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CORNELL
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THE
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION ON CHINA
AND THE CHINESE

 

 

 

 
BRITISH MUSEUM.

‘

GUIDE

AN EXHIBITION

OF

JAPANESE AND CHINESE
PAINTINGS

PRINCIPALLY FROM THE

 

ARTHUR MORRISON COLLECTION.

 

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1914,

 

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. |
BRITISH MUSEUM.

GUIDE

TO

AN EXHIBITION

OF

JAPANESE AND CHINESE
PAINTINGS

PRINCIPALLY FROM THE

ARTHUR MORRISON COLLECTION

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTERS.
1914.
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PREFACE.

Tue aim of the present exhibition is to illustrate the history of
Japanese and Chinese painting by examples chosen from the
collection formed during a number of years by Mr. Arthur Morrison, |
whose authority on the subject is well known, and munificently
presented to the nation in 1913 by Sir William Gwynne-
Evans, Bart.

The collection consists of over six hundred specimens. The
space available has admitted only of a selection of rather less than
a hundred being shown at one time; and as the exhibition has
been planned to show the representative character of the collection,
with a few selected specimens of each school and period, a number
of interesting and beautiful paintings have perforce been omitted
on the present occasion. It is proposed, however, to hold successive
exhibitions in the gallery, illustrative of Oriental paintings and
prints— Chinese, Japanese, Persian and Indian--and in these many
further specimens of the Morrison Collection will be placed on view
in their turn, together with paintings from the rest of the Museum
Collection. The present instalment will suffice at least to indicate
the high value and importance of Sir William Gwynne-Evans’ gift.

In addition to the temporary exhibition of paintings chosen
from the Morrison Collection, there is arranged at the further
(western) end of the gallery a permanent exhibition of Chinese and
Japanese paintings chosen from the Museum series, together with
a painting of the Indian Mogul school, recently acquired, and
exceptional both in scale and in quality.

The arrangement is as follows:--On passing the two large
screens dividing the Oriental section from the European prints and
drawings, the visitor will find at his left hand the Japanese series,

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4 Preface.

 

arranged in the wall-cases on the south side, and continued in the
reverse direction along the wall-cases on the opposite side. The
series, as catalogued, is interrupted at intervals by numbers placed
in floor-cases in the centre of the gallery, on the screens, or in the
two unglazed cases adjoining the screens; in such instances the
position of the particular painting is specified in the Guide.

Chinese and Japanese pictures are mounted either as kakemono,
hanging pictures, or makimono, paintings rolled horizontally and
often of great length. The few makimono in the present exhibition
are set out on the floors of the wall-cases. Besides these there are
screen-paintings, usually of two, four, or six folds, and framed
pictures. The materials used are silk or paper and water-colours,
to which a weak solution of glue or rice-paste is often added as a
medium. Gold and silver are used as pigments, especially in
Buddhist pictures and on screens ; but very many paintings are in
Chinese ink alone.

LAURENCE BINYON.
PAINTINGS SELECTED FROM THE
MORRISON COLLECTION.

I. JAPANESE PAINTINGS.

Tue first period of Japanese painting, modelled on the parent
art of China, culminates with Kanaoka in the ninth century a.p.
The small portrait of the famous statesman Michizane here exhibited
(No. 1) has been for centuries associated with Kanaoka’s name, and
though it is more likely that it is an ancient copy, there are grounds
for thinking it to represent the master’s style more truly than most
of the pictures ascribed to him, none of which is now generally
accepted as authentic. Kanaoka was the founder of the Kosé
school; and a beautiful specimen of this school in the Kamakura
period (1100-1335 a.p.) is the Kwannon (No. 4); while a noble
painting of Jizd, attributed to Takuma Chiga (No. 3), exemplifies the
Takuma school, which was an early and vigorous offshoot of the
Kosé. Early Buddhist art in Japan is still more impressively
represented by the large painting of Amida in glory, attributed to
Yeshin S6zu, who worked at the end of the tenth and the beginning
of the eleventh century. The rich and intricate patterning of gold
on gold does not interfere with an august serenity of design and an
extraordinary depth of mood.

The Tosa School_—The first school to assume and maintain a
definitely national style, characteristic of the genius of the Yamato
race, was the school which has been especially associated with the
family of Tosa, though the style did not originate with the founder
of the Tosa line. Works of the ancient Tosa school are of the
utmost rarity outside of Japan itself. The glories of the school are
the long rolls depicting the heroic conflicts, the sieges, routs, and
ambuscades of the great civil wars which for so long rent the
country. But small portraits like No. 5 were also characteristic
work of Nobuzane, the poet-painter, who is one of the great names
of the thirteenth century. ‘Two other examples of the Tosa school
are also shown ; one (No. 6) a Buddhist subject—tor religious themes
still continued to occupy great part of the painters’ energy—the
other a Cock-Fight (No. 7), of interest as showing that motives
drawn from daily life were used by the Tosa masters before the rise
6 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

of Ukiyo-yé, the school which was to confine itself almost entirely
to such themes.

