{"id":493,"date":"2019-08-13T10:28:03","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T01:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tsumugu-admin.yomiuri.co.jp\/en\/?p=493"},"modified":"2020-03-18T17:21:48","modified_gmt":"2020-03-18T08:21:48","slug":"painting-on-silk-kenpon-chakushoku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tsumugu.yomiuri.co.jp\/en\/feature\/painting-on-silk-kenpon-chakushoku\/","title":{"rendered":"A beginner\u2019s guide to Japanese art: Painting on silk (kenpon chakushoku)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Tamayo Samejima<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJapanese art can\u2019t be easy to understand.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how to appreciate Japanese paintings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJapanese museums are unapproachable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re telling yourself these things, then this\ncolumn is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At any art exhibition, you would often see a description panel posted next to the artwork. However, in Japanese museums, you are often puzzled by all the jargon peculiar to Japanese art. Well, at least, most Japanese viewers are. By reading this weekly column, you will come to understand what the jargon is trying to tell you and how you can appreciate Japanese art more. In short, you will be able to enjoy your visit to a Japanese museum much, much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silk canvas, popular in the Heian \/ Kamakura periods<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At exhibitions of Buddhist art or otherwise, the description panel next to a painting will often say \u201cpainting on silk (kenpon chakushoku)<\/em>.\u201d Even the Japanese viewers often have difficulty reading or understanding the kanji characters meaning just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other description panels might say \u201cpainting on paper (shihon chakushoku)<\/em>\u201d or \u201cink painting on silk (kenpon bokuga)<\/em>\u201d or \u201cink painting on paper (shihon bokuga)<\/em>.\u201d As you may have guessed already, kenpon<\/em> means \u201con silk\u201d and shihon<\/em> means \u201con paper,\u201d while chakushoku<\/em> means \u201cto paint in colors\u201d and bokuga<\/em> means \u201cink painting.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am sure you have drawn something on paper before. But I suppose there are not so many who have drawn something on silk. In Japanese art, a silk canvas is called eginu<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both silk and paper were developed in ancient\nChina, long before the time of Christ. Surprisingly, silk has a longer history\nthan paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Japan, drawings were rendered on hemp cloth during the Nara period (710-784), but from the Heian period (794-ca 1185) to the Kamakura period (ca 1185-1333), eginu<\/em> became the popular canvas. During the Muromachi period (1336-1573) and later, washi<\/em> or Japanese paper was often used. In modern times, hemp paper came to be widely used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eginu,<\/em> typically, is silk fabric plainly woven and thin, and feels coarse. Thread taken from silkworm cocoons is used unrefined to weave the fabric. The resulting eginu<\/em> is white and somewhat sparkly, and has supple texture. That is why paintings on silk end up moist and glossy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Japanese people have used Japanese paper in their\nschool days to practice calligraphy. It is made from plant fibers such as that\nof the paper mulberry and oriental paperbush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A hanging scroll in a tokonoma alcove (by Tamayo Samejima)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is how Japanese paper is made by hand: The plant fiber is first boiled and then bleached by soaking in water. Next, the fiber is mixed with a sticky liquid called neri,<\/em> which is made from the root of a plant called tororoaoi<\/em> or aibika (abelmoschus manihot). Only then can you make paper, desiccate it and finish it. It takes a lot of work and craftsmanship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you go to an art supply store in Japan, you will find a whole variety of Japanese paper \u2013 of different thickness and texture, and made of different material. The gasenshi<\/em> or drawing paper used in calligraphy or ink wash painting alone comes in various types, most of which has a moist and smooth surface. The brush will slide very smoothly on a gasenshi<\/em> when you are writing or painting, and the ink wash or coloring will turn out fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eginu<\/em> and Japanese paper both absorb water, so when you apply paint or ink, they usually bleed. In order to suppress the bleeding, the silk canvas or paper is sometimes processed beforehand by applying dosa<\/em> \u2013 liquid made by adding alum to nikawa eki<\/em> (glue solution made from collagen, animal protein, etc.) \u2013 with a brush. This will allow calligraphers and painters to work on details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, painting and writing are not the only things you can do with Japanese paper. It is also used for urauchi<\/em> or backing. That is, Japanese paper is glued onto the backside of painted Japanese paper or eginu<\/em>. This will make the work thicker, literally, as well as more durable. Scrolls or hanging scrolls are made afterward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, let me introduce you to an actual work of\nart \u201cpainted on silk.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go see the Suigetsu Kannon zo<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Posted here is the image of the Suigetsu Kannon zo<\/em> (image of Water-Moon Avalokitesvara), which can be viewed at the Commemorating 30 Years of Conservation Projects by the Sumitomo Foundation; New Life for Timeless Art<\/em> exhibition set to start on Sept. 6, 2019, at the Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum in Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the lower left corner of the painting, you see a very small Zenzai-doji<\/em> (Sudhana-sresthi-daraka), which you will find in Buddhist stories. Zenzai-doji<\/em> went on a journey to learn the teachings of Buddha and visited 53 sages. At Fudarakusen,<\/em> a soaring mountain in the sea, Zenzai-doji<\/em> saw the Suigetsu Kannon<\/em>. The beautiful Kannon<\/em> or the Avalokitesvara sits on a rock as it gently watches over Zenzai-doji<\/em>. The body is painted gold, and at the tip of its slender right hand are crystal prayer beads on red string. The thin veil draped over the shoulder is magnificent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 14th-century painting is a work of So Gubang, a\npainter of the Goryeo Dynasty, which reigned over much of the Korean Peninsula.\nThe painting was later brought to Japan, and is now a designated important\ncultural property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*The Commemorating 30 Years of Conservation Projects by the Sumitomo Foundation; New Life for Timeless Art<\/em> exhibit displays the fruit of Sumitomo Foundation\u2019s long-running Grant for Projects for the Protection, Preservation & Restoration of Cultural Properties in Japan. The Suigetsu Kannon zo<\/em> regained its original grace with the help of this grant. You should see for yourself the harmony of the colors used on silk and the delicate brushwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suigetsu Kannon zo can be viewed in the following museums:<\/h6>\n\n\n\n