The Practices of Painting in Japan, 1475-1500 9781503617773

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THE PRACTICES OF PAINTING IN JAPAN,

1475-1500

Tfte: 'Yractice:.r of 'Yaixli;g

ix Jrgax, 1475-1500

QUITMAN E. PHILLIPS

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA

Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 2000 by the Board of Trustees of the

Leland Stanford Junior University Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Phillips, Quitman E. The practices of painting in Japan, 1475-1500 I Quitman E. Phillips. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN o-8047-3446-1 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Art patronage-Japan-History-To 1500. 2. Artists and patrons-Japan-History-To 1500. 3. Painting, Japanese-Kamakura-Momoyama periods, 1185-1600. I. Title.

N5285.J3 P48

2000

701' .03'095209024-dc21

00-023289

Original printing 2000

Designed by James P. Brommer Typeset in 10.5/14.5 Minion

Note on emblems: The paulonia (kiri) was a popular family crest of the shoguns, an important source of patronage for artists. The paulonia crest suggested prestige and aristocracy and was placed on objects ranging from military gear to objects of beauty.

List of Illustrations

tx

Preface xi Note to the Reader xv Abbreviations xvii INTRODUCTION

1

2

3

DOCUMENTING PRACTICES

Document Categories

15

Weighing Documents

22

13

CIRCUMSTANCES OF PAINTING

Communities of Practice

26

Categories of Painting(s)

38

The Making of a Painter

52

BASIC OPERATIONS AND AGENCY

Initiating a Painting Project

62

Gathering Visual Resources

66

The Formulation of Painting Projects 71 The Painting Process 79 Inscribing

82

Mounting 90

25

62

4

92

CONSULTATION AND SUPERVISION

Painting Without Supervision and with It

93

Icon-Painting Projects 95

S

The Togudo Project

98

Handscroll Projects

107

SOCIAL PRACTICES

118

Entering the Field of Painting Practice 118 'Formal Practices Within the Central Institutions Informal Practices

121

130

Economic Capital: Obligation and Compensation

6

PORTRAITURE

139

147

Portraiture in Late-Fifteenth-Century Japan

148

Contemporary Usage and Its Implications for Practice The Portrait-Painting Process: The Commission of Kisen Shusho

152

156

Kamigata: Preserving and Transmitting Individual Identity As Likeness 159 Beyond Likeness: Incorporating Social Identities

164

Portrait As Document: Problems in the Recovery of Identity CONCLUSION

171

Appendix 1: Chronology of Events 177 Appendix 2: Character List 207 Notes 221 Glossary ofJapanese Terms Bibliography 241 Index 255

Yiii

CONTENTS

237

167

fllLuJtratitJ JU

Illustrations appear after page 91. 1.

Sesshu Toy6

Splashed-Ink Landscape. Inscription by Gett6 Shuky6, and others. 1495. Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 148.6 x 32.7 em. Tokyo National Museum. 2. Tosa Mitsunobu, attributed.

Genji monogatari album (Yugao, scene 4), Muromachi period, 1509. Album ink, and color on paper, approx. 24.2 x 17.9 em. Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia. 3· Tosa Mitsunobu, attributed.

Tsukiminedera konryu shugyi5 engi emaki (Legends of the founding and discipline ofTsukiminedera).1495. Set of two handscrolls, ink and colors on paper, h. 34·4 em. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 4· Kan6 Masanobu.

Human Figures by a Pine Tree. Late fifteenth century. Fan, ink on paper, max. diameter 51.9 em. Tokyo National Museum. 5. Eleven-Headed Kannon. Fifteenth century. Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk, 109.1 x 40.5 em. Tokyo National Museum. 6. Oguri Sokei. Landscape (originally at the Y6tokuin, Daitokuji, Kyoto). 1490. Sliding doors (two of fourteen total), ink and light colors on paper, each 199.3 x 115.7 em. Kyoto National Museum.

7. Tosa Mitsunobu, attributed. Portrait, said to be of Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Fifteenth century. Hanging scroll, color on silk, 44·7 x 56.6 em. Tokyo National Museum. 8. Anon. Portrait of Fujiwara Morinao. Inscription attributed to Genchu Zuishu. 1515. Hanging scroll, color on silk, 92.0 x 39·3 em. Tokyo National Museum.