Ashikaga Period, and the Zen Revival—The Ashikaga period,
1335-1573, during which the house of Ashikaga ruled as Shoguns,
stands in art for an ideal of reticent simplicity. A revulsion from
the ornate conventions which had begun to paralyse the pristine
vigour of the Yamato school, and fresh acquaintance with the
masterpieces of the Sung era, brought about by renewed contact
with China after a hermit period of exclusion, created a passion for
swift, impassioned or suggestive paintings in ink on silvery-toned
paper. The little landscape, broadly and boldly brushed in ink
(No. 8), which hangs side by side with the Tosa ‘Cock-Fight,’
illustrates the nature of the change. Slight as these fifteenth
century sketches may seem, there is an energy of thought and
feeling behind them, which is readily perceived when we glance at
the work of men of a later age, not inferior to their predecessors as
masters of the brush. For this movement was the expression in
art of a religious inspiration. The chief figure in the period, Sesshi,
and most of his contemporaries, were priests of the Zen sect of
Buddhism. The doctrine of Zen or Contemplation originated with
the Indian patriarch Bodhi-Dharma, whom the Japanese call
Daruma. Already in the sixth century the sacred books of
Northern Buddhism had multiplied to a bewildering extent, when
Daruma appeared. He cast all the scriptures to one side. Not
through them was the heart of the Buddha revealed ; if never known,
his omnipresence could be felt through the soul of man in communion
with the soul of Nature. Zen recognised a Supreme Being, but
taught that to personify hima was to limit him; and it enforced a
discipline of contemplation, which made a peculiar appeal to the
warrior nature of the Japanese. Hints of the divine were to be
found everywhere ; in leaves of grass, in the life of animals, birds
and insects. No occupation was too humble or menial to be
invested with beauty and significance.

Two portraits of Daruma are appropriately prominent in the
specimens of Ashikaga painting here exhibited. One is by Sessha,
the other by Sdami, famous for his misty landscapes, who also
helped to originate the Tea-Ceremony, an exacting discipline of the
severest taste in art and manners. The strength and directness of
these ideal portraits correspond with the laconic force of the
patriarch’s character. Sdami, Sdtan, Déan and Chokuan (Nos. 9,
11, 12, 23) are members of what is called the Chinese school.
Sesshi, whose greatest follower was Sesson (No. 14), founded a
school called after him, of which the Unkoku (No. 13) was a
branch ; while a third school, deriving from the same Zen inspiration,
has carried on and formalised the tradition down to the twentieth
century.

The Kano School.—This last was the Kano School. Kano
Masanobu, the founder (No. 15), was succeeded by his more
Japanese Paintings. 7

 

powerful son, Motonobu, in whose work (Nos. 16 and 17) we see a
style maturing into something more definitely Japanese in character.
Motonobu’s grandson, Yeitoku, a great master, is represented (by
monochromes) in the Morrison Collection, though not in the
exhibition. He worked at the time when the low-born conqueror,
Hideyoshi, was in power, and a passion for splendour was abroad,
and his chief creations were magnificent screens on a gold ground,
produced in hundreds by his school. But in the next generation,
with the advent of yet another great master, Tanyu, the Kano
school reverted to a simpler style and revived the monochrome
impression. Tanyu is splendidly represented by a landscape roll
which would have delighted his contemporary, Rembrandt, and by
an impressive figure-piece (Nos. 21 and 22). The art of his brother
Naonobu is seen at its best in a beautiful set of three ink
paintings (Nos. 18-20). Such sets of three, forming a single work,
often occur, and the combination of a god, saint, or sage with bird,
flower or landscape themes is characteristic of the Zen flavour of
thought.

Koyetsu-Korin School.—The tendency in the seventeenth century
was for Kano and Tosa traditions to interact or combine. Tosa
Mitsuoki (No. 25) was greatly influenced by the Kano colouring.
But a more powerful fusion was effected by two great masters,
Koyetsu and Sdtatsu, who worked, like Yeitoku, chiefly on screens,
and who invented a superb style of expressive decoration, never
surpassed in the world. In the fragment of a screen (No. 28) by
Kéyetsu, one of the rarest of Japanese painters, we find rich
smears of colour united to a trenchant brush-stroke; in No. 29
Sdtatsu combines the dramatic design of the earlier Tosas with the
vigorous ink-drawing of the Chinese. The school comes to a climax
with Kérin, represented by a screen-painting of one of his favourite
motives (No. 32) and by a glowing piece of colour (No. 31), both
astonishing in their audacious frankness of convention. Like
Koyetsu and Kérin, Ritsud (No. 26) was famous as a lacquer-
artist ; sprung from the Kano school, he illustrates the eclecticism
of his time.

Ukiyo-yé.—Meanwhile, another school was arising. Its founder,
Matabei (No. 27), strove to remould the national tradition which had
become enfeebled in the Tosas; he created genre painting in Japan,
choosing his subjects from the contemporary scene. But it was his
successor, Moronobu (Nos. 37-39), who really made Ukiyo-yé the
popular school it was to become. He lived in the period of Genroku,
a time of revel, when the people, shut off from the outer world, gave
itself up to amusement in every form. Moronobu saw the
possibilities of the woodcut as a means of popularising art, and the
glory of Ukiyo-yé lies chiefly in the wonderful colour-prints poured
out in Yedo (now Tokio) so profusely from the middle of the
eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. Some of the
famous masters of the colour-print, Okumura Masanobu, Toyoharu,

/
8 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

Toyohiro and Yeishi, are here represented by paintings; work by
other masters, such as Kwaigetsudd and Sukenobu, who designed
for wood-engravers, but who flourished before the invention of the
colour-print, is also shown, as well as a pair of paintings by Itché,
a brilliant pupil of the Kano school who attached himself to the
popular movement.

