting fancy objects to receive good karma. Some may believe that the bunny wanted some good karma. In another scene they have a where there is a dead frog then they are celebrating the life of the dead frog.

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Wang Xizhi Feeding Geese, Qian Xuan, Yuan Dynasty, China, 13th century

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Wang Xizhi Feeding Geese, Qian Xuan, Yuan Dynasty, China, 13th century

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This week we learned about artist Qian Xuan who lived in Wuxing. He is one of the most famous painters in the Song Dynasty. Qian is also known to be part of the Eight Talents of Wuxing. He was sent an invitation to join Kublai Khan in Dadu. Qian refused this invitation. He did not want anything to do with the Mongols who invaded China and took over. His painting was painting of the past because he wanted to preserve Chinese history. He wanted to celebrate and push back the Mongols to show that he and his people were the originals. The painting that we are looking at is by Qian Xuan. This painting is drawn onto a hand scroll. When looking at the picture closely you will see little dots called “Ma Dots” a past inspiration of artist Ma Yuan. These are on the trees and mountains.  To the right there are little huts that were drawn with some kind of straight edge called “Polar Lines” and these are also used on the pavilion as well to the left of the picture. He used a Dry brush to create the grass area under the trees, toward the bottom of the mountains, and some of the trees. To the left of the picture is the pavilion where two people are looking out at the two geese.  A lot of Chinese artists used blank spaces known for water. I know this is water by looking at the edges of the land where Qian drew some sand bars and there is some brush as well.  The stamps that you see are the people who owned the painting, and the black wording is a poem.

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Wandering in the Fuchun Mounatins by Huang Gongwang

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Wandering in the Fuchun Mountains, Huang Gongwang, Yuan Dynasty, China, 13th  century

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Wandering in the Fuchun Mountains, Huang Gongwang, Yuan Dynasty, China, 13th  century

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Huang Gongwang is part of the “four great masters” of the Yuan dynasty who was adopted by a family.  He got a job as a clerk once he passed the civil service examination. The Mongols unfortunately targeted him and charged him with tax fraud and out to jail for a little bit. After he got out, he fled to the Fuchun mountains for his retirement. To stay away from the Mongols as well. The painting above called the “Wandering in the Fuchun Mountains” took him 4 years to complete because painting was not his job, it was more of a hobby to him as he painted whenever he wanted. The painting is a handscroll that is 22 feet long and he used a brush and ink. The painting today is in two pieces because the owner who had it at the time wanted it burned when he died but the nephew thought it was wrong to destroy a painting that someone took a lot of time to create, He knows that when he paints that he never paints under stress.  In this picture, he loves to crop off the top of the mountains, and his use of horizontal strokes for trees in the mid-ground, and the distance create a sense of death. He also uses blank space towards the left side of the handscroll for the water traveling through the mountains. He also has distinctive outlines for the little structures to the left of the pictures, not too many details because the nature part was more important to him. When you open this, it is intended to be like you are traveling through the mountains since it is a horizontal painting, and you are opening by section.

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Shen Zhou "Landscape in the Manner of Ni Zan" on the left. Dai Jin "Returning Home at Evening" on the right. 

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Returning Home at Evening and Landscape in the manner of Ni Zan, Dai Jin  vs Shen Zhou (Ming Dynasty) comparison 13th century

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Returning Home at Evening and Landscape in the manner of Ni Zan, Dai Jin  vs Shen Zhou (Ming Dynasty) comparison 13th century

