_The World of Art Series_
ARTS AND CRAFTS OF OLD JAPAN
BY
STEWART DICK
[Illustration]
T. N. FOULIS, 3 FREDERICK STREET,
EDINBURGH; & 35 LEICESTER SQUARE,
LONDON . . . . . . . . . MDCCCCVI.
[Illustration: A RAINY LANDSCAPE
From a Kakemono by SANSETSU
(_British Museum_)]
PREFACE
This little book is intended not for the collector or the connoisseur,
but merely for those who require an introduction to a field of art
hitherto little explored but which will well repay further study.
For fuller information on the subject many sources are available, but
a word of caution is necessary. A bibliography of works on Japanese
art would be misleading rather than useful, for much of what has been
written regarding it is, as criticism, quite valueless.
On Japanese painting the most important, indeed the only sound work,
is contained in a series of articles contributed by Mr Arthur Morrison
to _The Monthly Review_, 1902-3. The writings of Mr E. F. Strange deal
fully and adequately with Colour Printing; Captain Brinkley is a good
authority on Keramics, and Mr Josiah Conder on Landscape Gardening and
Flower Arrangement.
The Transactions of the Japan Society contain many interesting and
well-illustrated articles on Japanese minor arts, and the charm of
Japanese life is nowhere reflected more pleasantly than in the writings
of Sir Edwin Arnold and Mr Lafcadio Hearn.
To the custodians of public and the owners of private collections I
am indebted for many courtesies, and especially to Mr M. Tomkinson,
Franche Hall, Kidderminster, for permission to reproduce several of the
illustrations in the sumptuous catalogue of his collection.
S. D.
_October 1904._
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. INTRODUCTORY 1
II. PAINTING 16
III. COLOUR PRINTING 46
IV. SCULPTURE AND CARVING 63
V. METAL WORK 77
VI. KERAMICS 96
VII. LACQUER 121
VIII. LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND THE ARRANGEMENT
OF FLOWERS 138
[Illustration: Stylized Chrysanthemum]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAINTING --
A Rainy Landscape, by Sansetsu _Frontispiece_
Flying Ducks, by Korin _To face page_ 4
Fukurokujiu and Crane, by Korin 12
Arhat and Lion, by Cho Densu 18
An Impressionist Landscape, by Sesson 22
A Landscape in the Chinese Style, by Sesshiu 30
Shoriken crossing the Sea on his Sword, by Motonobu 34
Kwannon, the Goddess of Mercy, by Tanyu 36
Bird and Pine Branch, by Naonobu 38
Flower Panel, by Korin 40
Monkeys and Plum Blossom, by Sosen 42
A Peacock, by Ippo 44
COLOUR PRINTS --
A Figure Group, by Utamaro 52
A Figure Study, by Toyokuni 56
One of the Thirty-six Views of Fuji, by Hokusai 60
A Landscape, by Hiroshigé 62
SCULPTURE AND CARVING --
Colossal Bronze Image of a Bodhisatwa 66
Portrait of Senno Rikiu, carved in Wood and Lacquered 70
A Group of Netsukés 74
METAL WORK --
Two Bowls Cast in Bronze 78
Eagle in Cast and Hammered Iron 82
A Group of Tsubas 90
KERAMICS --
A Group of Porcelain 104
Vase, Satsuma Faience 108
A Group of Various Wares 114
LACQUER --
Lid of Suzuri-bako or Writing-case 124
A Group of Inro 130
A Group of Inro, by Korin 134
FLOWER ARRANGEMENT --
A Flower Composition 148
TAILPIECES --
Equestrian Figures from the Mangwa of Hokusai; Fans
from Korin Hiakuzu; and Crests.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
In coming to the study of Japanese art we must remember that we are
entering a strange world, where life and language, and even modes of
thought, run on other lines than ours.
When Japan, only fifty years ago, was thrown open to the Western
nations, in our ignorance and folly we were at first inclined to treat
the Japanese as a barbaric people. But never was there a greater
mistake. For the truth is that their civilisation is not only older
than ours but in some respects has advanced much further than we have
ever attained. In an æsthetic sense the people of Japan are cultured
to a degree far beyond our Western standards; their arts are full of
beauties which are too subtle, too refined, for our comprehension.
