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- dently of China, the early Chinese colour prints enriched and hastened the later maturation of the art of printmaking in Japan.
Ukiyo-e Hanga
The term ukiyo-e is composed of three characters�uki, meaning �floating� or �tran�sitory�; yo, meaning �world�; and e, meaning �pictures� or �images.� The term as a whole means �pictures of the floating world.�
Originally, ukiyo (the floating world) was a Buddhist term which described this world and the fleeting, transitory nature of human life as a state of misery in contrast with the more permanent joys of the spirit and the mind. However, by about 1680, the novelist Ryoi offered a more positive definition in his Ukiyo Monogatari (Tales of the Floating World):
... Living only for the moment, turning full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, drinking wine, and diverting ourselves just in floating, floating, caring not a whit for the pauperism staring us in the face, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world...
Ukiyo-e thus came to mean the depiction of a light-hearted devotion to entertainment and pleasures characteristic of the wealthy urban merchant class who inhabited the big cities during the Edo period (1615-1868). Ukiyo-e prints mirrored the life of this class in rich and vibrant detail.
Ukiyo-e prints were cheap, mass-produced products which served as posters or pin-up art for the common people�especially the merchants, who purchased them from street vendors or small open shops in the market. They were also used for calendars, memorials, greeting cards and advertisements.
The technique of making the prints was simple. The artist would first produce a sketch or design (called hanshita-e) in black ink on paper. The design was then pasted face down on a block of cherry wood which had been sawed lengthwise and planed along the grain. Next an engraver would make a relief by chiselling the superfluous wood from around the lines. Often both sides of the block were engraved to economize on wood.
A printer inked the finished relief and placed dampened paper on the block. The printer then rubbed the paper by hand with an oiled
th�mes populaires dans des styles de peinture caract�ristiques du Japon, � savoir les styles Kano et yamato-e. Ces livres illustr�s ont jet� les bases de l��cole ukiyo-e, la premi�re �tape importante dans l��volution de la xylographie japonaise.
Les premi�res estampes en couleur tir�es en Chine au cours de la derni�re partie de la dynastie des Ming �taient surtout des repro�ductions de tableaux existants. Lorsque l�estampe est arriv�e au Japon, les artistes- graveurs japonais ont adopt� la technique de l�impression en couleur; mais il sembleque les premi�res estampes en couleur japonaises �taient des oeuvres d�art originales plut�t que des copies de tableaux. Bien que la perfection de l�impression en couleur au Japon �volue ind�pendamment de la Chine, les premi�res estampes chinoises en couleur ont enrichi et acc�l�r� la maturation ult�rieure de l�art de la xylographie au Japon.
Ukiyo-e hanga
Le mot ukiyo-e se compose de trois caract�res �uki, c�est-�-dire �flottant� ou ��ph�m�re,� yo, c�est-�-dire �monde,� et e, c�est-�-dire �image.� Le mot pris dans son ensemble veut donc dire �images du monde flottant.�
A l�origine, ukiyo (le monde flottant) �tait un terme bouddhique utilis� pour d�crire ce monde et le caract�re �ph�m�re et passager de la vie humaine comme un �tat de souffrance, � contraster aux joies plus permanentes de l��me et de l�esprit. Cependant, vers environ 1680, le romancier Ryoi en a offert une d�finition plus positive dans son Ukiyo monogatari (Contes du monde flottant):
�...Vivre uniquement pour l�instant, pr�ter toute son attention aux plaisirs de la lune, de la neige, des fleurs de cerisier et des feuilles d��rable, chanter des chansons, boire du vin, se divertir tout simplement en flottant, flottant, ne se souciant gu�re du paup�risme qui nous cr�ve les yeux, refusant de se d�moraliser, comme une gourde qui flotte au fil de l�eau: c�est ce que nous appelons le monde flottant...�
Ukiyo-e a donc fini par signifier la figuration d�un d�vouement insouciant aux divertisse�ments et aux plaisirs caract�ristiques de la classe fortun�e des marchands citadins qui habitaient les grandes villes durant la p�riode Edo (1615-1868). L�estampe ukiyo-e refl�te la vie de cette classe sociale en d�tails riches et palpitants.
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