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I am comparing Dai Jin's picture called “Returning Home at Evening” and Shen Zhou's picture called “Landscape in the manner of Ni Zan.” These two people were well known for their pictures. Dai Jin was one of the people who created Zhe School, known as the Northern School, which is more for professional painters than painting as a job. Shen Zhou is one of the people who created Wu School, known as the Southern School, which is for people who paint for personal reasons. Dain Jin and Shen Zhou both painted inspirations of the four great masters. But the ways they painted were quite different in the aspects of the four great masters. Dai Jin's painting used a zig-zag path so when looking at it you were traveling through it and Shen Zhou did not really have that aspect in his pictures. Dai Jin's paintings were almost exact replicas of the four great masters. Shen Zhou's painting had a little part in his picture that you could tell was a shoutout. They both used their ma dots differently Shen Zhou used smudged ma dots and Dai Jin used ma dots that were not smudged. Where they used their ma dots between the two paintings were similar because they were used on the mountains to create the brush and the trees on the mountains. They both had a person in both paintings that were under shelter. Dai Jin's painting did use what the Chinese were known for the use of walls and Shen Zhou did not use walls in his painting. Dai Jin's painting has his mountains in his picture like they were floating or like it was foggy outside. The Shen Zhou mountains were all connected and had more details than his mountains. I would say Dai Jin trees had more life to them versus Shen Zhou trees which look dead. Overall, the paintings are similar but also quite different. They both had trees, mountains, shelter, and water but they were all painted very differently.

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Winter landscape, Sesshu, Muromachi period, Japan, 13th century

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Winter landscape, Sesshu, Muromachi period, Japan, 13th century

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During the Muromachi period in Japan, an artist called Sesshu learned to paint from Shudun.  Sesshu left a small town and then created his studio called Unkokuan which stored his art. Sesshu wanted to travel to China so he had to prove himself to a wealthy family to sponsor him. He could not paint in a temple during his career because he could not afford it like the others. He was invested in Chinese painting, which is one of the reasons he wanted to go. He did indeed find a family, the Ouchi family, from 1467 to 1469 to sponsor his travels in China.  He traveled all over China looking through Buddhist temples, some scenic routes he took as well, and including Beijing. After visiting these places he was inspired to paint a dry landscape called  Winter Landscape, which was also a hanging scroll. This painting is very unique when looking at it. There is a black line down the middle in the background. On one side some scraps look like it could be wind or a winter storm coming in. On the left side, it looks like it could be mountains covered in snow, maybe some building, or a cave. The left side questions what you are looking at and makes you second-guess yourself no one knows the true answer. Another area is the zig-zag motion your eyes do when following the path to the pavilion. Another big-name painting he was inspired by was called Landscape which had similar aspects to the Winter Landscape.

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Forbidden City (top) and Ming Tombs (Bottom)

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The Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs, Ming Dynasty, China, 13th century

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The Forbidden City and the Ming Tombs, Ming Dynasty, China, 13th century

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The forbidden city and Ming tombs were both built out of the modular system. They both used the 8 class ranks when building. The Forbidden City used adhesives or fasteners to secure sections of the building, which was interesting, not nails to secure the building together. The Ming Thombs did not use fasteners in their structures. The Ming Thombs did use something similar to lincoln logs. The brackets they used for the Forbidden City were originally used for brackets but now are for decoration. They both were made from wood, so they were very flammable. If a section of the building were to rot or get destroyed, they were able to fix it easily with the parts. The buildings can be redesigned easily from a prince's residence to a lamasery. The tops of the buildings use a gold color that uses ceramic roof tiles. In the Forbidden City and the Ming tombs, all the buildings faced the south because they would face the sun towards heaven. They both did have the same set on how the buildings and the courtyards are placed. The buildings have the same color scheme going on with the gold on the top and the red on the sides. The Forbidden City is in Beijing. It was built by the Ming Dynasty in China. It measures from 960 meters north to south and 760 meters from east to west. The gates on each side are two main entrances and two side entrances. It has two, the southern half and the northern half. Three Great Halls are in the southern part and Three Back Halls in the north. What happened in the building was the emperor held ceremonies, and affairs, and entertained his people. There are four basic building types of Gates, Hall, Tower, and Pavillion in the forbidden city. The Ming tombs held the emperor's bodies underground. The tombs were protected by a pathway that was 1.1 kilometers that had a curve to keep the evil spirits out. The pathway has 12 pairs of stone animals, 12 pairs of stone men, 4 pairs of officials, and a pair of stone pillars. The animals were either kneeling or standing. The men could not kneel because they could not rest when the emperor was in sight. Having the animals standing or kneeling means rest and activity.

