Muromachi Period (1392–1573)

Muromachi Period (1392–1573)

 

 

 The Birth of the Buddha, Muromachi period (1392–1573), ca. 1400
Unidentified artist
Japan
Section of a wall panel; ink, color, and gold on silk

 

In keeping with his extraordinary destiny, the Buddha was miraculously conceived, said to have entered his mother's side in the form of a bodhisattva riding a white, six-tusked elephant. As depicted here, nine months later his mother, Queen Maya, grasped a tree branch while walking through the Lumbini gardens and the baby emerged from her side. Heavenly musicians played music and threw flowers in celebration as the newborn immediately took seven steps marked by lotus flowers and, raising his right hand, declared, "Among all divine beings, only I am lord, most holy and victorious. The three realms are all sorrowful. I have come here through immeasurable births and deaths for the benefit of men and gods." He was then given his first bath, a heavenly lustration by dragons.

 

The nativity, with its symbolism of cosmic renewal, is one of the most important events in the story of the Buddha's life and is celebrated as an annual rite on the Buddhist ritual calendar. A reenactment of the first bath, where a small icon of the standing child with arm raised in the gesture of proclamation is placed in a basin and purified with water, is a significant part of this celebration. This rare and unusual fourteenth-century painting most likely decorated a temple hall as part of a complete cycle of events from the Buddha's life used to instruct worshippers.

 

 

Orchids and Rocks, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Gyokuen Bompo (Japanese, 1348–after 1420)
Japan
Hanging scroll; ink on paper

 

"Bedecked in garlands, the dancing pair
Combines their rival fragrances.
One must sip their precious dew.
Who could fashion anew these deep red tassels?
…dashed off in remembrance of the Minister of Chu."

 

With the final stroke of Gyokuen Bompo's smoothly inflected brush, the semicursive calligraphy of his inscription is visually united with the expansive, flowing rendering of supple leaves and fragile blossoms. The image of orchids and rocks, cherished in the literati repertoire as symbolic of the scholar's purity of heart, loyalty, and integrity, is unmistakably rooted in the lore of Qu Yuan (ca. 343–277 B.C.), the "Minister of Chu" of Bompo's poem. Bompo here draws not only on the imagery and poetic diction but also the characteristic meter of Qu Yuan's Li Sao (On Encountering Sorrow), the elegiac poem lamenting the world in which his loyalty was as unrecognized as the fragile, hidden orchid, while ambitious slanders, like gaudy weeds, won favor. Bompo's allusion to his model is overlaid with feeling: the two orchids refer to his friendship with Gido Shushin, his mentor in Zen as well as in the arts of poetry and painting. The idea that poetry and painting were an integral part of Zen life also pervades this lyrical image.

 

 

Storage jar, Muromachi period (1392–1573), 14th–15th century; Shigaraki ware
Japan
Stoneware with natural ash glaze

 

Although archaeologists have now uncovered over thirty centers of ceramic production in Japan dating to the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, the term "six old kilns" is still used sometimes to define the wares of Seto, Tokoname, Shigaraki, Tamba, Bizen, and Echizen. Located in Shiga Prefecture near Nagoya, Shigaraki was noted for its production of thick-walled utilitarian vessels with rich textural surfaces for the consumption of surrounding agrarian communities. Like those of the other early kiln sites, wares produced at Shigaraki were later adopted in the tea ceremony, where they were admired for their power and directness.

 

The beauty of this medieval storage jar lies in its rugged, unsophisticated shape and dramatic surface coloration. The asymmetry of its silhouette is due to the difficulty of controlling the shape in the coil construction technique used to make such massive jars. It was built up in several stages, as is apparent from the ridges visible at the lower, center, and upper body. Chance kiln effects determined the pattern of the dark rivulets of green ash glaze, the dull gray encrustation of unfused ash on the shoulder, the glistening patches of melted feldspar, and the white flecks of unfused quartz on the pale salmon hue of the body.

 

 

Su Dongpo in Straw Hat and Wooden Shoes, Muromachi period (1392–1573), second half of 15th century
Artist Unknown
Japan
Hanging scroll; ink on paper

 

Above a quickly rendered image of a lonely figure in a landscape, five poems in Chinese inscribed by five Zen monks celebrate the Zen ideals reflected in the life and poetry of one of China's most famous scholar-officials, Su Dongpo (Su Shi, 1036–1101). The episode recalled here occurred when Su was in exile on the remote island of Hainan. His characteristic equanimity is immortalized in this story. Returning home after a visit, Su was caught in a sudden downpour and forced to borrow a peasant's straw raincoat and clogs. The sight of the famous scholar dressed so outlandishly roused the laughter of women and children and the barking of dogs. Unlike descriptions of this episode by Chinese literati, concerned with Su's heroism and incorruptible spirit, these poems reflect the Zen idea of the essential oneness of all things, good and bad: whether in office or in lonely exile, Su was calm and self-possessed.

 

 

 Gibbons, Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Sesson Shukei (Japanese, 1504–1589?)
Japan
Pair of six-panel screens; ink on paper

 

Amidst a rocky landscape, eleven furry gibbons gambol about, sit in contemplation, and point toward the moon's reflection. Symbols of the underlying unity of all living creatures, gibbons have long been a popular theme for Zen monk-painters. This composition on a pair of folding screens is considered a late work of the Zen monk-artist Sesson Shukei and is painted with his characteristic humor and staccato contrasts of strong black ink combined with pale wash, forming rhythmic patterns that create a unified whole. The last great painter of the Muromachi period, Sesson, along with his contemporaries, exemplified the full assimilation of the Chinese-derived ink painting tradition into a form that was uniquely Japanese.

[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

 

모암문고 茅岩文庫 The Moam Collection www.moamcollection.org