Shitaya Bunjin during the Late Edo and Meiji Periods
Chinese culture was brought to Edo (modern-day Tokyo) during the Edo period through the Shogunate’s Confucian studies policy and the arrival of Ōbaku Zen monks. Cultural figures such as YAOZEN, OHTA Shokusanjin, KAMEDA Bosai, ICHIKAWA Beian, ICHIKAWA Kansai, and KIKUCHI Gozan were active in sencha tea ceremony, poetry, painting and calligraphy. The cultural pursuits of these figures continued into the modern age, and calligraphy and painting sessions were held frequently. People enjoyed the exchange of ideas with the literati, and calligraphers and painters would write calligraphy and paint paintings in response to visitors’ requests. Many people came to be moved by the sight of the calligraphers and painters creating their works in front of them, and began to seek out their works of calligraphy. This exhibition introduces the writings and paintings of various literati who were familiar with the art of painting and calligraphy.
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Edo Period Calligraphy
With the political stability brought about by the feudal system in Japan during the Edo period, came the flourishment of culture. Except for certain allowances made for the Dutch, the Qing Dynasty, and the Nanban trade, there was no interaction between Japan and the outside world. The culture that developed during this period was almost completely introverted.
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Meiji Period Calligraphy
The end of the Edo period marked the collapse of the feudal government and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration. During this period, Japan’s social structure changed drastically. It was a time of revolutionary change in every field.
The Japanese calligraphers of the time carefully processed all the information newly acquired from abroad and incorporated it into the traditional style of Japanese calligraphy to make a style tailored to the new era that had arrived. The passion and conviction of that period that lingers in these brush strokes leaves an impression of brilliance even today, over a 100 years later.
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１ Shisho-byobu
ICHIKAWA Beian （1779－1858） 市河 米庵
Beian is also another famous calligrapher of the Edo period. He was born in the Kyōbashi area of Edo (now Tokyo) and attended a Confucianist school that was run by the Edo shogunate, Shōheikō. He grew up around his father, who was the head of the school, and his grandfather who was a well-known calligrapher and Confucianist himself. Beian studied calligraphic works of the Song dynasty, and actively incorporated their style into his own. It is said that he had over 5000 disciples, and his style has continued to have many followers even throughout the Meiji period.
This piece was passed down through a house in the Kaga Domain. It has a peacefulness to it, characteristic of the works of famed Chinese calligrapher Yan Zhenqing. The piece sings of the virtues and joy of the pursuit of study.
２ Flowers and Plants
OHNUMA Chinzan（1818－1891） 大沼枕山ほか
1875 (Meiji Year 8)
The calligraphy is by OHNUMA Chinzan and OHTSUKI Bankei. The flowers are by FUKUSHIMA Ryuho, TODO Ryoun, MATSUOKA Kanshui, and OKUHARA Seiko. As noted by Seiko, indicates that the work was made in the 8th year of Meiji. These cultural figures were popular in the calligraphy and painting circles of the time. From this piece, we can learn about the literati of Edo (Tokyo) during the early Meiji period.
３ Kanshi
KUSAKABE Meikaku（1838—1922） 日下部鳴鶴
Meikaku studied under MAKI Ryōkoi, a famous calligrapher of the Bakumatsu (end of Edo) period. He also idolized NUKINA Sūō. After a new government was established during the Meiji Restoration, he worked on official documents as Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. However, with the assassination of TOSHIMICHI Okubo, who was serving under him at the time, he resigned from his position and devoted himself fully to calligraphy. He systematically absorbed historical calligraphy texts from Mainland China, eventually giving birth to a style of calligraphy that had never existed in Japan prior. Many of his disciples went on to become famous people.
４Rubbings of stone monuments
IWAYA Ichiroku (1834-1905) 巌谷 一六
Ichiroku had many requests to compose poetry, and as a result his calligraphic works can be found all throughout Japan. This piece is one such example.
