BackNo.83
NOVEMBER 1938
This summary is compiled by Mr. TAKASHI KATSUKI.
SCROLL PAINTINGS: THE KOYA DAISHI GYOJO ZUE OF JIZOIN
BY JIRO UMEZU
In the Bijutsu Kenkyu, No. LXXVII the present writer wrote about the Kobo Daishi Eden of the Ikeda family and the Koso (Kobo) Daishi Himitsu Engi, both scroll paintings. and the present paper is a part of the general study of the illustrated biography of priest Kobo Daishi. The Koya (Kabo) Daishi Gyojo Zue of Jizoin is a complete set in six volumes which consist of the texts and illustrations in fifty sections respectively. The date of production is believed to be between the end of the Kamakura Period and the beginning of the Ashikaga and it is one of the most important scrolls remaining today in which the lives of celebrated prelates are dealt with.
In this paper the special emphases are laid on the date of compilation of the illustrated biography of Koya (Kobo) Daishi in six volumes consisting of fifty sections of texts and pictures each of which is represented by the present Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue scrolls and on their relations to those of other kinds--which are herewith represented by the Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue of the Genne Era in ten volumes. The latter is so called because it is dated the first year of Genno (1319) at the end of the last scroll although the original ones are now completely lost.
The Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue of the Genno Era is provided with texts and illustrations divided into ninetyone each, whereas, the first forty-nine texts and illustrations roughly correspond to those of the scrolls of Jizoin. Next, a question arises as to whether the scrolls of Jizoin consist of the selections from those of the Genno Era or these latter consist of the former with some additions.
With this point in mind the present author compares both scrolls especially in regard to the construction including the style and arrangement of the captions and the contents of the texts. In the scrolls of the Genno Era are found confusions in style and contents which facts are likely possible under the presumption that the Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue of the Genno Era would have been made up of the Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue of Jizoin with some additions.
Accordingly, the orighal illustrated biography of Koya (Kobo) Daishi in six volumes as exemplified by the Jizoin scrolls is considered to have existed before the scrolls of the Genno Era, that is to say, previous to the first year of the same Era (1319). Furthemore, a paragraph found in the fifth volume of the present Jizoin scrolls tells us that a celebrated garden Shinsen-en in Kyoto became much desolated after the Kempo Era (1213-1218) although the garden was once repaired by Hojo Yasutoki who died some years before the same paragraph was written.
Judging from the statement the original text of the same scrolls seems to have been written not much after the death of Yasutoki which occurred in the third year of Ninji (1242)--and it may be sometime in the Bun-ei Era (1264-1274), the present writer says. The Kobo Daishi Gyojo Zue in six volumes as well as the Kobo Daishi Himitsu Engi, therefore, are agreed upon as the earliest examples among other illustrated biographies of various Daishis and particularly the former as a prototype of the scrolls of the Genno Era.
The present scrolls of Jizoin were apparently not produced in the Bun-ei Era as seen in the style of painting but, according to the present author, those are the earliest examples of the kind which remain today and in which are found the older elements in style as compared with that of the Genno Era.
Although the present exponent does not give a definite date for the Jizoin scrolls the reason that the date has ambiguously been set between the end of the Kamakura Period and the beginning of the Ashikaga may be attributed to the nature of the scrolls and to the fact that they are reproductions.
The first among six scrolls of the Jizoin was destroyed by fire and the present one is a reproduction by the pupils of Kano Yoshin, after a copy previously made by Yoshin and this was donated to the Jizoin temple in the eleventh year of Tempo (1840).
Attached to the end of the present paper is a diagram in which the comparisons of the titles of each section of each scroll and the contents of each of the illustrated scrolls of the life of Koya (Kobo) Daishi in six scrolls, of the Genno Era, and other extant examples related to them are carefully worked out.
PORTRAIT OF TAKIZAWA KINREI BY KAZAN
BY TEIZO SUGANUMA
The present author has mentioned the Portrait of Takizawa Kinrei in his general study of portrait painting by Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841) which appeared in the Bijhtsu Kenkyu, No. XVIII. In the present paper, however, the same portrait is treated with such detail as has been attempted by no one else before.
