On the Laws of Japanese Painting Part 5

The serrated or sawtooth dot (KYO SHI SHIN) _(Plate x.x.xV a)_, much used for distant pine-tree effects.

The Chinese character for "one" (ICHI JI TEN) _(Plate x.x.xV b)_. The effect produced by this character is very remarkable in representing maple and other trees whose foliage at a distance appears to be in layers.

The Chinese character for "heart" (SHIN), called SHIN JI TEN _(Plate x.x.xVI a)_. This is used most effectively for both foliage and gra.s.ses.

The Chinese character for "positively" (HITSU), called HITSU JI TEN _(Plate x.x.xVI b)_. This dot or stroke is successfully employed in reproducing the foliage of the willow tree in spring.

The rice dot, called BEI TEN _(Plate x.x.xVIII a)_.

The dot called HAKU YO TEN _(Plate x.x.xVII b)_, being smaller than the pepper dot, with the clove dot (SHO JI TEN) surrounding it.

It is a strictly observed rule that none of these dots should interfere with or hide the branches of the trees of which they form part.

The term _chobo chobo_ is applied to the practice of always finishing a landscape painting, rocks, trees or flowers, with certain dots judiciously added to enliven and heighten the general effect. These dots, done with a springing wrist movement, serve to enliven the work and give it freshness, just as a rain shower affects vegetation. The Kano artists were most insistent upon _chobo chobo._

There are many quaint aids to artistic effects from time immemorial well known to and favored by the old Chinese painters and still successfully practiced in j.a.pan. Probably the larger number of these are employed in the technical construction of the Four Paragons (p. 66 _et seq.)._ There are still others: as, for instance, the fish-scale pattern _(Plate XIX)_, used in painting the cl.u.s.tered needles of the pine tree or the bending branches of the willow; the stork's leg for pine tree branches _(Plate XIX)_; the gourd for the head and elongated jaws of the dragon; the egg for the body of a bird (_Plate XXII_; the stag horn for all sorts of interlacing branches; the turtle back pattern or the dragon's scales for the pine tree bark. In addition to these, the general shapes of certain of the Chinese written characters are invoked for reproducing winding streams _(Plate XX)_, groupings of rocks, meadow, swamp, and other gra.s.ses and the like.

Of course the exact shape of the various Chinese characters here referred to must not be actually painted into the composition but merely the sentiment of their respective forms recalled. They are simply practical memory aids to desired effects.

It is the spirit of the character rather than its exact shape which should control; the order of the painted strokes being that of the written character, its sentiment or general shape is thus reproduced.

In this connection I would allude to criticisms or judgments upon j.a.panese painting in which particular stress is laid upon its calligraphic quality.

If any j.a.panese artist was seriously informed that his method of painting was calligraphic, he would explode with mirth. There are several ways to account for this rather wide-spread error. Much that is written about j.a.panese painting and its calligraphy is but the repet.i.tion by one author of what he has taken on trust from another, an effective way sometimes of spreading misinformation. It is quite true that the a.s.siduous study of Chinese writing (SHO) is an essential part of thorough art education in j.a.pan, not, however, for the purpose of learning to paint as one writes, or of introducing written characters more or less transformed into a painting (if that be what is meant by "calligraphic"), but simply to give the artist freedom, confidence, and grace in the handling of the brush and to train his eye to form and balance and to acquire both strength of stroke and a knowledge of the sequence of strokes. To write in Chinese after the manner of professionals (SHO KA) is truly a great art, esteemed even higher than painting; it requires thirty years of constant practice to become expert therein, and it has many laws and profound principles which, if mastered by artists, will enable them to be all the greater in their painting, and many j.a.panese artists have justly prided themselves upon being expert writers of the Chinese characters. Okyo practiced daily for three years the writing of two intricate characters standing for his name, until he was satisfied with their forms, but there is nothing calligraphic about any of Okyo's painting.

Possibly what has misled foreign critics and even some j.a.panese writers is that there exists a cla.s.s of men in j.a.pan given to learning, to writing, and also to painting in a particular way.

These men are called BUN JIN (literati) and their style of painting is called BUN JIN FU. They are not artists, but are known as Confucius'

scholars (JU SHA), and being professional or trained writers in the difficult art of Chinese calligraphy they have a manner of painting strictly _sui generis._ It is known as the NAN GWA or southern literary way of painting. Their subjects are the bamboo, the plum, the orchid and the chrysanthemum, called the four paragons (SHI KUN SHI). These and landscapes they paint with their writing brush and more or less in what is called the gra.s.s character (SO SHO) manner of writing. In fact, they often aim to make their painting look like writing and they rarely use any color except light-brown (TAI SHA). They suppress line as distinguished from ma.s.s. This method is called _bokkotsu_ (see _Plate XII_). Such painting of the NAN GWA school is, in a sense, calligraphic, but that is not the kind of painting which j.a.panese artists are taught, practice and profess, nor is it even recognized as an art, but simply as an eccentric development of the literary man with a taste for painting. At one time or another well-known artists, especially at the beginning of the Meiji era, have affected this BUN JIN calligraphy style simply as a pa.s.sing fashion.

