| Transcript |
- (1615-1868), Chinese neo-Confucian studies were encouraged by the shogun rulers of Japan in order to promote public morality, social stability and loyalty to the government. National and regional schools as well as private academies were set up by the government to encourage Confucian learning (rujia). Originally this newly created Japanese Confucian class (jusha) concentrated on compiling moralistic and philosophical essays, but after studying the lifestyle of their Chinese literati counterparts, they broadened their studies to include Chinese literature, poetiy and paintings.
Perhaps the use of the word �literati� in Japan is a bit of a misnomer as Japan lacked a scholar-bureaucrat class. Japanese literati painters were not necessarily from the same high social background as their Chinese counterparts. They had extremely diverse backgrounds, were from different parts of the countiy and from different walks of life in society. Not only were they the new breed of scholar-officials, court nobles and members of the samurai warrior class, but physicians, merchants, amateur painters, professional painters and Zen monks as well. These artists were often forced to support themselves by selling their painting, in contrast to the Chinese literati painters who painted as an enjoyable pastime. They were all inspired by Chinese culture and art, which to them was the source of all civilization. They felt compelled to master a Chinese consciousness and learned the Chinese language, the Chinese way of preparing steeped tea (sencha) and its various utensils, and the Chinese literati�s art forms. They became known as kangakusha (scholars of Chinese learning). Like the Chinese literati painters, they were anti�establishment painters and they too came to reject court-patronized art, which, in the Japanese case were the Kano and Tosa schools. Although they all had idealistic and romantic views of the world and strove to the Chinese lofty quietude, each of these artists possessed his own style in accordance to his temperament. Their favourite subjects were landscapes with figures, trees and flowers and they too adopted the Chinese habit of inscribing a poem to complete the painting. They usually wrote a Chinese-style verse. The Nanga painting style established itself as a major artistic movement with great speed and in typical Japanese fashion, it was gradually transformed from being Chinese- inspired painting into a new and distinctive Japanese form of art.
The earliest exponents of literati painting in Japan were Gion Nankai (1676-1751), Sakaki Hyakusen (1697-1752), Yanagisawa Kien (1706-1758), Hattori Nankaku (1683- 1759, and Nakayama Kyo (1717-1780). They learned about Chinese literati painting through imported Chinese illustrated woodblock printed books, like the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual, and a few examples of actual Chinese literati paintings, which found their way to Japan. There were some Chinese artists, like Yi Hai and Shen Quan, who occasionally ventured to Japan. The Obaku Zen priest-painters from China also provided stimulus to Nanga painting.
The themes most popular with the Nanga painters were primarily landscapes, often with little Chinese figures, but there was also a great deal of interest in depicting the Four Noble Plants: orchid, bamboo, plum and chrysanthemum.
By the mid 18th century, the two greatest Nanga masters, Ikeno Taiga (1723-1796) and Yosa Buson (1716-1784), both of whom were considered professional painters, elevated this new literati style of painting to a new level of perfection. They showed a great sense of confidence and stylistic originality, and because of them, Nanga spread in popularity. Unlike the other painting schools, the Nanga school produced a tremendous number of talented artists who displayed a great variety of styles. Great Nanga masters like Uragami Gyokudo (1745-1820), Aoki Mokubei (1767-1833), and Okada Beisanjin (1744-1818), freely injected unrestrained and complex brushwork. While Nanga artists like Tani
15
|
|---|
