Module 5 - Chapter 25: Japanese Art after 1392 Unit-5 Muromachi Period (p.852-856)

Muromachi or Ashikaga period: 1392-1573CE The textbook provides a brief review of the events and history of Japan in the textbox Foundations of Japanese Culture up to the year 1392 CE. In the last unit we have already seen how the bakufu (military government led by the Shogun) had taken control of power in Japan. By the end of the thirteenth century the Kamakura clan lost power and a schism developed within the imperial family. Two members of the royal family were set up as rival emperors in the north and the south by rival clans. Yet the royal family failed to regain control of the empire. In the year 1338CE the Ashikaga family – under Ashikaga Yoshimitsu gained supremacy and along with it the control of the Shogunate and moved its headquarters to the Muromachi district in Kyoto. In 1392 they reunited the northern and southern Japan and retained their grasp on the office for more than 150 years.

Map 25-1 Japan after 1392

The Muromachi period after the reunion (1392-1568) is also known as the Ashikaga era. It was a tumultuous period in Japanese history with continuous warfare in one part of the country or another but the arts flourished under the generous patronage of the military rulers. However China inspired the arts during the Muromachi period unlike the native style.

Zen Buddhism continued to be the dominant guiding force under the Ashikaga whose austere ideals particularly appealed to the highly disciplined samurai, even while Pure Land Buddhism had wide acceptance. The arts during the Muromachi period took various forms – the most pre-dominant one being the ink painting; followed by gardens, palaces, tea houses along with poetry (renga) and theatre (Nō drama). Ink Painting: Refer to the textbook. Several forms of visual art flourished during the Muromachi period, but ink painting – monochrome painting in black ink and its diluted grays – reigned supreme. Muromachi ink painting was heavily influenced by the aesthetics of Zen. As noted in the textbook the earlier paintings were more intense than the refined paintings of the later period. Zen monasteries established both in the cities of Kamakura and in Kyoto became centers of culture and education. The Zen monasteries consisted of a main hall of worship, axially arranged in the Chinese style of construction (called the karayo) to distinguish it from the Japanese style of buildings1 which formed the major center of worship. Included in the complex were sub temples, which were separate from the main shrine and provided the quiet atmosphere for the monks and lay persons to practice their painting, poetry and calligraphy. Early Zen Paintings Zen paintings in Japan can be traced from the 13th through the 15th century. As already noted in the last chapter, Zen focused on self-discipline and meditation rather than rituals. Therefore the monochrome ink medium popularized by the Chan Buddhist monk painters in southern China and the scholar officials of the Song period renowned for its spontaneous expressive quality was adopted for Zen Buddhist paintings. There were lots of exchanges during this time with Chinese Chan monks visiting Japan and the Japanese monks returning from China with a wealth of materials in Chinese literature and scholarship. They became so engrossed in Chinese studies that many of the artists came to be called the “bunjinso” or ‘literati’ monks.2 The Early Zen painters painted a wide variety of subjects, especially notable are figures of Zen abbots, flowers, fruits and landscapes. Some of the early examples included chinzo – portrait painting of Zen masters, which was given to disciples as a sort of diploma and source of further inspiration. The other type of painting dealt with semi-legendary figures engaged in mundane activities or subjects derived from exchanges of koan’s or riddles whose answers are not based on rational thought or understanding but aided the Zen adherent towards his path of enlightenment. Most of the Zen paintings were represented in kakemono or hanging scrolls as opposed to hand scrolls. The hangings scrolls is a vertical format with a painting or calligraphy

1 Buddhism III 10: Japan (iv) Zen (b) art and architecture, Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, [2006], http://www.groveart.com/ 2 P.118 Stanley-Baker Joan, Japanese Art, revised & expanded edition, Thames & Hudson, London, 2004

rendered in ink on paper or silk. The advantage of the hanging scrolls was its easy portability.

Line drawing kakemono or the hanging scroll3 Fig 25-2a Mokuan Reian, Four Sleepers: One of the early and very unusual Muromachi paintings deals with a Zen Buddhist theme. It is rendered in a hanging scroll by the artist Mokuan Reien. Mokuan’s career spanned from the Kamakura into the Muromachi period. He was one of the first Japanese painters to master the new ink-wash style then being introduced from China along with Zen. He spent the later half of his life in China. Mokuan was purely a Zen painter and not a professional painter as seen in this unusual painting a parody of the Buddhist triad, in which the Buddha is flanked by bodhisattvas and other deities. It portrays three Chan legendary eccentrics Hanshan (left) and Shide (right), two hermits (also known as incarnations of bodhisattva Monju and Fugen) given to ecstatic laughter are shown together with a Chan priest Fengann and their pet tiger. When the four are shown dozing in a heap as seen in this example, the motif is called the Four Sleepers. Presumably these four have attained the tranquility or freedom from desire that characterizes enlightenment. The central figure in this painting also a Chan priest is said to have been so much in tune with nature that he could befriend not only humans but also a wild animal.