５ Shichigon-zekku
OHTA Shokusanjin （1749－1823） 大田 蜀山人
Dated 1818 (Bunka Year 18)
The calligraphy is by Shokusanjin, but the sketch of the little boat on the peach is by KUWAGATA Keisai (1764-1824). Shokusanjin’s calligraphy, which incorporates the style of CHO Zuito (late Ming, early Qing), has slim characters that use sharp angles at the turn of the page. The fact that he does not mind the lines leaning to the left is probably due to the poem being a kyōka, or “mad poem”. The poem ends with the words, “flowers blooming flowers falling, the 70th spring,” in praise of the springtime of old age. The poem was written on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
６ Collaboration of Calligraphy and Paintings
KAMEDA Bosai (1752-1826) 亀田鵬斎ほか
Dated 1816 (Bunka Year 13)
A collaboration work of ten literary figures including KAMEDA Bosai, SAKAI Hoitsu, KIKUCHI Gozan, TANI Bun-ichi, TANI Buncho, ICHIKAWA Kansai, and ICHIKAWA Beian. These literati gathered together to enjoy the occasion of working on their poems, calligraphy, and paintings for this piece. All were active in the Shitaya area.
７ Large Mosquito Scroll
SAKAI Hōitsu (1761 -1829) 酒井抱一
The subject depicted in this painting is not a mosquito but a crane fly. This painting doesn’t display the classic ingenuity of Rinpa1 painters. Rather, it is an expression of the object viewed in earnestness.
Hōitsu, who lived in Edo (present-day Tokyo), became a personal admirer of OGATA Kōrin, a Rinpa painter who was active in Kyoto about a 100 years earlier. The Rinpa school flourished in Edo as well, taking on the name Edo Rinpa.
During the Edo period (1603-1868) there was a development in the economy, and a class of wealthy townspeople, who were neither court nobles nor samurai, was born. This created the business of selling paintings and beautiful paper goods.
The text below the painting reads:
“People do not hate the crane fly, which does not approach them nor drink their blood. It keeps its distance from people. The sound of the crane fly’s buzzing wings makes it a companion of the literati2 buzzing through the busy streets.”
The original text features a play on words which is representative of the time in which it was produced.
1A school of art that emerged in Kyoto at the end of the 16th century. “琳” (rin) is one of the characters in the name, OGATA Kōrin (1658-1716), after whom the style is named.
2Literary figures, people of culture and scholars of calligraphy and painting.
８ Bokujō
In order to study calligraphy, it is absolutely necessary to have a good sample to study off of. Nowadays, you can easily find printed materials that clearly show what classical works look like, spread them out on your table and practice your strokes. If you want to see the originals, you can also find them at a museum.
However, up until modern times this wasn’t the case. It wasn’t so easy to look at copybooks of famous calligraphic works, which were oftentimes given as offerings to shrines and temples. It was very rare to be able to have a sample to look at whenever you’d like. What came about from this necessity to study classic works is the creation of bokujō, copybooks made with rubbings and sumi ink..
In Japan, the publishing and duplication these copybooks began during the 18th century. There were several methods used to print these books; hidariban required the characters to be carved backwards, while shōmenban used characters that were carved into wood in the original direction. There was another method that was commonly used for works that consisted of Japanese alphabet kana, called totsuban, in which the characters themselves would be printed in black.
It is believed that the first bokujō in Japan appeared in the year 1714. In Japan, wooden boards were the preferred material used for carving these printing boards, which means that they deteriorate greatly over time. Unfortunately, because of this there are almost no remaining original wooden boards that are still around today, which makes the exact date of bokujō production difficult to pinpoint.
９Essays, Books, and Poems
ICHIKAWA Beian （1779－1858） 市河 米庵
Ichikawa Beian, along with NUKINA Suo and MAKI Ryoko, is considered one of the three master calligraphers of the late Edo period. It is said that he had more than 5,000 pupils in his later years, and his calligraphy was well accepted by many people. This is a dynamic rendition of a poem discussing calligraphy. This piece is from the last years of his life, and it demonstrates the results of his extensive study and mastery of ancient and modern calligraphy.
１０ Lotus Pond with Small Bird
Painted by OKUHARA Seiko (1837-1913) 奥原晴湖 画
ONO Kozan (1814-1910) 小野湖山 書
Around 1873
Seiko was born into a family of a feudal lord of the Furukawa (Ibaraki prefecture) domain. She was adopted by the Okuhara family and moved to Tokyo, where she interacted with many literary figures. The painting is painted by her, while the accompanying poem is by Ono Kozan. The lotus flowers and jade depicted in light ink were probably drawn by polishing old sumi ink, as indicated in the inscription. This work provides a glimpse into the interactions between literary figures of the Meiji period.
