@article{oai:icu.repo.nii.ac.jp:00004360,
 author = {ウィルソン, リチャード L. and 小笠原, 佐江子},
 issue = {48},
 journal = {人文科学研究 : キリスト教と文化},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {Iconography of Kenzan Ware: Chinese Poetic Themes (2): Flowering Plants and Trees

　This article is the second of two installments covering the iconography of 
Kenzan-ware dishes decorated with monochrome painting and Chinese poetic (kanshi) 
inscriptions, or the so-called “gasan” style. The most celebrated of these specimens are 
the square dishes with poetry inscribed by Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) and painting by 
Kenzan’s older brother Ogata Korin (1658-1716). These were made in limited numbers 
in the late Hoei (1704-1711) and Shotoku (1711-1716) eras, but were mass-produced 
from the Kyoho era (1716-1736) though the middle of the eighteenth century. 
Collectively these works are recognized as the premier example of Kenzan’s expression 
of the literati ethos.
　The poetic and pictorial traditions of flowering plants and trees are centered around 
the mobilization of select species, using their fragrance, form, and seasonality as 
auspicious and moral symbols. Such deployments are in evidence as early as the 
Warring States era but gained critical mass among the scholar-official elite of the 
Northern Song dynasty. Plant allusions were not only aesthetically appealing; they 
became a political necessity in an age where direct moral criticism was difficult. 
Worship of literati heroes and their plant avatars became an iconographic system in the
Yuan dynasty, as this group struggled to affirm its identity in the midst of Mongol 
domination. This sensibility was transmitted to medieval Japan and came to flourish in 
the Five Mountain or Gozan monastic culture. With the popularization of sinophilia in 
the 17th century, Chinese-derived floral codes became a staple of literary and artistic
representation in Japan. Thus in a 1690 description of Kenzan’s retreat, where author 
Gettan Docho likens the young Kenzan to the celebrated recluse Tao Yuanming, there is 
also an obligatory reference to (Tao’s bio-alias) “chrysanthemums blooming on the 
fence” in the garden (Gazanko, 1690). In the form of poetry excerpts, these tropes were
increasingly available in Japanese editions of Chinese anthologies; the most popular of 
these, the Wanli-era Yuanji huofa (J: Enki kappo), is the source for most of the 
inscriptions in Kenzan ware.
　The painted decoration on these dishes also evokes a multi-layered tradition, which 
in a general sense we might call “ink flowers.” Documents reveal how Northern Song 
literati dabbling in monochrome bamboo and plum came to be highly regarded as an
expression of personal character and refinement. In the Southern Song and Yuan 
dynasties, ink flowers became firmly established as a mark of literati identity. At the 
same time, Chan-Zen painters were fond of creating ink impressions of plants and
vegetables. Surviving paintings in the style of the Chan monk Muqi, or by the Yuan 
literatus Zhao Zhong, use the handscroll format to show a succession of ink flora 
against a blank background—called kakizatsukan or handscroll of miscellaneous 
flowers.
　From the Kamakura period ink flowers came to be painted in Japan, notably by Zen 
monk painters Tesshu Tokusai and Gyokuen Bonpo. From the late 14th century, these 
subjects came to exhibit brushwork and compositional traits distinct from their Chinese
models. Furthermore they were now painted as small hanging scrolls in order to fit the 
newly evolved Japanese tokonmoma. Imported Chinese handscrolls were cut into 
sections for the same reason. In this compact format, ink flowers subsequently became a 
popular subject for tea ceremony display (chagake).
　From the mid-17th century, connoisseurship of Song-Yuan and Muromachi 
paintings became a central and self-legitimizing activity of the Kano family of painters. 
Their appraisals of are preserved in the form of annotated sketches or shukuzu. These
sketches, which included floral subjects, subsequently served as school models under 
the name of funpon. In addition to serving as components for larger pictures, such 
models were readily transferable to small-format surfaces such as fans (senmen) and 
album pages (gajo). The range of possibilities and modularizing tendency can be seen in
Kano Tsunenobu’s (1636-1713) Kara-e tekagami and Kara gakan, albums of his copies 
of Chinese paintings.
　From the late 17th century, as painting became a popular pastime, 
woodblock-printed painting manuals (gafu) began to circulate, initially in the form of 
Chinese editions or their Japanese reprints. From the 1720s Kano-school funpon were 
also collected into painting manuals, notably Ehon shaho bukuro (1720) and Gasen 
(1721).
　Kenzan conceived his early efforts in this mode as a ceramic version of the 
literati-inspired “three perfections”, that is, poetry, painting and calligraphy. Since these 
were produced in sets of assorted themes, his patrons surely associated them with the
painting album; the thematic preferences, simple compositions, and “boneless” strokes
could equally evoke the chagake or gafu. In short, there was no deficit of allusions, both 
classical and contemporary.
　We should not neglect the fact these dishes were intended for practical use. The 
early collaborations of Korin and Kenzan were made in the comparatively large form of
suzuributa, a square or rectangular tray used for serving snacks or sweets in intimate
gatherings. However from the second decade of the 18th century, smaller round, square 
or rectangular dishes were produced in much greater numbers, presumably filling the 
role of mukozuke, a dish placed on the far side of the tray used for individual servings, 
or as side dishes to supplement a main serving. A few large sets remain, positioning 
them as stock items in the higher end of the food and entertainment industry. Even these,
however, maintain an improvisational look central to the “literati” ethos. The users 
presumably enjoyed identifying the texts and images and trading their knowledge with
companions., 画像多数、縦書き},
 pages = {(1)--(133)},
 title = {乾山焼　画讃様式の研究（二）──草花・竹木・その他──},
 year = {2016}
}