One other possible explanation of the critics p.r.o.nouncing all j.a.panese paintings calligraphic is that various Chinese characters are, as we have seen, invoked and employed by j.a.panese artists as memory aids to producing certain effects; but were these characters introduced calligraphically, the result would be laughable. It should be plain then that j.a.panese painting is not calligraphic; as well apply the term calligraphy to one of Turner's water colors. On the other hand, Chinese writing is built up on word pictures. There are between five and six hundred mother characters, all imitating the shapes of objects; these, with their later combinations, const.i.tute the Chinese written system, so that while there is nothing calligraphic about j.a.panese painting, there is much that is pictorial about Chinese calligraphy.

Other landscape laws applicable to things seen at a distance in a painting require that distant trees should show no branches nor leaves; people at a distance, no features; distant mountains, no ledges; distant seas or rivers, no waves. Again, clouds should indicate whence they come; running water the direction of its source; mountains, their chains; and roads, whither they lead.

In regard to painting moving waters, whether of deep or shallow, in rivers or brooks, bays or oceans, Chinanpin declared it was impossible for the eye to seize their exact forms because they are ever changing and have no fixed, definite shape, therefore they can not be sketched satisfactorily; yet, as moving water must be represented in painting, it should be long and minutely contemplated by the artist, and its general character-whether leaping in the brook, flowing in the river, roaring in the cataract, surging in the ocean or lapping the sh.o.r.e-observed and reflected upon, and after the eye and memory are both sufficiently trained and the very soul of the artist is saturated, as it were, with this one subject and he feels his whole being calm and composed, he should retire to the privacy of his studio and with the early morning sun to gladden his spirit there attempt to reproduce the movement of the flow; not by copying what he has seen, for the effect would be stiff and wooden, but by symbolizing according to certain laws what he feels and remembers.

In work of this kind there are certain directions for the employment of the brush which can only be learned from oral instruction and demonstration by the master.

In _Plate x.x.xVIII_ a, 1, the method by which waves are reproduced is shown, the circles indicating where the brush is turned upon itself before again curving. On the same plate (b) waveless water, shallow water, and river water with current are indicated at the top, middle and bottom, respectively. In _Plate x.x.xIX_ a, we have the moving waters of an inland sea; in b, the bounding waters of a brook; in _Plate XL_, the stormy waves of the ocean.

We will now consider another unique department of j.a.panese painting in connection with the garments of human beings. The lines and folds of the garment may be painted in eighteen different ways according to what are known as the eighteen laws for the dress (EMON JU HACHI BYO). I will mention each of these laws in its order and refer to the plate ill.u.s.trations of the same.

The floating silk thread line (KOU KO YU SHI BYOU) (_Plate XLI_ upper).

This line was introduced by the Tosa school of artists eight hundred years ago and has been in favor ever since. It is the purest or standard line and is reserved for the robes of elevated personages. The brush is held firmly and the lines, made to resemble silk threads drawn from the coc.o.o.n, are executed with a free and uninterrupted movement of the arm.

The Koto string line (KIN SHI BYOU) (_Plate XLI_ lower). This is a line of much dignity and of uniform roundness from start to finish. It is produced by using a little more of the tip of the brush than in the silk thread line and there must be no break or pause in it until completed.

This line is used for dignified subjects.

Chasing clouds and running water lines (KOU UN RYU SUI BYOU) (_Plate XLII_ upper). These are produced with a wave-like, continuous movement of the brush-breathing, as it were. Such lines are generally reserved for the garments of saints, young men and women.

The stretched iron wire line (TETSU SEN BYOU) (_Plate XLII_ lower). This is a very important line, much employed by Tosa artists and used for the formal, stiffly searched garments of court n.o.bles, _samurai,_ NO dancers, and umpires of wrestling matches. When this line is painted the artist must have the feeling of carving upon metal.

The nail-head and rat-tail line (TEI TOU SOBI BYOU) (_Plate XLIII_ upper).

In making this, the stroke is begun with the feeling of painting and reproducing the hard nature of a tack and then continued to depict a rat's tail, which grows small by degrees and beautifully less.

The line of the female court n.o.ble or _tsubone_ (SOU I BYOU) (_Plate XLIII_ lower). This line and the preceding are much used for the soft and graceful garments of young men and women and have always been favorites with the _Ukiyo e_ painters.

The willow-leaf line (RYU YOU BYOU) (_Plate XLIV_ upper). This line has always been in great favor with all the schools, and especially with the Kano painters, and is used indiscriminately for G.o.ddesses, angels, and devils. It is intended to reproduce the sentiment of the willow leaf, commencing with a fine point, swelling a little and again diminishing.

The angleworm line (KYU EN BYOU) (_Plate XLIV_ lower). The angleworm is of uniform roundness throughout its length and it is with that sentiment or _kokoromochi_ that it must be painted, care being taken to conceal the point of the brush along the line. This is a most important line in all color painting. Indeed, where much pains are to be taken with the picture, and the colors are to be most carefully laid on, it is the best and favorite line.