１１ Work by Emperor Meiji
NISHIKAWA Shundō (1847-1915) 西川春洞
1913 (Taisho Year 2)
Born in Karatsu, Japan, Shundō became familiar with Chinese studies and calligraphy at an early age under the influence of his grandfather, who was skilled in poetry and writing. He was active in national affairs during the Restoration period. Later, he served in the Ministry of Finance, but retired after two years and became a man of calligraphy. On this folding screen, he wrote 12 waka poems composed by Emperor Meiji. The last poem, which goes to say, “Invisible to the the eyes, the heart of the passerby dwells in the heart of the gods,” was composed in 1907. The poem means to say that the state of being close to the heart of the invisible gods, or kami, is the sincerity of the human heart.
１２ Aihyōka
MAEDA Mokuhō (1853-1918) 前田 黙鳳
Maeda Mokuhō is well-known for his contribution to the world of calligraphy by editing and publishing important Chinese books of calligraphy and poems. He eventually published his own calligraphy works as well.
The characters he wrote here using a goat hair brush are those achieved only through the diligent study of carved stone calligraphy.
The Meiji period was a time of great change for Japan. This period of change, known as the Meiji Restoration, was a time during which the old feudal government was dismantled and a new, centralized government was formed. Among the new changes also came the abolishment of the old class system. In order to catch up to Europe and the United States, Japan underwent great reforms and the country was full of progressive spirit.
Mokuhō was one of the major contributors to the development of modern Japanese calligraphy. In 1882, he opened a bookshop called Hōbunkan. He even travelled to China to study ancient writings of characters that were carved into bronze vessels and stone monuments as well as their techniques, dedicating himself to translation and publication of these works.
While high quality texts became more easily obtainable after the Meiji Restoration, the study of Chinese literature in Japan fell into decline. Although this decline led Mokuhō to close his shop in 1888, he continued to be active in calligraphy societies, participating in exhibitions and consistently promoting classical texts.
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Sho Calligraphy and Shodō, the Japanese Way of Calligraphy
Sho is a form of visual art that emerged from writings of the cultures of China, Korea, and Japan. Sho, or calligraphy, was part of the basic education, and one of the six skills that was considered indispensable to those who had a high social status in ancient China. The style and personality of the characters written can command great respect; the works of China’s Wang Xizhi (303CE-361CE) are held in great esteem even today, and are studied both in China and Japan.
In Japan, sho is referred to as shodō. Shodō is deeply rooted in traditional customs. For example, in January, at the beginning of each year, it’s customary for Japanese people to write an auspicious word, or their goals for the year, using a brush. We call this custom, “kaki-hajime.” Because shodō is a crucial part of traditional Japanese customs, it has been registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.
It is often said that “sho wa hito nari” – “the characters are the person.” The beauty of the calligraphy can show the writer’s personality, their level of education and refinement, and their unique life experience. Because shodō pieces change with the times, the way calligraphy is written can also express the times and differences in climate, offering a glimpse into the circumstances of that period. However, although the way calligraphy is expressed may change, the essence of shodō stays the same. The essence of Shodō is to act as a mirror of classical Chinese and Japanese works of calligraphy, training with the goal to write characters beautifully. By learning the ancient methods and refining them, the calligrapher can then express their own unique personality through their brush strokes. Shodō and the study of classical calligraphy works go hand in hand.
Calligraphic Style Types
Kanji types developed in the following order:
- Tensho – Characters that were carved into tortoiseshell, cattle bones, and bronze vessels.
- Reisho – The reisho script developed from tensho, using straighter and simpler strokes. It was the official calligraphic style for the Han dynasty (206BCE-220CE).
- Sōsho – This script was born from the strong simplification of the reisho script when written quickly.
- Gyōsho – This script sits between reisho and sōsho, not as simplified as sōsho but not as clear as reisho.
- Kaisho – The standard for modern script today.
Kana originally developed in Japan from Chinese characters, kanji.
- Hiragana – alphabetical characters with one sound per character that originated by greatly simplifying kanji.
- Hentaigana – kana that have a different shape from the standard characters that are associated with each sound in Japanese. With hentaigana, the same sound can have a variety of characters in different shapes, which, unlike kanji, don’t have meaning themselves.
- Katakana – Characters that have been abbreviated from kanji, written with only a part of the kanji. Like hiragana and hentaigana, these characters have one sound per character and don’t have any meaning by themselves.
In modern day Japan, only kanji, hiragana, and katakana are normally used.