Neo-Chinese, Maruyama, Shijo, and Ganku Schools—During the
eighteenth century the Kanos, working for the Shogun and the
nobles, and despising the vigorous popular art of Ukiyo-yé, became
more and more academic, and the other classic tradition of Tosa
could do little, in spite of an interesting revival by Totsugen
(No. 55) and a few others. Outside Ukiyo-yé, painting flourished
chiefly in schools centred at the old capital, Kioto. One, deriving
from the later art of China, was headed by Bunché (No. 52), with
an independent rival in Jakuchai (No. 53); the other, an effort
after naturalism, originated with Maruyama Okyo (Nos. 46, 48, 49).
Continuing Okyo’s effort, Goshun (No. 56) founded the Shijo
school, with its light colour and graceful touch. Mori Sosen, one of
the most famous masters belonging to this movement, is admirably
represented in No. 59. Another leader, who counts as head of a
separate school, though allied to the Shijo, is Ganku (No. 57), who
was followed by his able son Gantai (No. 75) and a group of pupils.

The Nineteenth Century.—In the early years of the nineteenth
century the Neo-Chinese and the Naturalist schools in Kioto
tended to coalesce, and Ukiyo-yé in Yedo was rapidly degenerating,
when a new departure was made by its greatest master, Hokusai.
Slowly maturing through successive phases, Hokusai broadened the
whole scope of Ukiyo-yé art, especially in the direction of landscape.
His landscape colour-prints are masterpieces. He was followed by
a younger contemporary, Hiroshigé, who pictured Japan for his
countrymen in every mood, and who has considerably influenced
the art of landscape in the West. The selection made from the
many works by Hokusai in the Morrison Collection includes a
number of masterly drawings in various styles, while Hiroshigé is
represented by a waterfall of unusual force and breadth and -by a
most interesting set of sketch-books.

PeERiops oF JAPANESE PAINTING.

Fujiwara Period, 900-1100.
Kamakura Period, 1100-1335.
Ashikaga Period, 1335-1573.
Toyotomi Period, 1573-1603.
Tokugawa Period, 1603-1868.
Japanese Paintings. 9

 

1. Portrait of Michizané in Chinese Dress.
Attributed to Kanaoxa ; 9th century. Perhaps a very early
copy by a master of the Takuma school.

Sugawara no Michizané, a great scholar and statesman of the
9th century, was banished in 901 a.p. and died two years
later. It had been his life’s ambition to visit China, the
home of learning, but he never accomplished his wish.
Legend says that after death he appeared in Chinese dress
to a friend in a dream, having attained his desire in the
spirit world. The plum-bough in his hand alludes to the
poem written as he went into exile, Blossoms of my plum-trees,
Jill the wind as it passes with fragrance: though the master be
away, forget not you the spring !

2. Amida descending to welcome the Souls of the Blessed.
(Floor-case I.)

Attributed to Yresutn Sdzu: b. 942, d. 1017.

Amida (Amitabha) is the Buddha who presides over the Pure
Land or Paradise of the West which he has created. This
picture was preserved for centuries in a temple in Kiushiu,
where it was always attributed to Yeshin Sdézu, the greatest
of the religious painters of Japan. It is painted on very
ancient silk, and the types and the drawing of the features
agree in detail with the famous pictures attributed to the
master in Japan.

3. Jizo.
Attributed to Takuma Cuidca: 12th—13th centuries.

Jizé is a very popular Bodhisattra in Japan, specially associated
with the protection of travellers and of little children. He
is represented as a priest with the ringed staff, used by
pilgrims to warn insects, in one hand, and in the other the
flaming jewel with which he illuminates the gloom of hell.

4. Kwannon.
Kosé School: Kamakura period (1100-1335).
Kwannon in ‘male form, with four arms and eleven heads,
stands on a crimson lotus on a rock among waves, supplicated
by a votary. Kwannon is the Incarnation of Compassion. —

5. The poet Minamoto no Shitago.
By Nopuzané: 13th century.

The painting bears the seal of the 17th century painter
Shékwad6, as certifying the attribution. Shitagd, descendant
of the musician-statesman Minamoto no Sadamu, was born
in 911, and died 983 a.p. The poem above reads: As I
gaze on the radiance of the moon upon the water, surely it seems
that this night is the very soul of Autumn’s sadness. .

B
10 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

6. The Ten Magistrates of Hell.
By Tosa Mirsunipé: 14th century.

7. A Cock Fight before a Palace.
Tosa Scoot: 15th or 16th century.

8. Temple and Hill above a Lake.
By Szssué : 6. 1420, d. 1506.

A swift sketch in what is called the haboku style.

9. Carp Swimming.
By Yamapa Doan: 16th century.
There are three painters of this name, and their work is much
confused.

10. Daruma.
By Sussxt: b. 1420, d. 1506.

Bodhi-Dharma, called Daruma by the Japanese, was the
twenty-eighth Buddhist Patriarch, who undertook a mission to
China in the 6th century, a.p. He was noted for a fear-
less directness and authority of speech. The Chinese Emperor
received him, and having recounted his works of piety, the
temples he had enriched, and the monasteries he had founded,
asked Bodhi-Dharma what merit he had acquired. ‘“ None!”
was the answer. It is this rugged power of character which
the artists inspired by the Zen doctrine have attempted to
express in their ideal portraits of the founder of Zen.

