A History of Japanese Art
Page 16
In the Fusai-ji temple, not far from the Tachikawa Station, about thirty kilometers west from Tokyo, is a figure of the priest Butsugai (Fig. 103), the first abbot of the temple. The temple was founded by the feudal baron of the district in the fourth year of Bunwa (1355), and belonged to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism. The figure is made of wood, and sits cross-legged on a chair, holding a staff in the right hand. The sacred robe hangs down over the knees, flanked by long sleeves. To represent the wrinkles of the aged priest the flesh is deeply scooped off, making sharp edge lines on the cheeks. This technique has a unique effect in presenting the old man's physiognomy by a remarkable contrast of light and shade. A similar technique is used in showing the folds of the robe. All the surface of the figure is now black, but originally the robe was decorated with patterns on the lacquered ground. In the interior side is an inscription stating that the figure was made in the third year of Ōan (1370). It was only nine years after his death, which happened in his seventy-eighth year. As a whole, the statue seems to represent the character and actual physiognomy of this aged priest, and is a highly representative work produced in the early years of this period.
Fig. 103. The Priest Butsugai (N.T.)
Fusai-ji, near Tokyo
Another remarkable example (Fig. 104) of the portrait figure representing a high priest of the Zen sect remains in the founder's hall of the Myōkō-ji monastery near Ichinomiya City, Gifu. The figure represents Daio Kokushi, a high priest of Zen Buddhism in the Kamakura Period. It is made of wood and sits cross-legged on a stool. Both hands are placed on the knee, and the right hand holds a staff. The massive head upon the well built body with glittering eyes of quartz, represents realistically the dignity and force of a Zen priest in magnificent form. There is a trace of colored design applied to the lacquered ground.
Confucianism in Japan has a longer history than Buddhism and has done much for the moral development in the political and social life of the people. During the feudal period, that is, from the Kamakura to the end of the Yedo Period, parallel with the Zen Buddhism, it had many followers among the military class of people. In different districts there were schools for Confucianism under the patronage of feudal barons.
Fig. 104. Priest Daio Kokushi (N.T.)
Myōkō-ji, Ishinomiya
Fig. 105. Statue of Confucius
Seidō, Ashikaga
In Ashikaga, a historical town, 120 kilometers north from Tokyo, was a school of Confucianism; there still remains an old temple dedicated to Confucius, and originally attached to the school. In this holy edifice is enshrined a unique wooden statue of Confucius. (Fig. 105) The figure is dated the third year of Temmon (1534). It represents Confucius, in his advanced age, with a long beard, as he sits quietly. The character and dignity of the sage is well expressed in the contemplative pose. The surface is now quite plain, but it was originally decorated with a design, and a trace of golden foil remains on part of the collar. This is the best and the oldest specimen of the figure of Confucius in wood.
4. METAL WORK
The industrial arts of the Muromachi Period developed along with the feudal prosperity, and the metal work made remarkable progress because of the practical need of arms and armor for use in the wars so often fought in the capital and elsewhere throughout this period. Excellent suits of armor were made for Shoguns and other military aristocrats, and many were dedicated to shrines and temples, with prayers for their donor's victory and prosperity. Therefore, examples of armor of this period remain mostly in Buddhist and Shinto shrines.
In the department of arms and armor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, there is a good collection of Japanese armor in which there is an excellent specimen of ōchin-yoroi, or grand armor of this period. (Fig. 106) It consists of helmet and defences for body, shoulders, thighs and armpits, dating from the late fourteenth century. The most notable feature of the suit lies in the rich ornamentation applied to it without tresspassing upon the practicality of armor. A new technique that developed in this period will be noticed in the lacquered metal fittings.
Fig. 106. Grand Armor
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Among armor-smiths, Myōchin Muneyasu was the greatest figure. His descendants kept up the fame of the family for several centuries following, and Nobuie, the seventeenth Myōchin, displayed extraordinary skill in tempering iron. Sōtome Nobuyasu, a pupil of Nobuie, is famous as the founder of a new style of helmet.