The rusty nail and old post line (KETSU TOU TEI BYOU) (_Plate XLV_ upper).

This line is painted with a brush, the point of which is broken off. The Kano school of artists particularly affect this method of line painting in depicting beggars, hermits, and other such characters.

The date seed line (SAU GAI BYOU) (_Plate XLV_ lower). This line, intended to represent a continuous succession of date seeds, is made with a throbbing brush and generally used in the garments of sages and famous men of learning.

The broken reed line (SETSU RO BYOU) (_Plate XLVI_ upper) is made with a rather dry brush and, as its name indicates, should be painted with the feeling of reproducing broken reeds. It is a line intended to inspire terror, awe, consternation, and is used for war G.o.ds, FUDO _sama,_ and other divinities.

The gnarled knot line (KAN RAN BYOU) (_Plate XLVI_ lower). In this kind of painting the brush is stopped from time to time and turned upon itself with a feeling of producing the gnarled knots of a tree. The line is much used for ghosts, dream pictures, and the like.

The whirling water line (SEN PITSU SUI MON BYOU) (_Plate XLVII_ upper) is used for rapid work and reproduces the swirl of the stream. It was a favorite line with Kyosai.

The suppression line (GEN PITSU BYOU) (_Plate XLVII_ lower) is suitable where but few lines enter into the painting of the dress. Any of the other seventeen lines can be employed in this way. The Kano artists used it a great deal.

Dry twig or old firewood line (KO SHI BYOU) (_Plate XLVIII_ upper) is generally used in the robes of old men and produced by what is called the dry brush; that is, a brush with very little water mixed with the _sumi._ The stroke must be bold and free to be effective.

The orchid leaf line (RAN YAU BYOU) (_Plate XLVIII_ lower). This is a very beautiful method of painting whereby the graceful shape of the orchid leaf is recalled; the line is used for the dresses of _geishas_ and beauties _(bijin)_ generally.

The bamboo leaf line (CHIKU YAU BYOU) (_Plate XLIX_ upper). This style of painting, which aims at suggesting the leaf of the bamboo, was much in favor formerly in China. j.a.panese artists seldom employ it.

The mixed style (KON BYOU) (_Plate XLIX_ lower), in which any of the foregoing seventeen styles can be employed provided the body of the garment be laid on first in ma.s.s and the lines painted in afterward while the _sumi_ or paint is still damp. This gives a satiny effect.

There are many other ways of painting the lines of the garment but the preceding eighteen laws give the strictly cla.s.sic methods known to oriental art.

The orchid, bamboo, plum, and chrysanthemum paragons (RAN CHIKU BAI KIKU) are called in art the Four Paragons. Although these may be the first studies taught they are generally the last subjects mastered. Much learning and research have been expended upon them in China and j.a.pan. An artist who can paint SHI KUN SHI is a master of the brush. I will indicate some of the laws applicable to each of these subjects.

The orchid grows in the deepest mountain recesses, exhaling its perfume and unfolding its beauty in silence and solitude, unheralded and unseen; thus, regardless of its surroundings and fulfilling the law of its being, fifteen hundred years ago it was proclaimed by the poet and painter San Koku to typify true n.o.bility and hence was a paragon. In poetry it is called the maiden's mirror. Many great Chinese writers have taken the orchid (RAN) for their nom de plume, as Ran Ya, Ran Tei, Ran Kiku, and Ran Ryo.

_Plate LII_ shows an orchid plant in flower. The established order of the brush strokes for the leaves of is indicated at the tips by numerals one to eleven; that of the flower stalk and flower by numbers twelve to twenty-one. Various forms are invoked in painting both the plant and the flower and are more or less graphically suggested. These forms are indicated by numbers, as follows:

Leaf blade No. 1 reproduces twice the stomach of the mantis (22), the tail of the rat (23), with the cloud longing (BO UN) of the tip (24). Leaf No.

2 is similarly constructed but is painted to intersect leaf No. 1, leaving between them a s.p.a.ce (No. 25) called the elephant's eye. Leaf No. 3 is intersected by leaf No. 4, enclosing another s.p.a.ce between them, known as the eye of the phoenix. Adding leaves Nos. 5 and 6, called SEKI or _kazari,_ meaning ornament, we have the most essential parts of the orchid plant. Leaf No. 7 is known as the rat's tail and leaf No. 8 as the body of a young carp. Nos. 9,10 and 11 are called nail heads, from their fancied resemblance to such objects. With these the plant is structurally complete.

[Bamboo, Sparrow and Rain. Plate VII.]

Bamboo, Sparrow and Rain. Plate VII.

The flower stalk is divided into four parts (Nos. 12 to 15), called rice sheaths. The flower is made with six strokes (16 to 21), called the flying bee (26). The three dots in the flower reproduce the sentiment of the Chinese character for heart (23).