3 Source: P.220 Mason Penelope, History of Japanese Art, Harry N. Abrams, 2005

Fig 25-2a Mokuan Reian, Four Sleepers, 14th century, Mokuan Reian, Four Sleepers (detail) hanging scroll, ink on paper, ht, 27 ½” * 14 1/8”, Maeda Foundation, Tokyo Mokuan Reien’s paintings reveal a full grasp of Chinese ink-wash techniques. The figures are represented in fluid descriptive strokes; fine, dry and almost invisible lines are used for the features; dark black ink accentuates the details such as the shoes, belt and hair. Only briefest of details of the setting are evident – a shoreline in the front and the trees branches in the back. The colophon on the right provides information about the individuals represented. The style in this painting is considered to be an extension of Southern Chan Chinese tradition known as the ‘apparition’ painting4 because of the use of faint ink and the blurred effect in this work. Fig 25-2b Josetsu, Catching a Catfish with a Gourd: The Japanese painter and Zen monk by the name of Josetsu, who lived and worked in the monastery temple at Shokokuji completed a remarkable Japanese Zen painting titled Catching a Catfish with a Gourd. This was commissioned by the Ashikaga Yoshimachi (1380-1428) as a backdrop for a screen for his dais. The top half of the painting is taken over by inscriptions. In China and in Korea literati painters and literary accomplishments was becoming dominant in the 14th century. The same emphasis on poems and intellectual concerns are evident in this example. This type of paintings is called poem painting or shigajiku – a painting which combines poetry often composed by several different priests in praise of

4 P.119 Stanley-Baker Joan, Japanese Art, revised & expanded edition, Thames & Hudson, London, 2004

the landscape painting. The poems were composed in an exclusive setting or a literary gathering and were the output of the learned community and the monks until it was commissioned by the Ashikaga for a screen. Sometime later the painting was converted to a hanging scroll.

Fig 25-2b Josetsu, Catching a Catfish with a Gourd, c.1413, Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper, 43 7/8” * 29 7/8”, Taizon,

Myoshingi, Kyoto

Josetsu, Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (detail) The subject, a Zen riddle (kōan), poses the seemingly impossible task of how to capture a catfish with a slippery gourd. The whole painting is monochrome with a touch of orange accent for the gourd. The man holding the gourd has an unusual elongated face and bald

head. Sharp angular and curvilinear lines delineate the shoreline as well as the figure of the man while the distant shores disappear in washes of mist. The hanging scroll is divided into equal sections of landscape and inscriptions. In the upper right corner is the name of the patron (Yoshimachi) and painter (Josetsu) and bears a preface that the “Great minister ordered the monk to paint in the new manner” 5 - a reference to the new technique, new format and new subject. The unique aspect of the painting is that this preface reveals an art-historical comment from 15th century Japan. Later Zen ink paintings: Shubun: The textbook mentions the name of another significant monk-artist Shubun (1414-1463) considered one of the significant masters of the 15th century. As noted in the textbook few of the works attributed to him are considered authentic but we will be looking at an example which has been associated with him. Most attributions are based on stylistic analysis and painting inscriptions, rather than direct documentary evidence. The Zen priest Shubun, served as an official painter and administrator in charge of the budget at the Shōkokuji monastery, which was both a cultural centre and adjuncts to shogunal control. Shōkokuji was the temple most intimately associated with the shogun. He was primarily known for his ink-monochrome paintings. He studied under the ink painter Josetsu, the first official painter at Shōkokuji. Josetsu, as we have seen above was recognized as having created a new style through the selective incorporation of Chinese Southern Song academic painting techniques. Fig 25-2c Shubun, Reading in the Bamboo Studio: This example is one of the best known of works generally attributed to Shubun. It can be appreciated for the poetry created in the poetry gatherings of the literati/monk circles, in which the shogun also participated. The upper half of the composition is dominated by the shigajiku (poetry-painting) with a small painted image at the bottom rendered in the hanging scroll format. The poetry deals with the subject of monasticism and the yearning for Chinese themes and geographical areas. It is a visionary landscape – it is a work based solely from imagination, in which he recreates a scene set in China. In the foreground nestled deep in the cliffs and angular pine trees is a scholar’s studio from where a scholar probably holding a book is looking out. The composition is asymmetrical in the same manner as the Ma-Xia paintings of the Southern Song period. Darker shades of ink reveal the pine and bluffs. On the left foreground are two figures crossing a bridge.