The sitter is a son of the famous writer Takizawa Bakin, who studied painting as a boy and knew the artist Kazan. His poor health. however, discouraged him from becoming an artist and later he became a physician but died before his father at the age of thirty-eight.
The grief-stricken father engaged Kazan to draw the portrait of his son while he was in a critical condition. Kazan, however, could only draw a sketch of Kinrei posthumously and the present portrait being based on the sketch was completed a year later in May of the seventh year of Tempo (1836) when the artist was at the age of forty-three. This is not, therefore, a portrait painted from life but an imaginary portrait of the sitter in his life time which was based on the drawing as mentioned above. There are known to be a couple of other portraits by Kazan, done in the same way.
The eerie appearance of the sitter is suggestive of his premature death and the borders of the hair and eyes are particularly life-like. Kinrei was born weak and seems to have had an inclination toward ingenuousness. In these respects Kazan as an outstanding portraitist in modern times did not fail to reveal his skill. The technique used is careful and severe. The coloring is low but excellent and the plastic treatment of the subject is a successful adaptation of that found in European painting. It was a year later (1837) that the famous portraits of Takami Senseki and of Ichikawa Beian (Both reproduced in the Bijutsu Kenkyu, No. XVIII) were executed by the same artist. The present Portrait of Takizawa Kinrei, therefore, was a work produced during the acme of Kazan's art.
The state of things concerning the present portrait was recorded by Bakin in detail and which is also referred to in the present paper. Bakin who possibly became acquainted with Kazan through his son Kinrei admired Kazah's personality and art, and Kazan was pleased at Bakin's kindness. Not only the friendship between Bakin and Kazan is revealed in the foregoing document but also in letters exchanged among their friends. Thus, the present work is a masterpiece of portraits by Kazan and is also a monument relating the episode of two well-known artists in modern times.
SHUBUN--Corups of Eastern Arts, Series VI--
BY HAJIME WATANABE
Shubun is one of the painters whose careers have been most ambiguous. He was believed to have been a naturalized Ming Chinese and the father of Soga Jasoku, the famous painter whose art flourished in the Bummei Era (1469-1486). This belief, however, is without foundation. On the other hand, there was a naturalized painter by the name of Li Shubun who also founded the Soga School, according to another tradition. But, whether these two artists are the same person is open to question. Furthermore, due to the similarity of the name of the famous priest-painter Shubun of the Sokokuji temple, Kyoto, to the other two, the biographies of these three people have been confused.
Having examined the theories concerning Shubun which have been advocated by the scholars of modern times the present writer takes up herewith an entirely different one: According to this theory, Shubun lived in the Hida district and although this theory was already recognized by certain people it has become of particular interest recently. Unfortunately, there remains no record which confirms the fact but in the Hida district a reliable tradition pertaining to it remains.
According to the tradition, Shubun took refuge from the wars in Hida staying in Shorenji temple in Nakano of the present Shokawa village. But, he moved later-to Katano near Takayama in the same district and died there. The site of his house, tomb and a shrine where he was later enshrined remain today, but we don't know how authentic they are. In Hida abundant works attributed to Shubun are found but the Shorenji temple owns neither any example of the kind nor any document concerned.
Judging from a certain document of other ownership, however, the sliding-doors painted by Shubun seem to have remained in the same temple until the end of the Tokugawa Period. The paintings attributed to Shubun which remain outside Hida today were mostly brought from the Hida district, according to a tradition. In view of these facts the visit of Shubun in Hida may be considered to be true.
The time of his sojoum there must be after the second year of Chokyo (1488) in the mid-Ashikaga when the Shorenji was built. It is more likely a little after the middle of the sixteenth century because, according to the tradition, Shubun lived through the Eiroku Era (1558-1569).
Although Shubun has long been taken for a Chinese of the Ming Dynasty there is no data to verify that except his remaining paintings. Speaking from the general tendency of the works, however, the artist is believed more possibly to have been a Korean.