ILLU~TRATIONS

'Preface

In writing this book, I have tried to strike a balance between offering a text of broad use to students and fellow scholars and presenting narrowly focused research in original documents. Although the second goal needs no justification in a scholarly publication, the first mayor at least discussion of it offers an opportunity to make a few observations about the state of Japanese art history outside of Japan. One of the great difficulties for those of us who teach Japanese art history is that there are too few assignable texts in print. The field is both blessed and plagued by its most common and broadly useful English texts: translations of selected works from Japanese art-historical series and exhibition catalogs. These provide a wealth of information, but cannot lay a healthy foundation for scholarly discipline. The translated texts, products of the sixties and seventies, fall more noticeably out of date each year, while more recent catalogs vary greatly in ambition, a majority of them retailing rather general information gleaned from secondary sources without much critical reconsideration. I do not question the worth or appropriateness of this, but there needs to be a better balance of such works with others that very actively engage the problems of historical research. Otherwise, how can we hope to intraduce students who are still building their language skills to the allimportant processes of critical reading and thought? The pace of publication for scholarly monographs in Japanese art history has at last increased beyond the merest trickle, and the results hold great promise for the long-term development of the field. For the time being, however, there are still too few publications for their combined impact to balance other sorts of texts.

,xi

My own approach in the work was to take up issues of broad relevance but to explore them only within a time frame narrow enough for thorough study of source documents. Many of my points will certainly apply beyond the chronological limits I have imposed, but I have avoided interpolating beyond the time covered by my documents, even when it appeared safe to do so. Assumptions of continuity in Japanese art history have sometimes masked the subtleties of differences over time. Finally, I have also tried to present methods of research and analysis that I believe to be highly useful and still little applied in the field. Ifl have been diffident about interpolation, I have not been so about interpretation in many instances. On the other hand, I have felt comfortable doing this because I have presented so much of the historical evidence to readers that they can make reasoned judgments on their own. I take great pleasure in recognizing all of those people who helped make this, my first book, possible. I begin with my teachers: I express deep gratitude to my major professor at Berkeley, and now colleague, Maribeth Graybill, for years of sound mentoring, incisive criticism, invaluable introductions, and much-appreciated encouragement. For one entirely unsuited to the "old art history;' James Cahill and Svetlana Alpers were ideal teachers, leading primarily by example and teaching me that the intellectual horizons of art history were boundless. Whatever skills I have in reading kanbun, I owe to the patient instruction of the late William McCullough. I only wish I had been a more diligent student to better honor his memory. In Japan, I was fortunate enough to work with Tsuji Nobuo, Kono Motoaki, Toda Teisuke, and Ogawa Hiromitsu of Tokyo National University. Yamashita Yuji, then joshu, also played a significant role in my academic development. Masatomo Kawai has long served as an unofficial but no less important teacher. Akiyama Terukazu also provided guidance. Since coming to the University of Wisconsin, I have greatly benefited from the strong support and valuable criticism of my senior col-

)Cii

P R E FA C E

leagues. No one has been more unstinting in providing both than Julia Murray. Every junior faculty member should be as fortunate in having so good a friend and mentor. Over the years, a great number of colleagues have lent advice and encouragement. In Japan, these include Chino Kaori, Yonekura Michio, Itakura Masaaki, and Kunig6 Hideaki. I have benefited as well especially from the generosity of Shimao Arata and Suzuki Hiroyuki, who have been willing to share both the fruits of their research and their ideas. In the United States, Melinda Takeuchi and Mimi Yiengpruksawan read the text in its entirety and offered valuable suggestions. Ken Brown read the sixth chapter closely and suggested numerous improvements. Needless to say, such kindnesses do not in any way implicate them in whatever faults remain in the text. I am sincerely grateful to Helen S. Tartar, Elizabeth Berg, and the staff at Stanford University Press. Helen's belief in the book and patience with a reluctant finisher was the best support I could have had in the final stages. I am also deeply indebted to the Herculean efforts of my copy editor, Andrew Frisardi. I want to express my great gratitude for the generous financial support of the Japan Foundation, the Metropolitan Center for Research on Far Eastern Art, and the Institute for Research in the Humanities and the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin. My greatest thanks go to my family-my son, Daniel, my daughter, Ayumi, and, most of all, my wife, Sayoko. Their love and support has made all the difference.

PREFACE

; Yanagiwara #!' /!;. Yoshino t' ff Yotokuin .t- f.~ llJt Yiishoken ~ ;;71 .ff

CHARACTER LIST

215

TERMS

Akadoji -Ji; ~ -fazukari ffl Benzaiten Bishamon

*

.ft Jl,;j' ~ i:Y ,,

byobu At )!(. byobu uta At)!(. ~ chiisawarawa ~ chins6 1fi ;#J chiisho 'f 1" Dai Hannya ::k.. -At;¥=- Sutra daifu (naifu) r*J At daijo daijin ::k.. ifi ::k.. & Daikoku ::k.. .W.. daimyo ::k..~ daishi :R! ~t daisojo ::k.. 1W iE. danna no rna ;ti ~ 0) r..,

+

doboshii FJ MJ ;it dojinsai FJ 1.::.