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Himeji Castle, Momoyama Period, where Daiymos lived and protected by their army.

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Daimyos, Momoyama Period, Japan, 15th century

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Daimyos, Momoyama Period, Japan, 15th century

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There was a war that lasted for 100 years called “The Onin War”  which began in Kyoto. The results of this war were that Kyoto was basically destroyed, eventually spread all over the country, and Ashikaga shogun was destroyed. What came out of this war was that the Momoyama feudal system and the Daimyos came to be a thing. Daimyos were advisors to the shogun and controlled an army of Samurai. They were in charge of their provinces. Daimyos to become a shogun had to prove to the emperor that they had power and could be in charge. The only way they could be a shogun in the emperor was to recognize them. Three Daimyos were trying to run to be a shogun. The first one was Oda Nobunaga. In the 1560s he created his army and went to Kyoto to take control of the Ashikaga Shogunate. He did get his way and ruled for 14 years in Kyoto. He did not get recognized as a shogun because he was ambushed by his own general and forced to commit a ritual death. The second person was Toyoyomi Hideyoshi. He was a samurai who wanted to prove that he was ruler but unfortunately did not get his chance to become a shogun because he also died.  The third person is Tokugawa Leyasu he planned this brutal attack on the Hideyoshi family killed them all and put all their head outside. The emperor was scared of him and made him a Shogun. The Tokugawa rule lasted for 250 years called the Monoyama Period. The art now compared to earlier was that the doors were open to trade with China. They could also afford stuff like gold to put on their paintings.

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Landscape, Badashanren, Qing Dynasty, China, 16th century 

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Landscape, Badashanren, Qing Dynasty, China, 16th century 

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I will be writing about Badashanren his real name is Zhu Da he is known to be a part of the Four Great Monk Painters. He was known to be a cheerful person always talking to people. Badashanren was an imperial prince until he was 18 years old because the Ming Dynasty fell.  His name means Dweller of the Eight Great Mountains. Also, how he signed his name were the characters for “laugh” and “cry. " After the Ming Dynasty fell, he went into a state of depression and refused to speak for 10 years. After 10 years he was anti-social and did some odd stuff in public. He then turned to Buddhism for about 20 years. Eventually, he leaned towards paintings and calligraphy as he grew older. He was known for the style of xieyi which means sketching ideas in his paintings. In his paintings, you can tell he tried to use as little brush strokes as he could. The picture above is Badashanren landscape picture, a very unique picture that he painted. This painting had a similar style to Dong Qichang you put the two next to each other. Looking at the picture it is more of a messier style of painting. He used smudged ink dots to create leaves on the trees and some grass or brush on the mountains. What was new to me was the use of circles that he used for the trees not too many Chinese pictures I believe have this. He did have a sign of life on the left of the mountains with some type of structure. I believe the Qing dynasty paintings are related to the Yuan and Ming dynasty pictures. They were similar in because they had socio-political meanings. Just looking at the paintings from them they always use the same technique when painting. They all used ma-dots when painting. They always paint nature or some type of animal. The people that we looked at for their paintings were always someone who had some type of “bigger role” in their dynasty.