Accordingly, the foregoing view that Shubun was a founder of the Soga School of painting must be rectified and the works attributed to him should also be reconsidered. The reliable examples among those still remaining may more safely be regarded as the productions of the end of the Ashikaga than of the middle of the same Period. As a matter of fact some works by Shubun bear similarities in style to those by Chokuan who represents a branch of the Soga School. Regarding this point the present writer, calling the special attention of readers, surmises that Shubun came into Contact with the Soga School although it was not as early as the beginning of the same School. The facts that the works by Chokuan bear the influence of Shubun and the erroneous belief that Shubun was the fohnder of the Soga School are probably due to the confused situation as mentioned above.
So much for the outline of the life of Shubun. His art is represented by two well-known examples (Pls. IV & IX) of which the latter was reduced to ashes by the great earthquake in 1923. Another example (Pl. V) is introduced merely as one reference. Beside these more than ten extant works are known but they must he studied in the light of the new theory concerning his life, which is disclosed by the present author. Among them there may be some which were done by different hands.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
Pl. I (Color) Flower Vase with Jewel Design, by Ninsei (Japanese of the seventeenth century).
Height: 33 cm.
Diameter at top: 26.3 cm.
Diameter at bottom: 15.5 cm.
Engraved as m´ on the bottom.
Ninnaji, Kyoto,
As seen in the reproduction the style of the present flower vase is mainly based on the traditional although the potter had the novel idea of treating conically the upper half of the vase. The conic part is so evident that it could easily affect the balance in the shape of the vase but as seen it furnishes instead a strength to the vase. In view of these points the artistic talent of Ninsei, the potter, deserves admiration.
This vase of an unusual shape reminds us of the Arabian lamp and the jewel design of the vase also seems to be Arabian. From these points it may be wondered if the present flower vase was influenced directly or indirectly by an Arabian lamp. If so, it creates an interesting problem in the history of Japanese ceramics.
The fact that there remain comparatiyely few examples of the kind among his works in addition to its unusual size and the beauty of the present vase makes it a very important specimen. Possibly it was produced in the artist's later days when he was living in Omuro on the outskirts of Kyoto.
Pl. II & VII Sakya.
Bronze.
Height: 82.7 cm.
Jindaiji, Tokyo.
The present statue is a rare example of the Buddhistic sculptures of the Nara Period which remain in Kanto district. This Sakya is particularly well known for its beauty. Of the history of the work, however, we know next to nothing and it became known to us after the Meiji Era.
Its opulent cheeks, small mouth and legs are natural in arrangement. Furthermore, the curvelinear representation of the eyebrows and the high-bridged nose which join and the long eyelids are auster expressions in a king of ideal style. The draperies which are thin and cling to the body form a beautiful pattern. These characteristics all indicate to us that the date of the present statue falls after the sublime Asuka Period at the very beginning of the artistically rich Nana Period.
It is singular to see that the eyeballs of the present figure like those of the Koyakushi of the Shin-yakushiji are cuneate. This technique was employed particularly in that period to which the present example belongs.
Pl. III Koya Daishi Gyojo Zue.
Color on paper. Scrolls.
A scene from Scroll II.
Width: 30 cm; length: 11 meters 43.6 cm.
Jizoin, Wakayama.
(See the article by Jiro Umezu)
Pl. IV Landscape, by Shubun.
Ink on paper. Mounted as kakemono.
Height: 101.5 cm; width: 45 cm.
Collection of Mr. Toyohiko Tomita, Gifu.
(See the article by Hajime Watanabe)
Pl. V Landscape, by Shubun.
Ink on paper. Mounted as kakemono.
Height: 552 cm,; width: 83 cm.
Anonymous Collection.
(See the article by Hajime Watanabe)
Pl. VI & VIII Portrait of Takizawa Kinrei, by Kazan (Japanese, 1793-1841).
Color on silk. Mounted as kakemono.
Height: 107.5 cm; width: 45.1 cm.
Collection of Mr. Kuniyuki Takizawa, Tokyo.
(See the article by Teizo Suganuma)
Pl. IX Pigeons on the Dead Branch, by Shubun.
Color on paper. Mounted as kakemono.
Height: 54.8 cm; width: 30.7 cm.
Destroyed by the earthquake in 1923.
Formerly in the Collection of Baron lwasaki, Tokyo.