ASIAN INSIGHTS!!!
Treasures from the San Diego Museum of Art's Asian Collections

by Heather Simmerman, Ph.D., Docent

Red Lacquer Box

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, August 2020

This small (2 7/8 in. x 2 7/8 in. x 1 ½ in.) round cushion form is carved red-over-black lacquer on wood. It is decorated with a deeply carved motif of lychee fruit, leaves, and branches on a delicately carved background diaper of geometricized flowers. The rich vegetal and floral design carved in red lacquer is typical of the Ming period (1368-1644). Lacquer is derived from the resin (sap) of a tree native to southern China, which may be colored by addition of pigments such as carbon soot (black) or the mercury sulfide known as cinnabar (red) that gives rise to the common name for red lacquer-ware. The lacquer is applied in many coats, from 30 to as many as 200 layers, which are allowed to dry between applications to a hard, opaque and glossy finish before carving. Lychee are a sweet summer fruit with an auspicious red skin. In China, the lychee is often a symbol of romance and love because of its red color, which is the color for brides; indeed, a pair of lychee symbolizes fertility. However, the stem character “li” in the Chinese name for lychee, “li zhi”, can have meanings related to characteristics of strength, profit, or benefits, extending the symbolism of lychee to include these traits. Thus images of lychee are often found in Chinese corporate offices, as an omen of profitability. The small box shown here would have been a luxury item for the Ming elite, expensive due to its lengthy and skilled requirements to fashion, and may have been used for storage of incense or cosmetics.

Harvest Moon-viewing

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, September 2020

This ink and color on silk hanging scroll (55½ x 22½ in) is an example of the nihonga (“Japanese painting”) style of painting that arose in the Meiji era (1868-1912) and developed further in the early 20th century. The opening of Japan to Western influences, including rapid modernization and adoption of Western art techniques and styles, led to the nihonga counter-movement to moderate the ascendance of external aesthetics in favor of a more judicious incorporation of some Western stylistic elements, e.g. spatial perspective, while maintaining traditional Japanese themes, brush techniques, and materials. This scroll exemplifies the nihonga style as a work combining traditional ink outlines with color washes in muted palette, absence of shadows, and a Japanese historical subject matter based on the Tale of Genji, yet the work also incorporates some architectural realism and perspective lines to render a fresh, modern appeal. The artist’s signature in black ink and red seal is in the lower left of the scroll, but is not legible at the resolution of this image of the work.

The composition illustrates Ch. 2 Hahakigi (“The Broom Tree”) from the Tale of Genji in which Genji visits the young and beautiful Utsusemi. The work appears modeled after the 1852 woodblock print Hahakigi, from the series “Fifty-four Chapters of the Tale of Genji” by Utagawa Hiroshige, and also after the ~1905 nihonga ink and color painting on silk by Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918), Murasaki Shikibu at Ishiyamadera.

Lady Murasaki is the author of the 11th century serial novel Tale of Genji, which it is believed she began to write while viewing the moon from the Ishiyama Temple on Lake Biwa. Thus representation of Lady Murasaki in the Moon-viewing Pavilion at Ishiyama is a traditional motif in Japanese painting and woodblock prints. It seems the artist of the Museum’s scroll has deftly combined the motifs and compositional organization of both these prior works to create an original design based on the Tale of Genji theme. The custom of moon-viewing in autumn, originating among the nobility such as Lady Murasaki during the Heian period (794-1185), continues today as a popular activity of the fall harvest moon or mid-autumn festival celebrated across Japan.

  

Paintings on Bodhi Leaves

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, October 2020

Folio from Album of Ten Paintings, 18th c. China, Acc. No. 1975.49.1-10 Shown here is one of a set of ten paintings mounted within brocade covers. Each painting is ink and color on a bodhi leaf attached to a blue paper sheet measuring 11 x 7 in. (28 x 18 cm) and depicts one or more luohans, or followers of Buddha who have achieved enlightenment. Painting images of luohans on bodhi leaves was fashionable during the Qing dynasty, particularly after the emperor Qianlong (r. 1735 to 1796) wrote a eulogy for each luohan in the latter half of the 18th c., when this album was probably created. The bodhi tree is important in the Buddhist religion because Siddhartha Gautama, the historical personage of Buddha, attained enlightenment while meditating beneath a bodhi tree in northern India circa 500 BCE. Painting on bodhi leaves thus became a form of Chinese Buddhist art. A bodhi leaf is first soaked in water for up to a month to decompose and eliminate the green leaf tissues, leaving only the veins. The remaining leaf vasculature is then pasted onto a cut piece of brown paper conforming to the leaf shape. After painting, the leaf is mounted on a colored paper frame. Such paintings were sold to Buddhist pilgrims as souvenirs. The fragile organic nature of such works means that few examples survive, so extant pieces are principally from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912).