The art of swordsmith made remarkable development. In this period new progress was made in the decoration of sword mountings. The most excellent sword mountings in metal were produced by Gotō Yūjō who was the founder of the Gotō School which flourished for four centuries. Yūjō was born in Mino province and is said to have died there in 1512 at the age of seventy. He worked chiefly on the designs supplied by Kanō Motonobu and was granted the honorable title “Hō-in” by the Emperor. He carved figures of dragons and lions, men, and other subjects in high relief. His works are full of vigor and life-like movement, and are characterized by dignity and exquisite workmanship. Several examples by him are shown in Fig. 107.
His son Gotō Sōjō and his grandson Jōshin were also good carvers in this period but these first three masters of the Gotō School did not engrave their signatures on their works; and their genuineness was certificated by the artists of the Gotō School.
The art of hilt-guard or tsuba had an epoch-making development in ornamentation, and formed a special art industry in which the Umetada family became most celebrated. The design was carved in relief and was very picturesque.
Fig. 107. Decoration of Sword Mounting, by Gotō Yūjō
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Umetada Shigeyoshi, who was employed by the Shogun Yoshimitsu, produced excellent hilt-guards. Kaneie (the first) who lived at Fushimi, near Kyoto, and flourished in the early part of this period, began to make picturesque designs in relief for iron hilt-guards. His designs were landscapes, and figures of men, plants, and animals, all displaying exquisite chiselling. Myōchin Nobuie also, whose specialty was armor, produced masterpieces in hilt-guards of iron.
In the art of cast iron kettles used in the tea-ceremony, the work made at Ashiya in the province of Chikuzen, was esteemed highly by virtuosi. The kettles made at Ashiya have smooth surfaces, and the designs, by such master painters as Sesshū and Tosa Mitsunobu, were sometimes wrought out by Ashiya artisans. An example of Ashiya kettles is reproduced in Fig. 108. It has a design composed of plum and paulownia trees, said to have been drawn by Mitsunobu. Also at Temmyō in the province of Shimotsuke, good work in iron kettles was produced. Their surface is rough and mostly of no design. But they were likewise appreciated by the tea masters.
Fig. 108. Ashiya Kettle
Tokyo Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 109. Gold Lacquer Desk, by Igarashi Shinsai
Imperial Household Collection
5. LACQUER WARE
In this period the art of lacquer work also made a new and notable development in raised gold lacquer and nashi-ji or gold pear-skin-like ground. The most famous artists of this period were Igarashi Shinsai and Kō-ami Michinaga. They produced excellent and elaborate wares.
Kō-ami Michinaga, who was personal attendant of the Shogun Yoshimasa, was famous for both raised gold lacquer and work in the togidashi style. In the togidashi style a design made of gold lacquer is applied to the lacquered ground and covered by thin transparent lacquer;then the gold lacquer design is polished out on the even surface. The designs wrought by him are said to have been supplied by Kanō Motonobu, Nō-ami, Sō-ami, and other painters. In carrying out the picturesque designs supplied by such master painters of his time, he used skillfully the raised and flat togidashi gold lacquer. In reproducing rocks the raised lacquer was most suitable.
Igarashi Shinsai was another noted gold lacquer artist, also patronized by the Shogun Yoshimasa. There is an excellent example of his work in the Imperial household collection. It is composed of bun
-dai or writing desk (Fig. 109) and suzuribako, or ink-stone box. (Fig. 110) The work has a popular romantic design called Tsutano Hosomichi, or Ivy Lane, taken from a famous story entitled Ise Monogatari. For this design the work is given the title “Tsutano Hosomichi.” This is an excellent representative work of raised gold lacquer, highly developed in this period.
Fig. 110. Gold Lacquer Ink-stone Box, by Igarashi Shinsai
Imperial Household Museum
Fig. 111. Gold Lacquer Box
Baron Masuda’s Collection
In the collection of Baron Masuda is another excellent example (Fig. 111), also highly representative of the gold lacquer of this period. It is a high square box for keeping incense, and measures about 20 centimeters in height. The construction is extremely tender in execution, and unexpectedly light in weight. The decoration consists of the moon, autumnal grasses, rocks, birds, calligraphic elements, and various kinds of insects; all of which are combined and applied most delicately to the outside and inside. The raised and togidashi style gold lacquer is executed excellently.