*"

e~

eboshi-noshi .~ +i-f- J1i ::&... ebusshi ~ 1'-' P.P edokoro ~ FJf ei fJ ema ~.~ emaki ~l&­ engi ~~ eshi ~~ etoki ~1\11eyo ~t1< ezo ~1W fu~

Fudo ~ 1tJ Fugen Enmei it 'J l! 4/l-

216

CHARACTER LIST

fusuma ;jl gaidai 7r~ gayo ~ ;f;f< gazo ~1~ Godaison Myoo 1i :k. _. l JJ .I.. gosho no rna .f!p ;If 0) r.., Gozan 1i J.J gyakushu .ii {I} Gyobusho Jflj %~ :{j' hakama ~ hiki ;{_ hisshi -f"~ hitsuyo -f ;f!f< hagen it a~t hokkyo it .tl Hosso it #I Sect Hotei ~~ Ishiyama :?3 J.J Room izo 1! 1~ Ji Sect jige :Jt

at

r

jisshoku ~* Jizo !11!.~ jo ~ jo AJuni Ten *... Jiini Zenshin ~ ;ftp juzo .Jt-1~ kage 1.3 kaisho ~;!f kakitsukushi no rna ~¥ fi... kamigata ~ *}

+..::.

+ /\

< L 0) r..,

kanga il ~ Kannon ~if kanpaku r!ll E1 kanrei if 4J{

CHARACTER LIST

217

kara-e ;8-~ karamono 18- ~h karei I, :fL kari no rna ~'f (J)

r..,

Kasuga edokoro $. kata ~ kinbyobu ~ )Jf- JiL koburi ~

a ~ i'JT

ko-e •1' ~ kokko 00 .r.. kokushu 00 _i_ kotobagaki 1~ 194 Ten Monks, 22, 6o, 69, 76-77, 98-106,

266

Ten' in Ryiitaku, 85, 141, 180, 204, 205, 206 Tenkai Togar6, 22, 178, 179 Tenkai Togaro ki, 20, 22-23, 143, 178,

172, 177, 183, 186, 187, 189, 190, 192,

Tosa monjo, 17, 45 Tosa painters, 26, 34, 37, 41, 55, 56, 59,

188,189 Ten Pleasures of the Pure Land, 77, 105-106

121, 137, 144 Tosa Ukyosuke, 194

Ten Stages of Ox-Herding, 76, 98-99, 188

Tosa Yukihiro, 127 Tosa Yukimitsu, 96, 193

INDEX

Toseiden e, 197 True Pure Land Sect, 109 Tsuchimikado Palace, 181 Tsugao. See Myoe

tsuitate, 54 Tsukiminedera konryu shugyo engi emaki, 49, 201 tsukinami-e, 44 tsukuri-e, 81 tsune no gosho, 51, 75, 84-95 Ueno Kenji, 6o Uesugi family, 36 Uesugi Norisada, 151 Uesugi Sadamasa, 189 ukon shogen, 127 Unchoin, 6o Unkoku-an, 143 Unpo Toetsu, 139, 182

Yamashina family, 124, 149, 189, 191, 196 Yamashina Honganji, 181 Yamashina Sadatoki, 125, 200 Yamashina Tokikuni, 28, 67, 81,180 Yamashiro, 179,181,182,187, 202 Yamato Amagawa (?), 183

yamato-e, 39, 40-43, 51 Yamazaki Sokan, 37 Yanagiwara, 29 Yangtsze River, 137 Yellow River, 137 Yi Su-mun, 221 n. 10 Yogetsu, 188 Yokawa Chiido, 183 Yoshida Yuji, 30, 95, 114 Yoshino Shrine mandala, 96-97,191,

Unryiiin, 198

192 Yotokuin, 75, 195, 206 Yiii (layman), 187

Utatane zoshi, 49 utsusu, 67-71, 156

Yujian, 51 Yiiko Koji, 68, 185 Yiishoken, 74-75, 196

Viewing a Waterfal~ 21, 65-66, 88-89, 129-30, 136, 180, 182

Yuzu Nenbutsu engi emaki (Seiryoji version), 29, 79, 8o-81

Viewing a Waterfall on Mt. Lu, 197 Vimalakirti, 100, 178

za,26,144-45,146

zashiki kazari. See room decoration wa-kan, 39-43 wall painting. See room painting(s) WangWei,90 West Lake, 56, 77, 202

and display Zeami, 33, 54, 135 Zen monks and temples, 36, 40, 47. See also Gozan; Daitokuji Zen' ami, 33, 184 Zengan Dojun, 202 Zenkoji, 179, 185

Yakushi, 185 Yakushiji Hachiman Shrine, 198

Zenkoji engi e, 178

Yamadera hoshi ekotoba, 178

Zhang Yousheng, 138

Yamaguchi, 36, 135, 198 Yamana Masatoyo, 192

zo, 44, 153, 155 zuy6,77

Zenkii Shonin, 95

INDEX

267