In the folio shown, the so-called “deer riding luohan” Pindola is depicted, accompanied by his former employer, an Indian king holding his imperial ruyi scepter, whom Pindola convinced to abdicate and follow him to become a monk. Qianlong’s eulogy for Pindola reads: “Sitting dignified on a deer, As if in deep thought. With perfect composure, Contented with being above worldly pursuits.”

Kano School of Painting

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, November 2020

 

The subject matter of this hanging scroll (69 9/32 in. x 20 7/8 in.) is delicately rendered in ink on silk. The artist’s signature in black ink and seal in red ink at the lower left of the scroll (enlarged above) identifies him as Kano Chikanobu (1660-1728), the third-generation head of the Kobikicho branch of the extensive Kano school of painting, the preeminent artistic influence for Japanese painting over four centuries from 1600-1900.

The Kano school rose to prominence after its progenitor Kano Masanobu (1434-1530) was appointed the first secular (non-Buddhist clergy) official painter to the shogun in the 1480s. Originally following a patrilineal succession, demand for the esteemed works of the Kano artists blossomed during the Tokugawa shogunate Edo period (1600-1868), leading to expansion of the school into an academy of four branches led by extended family members. In 1678, Kano Chikanobu began working with his father at Edo Castle in service of the shogunate and in 1713 succeeded his father as head of the Kobikicho branch of the Kano school. Stylistically, the Kano school is best known for its larger scale paintings on sliding doors and screens covered by dramatic designs boldly colored on gold leaf background and for its smaller pieces, typically hanging scrolls, characterized by delicate Chinese-influenced washed ink or splashed ink (hatsuboku) depictions of nature scenes.

This hanging scroll by Chikanobu is representative of the latter hatsuboku tradition, blending the loose impressionistic brushstrokes of the pine tree branches and leaves with the more realistic details of the bird boldly rendered in greater focus with darker ink. Whereas the pine tree most often symbolizes longevity, the bird in this scroll appears to be a wagtail, common in Japan and depicted in other Japanese paintings and prints, but which does not appear to have a specific symbolic meaning. A painted scroll such as this one would typically be displayed, along with a flower arrangement, incense burner, ceramic or other art work, within an alcove known as a tokonoma in each room of elite residences, for the personal viewing pleasure of the owner.

The Eight Wise Men of the East Quarter of Heaven, 17th-18th c. China

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, January 2021

 

Eight elaborately garbed male figures float mysteriously in formation across this hanging silk scroll painting (56 3/4 in x 27 in), with mouths open as if singing or chanting. They are shown in three-quarter frontal view all facing to the right, in three registers with little overlap of the figures, perhaps signifying their equal importance. Each figure is dressed in the vestments of a Dao priest. Attire and accessories for Dao clergy reflected the Ming (1368-1644) imperial court styles and were governed by Ming laws established in 1382. The bright colored robes are in the square style of jiangyi or Robe of Descent, and are rendered in mineral pigments; such strong coloration is a characteristic of Ming court painting. The different colors of the robes may denote relative rank of the priests or reflect the colors associated with specific roles or symbolic identities. The lozenge-shaped medallions on the robes appear similar for all the figures and may have cosmological significance. The robes provide the priests with symbolic connection with the cosmos and mystical ability to bridge the earthly and heavenly realms.

Each priest wears a hat in the ancient style of mianguan, a mortarboard with hanging tassels front and back strung with jade beads. A mianguan with 12 tassels could only be worn by the emperor, while 9 tassels denotes royalty, and 7 or 5 tassels indicates a high or middle rank court official. The mianguan of the priests in this scroll appear to have 9 tassels, signifying their high-level royal status. In Dao practice, the mianguan is only worn for the most important rituals, e.g. those involving sacrifices to Heaven. Each priest is holding the ritual carved ivory tablets used in Daoist ceremonies; these are modeled after the tablets of rank displayed by court officials during imperial ceremonies, but would bear Daoist images and symbols. Behind each of their heads is a nimbus signifying that these are not human beings, but among the pantheon of Daoist celestial beings. The uniform background of tan ruyi clouds further indicates that this assemblage is in the heavenly realm. Thus these figures represent high-ranking Daoist divinities. There are multitudes of Daoist deities, organized in a hierarchical structure similar to the official government bureaucracy. A portion of the complexity of rank and numbers of Daoist celestial beings is illustrated in the 27-foot-long scroll The Ordination Scroll of Empress Zhang, Acc. No. 1961.94, one of the most important extant works documenting the relationship between Taoism and the Ming imperial family.