6. POTTERY
In the earlier part of this period, temmoku tea-bowls, such as yōhen, yuteki, and kenzan, and vases and incense burners of seiji porcelain, were imported from China and highly appreciated by Cha-jin, or adepts in tea-cult. At the same time the great popularity of the tea-cult encouraged the potters in various parts of the country to produce wares that were suited to the refinement of the ceremony; and in different places new kilns were established. Shino, Jō-ō-Shigaraki, Imbe, and Karatsu wares were all well known potteries of this period produced for the patrons and masters of the tea-cult. The only real porcelain work was Imari.
In the latter part of the period, Spanish and Portuguese merchants brought their native pottery wares as well as Cochin, Luzon, and Annam wares. They were much appreciated by tea-masters and had a certain influence on the art of Japanese ceramics.
Shino-yaki ware was made first during the Bummei Era (1469-1486) by order of a Chajin named Shino Sōshin, serving the Shogun Yoshimasa, who directed a Seto potter of Owari, to make him tea-utensils. The ware itself was of rough quality, and it was glazed with a very thick white enamel, crackled and usually painted with rude floral design. However, a special beauty was found in its glaze and design.
Jō-ō-Shigaraki ware was made during the Eishō Era (1504-1520) at Shigaraki in the province of Ōmi. They produced mainly water pots, tea-jars, and flower vases that were much appreciated by the famous tea master called Jō-ō. The ware thus produced was called Jō-ō-Shigaraki. It is very hard and heavy, and glazed with an enamel of a deep yellowish red. The better kind is again covered in parts by pouring, with a transparent light blue glaze on it.
Imbe-yaki ware has the factories which have always been situated in the neighborhood of the town of Imbe in the province of Bizen. This province has a long history in the pottery industry of Japan. However, work with artistic merit began in this period. The ware is made of peculiarly hard and extremely dense clay of a reddish brown color which was modeled into tea-utensils, such as bottles or small vases.
Karatsu-yaki ware, the factory of which is situated at the foot of a hill near Karatsu in the province of Hizen, has a long history. In this period, encouraged by the popularity of the tea-ceremony, in which Korean pottery was highly appreciated by tea drinkers, they began to produce an imitation of the Korean work, which is now called Oku-Korai, meaning “Old Korean.”
7. BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE
Generally speaking, the architecture of the Muromachi Period (1335-1569) follows the styles developed in the Kamakura Period immediately preceding. But there was a fuller development in the monastery buildings of the Zen sect which was most popular among the leading class of people. The architectural style of the Zen monastery was chiefly Chinese. It was called karayō and was introduced in the Kamakura Period. We explained when we studied the Zen architecture of the Kamakura Period the complete arrangement of buildings in the Zen monastery.
There remains no original example of the complete arrangement of a Zen monastery built in this period. But we have some representative buildings that once formed important parts of Zen monasteries.
In the Tōfuku-ji, a head monastery of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect in Kyoto, there remain the Sammon-gate, the meditation hall, or Zendō, and the toilet or Tōsu, which were erected in this period.
Fig. 112. Octagonal Stupa (N.T.)
Anraku-ji, Nagano
At Bessho, a famous hot spring resort in Shinano province, stands an octagonal four-storied stupa of Anraku-ji monastery. (Fig. 112) This stupa was erected in the early fourteenth century, and is a unique example having an octagonal roof and beautiful appearance. The complicated system of brackets and radiated rafters sustaining the eaves all represent the Chinese technique. In the interior of the first story is a dais on which is enshrined the figure of Buddha Dainichi.
Near a small town called Toyo-oka, about 35 kilometers northeast from Nagoya, is a famous place celebrated for landscape scenery, known for many years by the name Kokeisan. In the fourteenth century, Musō Kokushi, a famous priest of the Zen sect, founded here a Buddhist monastery called Eihō-ji.