5 Karen L. Brock, Josetsu (1405-1423CE), Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, [2006], http://www.groveart.com/

Fig 25-2c Shubun, Reading in the Bamboo Studio (detail to the right), c. 1446, Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper,

53 ¼” * 13 ¼”, Tokyo National Museum, Japan The space is vast and expanding with a stock set of elements from the Chinese Song painting such as the foreground, middle ground and distant mountains are repeated. Like the Southern Song paintings the thick mists add to the mystery of the pictorial space. These paintings clearly reveal the influence of the 12th century Chinese Song paintings which were imported and collected by the Shogun as many of the monasteries such as the Shokukoji were repositories of Song paintings. Fig 25-2 Bunsei, Landscape: This example is by Shubun’s student Bunsei. Consult the textbook on this example. Take note of the representation in the foreground and the elements in the background and how the different parts of the painting reveal the Zen tradition.

Fig 25-2 Bunsei, Landscape, Muromachi period, mid 15th century, hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper, 28 ¾” * 13”, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Click on the MFA website to view the image http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_package=26209 Also take note of the changes taking place in the production of ink paintings in 15th century Japan. Look at what changes in the demand for paintings caused the formulation of ateliers? Sesshu (1420-1506): Look at how the life and art of Sesshu reflect the effects of the changes in 15th century Japan. Take note of the dramatic changes that appear in landscape painting during the turbulent Onin Wars as seen in the following example Winter Landscape Fig 25-3 Sesshu, Winter Landscape: Sesshu’s painting is almost flat and two dimensional compared to the vast depth of the earlier paintings. Take note of the style and how it is different from Shubun’s (22-2c) or Bunsei’s (22-2) landscape paintings. Sesshu’s works include his signature and his seal, thus clear attribution is evident in the paintings.

Fig 25-3 Sesshu Tōyo, Winter Landscape, Muromachi period, c. 1470s Ink on paperm 18 ¼”*11 ½”,

Collection of the Tokyo National Museum

Sesshu traveled extensively during his lifetime. And he painted the scenes that he came across during his travels. One of the famous scenes that he painted was on Japan’s sea northwest of Kyoto – a sandy spit of land with pine tree stretches that extends into the bay. This area is called Ama-no-Hashidate. Sesshu’s painting of the same name (see image below) was completed some time in the early 16th century. Fig 25-3a Sesshu Toya, Ama-no-Hashidate: This scene is represented in a hanging scroll format. Sesshu uses a combination of styles - soft washes and accents of dark ink to represent this landscape. In the distance is the rolling hills and mountains. Right in the middle of the composition is a sandy extension dotted with pine trees. Sesshu presents a panoramic scene with cold black ink for the details and dashes of color for the mist and clouds that pays homage to one of Japan’s famous pilgrimage sites that is still visited by tourists today.

Fig 25-3a Sesshu Toya, Ama-no-Hashidate, hanging scroll, ink and slight color on paper, L.66 ¾”, Japan, Muromachi period,

Kyoto National Museum6

Ama-no-Hashidate (actual scene)

6 Image source: http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/studypages/internal/japan682/pgs/ch6/LandscapeBridgeofHeaveP115M.htm

Fig 25-3b Sesshu, Haboku landscape: Sesshu was a prolific painter who worked in various styles. One style that he excelled in was the haboku or the splashed ink style. It is an extremely abbreviated, rapidly represented style in which the paint appears to be splashed on to the surface of the paper to create a landscape. The impression and sense of ease that the haboku style conveys is false – it is a well planned and executed composition. A closer examination of the painting reveals fishermen on a boat in the lake on the right foreground; rooftop of huts on the shore line and washes of mountains that peak out of the mist.

Fig 25-3b Sesshu, Haboku landscape, (detail to the right) hanging scroll, ink on paper, ht 58 ¼” * 12 1/8”, Tokyo National Museum, Japan The history of the painting is significant. This Zen landscape was executed and given as a gift by Sesshu to his student Josui Soen as recognition from master to pupil indicating

that Soen had mastered this style as well7. The top of this hanging scroll includes extensive inscriptions by Sesshu to this effect and by other masters who admired this style. Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) Fig 25-4 Ikkyu, Calligraphy pair: An important artist of the 15th century - Ikkyu Sojun (see portrait below) was a Zen Buddhist priest, calligrapher, poet and painter. He was an unconventional figure who criticized the Zen establishment; sometimes his behavior verged on the eccentric. Refer to the textbook for information on how by the time of Ikkyu, Zen had changed from a counterculture phenomenon to what he what Ikkyu called “false Zen.”

