BackNo.49
JANUARY 1936
STUDIES ON THE PICTURE REPRESENTING AMITABHA RISING OVER HILLS.
BY MASUTO TOYOOKA
The iconogrphic representation of the so-called "Yamagoshi Amida" (Amitabha rising over hills) is said to have been inveted by Eshin Sozu, also called Genshin (942-1017), a precursor of the Jodo doctrine in Japan and the author of the "Ojo Yoshu" (Essentials of Salvation). The tradition tells us that he transferred the inspired vision of the Amida Trinity to silk when he was practising religious austerities at Yokawa.
Whether or not the above tradition is true, the symbolic character of the "Yamagoshi Amida" is proper to the Japanese. There are represented Amida and attendant Boddhisattvas appearing over a hill range to welcome the soul of the faithful, but no figure of the faithful is painted. This suggest that the aim of the painting was not to propagate the doctrine of the Pure Land by showing an apparition of the Buddha and a happy end of the faithful. Instead, the painting itself was an object of their worship.
The golden radiance of the heavenly persons contrasts with the fresh green of hills and trees. It arouses in our mind an impressive image of brilliant sunset. And if one recalls the death-bed scenes as described in the literature of the Fujiwara period, together with the fact that the practise of "Nissokan" (an invocation of Amida while facing towards the setting-sun) was then in vogue, one finds a close relation between the representation or the "Yamagoshi Amida" and the sunset atomosphere.
There are three characteristic "Yamagoshi" pictutes now existent: one in the Konkaikomyoji Monastery, one in the Zenrinji Monastery and one in the collection of Mr. Riichi Ueno in Osaka.
The Konkaikomyoji picture is composed of three screens. The Amida Trinity is presented on the centre screen; on the two side screens are painted separatedly Paradise, Hell and the Terrestrial World. (P1. IX. Colors on silk, 105 cm. in height) To Amida's fingers are attached coloured cords which were originally so long that they could be grasped by the faithful lying on his death-bed, and thus the Buddha could draw him into Paradise.
In the zenrinji picture, the attendant Boddhisattvas are painted as appearing on this side of the hill. There are also depicted four Guardian Kings, two boy gods and a Sanakrit character. "Yamagoshi Amida" in the Ueno collection is the most ingenious of the three. (P1. II & III. Kakemono. Colors on silk. 120 cm. x 85.5 cm). Here, Amida stands slightly turning to the left, with the result that complete symmetry is lost in this composition. Luxurious coloring of the landscape is in perfect harmony with gleaming figures of the Buddha and Boddhisattvas. The enchantingly superb effect of cut-gold is almost unrivaled.
These three pictures are all painted in the Kamakura period. It seems, however, that among the above three creations the Konkaikomyoji picture most faithfully follows in style the prototype of the Yamagoshi Amida, whereas the other two have forms more or less developed than the Konkaikomyoji picture.
ON THE ALBUMS OF "JUBEN JUGI" PAINTED BY TAIGA AND BUSON.
BY SOKURO WAKIMOTO
"Juben Jugi" (Ten Conveniences and Ten Comforts) is a poem improvised by Li Li-weng, a poet pf the Chinese Ch
'ing dynasty, who is known as an editor of the famous "Ch'ich-tzu-yuan.hua-chuan." The poet glories in the happiness of a hermit life, citing ten convenient and comfortable circumstances which can be enjoyed in a mountain retreat.
The ideas expressed in the poem had stirred the fancies of Ike Taiga and Yosa Buson, the twin stars of the Nanga school in this country, with the result that they were inspired to create an art-expression of the poem.
Taiga illustrates the "Ten Conveniences " as follow:
(1)Convenience for cultivation, (2)Convenience for getting drinking water, (3)Convenience for washing clothes, (4)Convenience for watering a flower-garden, (5)Convenience for fishing, (6)Convenience for keeping a farm, (8)Convenience for getting fuel, (9)Convenience for night-watching, (10)Convenience for commanding fine views from wide-open windows.
Buson painted the "Ten Comforts" as follows:
(1)Comfprt in spring, (2)Comfort in summer, (3)Comfort in autumn, (4)Comfort in winter, (5)Comfort at dawn, (6)Comfort at dusk, (7)Comfort on fine day, (8)Comfort on a windy day, (9)Comfort on a cloudy day, (10)Comfort on a rainy day.
These are charmingly painted in Ink and tint on paper, 17.9 cm. square, and now bound in two albums. The exquisite beauty of their composition and brush-work is beyond description. No doubt the genius of the masters is fully displayed in these albums.
Taiga(1725-1776) is said to have studied painting chiefly on the model of Chinese copy books such as "Ch'ich-tzu-yuan-hua-chuan," "Hsiao-chih-mu-huap'u," etc. But his lofty, unworldly spirit enabled him to catch the real spirit of Nature, so that his paintings are full of poetic imaginations.
An eminent master of the Haikai epigram, Buson (1716-1783) was equally great in literati painting. He was also principally self-taught, and studied direct from Chinese originals. His art is characterized by refinement of sentiment.
ON THE ETCHINGS BY AODO DENZEN.
BY TEI NISHIMURA
Aodo Denzne is known as an artist who has completed an art of etching in the Tokugawa period.
Denzen, surnamed Nagata and sometimes called Seizando, Ao, or Aochinjin, was born in 1748 at Sukagawa, a small post-town in the nothern province.
He studied painting first under a monk named Gessen, then entered the studio of Tani Buncho under the patronage of Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu.
There are various opinions on the circumstances in which he learned the art of etching. According to one tradition he was in Nagasaki in 1799 by order of Matsudaira Sadanobu, and studied etching under a certain Dutch painter. This seems to be indredible, for etching was not yet practised in Nagasaki in the last decade of the eighteenth century. Another tradition tells us that he was taught the art of etching by Shiba Kokan. But this is far from the facts. Kokan kept his process strictly secret. Moreovers, there was an unfriendly feeling between Kokan and Matsudaira Sadanobu who was a patron of Denzen. (to be continued)
P1. I. Plate of Kokutani painted with Floers and Birds.
Size: 19.5 cm. in Diameter, 3 cm. in Height.
In the Collection of Mr. Matasaku Shiobara, Tokyo.
There are fine examples of Kokutani in Mr. Shibara's collection, among which a large dish decorated with flowers and birds has alrdady been presented in this journal.
Another specimen of Kokutani from the same collection is shown here-a fine plate painted with flowers and birds.
It is a late specimen for Kokutani ware, but its nicely-balanced design and melodious color-scheme claim our attentions.
P1. IV. Melon and Bamboo Shoots. BY YOGETSU.
Painted in Ink on Paper. Mounted Kakemonos.
Size of each Painting: H. 114 cm., W. 39.8 cm.
In the Hojuin Monastery, Wakayama-ken.
In our publication No.43 we reproduced "Tenjin in Sung" painted by Yogetsu, a talented but unrecorded priest-painter of the Ashikaga period.
Again we introduce here more examples of his ink-painting. These still-life works display a characteristic of his art-aloofuness from the workaday world.
It is said that the pictures above reproduced made originally a triptych together with a kakemono representing monkeys which is now missing.