The main temple, Kwannon-dō, founded by him in the year 1314, still exists in a state of good preservation, showing the Chinese style of architecture which had developed in the Kamakura Period.
However, what we are here particularly concerned with is another building of this monastery, which was erected to enshrine the figure of the priest Musō Kokushi, the founder of this monastery, soon after his death in 1352. (Fig. 113) Therefore the building is called the Founder's Hall, or the Kaisan-dō. It consists of a main temple and a hall of worship, joined together by a corridor. The hall of worship or Raidō in front is much larger than the main temple. It is one-storied building of three spans. The roof is thatched with the bark of hinoki and has a beautiful slope in front and at the rear. Under the eaves, immediately over the pillars, are shown groups of brackets forming a magnificent kind of cornice. The rafters are arranged in radii like the bones of a fan. These are all characteristic features of the Chinese style of architecture. The ground floor of the interior of the hall is tiled and spacious for receiving adorants of the main temple. The main temple stands on a higher ground. It is of one span, and the construction of brackets is much simpler than that of the hall of worship. In the innermost place, the holy of holies, is enshrined a figure of the founder. In a niche at either entrance of the temple are kept the tablets made sacred to all the deceased chief abbots of this monastery. So this temple has in its essential nature the significance of a mausoleum building. The most noticeable feature of this architecture lies in the fact that the sanctuary and the main temple are connected by a corridor. This style of architecture was the prototype of the gongen-zukuri which developed later in the Shinto architecture of the Momoyama and Yedo periods.
Fig. 113. Founder’s Hall (N.T.)
Eihō-ji, Toyo-oka
Fig. 114. Scripture Depository (N.T.)
Ankoku-ji, Hida
About 15 kilometers north from Takayama in the province of Hida stands the Ankoku-ji monastery. It was one of the provincial monasteries erected by Takauji, the first Ashikaga Shogun, who desired to have, under Imperial sanction, a provincial monastery in each province. The original buildings of this monastery no longer exist, but there remains an old building erected in 1408, in which are contained a complete set of Buddhist scriptures. It is a two-storied building of three spans built in the Chinese style. (Fig. 114) The roof is thatched with shingles and has a beautiful shape, each corner being curved skyward. In the middle of the interior is set a revolving-depository (rinzō) for the scriptures, contrived so as to revolve on an axis. The rinzō depository is also a rare example made in the same period as the building. In the construction of this architecture, the carving applied to the block called tabasami, which is inserted over the bracket system to sustain the rafter, is to be noted. The carving is simple but has several varie
ties. Some have a carving of cloud-form and others, floral design (Fig. 115), and the carving in the cornice is highly decorative.
Besides the Chinese style of architecture, the revival of the ancient style of Nara architecture was noticeable in the Buddhist temples of the Muromachi Period. The best of such examples are the five-storied stupa and the Tō-kondō or Golden Hall of the East of the Kōfuku-ji monastery at Nara, both standing on a low hill confronting the famous pond called Sarusawa-no-ike and commanding a beautiful site.
The five-storied stupa (Fig. 116) was rebuilt in the Ōei Era (1393-1427), in accordance with the plan of the original stupa erected in the Nara Period. The first story measures 28.93 feet square, and about 170 feet high, including the finial. It is the highest Buddhist tower, next only to that of the Tō-ji of Kyoto. It has no verandah at the first story. The outside is painted red but the interior has no coloring. The pillars, rafters, and brackets are all stoutly formed, giving an appearance of grandeur in construction and beautiful balance.
Fig. 115. Tabasami
Ankoku-ji, Hida
Fig. 116. Five-storied Stupa (N.T.)
Kōfuku-ji, Nara
The Golden Hall of the East was built at the same time with the stupa. It also has the particular styles of the Nara architecture. The roof has four hips, and in front, under the deep eaves, are shown eight columns without walls, making a magnificent columnal façade. The interior has no floor. Although in details there is the technique of the Muromachi Period, we see in both buildings a revival of the architecture of the Nara Period, giving important examples in the history of Japanese architecture.