Here, in the most civilised of all Western nations, one is dubbed a
visionary and a dreamer if he hopes to see the day when the pleasures
of art shall be the solace of the poor as well as the luxury of the
rich. But this happy state has existed in Japan for ages. One of the
chief characteristics of the people is their love for beauty both in
nature and in art. On the public highways are notices indicating to
the wayfarer the points from which the most beautiful prospects may be
obtained. The artisan mother in the city carries her babe out into the
public parks at the festival of the cherry blossom, that its infant
mind may be permeated by the beauty and fragrance of the flowers.
And, loving beauty, they can also express it, for to learn to write in
Japan is in itself a course of training in drawing. In art the European
requires that everything should be stated with the utmost fulness of
a tedious realism before he can grasp its meaning, but to the more
cultured Japanese a mere hint or slight suggestion is sufficient. The
leading characteristic of Japanese art is, perhaps, that it leaves so
much unsaid. For the Philistine, who bulks so largely in the West, and
has to be considered and propitiated at every turn, seems to be quite
unknown in Japan. What wonder, then, that, with such a public, their
art should be somewhat above our heads.
Doubtless the canons of European art differ widely from those of the
Far East, but these things are not essentials. All art is based on
convention, in the terms of which its meaning is expressed. If we would
understand Japanese art we must accept its conventions; we must learn
the language of their art and see things with their eyes.
It is the fault of too many critics of Japanese art that they fail
to approach it in this sympathetic attitude, and by such it is quite
misunderstood. The mystic and beautiful Buddhist figures are tried by
rules of anatomy, and the dreamlike Chinese landscapes by the laws of
perspective. The materialist weighs the spiritual in the balance and
finds it wanting.
But we seem to be improving in these matters; perhaps we are becoming
more humble. Of late years some of our leading artists are beginning
to acquire the qualities which Japanese art has shown so long. Who
shall say that the work of such an one as Whistler, in its sensitive
feeling for balance, in its grace of line, in the unerring instinct
which marks its spacing, and in the delicate harmony of its colour,
is not essentially Japanese in style? Whether these qualities were
knowingly borrowed from the Japanese, or whether the artist evolved
them from his own inner consciousness, matters little. The important
fact is that the qualities which mark the work of one of the greatest
of our modern painters, and distinguish it from that of the vast body
of his contemporaries, are just the qualities which for centuries have
marked the art of Japan. But we know that Whistler was an enthusiastic
admirer of Japanese art, and, doubtless, he would have been the first
to acknowledge his debt.
With the younger school Japanese influence has been all-powerful. One
might safely say that, but for the Japanese colour print, there would
have been no modern poster school, working so daringly in bold outline
and broad, flat tints; and recent black and white work is equally
indebted to the Japanese woodcuts, with their beautiful, flowing line
and dexterous use of solid masses of black.
[Illustration: WILD DUCKS
By KORIN
(_From a Woodcut in the Korin Hiakuzu_)]
The difference of mental attitude is not the only reason for the
wide divergence in methods and ideals of Japanese art from that to
which we are accustomed. There are other physical and material causes
of great importance which have helped to decide its course. The basis
of all pictorial and applied art is architectural, and here we find one
starting-point of difference between the styles of the East and the
West. The frequency of earthquakes in Japan has rendered impossible
the erection of buildings of the stately proportions and massive
grandeur of other climes. The old Buddhist temples, which are the chief
buildings, cannot vie in importance with those of India or China.
In the Japanese house the walls are but paper screens, the whole
weight of the roof being supported by the four corner posts, which, in
their turn, are not sunk in the ground but stand on four large stones.
This lightness of construction has to a great extent dictated the
course taken by the arts of Japan. The Japanese picture, instead of
being enclosed in a massive frame, is placed on a light mount of silk
brocade, and when not in use is rolled up as we roll a map. And the
field of applied art is similarly restricted. The temples contain most
of the larger and more important works; there is no place for such in
the house. The household furniture is reduced to a minimum. A few mats
to sit on, for the Japanese use no chairs; one or two paper screens
dividing the house into separate chambers at will; a charcoal brazier;
a few cooking utensils and articles of pottery; some lacquered vessels,
fans, mirrors, and other ornaments; articles of dress, weapons, and
a few personal belongings, form the whole field which is open to the
craftsman.