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Finger Paintings, Gao Qipei, Qing Dynasty, China, 16th Century

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Finger Paintings, Gao Qipei, Qing Dynasty, China, 16th Century

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Gao Qipei was a Machu painter from south China who painted with his fingertips. He was known as an eccentric. Lots of people didn't like him because he was Manchu. He was well known in the Qing Dynasty; he was a vice president on the board of justice for the Qing Emperor and lieutenant general of one of the Qing banner regiments. They are people who never formed an organization, for example, a school or group.  They wanted to paint freely and express their individuality. The odd thing is that he came up with a painting with his fingernails from a dream one night. He was worried about having original paintings. He never once painted with a brush. He just simply wanted to be himself when painting and started his unique style of painting that he wanted to be known for. He doesn't just paint with his fingertips he also paints with his thumbs, side of his hand, and palm. He was so committed to painting with his fingernails that he even split one of his nails to have a different look in his paintings. His paintings were of landscapes. When using his fingertips and looking at his pictures they are almost similar to where you would use Ma Dots on paintings tree leaves, brush, and grass. He had an album called Album Leaf where he had several paintings in it. A lot of them showed some kind of life in the picture whether it was a person, house, or animal. Just looking at his paintings you would probably not guess that this was made by fingernails or parts of his hands. Gao Qipei uses color in his paintings that brings them more to life.

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"The appearance of Yoshiwara" by Hishikawa Moronobu

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The appearance of Yoshiwara, Hishikawa Moronobu, Edo Period, Japan, 17th century

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The appearance of Yoshiwara, Hishikawa Moronobu, Edo Period, Japan, 17th century

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Hishikawa Moronobu is one of the earliest artists to do ukiyo-e style during the 17th century. Ukiyo-e means pictures of the floating world.  His family was known for fabric decorators and embroiderers.  He was known for Edo-themed single sheets sets. What is known as woodblock prints they could only use black ink at the time called sumizuri-e. Moronobu left his family in his home city during the 1670s to go to Edo, where he started his career in printed book illustrations. He was also known to be the first person to sign the name of his prints in unique ways that did not stick out to the person looking at the print. One of the famous  prints that I will be talking about Moronbu was called “The Appearance of Yoshiwara.” This print was an interior scene known as the blown-off roof technique of the Yoshiwara meeting with their clients. Give people more insight into what was happening at the Yoshiwara. Most people wanted to attend this but it was really expensive to go. The people in this print are generic people you will not recognize a person in this print. Most had similar facial appearances. It is hand colored with watercolors. Moronobu's signature was in a unique spot that it would not stick out printed on a wall off to the left side. His signature was never handprinted. They had people sit in the waiting area and they would buy things waiting for the Yoshiwara to come out. That's why it was so expensive. He was also known for other prints as well.

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The Lake at Hakone (top), Under Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa (Bottom)

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Under Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa, Hiroshige, The Lake at Hakone, Hokusai, Edo Period, Japan, 18th century

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Under Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa, Hiroshige, The Lake at Hakone, Hokusai, Edo Period, Japan, 18th century

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I am comparing Katushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige prints in this reading. They are both Nishiki-e styles made out of woodblock that are uniquely multiple colors. Hokusai started his career in the '70s that's when he started to get famous. So his job was concisely lived. If you wanted to learn how to draw like Hokusai you would have to purchase a Hokusai Manga 15-volume book. This how-to-draw book had no organization; it was completely random. For the print from Hokusai, I will compare one of his prints from The Thirty-Six View of Mount Fuji called Under Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa. Hiroshige had to grow up at a very young age of 12. His father and mother passed away when Hiroshige was 12yrs. Hiroshige then had to be the Fire Warden at such a young age. That's when he started to get involved with art. At the age of 26yrs, he escaped being the fire warden to pursue his dream of being an artist. He worked under Tokihito for 17 years of his career at the Utagawa school. He is very famous for taking a 13-day trip down the Tokaido highway where he created a series called Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido. This made him a landscape artist who grew his fame. The print I will be comparing is from his series called The Lake at Hakone. For Hokusai print Under Mannen Bridge in Fukagawa he uses more realistic color for his painting. Hiroshige did not. Hiroshige used blue, yellow, and red for his mountains. Hokusai used a very dark blue which almost looks black in the print. Hiroshige had more focus on the mountains as it appeared more zoomed in. Hokusai seems to take you almost on a path to look at his mountain because you look at the bridge then the side walls then next you are looking off into the distance looking at Mount Fuji.