The picture was originally unsigned, as attested by the
inscription on the box. The seal of Sesson, which it now
bears, is a later addition.

11. Falcon on Perch.
By Ocuri Séran: 15th century.

12. Daruma.
By Sdami: lived about 1500.
Sdami painted chiefly landscapes, and his figure-paintings are
extremely rare.

13. The Rishi Toshimi on his Mule.
By Unkoxu Téean: 16th century.

14. Travellers at a Temple Gate.
By Sesson : 16th century.

15. Mist among the Hills: Chinese Landscape.
By Kano Masanosu : 6. 1453, d. 1489 ?

Masanobu, founder of the Kané School, was also called Yisei.
Japanese Paintings. 11

 

16.

17.

18.
19.

20.

al.

22.

23.

24.

25.

Tekkai Sennin breathing out his Spirit.
By Kano Moronosv : b. 1476, d. 1559.

Tekkai (Chinese, T‘ich Kuai), whose name means ‘Iron Staff,’
was one of the Taoist ‘Hight Immortals.’ He was in the
habit of breathing out his spiritual essence to visit remote
places, while his body remained at home. One day his
spirit stayed away too long, and, finding its body already
devitalised, took refuge in the untenanted form of an aged
beggar, who had just expired. Hence the beggar’s iron
staff became his emblem.

Peaks and Forest; Chinese Landscape.
By Kano Moronozv: b. 1476, d. 1559.

Travellers are seen in the foreground and on lofty paths among

the hills. A fine example, very characteristic of the Kano
style, as first matured by Motonobu.

Crow on branch.
Fukurokuju.

Swallow on a Willow.

Set of three paintings: by Kand Naonosu: 6.1617, d. 1680.

Monju.

By Kano Tanya: b. 1602, d. 1674.

Monji (Manjusri) is one of the great Bodhisattvas of Northern
Buddhism ; he stands for the power of the Scripture, the
written word, and is represented riding on the lion, or else,
as here, as if rising, dark-haired and contemplative, out of
mists, scroll in hand.

Landscape Scroll.
By Tanyu: 6. 1602, d. 1674.
A magnificent example of Tanyu’s brush, painted probably in
emulation of a famous landscape scroll by Sesshi. ‘

Eagle sighting his Prey.
By Séca Cuonvan: died after 1610.

Chinese Sage. (Screen 1.)
By Bésuop6: 17th century.

Boshodd was a pupil of Shékwad6, a master of the Chinese
school well-known for his semi-humorous sketches.

The Saint Nichiren at his Desk.
By Tosa Mrrsvogtr: 6. 1617, d. 1691.

Nichiren, b. 1222, showed even as a boy the fervour of his
reforming spirit. He spent his youth in studying all the
12

Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

sects of Buddhism, and at the age of 22 began to preach,
denouncing the cult of Amida and all the accretions of the
Mahayana doctrine, as well as the Zen ‘ simplification,’ which
to him seemed mere emptiness. His aim was to restore
Sakyamuni to his rightful place as the supreme Buddha.
Feared and condemned by all the sects in power, he was
twice banished, but maintained his hold on the people till
his death in 1282.

Birds and Wild Camellia in Snow.
By Rirsv6: b. 1662, d. 1747.

Ritsué, also known as Ogawa Haritsu, is said to have been a
pupil of Naonobu, but worked in an independent manner :
he is best known by his lacquer.

A Dancer.
Attributed to Iwasa Maraser: 6. 1577, d. 1650?

Authentic paintings by Matabei, the originator of Ukiyo-yé, are
extremely rare. This may be by the master himself; if not,
it belongs to his immediate neighbourhood.

Fans on a Floral Background. (Floor-case IT.)
By Koversu: b. 1555, d. 1637.

Fragments of a damaged screen-painting have been joined
together and mounted as a small screen of two folds. The
painting of the bamboos is especially masterly.

Descent of the Thunder-God on the Palace of the
Fujiwara. (Floor-case ITI.)
By Sorarsu : early 17th century.

The companion screen is still in Japan.

The terrified noble on the steps of the palace is Tokihira, the
enemy of Michizane (see note on No. 1), who was banished
through his intrigues. Michizane’s avenging spirit appeared
to him as the Thunder-God.

Great Pine with Azaleas by a stream. (Floor-case IV.)
Attributed to Sdrarsu.

Of doubtful authorship. The bold design, rich breadth of
colouring, and lavish gold are characteristic of the style
developed by the Korin school from’ Yeitoku’s example.

Coloured stones, pine shoot and berries.
By Korin: b. 1657, d. 17162

Typical of the kind of small painting specially associated with
the Tea-Ceremony.
Japanese Paintings. 13

 

32.

33.

34.

35.

36

37.

38.

39.

The Wave-beaten Rock. (Floor-case V.)
By Korin: b. 1657, d. 17162

A favourite motive of the master, as also of Sdtatsu. A more
elaborate screen of the same subject is in the Boston
Museum, :

Cranes and Pine.
By Kenzan: b. 1663, d. 1743.

Kenzan, the brother of Karin, is best known by his pottery.

White Herons and Willow: Winter melting into
Spring. (Floor-case VI.)
By Watanabe SuiK6: b. 1682, d. 1755.
One of a pair of screens, showing the great talent of this
follower of Korin’s at its finest.

Cherry-blossom.
Attributed to Kané Tsunenosu: b. 1636, d. 1713.

