Landscape Paintings 山水画

[Henry Wilson]

I have been researching ink paintings for a while now and here are some notes that I have put together.

 

Landscape Paintings 山水画

In China, from the Han to the Tang periods (206 BC to 906 AD) images of human figures were the main subject of Chinese paintings. By the 9th century the interests of artists started to shift from human figures to nature and by 11th century most of the important paintings were of nature and landscapes with little emphasis or detail of human figures. This represented a shift in social structure in China as figure painting was a product of Confucian ideals and the rise of landscape painting was influenced by Taoist attitudes and ideas as they exceeded Confucian ideas in popularity. The practice of seeking out places of scenic beauty to commune with nature first became popular with Taoists poets and painters, and landscape paintings were used as substitutes for the real thing when necessary.

 

One of the earliest paintings that depicts landscape is a section of the hand scroll called “The Nymph of the River Lo” and is cited to 344-406 AD. A reproduction of a part of it is below:

The focus is on the human figures, with the mountains and trees placed all around being out of proportion and appear more as stage props as opposed to actual landscape.

 

During the Song Dynasty (960 – 1280), landscape painting evolved under the hand of Chinese painters such as Li Tang, Ma Yaun, Xia Gui and Ma Lin to name a few. Their paintings became more detailed, organic, spacious, spontaneous and a sense of perspective was developed to give pictures depth as if viewing an open vista and they generally became more realistic. It was this time in the 13th century when landscape painting began to have a strong impact on Japan.

Through the patronage of Zen monasteries and associated cultural activities, the shogunate wanted to produce a cultural legacy to rival the Fujiwara of earlier periods in an effort to legitamize their regime. The new Zen monasteries were centres of Chinese learning and many of the monks spent time in China absorbing all they could about Chinese culture, including literature, scholarship and arts. One such missionary to China, during the time of the Ashikaga shogunate, was Sesshu Toyo (雪舟). He was initially a samurai but became a Rinzai Zen Buddhist priest. He was influenced and inspired by Chinese Song Dynasty landscape painting and in 1468 to 1469 he went to Ming China to study, and was quickly recognized as an outstanding painter. Upon returning to Japan, Sesshu established the Unkoku Rin School or the Sesshu School.

 

Although numerous works bear Sesshu's signature or seal, only a few can be attributed to him. Many are either copies or works by his pupils and several painters, including Hasegawa Tohaku, used Sesshu's name for artistic reasons.

 

The above paintings are classic examples of san sui 山水 which means “mountain water” as they typically contain lofty mountains, rocks, rivers, roads, trees, bridges, men and animals with sections divided with empty spaces representing mist or cloud and giving a sense of depth and mysterty. The compositions follow the Buddhist law of Ten Chi Jin 天地人which means that whatever is worthy of contemplation must contain a principal subject followed by complimentary and auxiliary details. This law dictates that everything is below and humbled by the mountain, called TEN 天 or heaven. Next is earth 地, CHI represented by the trees, river and rocks followed by JIN 人representing men and animals.

 

I have been interested in san sui paintings for many years and last summer I was lucky enough to buy the following:

 

It is an ink painting, on paper probably from the mulberry plant, attributed to the Kano School of the mid Edo period and is of a small hamlet, by a river in the mountains. The horizontal line across the the mountains is not a fold, but a join where two papers are connected and there is a red seal in the bottom right hand corner, placed discretely so as not to interfer with the painting, indicating the correct way of viewing the picture is from left to right.

 

The mountain range is painted with a sense of perspective as it disappears into the misty distance. The forward mountain is painted using a techinique called “scattered hemp leaves” giving the impression of wet new foliage and the trees on top are probably maple, judging from the way the leaves are painted.

 

A small hamlet by a wide, shallow river is enclosed by a fence and shrouded in trees and the slight choppiness of the water suggests a waterfall somewhere in the mist. There is a rickety bridge with two men (possibly fishermen) having a passing chat, and another hunched figure walking on a road leading to the left and out off the picture. The river bank and rocks are painted using broad angular lines called “axe stroke” giving a sense of shadow and depth as well as rugginess and power and are a characteristic of Sesshu and the Northern Song School of painting. Three farm houses are arranged in such a way as to suggest that there is more to see and there is a tendency to try to look around the corner and see what else is there.