So in Japan we have no rooms crowded with a profusion of heavy
ornament. Reticence is the keynote; but what ornament there is must be
of exquisite quality.
Before dealing in detail with the different branches of Japanese art
it will be well to glance for a little at the history of the nation,
in the light of which knowledge we shall better understand the social
system under which these arts arose and the mental qualities which they
embody.
The civilisation of Japan was the slow growth of many centuries. For
more than two thousand years, if we may believe the ancient records,
the Mikado and his forefathers have been absolute rulers of Japan,
the present dynasty stretching back in unbroken line to the Emperor
Jimmu, who flourished about 600 B.C. But, as written history did not
exist till some centuries after the beginning of the Christian era, the
records of those early days are of a more or less legendary character,
as one might surmise from the fact that the Emperor Jimmu was reported
to be the grandson of the Sun Goddess herself.
The origin of the Japanese race is shrouded in mystery. Little is known
of them except that, somewhere between two and three thousand years
ago, they invaded Japan, and drove out the Ainos, who still survive
in the island of Yezo. A Mongolian race, no one can say positively
whether the invaders came from China or Korea, from the Malay peninsula
or Siam, or whether, indeed, they were an offshoot from the wild Huns
against whom China raised the Great Wall. One thing tending to show
that they were not a branch of the Chinese race is that, even at that
early date, China was the abode of an advanced civilisation; while the
Japanese were certainly little removed from barbarism, and, indeed,
hardly more civilised than the Ainos whom they displaced.
But the Japanese character has always been receptive, and just as
their new civilisation is borrowed from Europe, so for the foundations
of the old they are indebted to China. When they first came into
contact with influences from the mainland it is hard to tell. It is
said that the use of Chinese characters was introduced as early as
157 B.C., and the early records give a full account of an invasion
of Korea by the Empress Jingo about 200 A.D. After this victorious
expedition many captives are said to have been brought back, who laid
the foundations of Chinese learning and culture.
The real civilising of Japan, however, began with the coming of the
Buddhist priests from Korea in the middle of the sixth century.
Buddhism became the chief religion of the country, largely absorbing,
though it never quite superseded, the collection of myths and
superstitions known as Shintoism. For Shintoism was hardly a religion
in the usual sense of the term. As a Japanese writer admits, it had
no moral code; but, he adds naively: “Morals were invented by the
Chinese because they were immoral people; whereas in Japan there was no
necessity for a system of morals, as everyone acted rightly if he only
consulted his own heart.”
The chief centres of the new culture which spread over the land were
the great Buddhist monasteries. Just as our own mediæval cathedrals
and monasteries were the nurseries of the arts, so in Japan arose a
race of artist priests. Their work at first applied solely to religious
purposes, but afterwards widened out till, along with the sacred, there
existed also a secular school. For three or four hundred years under
these benign and mellowing influences the country grew and prospered.
The quiet and peaceful times from the eighth to the tenth century
especially marked a period of great literary activity, several of the
most famous poets of Japan, whose writings still live in old tradition,
flourishing during this period.
As time went on, however, the horizon became overcast, and from the
twelfth to the end of the sixteenth centuries Japanese history is one
long record of strife and civil war. The Mikado became more and more
only the nominal ruler; the real power lay in the hands of the warrior
nobles.
In the twelfth century arose the terrible struggle between the two
rivals, the Taira and Minamoto families, each supporting its own
candidate for the throne--a war which gave to legend and story one of
its chief heroes--Yoshitsuné, the Bayard of Japan.
A hundred years later Japan, for the only time in her history, had to
repel a foreign invader, a huge Tartar armada threatening her shores;
but, as in the case of England, the elements fought for the islanders.
A terrific storm played havoc with the Tartar fleet, and of all the
invading forces it is said that only three men escaped alive, and were
sent home to tell the tale.
Then in the fourteenth century the bitter wars of the Ashikaga period
once more bathed the country in blood.
Those long years of war set their stamp on the nation, hardened its
fibre, and brought out its sterner virtues. A military class--the
Samurai--arose, and these trained warriors were maintained by the local
Daimios, or princes, to whom they owed feudal obedience. Bushido, the
way of the warrior, a stern but lofty creed of valour and devotion
to duty, became the real moral code of the nation. For the annals of
Japanese knighthood are full of tales of dauntless heroism--tales still
told in every cottage in Japan, and retold a hundred times in Japanese
art.