This was one of the first Japanese pictures to reach England,
and belonged for years to Dante Rossetti, who hung it in his
studio.

and 36a. The Bon Odori Festival. (On North wall,
next Screen 1.)
By Hanasusa Itcwd: b. 1644, d. 1724.
Itch6, a Kano painter, interested himself in the popular
movement and had much influence on Moronobu and the
whole Ukiyo-yé school.

Amusements of Spring-time. (On screen, next the
window. )
By Hisuicawa Moronosu: b. 1646? d. 1695?

Jizo.

By Moronosu: 6. 16467 d. 1695?

Doubtless painted as a votive offering. No other work of the
kind by this famous painter of the Fleeting World and its
amusements is known to exist.

The verse inscribed above reads: They who attain to conspicuous
endurance shall be re-born in the Pure Land, and what they
sought after on earth they shall have there in abundance.

Moonlight Revel by a River.
By Moronosv: 6. 1646? d. 16951

A makimono, interesting for its strong traces of the influence
of Itché.
14

Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

40.

41,

42.

43.

44,

45.

46.

47.

Youth, and Boy carrying a sandal. (Screen 1.)
By Morouira: early 18th century.

By a pupil or son of Moronobu.

A Geisha.
Hisuicawa ScHoon: early 18th century.

The mount is decorated with little poems addressed to the fair
subject of the picture, and with parts of fans that she had
used.

The Visit to Ogura-Yama.
By Oxumura Masanosv: b. 1688, d. 1768.

Actors of the day are here playing the parts of the old story
of the visit of Princess Shokushi to her lover Sada-iyé in the
hills of Ogura.

A Girl Walking. (South wall, next Screen 2.)
By Oxumura Masanosv : b. 1688, d. 1768.

Toilet Scene.
By Kwaicetsupd Anpé: 17th century.

A girl dressing a young man’s hair, while a younger girl
prepares to burn incense. Fine work by a very rare master.

A Beauty of the Day.
By Cuixanosv : early 18th century.

The Flight of Tokiwa and her Children.
By Maruyama Oxyo: 6, 1753, d. 1795.

The picture is dated Middle of Spring, 1792.

Tokiwa Gozen was concubine of Yoshitomo, the chief of the
great clan of Minamoto. In 1160 her lord was defeated
and killed by the Taira, and Tokiwa fled with her three
children in the snow to a remote village, but gave herself
up, to save her mother’s life. The youngest of the children,
spared by the Taira chief, on condition that Tokiwa became
his mistress, grew to be famous as Yoshitsuné, the hero
who won his brother Yoritomo’s battles for him and was
afterwards put to death by him, out of envy.

The Lovers hiding on the Moor.
By Nisuixawa Suxenosu: b. 1669, d. 1750.

A Mukashi no zu, or illustration of an incident in the old
romance called the Ise Monogatari, each of whose 125 tales
begins with the word Mukashi, ‘once upon a time” The
lover is the hero of the romance, the famous poet Narihira,
14

Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

40.

41.

42.

43.

44,

45.

46.

47.

Youth, and Boy carrying a sandal. (Screen 1.)
By Moronira: early 18th century.

By a pupil or son of Moronobu.

A Geisha.
Hisnicawa ScHoor: early 18th century.

The mount is decorated with little poems addressed to the fair
subject of the picture, and with parts of fans that she had
used.

The Visit to Ogura-Yama.
By Oxumura Masanosv: b. 1688, d. 1768.

Actors of the day are here playing the parts of the old story
of the visit of Princess Shokushi to her lover Sada-iyé in the
hills of Ogura.

A Girl Walking. (South wall, next Screen 2.)
By Oxumura Masanosu : 6. 1688, d. 1768.

Toilet Scene.
By Kwaicetsupd Anvé: 17th century.

A girl dressing a young man’s hair, while a younger girl
prepares to burn incense. Fine work by a very rare master.

A Beauty of the Day.
By Curganosu : early 18th century.

The Flight of Tokiwa and her Children.
By Maruyama Oxyo: }. 1753, d. 1795.

The picture is dated Middle of Spring, 1792.

Tokiwa Gozen was concubine of Yoshitomo, the chief of the
great clan of Minamoto. In 1160 her lord was defeated
and killed by the Taira, and Tokiwa fied with her three
children in the snow to a remote village, but gave herself
up, to save her mother’s life. The youngest of the children,
spared by the Taira chief, on condition that Tokiwa became
his mistress, grew to be famous as Yoshitsuné, the hero
who won his brother Yoritomo’s battles for him and was
afterwards put to death by him, out of envy.

The Lovers hiding on the Moor.
By Nisuixawa SuKenosu: 6. 1669, d. 1750.

A Mukashi no zu, or illustration of an incident in the old
romance called the Ise Monogatari, each of whose 125 tales
begins with the word Mukashi, ‘once upon a time.’ The
lover is the hero of the romance, the famous poet Narihira.
Japanese Paintings. 15

 

48. Goose Walking.

By Oxyo: 6b. 1733, d. 1795.

49. Roll of Sketches.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54,

55.

By Oyo: 6. 1733, d. 1795.

Sketches for the master’s famous makimono of the Seven
Felicities, and for pictures of three of the ‘Six Poets.’

The Hundred Blind Men.
By Gussen: 6. 1720, d. 1809.

A replica of a well-known makimono by this pupil of Okyo.

Girl under Blossom, with Two Lanterns.
By Utacawa Toyonaru: 6. 1734, d. 1814.