Fig 25-4 Ikkyu, Calligraphy pair, from Daitoku-ji, Kyoto, Muromachi period, c. mid-15th century, ink on paper, each 10’2 7/8” * 1’4 ½” Take note of the evolution of Ikkyu’s calligraphy in the scroll in fig 22-4 from standard script to a highly personalized cursive style.

7 P.226 Mason Penelope, History of Japanese Art, Harry N. Abrams, 2005

Fig 25-4a Bokusai, Portrait of Zen Master Ikkyu: A close disciple of Ikkyu was Shotu Bokusai (active 15th century), famous for his biography of Ikkyu and his ink portrait of the master.

Fig 22-4a Bokusai, Portrait of Zen Master Ikkyu, hanging scrol, ink and colors on paper, painted before 1481, h 46” * 26.5”,

Tokyo National Museum, Japan In this example, which retains the likeness of the subject and the realism of the portraiture of the Kamakura period – the character of the Zen master comes through. With minimum amount of lines the artist has represented the features and the intense gaze of the subject as he looks out at the viewer. The linear element accentuates the expressive quality of the painting. Architecture: The Ashikaga rulers were great patrons of arts, which manifested itself not only in the form of painting but also in architecture. Two of the famous structures from this period which were built as pavilions for retirement were Kinkakuji or the Golden pavilion and Ginkakuji or the Silver Pavilion. Each was constructed as retirement structures in honor of the Ashikaga Shoguns Yoshimitsu (1358–1408) and Yoshimasa (1435–90) respectively. Fig 25-4b Kinkakuji: Ashikaga Yoshimitsu designed the Golden Pavilion after one of the Chinese-style garden pavilions in the 1390s. It houses his large collection of Chinese works as well. The three-storey wooden post-and-beam structure is an unusual mixture of residential and temple architectural styles and has verandahs for viewing on each level and a pyramidal roof topped by a bronze statue of a phoenix. The Golden Pavilion was destroyed by a fire in 1950 and was rebuilt in 1964.

Fig 25-4b Kinkauji (Golden Pavilion), formerly known as Rokuonji, Kyoto, original 1390s; rebuilt 1964 It is now sited at the edge of the pond, but was originally surrounded by water and joined by a covered bridge to another building called the Lapis Lazuli Pavilion8. Both structures were used for entertaining and for religious ceremonies. The surface of the structure today is covered with gold foil, hence the name Golden pavilion. It is not clear as to how much of the original structure was covered with gold. Located in the middle of a lake and artificial rock garden and surrounded by forests, the whole effect evokes the atmosphere of an ideal paradise. Fig 25-4c Ginkakuji: Ginkakuji was part of a huge estate built as a retirement villa for Ashikaga Yoshimasa but after his death it was converted to a Buddhist monastery in his memory. A number of structures dotted this estate but only few have survived. One of the structures is the Ginkakuji or the Silver Pavilion. It is a small chapel dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon and includes reception rooms. It is a post-and-beam structure with balconies linking the pavilion to the garden and it is crowned by a pyramid-shaped roof of cypress-bark shingles. Although it is called the silver pavilion, according to scholars it was not covered in the exterior with silver9 like the golden pavilion. The gardens around the estate were designed for leisurely activities.

8 Kinkakuji (formerly Rokuonji), Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, [2006], http://www.groveart.com/ 9 P.226 Mason Penelope, History of Japanese Art, Harry N. Abrams, 2005

Fig 25-4c Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), Jishoji, Kyoto, 1489 During the lifetime of the Shoguns both of the above structures were used for cultural activities such as tea ceremony, poetry (renga) writing and reading as well as the performances of drama (Nō). Gardens: Both Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji incorporated lush green forests and lake around the pavilions. Now we will be looking at another 15th century garden which stands as uniquely Japanese. The Japanese love of gardens is attributed to the Shintoism. The native belief system attributes every aspect of nature including water and rocks to be the residing place for the kami or spirits. Reverence for nature was converted to elegant and asymmetrical garden designs sometimes incorporating residences, temples and pavilions into the design. Later in the medieval period rock gardens were created in unusual and abstract forms around Zen monasteries. The Zen Dry Garden The Ryoan-ji, The Zen Dry Garden was designed specifically to satisfy the monastic lifestyle of the Zen Buddhist monks. Fig 25-5 Stone and gravel garden, Ryoan-ji: Consult the textbook for this example. Look at what is Japanese “dry garden”? How is the garden at Ryoan-ji characteristic of the dry-garden and what was the purpose of the garden?

