The four seasons (shi ki) form a series susceptible of the most varied and engaging treatment and presentation. The seasons are sometimes symbolized [pg 96] by flowers, occasionally by birds, again by the products of the earth, and often by landscapes.
Sometimes human figures are used for the purpose. In spring (haru) a young daughter (musume) may be represented looking at the cherry blossoms ([Plate LXV], 1); in summer (natsu) she will be crossing a bridge or enjoying the cool of the riverside ([Plate LXV], 2); in autumn (aki) she is seen in the fields, probably gathering mushrooms ([Plate LXV], 3), and in winter (fuyu) she will be seated indoors playing a musical instrument ([Plate LXV], 4). While the other kakemono is always to be changed in the tokonoma or alcove according to the seasons, ceremonies or festivals, there are certain pictures appropriate to any season, e. g., rocks and waves (iwa ni nami); pine and bamboo (matsu take); or the Okyo double subject called shikuzu ni fuku tsui (pendant paintings): The end of spring, a crow and the plum tree ([Plate LXIV], 1); the end of autumn, the bird hyo dori and the persimmon tree ([Plate LXIV], 2). The reason is that all such subjects are in harmony with conditions the year round.
Historical subjects (rekishi gwa dai) suitable for Japanese painting are extremely numerous subjects and are divided into categories corresponding to the following periods: The Nara, the Heian or Kyoto, the Kamakura Yoritomo shogunate, the Higashiyama shogunate, the Yoshimasa shogunate, the Momoyama or Taiko Hideyoshi, and the Tokugawa Iyeyasu shogunate brought down to the present Meiji period. These with their numerous subdivisions supply an infinite number of subjects for [pg 97] pictorial treatment. Special favorites are “Benkei and Yoshitsune at the Go Jo bridge,” or “passing through the Hakone barrier,” and “Kusanoki Masashige at Minatogawa.”
When Shaka was born he stood erect, with one Buddhist hand pointing upward and the other downward and exclaimed: “Behold, between heaven and earth I am the most precious creation.” His birthday is the subject of the picture ([Plate LXVI], 3) called kan butsu ye. It represents the Buddha as a bronze statue erect in a tub of sweet liquid. This the faithful worshippers pour over his head and subsequently drink for good luck. Shaka's death is commemorated in the picture called nehan, nirvana. The lord, Buddha, is stretched upon a bier tranquilly dying, an angelic smile lighting his countenance, while around are gathered his disciples, Rakkan and Bosatsu, and the different animals of creation, all weeping. A rat having gone to call Mayabunin, mother of Buddha, has been pounced upon by a cat and torn to pieces. For this reason in paintings of this moving scene of Shaka's death no cat is to be found among the mourning animals. The artist Cho Densu, however, in his great painting of nehan (still preserved in the Temple To Fuku Ji at Kyoto) introduces the portrait of a cat. It is related that, while Cho Densu was painting, the cat came daily to his side and continually mewing and expressing its grief, would not leave him. Finally Cho Densu, out of pity, painted the cat into the picture and thereupon the animal out of joy fell over dead.
The lotus (hasu) symbolizes the heart of a saint (hotoke). It rises untarnished out of the mud of the pond, nor can it be stained by any impurity, the leaves always shedding whatever may fall upon them. It is painted usually as a religious subject.
The principal matsuri or Shinto festivals occur at different seasons of the year in different parts of the empire. The summer months, however, claim most of them. The Kamo no aoi matsuri takes place at Kyoto and consists of a procession, a no dance and a horse race. The picture appropriate for this festival is “the Kamo race course” (Kamo no kei ba). The matsuri at Nikko is a great procession, with three mikoshi or shrines carried on the shoulders of multitudes of men. There are three Nikko matsuri connected with the Tokugawa shogunate.
Inari, being the god of agriculture (ine, rice), the picture of a fox ([Plate LXVI], 4), that god's messenger, is appropriate. Another festival, the gyon matsuri, of Kyoto, is celebrated with a great procession in which enter all sorts of amusing floats and every kind of amusing practice. These are variously reproduced in commemorative paintings.
I will only refer in passing to the many subjects supplied by the beautiful poetry (hokku and uta) and celebrated romances (monogatari) of Japan. Enough has been said to show that the Japanese artist has an unlimited range of classic subjects from which to select.
Other subjects unassociated with any special time of the year represent, e.g., various utensils of the tea [pg 99] ceremony (cha no yu) ([Plate LXVI], 1) when macha, a thickened tea, is used. The tea ceremony ([Plate II]) is performed in a small room fitted with four and a half mats. Were the mats only four (shi) in number they would suggest death (shi). Furthermore, an even number being considered negative (in) is not favored. Mats are three by six feet in size and must always be so laid as not to form crosses, which are unlucky. In the alcove of this room no kakemono is permitted but one in the pure Japanese style. The subject of the painting will depend upon the season, while all red colors are proscribed and sumi pictures of the Kano school are most appropriate. The treatment must be simple (tan paku); for instance, a single flower spray, a branch of the plum, a hermit, or a solitary mountain peak. In the ceremony of sen cha ([Plate LXVI], 2), which is the Chinese way of making tea, these strict rules of cha no yu are relaxed.