Chrysanthemum.
By Tant Buncnd: b. 1763, d. 1841.

Daruma.
By Iro Jaxucut: 6. 1715, d. 1800.

See note on No. 10. The painting illustrates the semi-
humorous, though powerful treatment, now common, of
figures treated by Ashikaga masters with serious intensity.

Landseape: Study for a Kakemono. (Screen 1.)
By Cuinzan: b. 1801, d. 1854.

Chinzan, a pupil of Kwazan, worked in the later Chinese style.

Renshobo riding with his face to the West.
By Tanaka TorsucEen: d. 1823.

At the battle of Ichi-no-tani in 1184, one of the last of the
bloody conflicts between the great rival clans of Taira
and Minamoto, the warrior Kumagai drove a youthful
antagonist, Atsumori, from the sea-shore into the waves.
He struck off the lad’s helmet, and, reminded of his own
young son, would have spared Atsumori, but was stung by
his comrades’ taunts to kill him. Afterwards, in remorse, he
shaved his head, became a priest, under the name of Renshébo,
and travelled always with his face to the west, where is the
Pure Land of Amida’s Paradise.

56. A Sage under a pine tree, with a Boy playing on the

reeds.
By GosHun: b. 1752, d. 1811.
16

Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

69.

70.

Sparrow on a tree in a snowstorm.
By Ganxu: b. 1748, d. 1838?

A marvel of technical skill, the snow being left blank by the
same movement of the brush which has carried a wash of ink
over the whole background.

Girls under Cherry Blossom.
By Yeisu1: b. 17607 d. 1829,

The girls are hanging little poems on the branches in honour of
Spring.

Monkey feeding her young with blue berries.
By Mori Sossn: b. 1747, d. 1821.

Sosen lived for months in the woods to study the monkeys
which were his favourite subject.

Autumn Maple Leaves. (Screen 1.)
By Bunrin: 6. 1814, d. 1883.

Asters, Carnations and Scissors. (Screen 1.)
By Hoxovsar: b. 1760, d. 1849.

This and the following are sketches made round a sheet of
paper, so that three pupils could copy them at the same time.

Sparrow, Battledore, etc. (Screen 1.)
By Hoxuvsai.

Boats in a creek. (Screen 1.)
By Hoxusat.

Gate by a well-head. (Screen 1.)
By Hoxosat.

The Rishi Teppatsu. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxusatr.

Chrysanthemum, Asters and Arum. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxvusal1.

Two Poppies, bamboo-stick, etc. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxuvsat.

Ebisu seated. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxusa1.

Watanabe no Tsuna and a Demon. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxousat.

Youth seated on a bench. (South wall, next Screen 2.)
By Hoxvsat. :
71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

84.

Japanese Paintings. 17

 

Kato Kiyomasa in armour. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxusat.

Kiyomasa (1526-1611) is famous for his exploits in battle
against the Coreans,

Chinese Warrior. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxvsat.

Chinese Warrior wrestling. (Screen 2.)
By Hoxvusat.

Girl with Samisen.
By Toyourro: b. 1772, d. 1828.

Chisho in his cups being helped on to his horse.
By Gantar: b. 1784, d. 1865.

The picture is dated 1814.

Ho Chih-Chang, called Chishéd in Japan, was born in 659 a.p.,
and was a minister of the Emperor, a patron of poets, a
reveller and a wine-bibber. The people called him The
Madcap, and the Emperor called him The Devil.

Waterfall.
By Hirosuice : b. 1796, d. 1858.

Sketch-book.
By HirosuHice.

Sketch-book.
By Hirosuice.

Sketch-book.
By Hirosuice.

Sketch-book.
By HrrosHice.

Dogs and Puppy.
By Naneaxu: 6. 1766, d. 1813.

Beans. (Screen 2.)
By Zusuin: b. 1817, d. 1891.

This and the next are specimens of the style of lacquer-painting
on paper, invented by Zeshin, one of the last of Japan’s great

painters.

Tea-pot and Bowls on a tray. (Screen 2.)
By ZEsHIN.

Comic subjects.
By Kyosar: b. 1831, d. 1888.
18 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

II. CHINESE PAINTINGS.

The specimens of Chinese painting chosen from the Morrison
Collection will be found on the North wall at the western end of the
gallery. They are few in number, but illustrate important phases
of the art of successive periods. (Further illustration is provided
by the examples shown in the permanent Exhibition.) The T'ang
period (618-905), counts as the greatest period in Chinese art,
though so little is left of it. Of Wu Tao-tzi, China’s greatest name
in painting, who flourished in the eighth century, nothing now
accepted as indisputably authentic remains, though copies afford
some hint of his powers of design. Ancient tradition ascribes to
Wu Tao-tzii a painting in a Japanese collection, of which No. 92 is
a copy by a Japanese master.

To the Sung period (960-1280) belong Nos. 85 and 86. The
uncoloured ink-painting was the special type preferred by the Sung
painters ; and the background of No. 86 illustiates that imaginative
feeling for wild nature, mountains, mists and streams, which gives
the Sung landscape so modern an aspect.