 

The picture is highlighted with various shades of green giving a feeling of early spring and the emergence of new foliage. The painting is finished with a dot techinique called chobo chobo where rocks and vegetation are highlighted with small dots to heighten and enliven the overall effect and was a techinique favoured by the Kano School. There is a red ink seal reading Sesshu. This painting is not by Sesshu and in my opinon the seal was not applied to deceive, but added as an artistic effect and is a characteristic of the Kano School.

 

Despite the Sesshu seal, I personally feel that this painting is more in the style of Xai Gui, who was one of China’s greatest masters of Song landscape painting and whose style Sesshu was inspired by. His works are typically in ink monochrome, occasionally with a few touches of colour. His style is characterized by short, sharp, angular strokes suggesting rapid execution. The way the trees are painted below are similar in style and composition as the trees in my painting.

 

The theme of sansui is also commonly found in tsuba. The most famous being the ones made by Kaneie of the Momoyama period and by Yasuchika of the Edo period. A thread on sansui motif tsuba alone would be worth investigating.

 

Thanks for reading.

[DirkO]

The theme of sansui is also a commonly found in tsuba. The most famous being the ones made by Kaneie of the Momoyama period and by Yasuchika of the Edo period. A thread on sansui motif tsuba alone would be worth investigating.

 

 

Very interesting read Henry - don't forget the Choshu school - they also use the sansui theme very often.

[Henry Wilson]

Thank you very much Dirk for the kind words. To tell you the truth I know little about the Choshu School. If you could post a few pictures, that would be very interesting. Also, if any members have any pictures of sansui theme tsuba, why not post them?

[DirkO]

Hi Henry,

 

Here are some examples of Choshu tsuba:

 

[Brian]

Excellent read Henry, thanks for sharing. Don't forget the Jakushi tsuba, I think the were often inspired by these paintings and/or composition.

 

 

Brian

[Henry Wilson]

Thank you Brian.

Here is a nice Kaneie with a sansui motif. It is my all time favourite tsuba.

[Mark C]

Hi Henry,

 

Thanks for your PM reply and here are the paintings as suggested. Apologies for the reflections from the glass.

 

I asked Henry for some assistance on the seal or possible artist and he suggested that I tag it onto his post regarding 2 Landscape paintings that I aquired many years ago from a NMB member.

Any help greatly appreciated.

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Henry Wilson]

Hi Mark

 

Nice paintings. They certainly are sansui and have a very classical look to them.

 

From my limited experience and from the few books I have read (so forgive me if I am way off the mark), I think that the second painting, the mountain scene, has similarities with a famous painting by a Song artist called Li Tang. That is, the mountains in the distance, the way the rocks and shadows are painted, seem to be slightly reminisent of his work.

 

However the color wash in your paintings gives substance to the rocks and landscape and there is an overall sense of realisim. These are all characteristics associated with Ming period paintings. The painting below by a painter called Tang Yin, seems to have a similar arrangement and placement of details as your mountain scene painting.

 

In my opinion, there is a slim chance that the paintings could be from the Ming era (if not modern reproductions) but I think to find out more, you would need to consult an expert. As for the stamp, I can see 日　　月　　東 but do not have a clue who the artist might be.

 

I hope this helps.

[Mark C]

Hi Henry,

 

Thanks for your response. I do see the simularities with the colour wash.

 

The Ming era being between 1368 and 1644, Knowing my luck it's a repro, Still I like them hanging on the wall.

 

My quest for an expert now begins, something tells me that is going to be a long journey in the UK.

 

Again, many thanks

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Ed]

Nice Choshu Landscape

 

[Greg F]

Hi Guys,

 

Brian I agree about the jakushi being inspired by some of these type of paingings, I bought a jakushi tsuba off a Nmb member and have had around 7 or 8 Japanese scrolls and I wondered the same thing recently. All the best.

 

Greg