In those warlike days there was little place for the gentler arts of
peace. But the Buddhist temples still stood--quiet sanctuaries where,
undisturbed by the turmoil and strife around them, the gentle, priestly
philosophers pursued the even tenor of their way, and kept the lamp
of art burning bright and clear. In the outer world the military arts
alone flourished, and the swordmaker was the king of craftsmen.
In the fifteenth century, however, during a period of peace, a second
wave of Chinese influence gave a new impetus to art. The Court of the
retired Shogun Yoshimasa was a circle of artists and learned men,
culture once more reached a high level, and one of the most brilliant
periods of Japanese art began.
The sixteenth century saw a gradual consolidation of the empire. The
Mikado for long had been little more than the nominal ruler, the chief
power lying in the hands of the Shogun, who controlled the whole
executive of the state; but the local Daimios gave little more than a
mere formal submission to the central authority--each was practically
absolute king in his own province. In 1603 Iyeyasu, the first of the
Tokugawa Shoguns, for in his family the office became hereditary, came
into power. A man of great ability, he set himself to complete the work
of subjugation which his predecessors Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had begun,
and finally reduced the turbulent nobles to the state of vassals, owing
feudal obedience to the Mikado. Under his wise rule the country settled
down to a prolonged period of peace, unbroken for two hundred and fifty
years, in which art and industry developed greatly.
The Tokugawa period, 1603-1867, especially in its earlier stages,
is pre-eminently the period of the minor arts, which then reached a
perfection which has not been attained before or since. The force of
the nation formerly expended on war was turned into these more peaceful
channels. The Daimios of the various provinces carefully fostered the
local arts, specimens of which were sent yearly to the Shogun and the
Mikado, and a keen rivalry existed between the different districts.
[Illustration: FUKUROKUJIU AND CRANE
By KORIN
(_From a Woodcut in the Korin Hiakuzu_)]
Often the local lord would establish a kiln on his private estate,
where articles of pottery and porcelain were manufactured solely for
his own use. In the shelter of his castle, too, the artist in metal
or in lacquer worked peacefully, freed from all sordid cares. Time
was no object to him, the final result everything. He had to consult
no demands of popular taste, his work was always the best he could
produce, and often years of labour went to the making of one perfect
piece.
As time went on, however, gradually the work lost its first freshness
and originality. It became richer and more elaborate but tamer and less
vigorous, and by the beginning of the nineteenth century only echoed
faintly its former glories. For the burden of feudalism was pressing
on the country with more and more weight. The military classes, their
employment gone, gradually sank into luxury and indolence; the only
sign of life was the gradual rise of a more democratic feeling among
the people. The later schools of painting were more or less of the
nature of a revolt from the traditions of the older styles, and the art
of colour printing saw the rise of a school of democratic artists.
The soil was already prepared, some change was inevitable, and the
change came when the country was thrown open to the nations of the
West, feudalism finally abolished, and a democratic government
established in its place.
But contact with Western ideas and Western methods seemed to give the
deathblow to Japanese art. In painting, the European standards have
played havoc with the charming and beautiful conventions of old Japan.
Aniline dyes have spoilt the soft harmonies of the colour prints. In
metal, in carving, and in lacquer the new work is vastly inferior to
the old. What the European market clamoured for was not quality but
cheapness, and so, adaptive as ever, the Japanese turn out by the
hundred superficial and mechanical imitations of the beautiful old
work. Modern commercial methods have little to do with art, and in this
case seemed at once to turn the artist into a trader.
Japan is now a modern nation, Western in its civilisation, in its
methods, and seemingly in its ideals--destined to become a great
industrial state. Perhaps, as she has done so often before, she may
absorb the new influences, and without loss of individuality follow out
her own course. Perhaps, phœnix-like, from the ashes of the old, new
arts as brilliant may arise. But, again, some say that art belongs only
to the more youthful stages of the world, and that in these days of
science never again can the artist be more than a mere survival of an
earlier age--one who still keeps green within him the youth which in
others has long since withered and died.
[Illustration: Rider on Horseback]