No. 87 is an example of early Chinese Buddhist painting, which,
apart from the Stein Collection and other recent discoveries in
Chinese Turkestan, is very rare. This ‘ Amida’ probably belongs
to the Yiian dynasty (1280-1368). In No. 88, a work of the earlier
part of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), we find still much of the
largeness and nobility of Sung taste, though the brush-work is more
loose and free. Nos. 89 and 90 are also of the Ming period, and
typical of favourite types of painting. Finally, No. 91 illustrates the
work of an artist of the Ch‘ing dynasty (1644-1911), interesting
because of the great influence he had upon his contemporaries in
Japan, where he worked for a number of years.

Prriops or Cainese Parinrina.

Six Dynasties, 200-600 «.p.
T‘ang Dynasty, 618-905.
Five Dynasties, 905-960.
Sung Dynasty, 960-1280.
Yiian Dynasty, 1280-1368.
Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644.
Ching Dynasty, 1644-1911.
85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

Chinese Paintings. 19

 

The Storm Dragon.
By Cu‘én Yuna: Southern Sung dynasty. 13th century.

Signed So-wéng. The Dragon, born of mists and waters, is a
symbol of the fluid power of the Spirit.
This painting, preserved for centuries in a temple near Kyoto,

. said to have been in the collection of the Japanese painter
ami.

Tiger by a Torrent.
Attributed to Mu Cu‘ (Jap. Mokkei); Sung dynasty.
13th century.

The Tiger, symbolically opposed to the Dragon, expresses the
power and fierceness of elemental nature.

Amida Buddha, with two attendant Spirits.
Attributed to Cuane-sst-Kune. (13th century.)

A master who is unknown to Chinese records, but with whose
name a group of Buddhist paintings preserved in Japan is
associated.

A Fairy with a Phoenix.
By Wu We: 15th century.

The Fairy or female Rishi is Lao Yu, often represented as
riding on the phcenix which here superbly attends her. A
splendid example of one of the greatest masters of the brush
in the early part of the Ming era.

Scenes in a palace garden. (In south wall-case, next the
entrance.)
By Cu‘tu Yine: 15th century.

Plum-branch, rose-mallow and sparrows.
By Cov Cuin-mien: 16th century.

Rabbits under a flowering Tree. _
By Sin Naw pine (Jap. Chin-nan-pin) ; dated 1723.

Chung-kuei (Shoki) chastising a Demon.
After a painting attributed to Wu Tao-rzit (8th century).

Though grouped with the Chinese paintings, as it is certainly a
copy from a Chinese work in the collection of Marquis
Inouyé, this is by the hand of a Japanese artist, and has
been attributed to the famous fourteenth-century master
Ché Densu, also known as Meiché.

Chung-kuei, Shoki in Japanese, a legendary hero who protected
a T‘ang emperor from evil spirits, and who is the terror of
demons, is a favourite subject in art.
20 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

PERMANENT EXHIBITION.

On the walls and piers or in floor-cases at the West end of the
gallery is arranged a group of paintings of various periods and
schools, selected from the collection in the Department. Some of
these are recent acquisitions, now exhibited for the first time.

CHINESE PAINTINGS.

In a floor-case opposite the West end of the gallery is a long
roll, probably the earliest Chinese painting now existing.

Admonitions of the Instructress in the Palace.
By Ku K‘at-cuiu: worked about 364—405 a.p.
Nine scenes are painted on the roll, each illustrating a precept or

example of conduct held up for admiration by the teacher of the
ladies of the Imperial harem. These are from right to left :

(1) The heroism of the fair Fong (first century B.c.). Ata
spectacle, at which wild animals were exhibited, a bear
broke loose and rushed towards the emperor ; all the ladies
present fled except Fong, who stepped in the path of the
bear, that her death might divert its attack. Her sacrifice
was prevented by spearmen of the guard, who, running up,
despatched the bear.

(2) Pan Chieh-yii (first century B.c.) refusing the Emperor's
invitation to ride with him in his palanquin.

(3) The Mutability of Fortune. ‘Though one be raised high
as a mountain, destruction comes suddenly as a bolt from
the spring of a cross-bow. When the sun is at its height, it
begins to decline ; when the moon is full, it begins to wane.’
The sun, moon, mountain, and hunter with cross-bow
illustrate the passage paraphrased.

(4) Toilet-scene. ‘All can adorn their faces, none can adorn
her heart.’

(5) Bedroom Conversation. ‘If your words be not sincere,
even your husband will not trust you.’
Chinese Paintings. 21

 

(6) Harmonious Life ; the family circle. The emperor with
Certain of his wives and their children, one of whom is

ce his head shaved, while another is being taught by a
era The passage illustrated inculcates sweetness and

control in speech and behaviour. ‘To utter a word
Seems an insignificant thing ; but on it depends honour or
shame. Think not to hide your thoughts ; the heavenly
mirror has no need of visible forms. Say not that you have
made no noise; the Divine Ear has no need of sound... .

Yield not to your own caprices. Be united as a swarm of
locusts.’

(7) A sage reproving a lady of the harem, because, insincerely,
she strives to please.

(8) A lady seated in meditation.

(9) Two ladies of the harem, and the Instructress.

The identification of the actual book from which the quota-
tions are taken, and the interpretations given above, are
due to Prof. Chavannes. Each scene is accompanied at the
right by the sentence which it illustrates ; except the first
scene. From this Prof. Chavannes concludes that the
painting is incomplete, and that other illustrations to
Chang Hua’s book, as well as the sentence serving as text
to scene 1, have been cut off. The painting in its original
state probably contained twelve scenes or more.