Fig 25-5 Stone and gravel garden, Ryoan-ji, Kyoto, Muromachi period, c. 1480CE

Stone and gravel garden, Ryoan-ji, view towards the abbot’s pavilion

Fig 25-5b Daisen-in rock garden at the Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto: The other famous example of dry rock garden from the Muromachi period was the Garden of Daisen-in at the Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Designed around the first quarter of the 16th century this is another fine example of dry garden or kare-sansui10 (dry rock-landscapes). At the Daisen-in the designer has incorporated in microcosm the vastness of nature as well as the characteristics of a typical monochrome painting. In the background are several large rocks representing towering majestic mountains and a stone bridge; in the center of the garden is a wooden screen pavilion. This pavilion also has a small seating arrangement. Tiny gravel or white sand extends underneath the wooden pavilion into the rest of the garden space suggesting in essence water flowing under a bridge as seen in a monochrome landscape painting. This white sandy area forms the foreground with a distinctive stone in the shape of a boat. The stone boat in the middle of the rock garden 10 Buddhism, III, 10: Japan (iv) Zen, introduction, Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, [2006], http://www.groveart.com/

symbolically suggests “that obtaining enlightenment is as hard to do as it is to cross the ocean in a stone boat.”11 This small and quaint garden can be viewed from the verandah of the hojo or abbot’s house as well as from the central wooden pavilion area.

Fig 25-5b Daisen-in rock garden at the Daitoku-ji temple, attributed to So-ami, Kyoto, Japan, Muromachi period

Daisen-in detail (wooden screen in the middle and with the stone boat visible to the right) This garden design is attributed to the famous Japanese monochrome painter So-ami12. So-ami, was a significant member of Ami school of painters who served as an advisor to

11 Source: huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/.../ lec17.34html (click on the arrow to see other views of the garden) 12 P 443, Sherman Lee, History of Far Eastern Art, Prentice Hall, 1994

the Ashikaga Shoguns. His monochrome ink painting called the Eight views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers13 (no image) serves as the sliding door panel inside the Daisen-in sub temple at Daitokuji.14 It follows the Southern Song ‘soft’ style of the Chan master Muqi. The screen painting is inside and the rock landscape is outside. The garden design follows the same aesthetics seen in the ink paintings.

The sand is raked everyday to give the impression of a calm ocean. Three mounds of sand are arranged in such a way that only two are visible from any given angle to indicate the Zen view that the world cannot be seen by any individual in its entirety. Anything that is not visible must be sought from within rather than outside.15 That’s it for this unit! As noted in the textbook, most of the arts created during this period were associated with Zen Buddhism. The entire culture was guided by the Zen ideals. The Medieval period ends with a series of wars which leads the country into new direction.

Japan Study guide: Unit-6 Muromachi Period (p.8.852-856) Muromachi period: 1392-1573CE Ink Painting Early Zen Paintings Fig 25-2a Mokuan Reian, Four Sleepers (not in book refer to outlines) Fig 25-2b Josetsu, Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (not in book refer to outlines) Later Zen ink paintings Fig 25-2c Shubun, Reading in the Bamboo Studio (not in book refer to outlines) Fig 52-2 Bunsei, Landscape (from the textbook) Fig 25-3 Sesshu, Winter Landscape (from the textbook) Fig 25-3a Sesshu Toya, Ama-no-Hashidate (not in book refer to outlines) Fig 25-3b Sesshu, Haboku landscape (not in book refer to outlines)

13 So-ami painted another screen painting based on the Chinese theme called the Landscape of the Four Seasons which is today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Click on the following web link to view this painting in the collection at the MET museum http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zen/hod_41.59.1,2.htm 14 Brenda G.Jordan, Ami, (3) Shinso Soami (d.1525), Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, [2006], http://www.groveart.com/ 15 Image and information source: p.94-95 Delay Nelly, The Art and Culture of Japan, Abrams, Discoveries series 1999

Fig 25-4 Ikkyu, Calligraphy pair (from the textbook) Fig 25-4a Bokusai, Portrait of Zen Master Ikkyu (not in book refer to outlines) Architecture: Fig 25-4b Kinkakuji (not in book refer to outlines) Fig 25-4c Ginkakuji (not in book refer to outlines) The Zen Dry Garden Fig 25-5 Stone and gravel garden, Ryoan-ji (from the textbook) Fig 25-5b Daisen-in rock garden at the Daitoku-ji temple (not in book refer to outlines)