The painting is signed, but the signature is of later date.
The texts between tne pictures seem also to have been
added after the painter’s own time, as they intrude
awkwardly on the design in more than one instance.
Japanese paleographers would assign the writing to the
eighth century at latest. If the painting is a copy, it cannot
be later than this; but’ the balance of evidence is strongly
in favour of its being an original, and it is obviously the
work of a consummate master. The many seals are those of
collectors, the large square seals being those of the Imperial
collection, the catalogue of which, compiled in the twelfth
century, includes a picture by Ku K‘ai-chih bearing the
same title as this. Among the Imperial seals is that of the
artist emperor, Hui Tsung (1081-1135). At the end of
the roll is a spray of epidendrum painted in homage to the
master by the celebrated Emperor Ch‘ien Lung (1710-1799),
with a few words in his handwriting recording the pleasure
be has taken in looking at the picture one summer day in
his pavilion.

[ Purchased, 1903.]
22 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

On the screen behind the case containing the Ku K‘ai-chih roll :—

Women and Children on a Garden Terrace.
Attributed to Caou Win Cuti ; worked about 900-950 a.p.

Groups of women and children by a lotus tank. A child r. washes a
melon in a basin; a woman cuts a melon for some older children ;
and another woman holds out a doll to a child being washed in a
basin 1.

Chou Wén Chii worked at the end of the great T‘ang dynasty,
and during the brief period known as the Five Dynasties
intervening between T‘ang and Sung. He was famous for
his pictures of women. The attribution is due to a famous

‘painter and critic of the 13th century, Ch‘ien Shun-chii,
whose attestation was appended to the painting in its
original makimono form. The symmetrical character of the
grouping points to an early period, before the science of

pictorial spacing peculiar to Chinese art had created a

principle of balance which rejects Symmetry of forms.

[Purchased, 1913.]

In the 8.W. angle of the gallery are three paintings :—

A Boy-Rishi riding on a Goat.
Painter unknown : Sung dynasty ?
The Rishi are Sages living in mountain haunts who have obtained the
secret of immortal life and enjoy supernatural powers.

This painting was long attributed to Han Kan (8th century),
famous for his pictures of horses, but is probably of
later date.

[Anderson Collection. ]
Geese.
Painter unknown : Sung dynasty.

In this and the next picture the genius for spacing, the
unforced, natural nobility of style, and the profound feeling
for the interior life of things, which distinguish the Sung
masters, are beautifully illustrated.

[ Wegener Collection. |

Lotus, White Heron and Kingfishers.
Painter unknown : Sung dynasty.

[ Purchased, 1913.]
On the West wall, in the N.W. angle, are two paintings :—
Wild Geese by a Mountain Stream.

By Lin Liane: 15th century.

Lin Liang is perhaps the greatest master of the early part of
the Ming dynasty (1308-1644).
[Presented by an anonymous donor, 1912.]
Japanese Paintings. 23

 

Teth 7
“ee Gey Mamet: b. 1254, d. after 1316.

[ Wegener Collection. ]

On the South pier is

The Earthly Paradise.
Painter unknown: Ming dynasty (1368~1644).
Immortals in a boat or on the shore, and fairies dropping flowers
upon them from the air. A Taoist subject.
A beautiful example of the later Ming painting, with its rich
colouring and romantic atmosphere.

[Wegener Collection. |

JAPANESE PAINTINGS.

On the North pier is

The Death of Buddha.

Takuma ScHoot: 12th or 13th century.

All creation, from the Bodhisattvas, the Arhats, and Demon Kings,
to the birds of the air and beasts of the field, wails for the death
of Buddha. Descending in the air with angels and lamenting, is
Maya, the mother of Sakyamuni (this part is much damaged).

There are many ancient versions of this subject in Japan, all
said to be modelled on a Chinese prototype, the famous
picture by Wu Tao-tzii, painted in 742 a.p. This example
has been repaired at various recorded dates; the first
occasion was early in the 14th century. In spite of
injury, the picture retains a splendour of colour, and the
beauty of its impassioned drawing will repay a leisured study.

[Anderson Collection. ]

On the other side of the same pier, and on the wall opposite,
are three paintings :

Sambo Kojin, the Spiritual God of the Three Treasures.
Painter unknown: Kamakura period (1100-1335).
This painting has been attributed to Nobuzané, a famous
master of the 12th and 13th centuries.

[Anderson Collection. |

i and Children.
ae By SsssHt ; b. 1420, d. 1506.

The merry fat god of good luck is ‘moving house,’ pulled along by
mischievous children.

An unusual example of the art of the aged Sesshi, the
greatest master of the Chinese Revival in the 15th century.
flis work is mainly in landscape and in monochrome.

[Anderson Collection. ]
24 Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese Paintings.

 

Shoriken crossing the Sea on a Sword
By Kano Moronosu: b. 1476, d. 1559.

Shoriken is the greatest and most powerful of the Rishi.
[Anderson Collection. ]

®

INDIAN PAINTING.

A Group of Princes of the House of Tamerlane.
Moevut Scuoon: end of 16th century.

In a pavilion set on an upland, under a tall plane-tree, the
great emperor Akbar sits with his father Humayun, his
son Jehangir and grandson Shah Jehan ; princes and nobles
are assembled about the pavilion, while preparations? are
being made for a feast.

Painted in the classic Persian style, but most exceptional in
being painted on fine cotton and on a comparatively. large
scale. Unfortunately mutilated in parts.

[Presented by the National Art-Collections Fund, 1912.]