Perhaps surprisingly, this hanging scroll featuring Daoist celestial beings is an example of a genre known as Water and Land paintings that would have been used in a Buddhist ritual. Chinese spiritual beliefs and traditions are rooted in a syncretic combination of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, with strong mutual influences especially between Daoist and Buddhist thought and practices. The Buddhist Liberation Rite of Water and Land (shuilu zhai), also called the Water and Land Deliverance Ritual, probably came into practice in the tenth century but may possibly trace to Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty (464–549). The rite includes features of both Buddhism and Daoism in which celestial beings in higher realms of existence are petitioned to relieve beings (both living and dead) in the lower realms from their suffering and to ensure their salvation from hell. Fasting (zhai) rituals were most commonly commissioned on behalf of an ill person, to petition for their recovery, or for a recently deceased person, to solicit their admittance to heaven. Hanging scrolls such as this one would be hung in one of several ritual altar rooms as a focal point for the ceremony.

The eight figures in this scroll are collectively identified by the inscription in the cartouche in the upper right-hand corner of the scroll. The characters appear to be: 南方八天帝主, which may be translated as 南方 = south, 八天 = eight (八) celestial beings, tian (天), 帝主 = emperor, or alternatively the latter characters may be read as eight (八) God Lords 天帝主. Thus the cartouche could be translated as either The Eight Celestial Beings of the Southern Emperor (or flexibly, the Southern Realm) or The Eight Southern Emperor Deities. The character for east, 東, does not appear present in the cartouche, calling into question the assigned listing of the work as relating to the East. Interestingly, the Daoist Celestial Emperor of the Southern Pole (star) or Realm, Nanji tian dijun, also called The Old Immortal of the South Pole, Nanji xianweng, is known as the God of Longevity and therefore is the god that determines the length of human life. This suggests a speculative interpretation of this scroll could be that it shows the retinue of highest (royal) level of celestial attendants to the southern god of longevity, to whom supplications were made during a Rite of Land and Water asking for their intercession with the god of longevity to cure and prolong the life of an ill person.

Landscapes of Liu Guosong, 20th c., Taiwan

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter, February 2021

 

A precedent example of modern Chinese ink painting, this work on fibrous paper with silk border (33½ in. x 22 in.) is typical of the semi-abstract landscapes from the early 1960s that launched the career of Liu Guosong, acclaimed as the “father of modern Chinese ink painting”. This work blends traditional Chinese literati ink painting elements of landscape subject matter, monochrome tonality, and inclusion of empty space with the abstract and expressionist characteristics advanced by Western artists in the 1950s. Other works of Liu from the 1960s include bold brushstrokes inspired by Tang era cursive calligraphy known as kuang cao (狂草, lit. “mad draft”) to delineate landscape features, as shown in this work, also from the SDMA collection:

Liu (b. 1932) emigrated as a youth from China to Taiwan in 1949, and there studied Chinese ink painting and calligraphy. However, he endeavored to evolve the discipline of ink painting, whose tenets and techniques were established in the Tang era, with modern artistic innovations to infuse new vitality and a modern historical context to the otherwise venerable genre.

Encouraged by exposure to Western art developments and Taiwanese direction to distance its new nationalistic culture from mainland influence, Liu experimented with different papers for his paintings and discovered that a paper for lanterns containing embedded fibers allowed him to create new textured surface effects and subtractive white lines by removing selected fibers after ink application. He was soon custom-ordering his preferred blend of long-fibered paper, subsequently named “Liu Guosong paper”, from a cotton mill in Taipei.

Liu expanded the traditional landscape subject matter of ink paintings to include non-terrestrial motifs in his so-called “Space series” that he began after the 1969 Apollo 11 space mission. These space-scapes include bold-colored moons amidst compositions influenced by the graphic art and pop art techniques of airbrushing, collage, and flat space and geometric shapes prominent in Western art of the 1970s. His later innovations in ink painting include developing the shui tuo, or "water rubbing" technique, in which ink is floated on the surface of water and absorbed into a sheet of paper placed on top, and the zi mo, or "steeped ink" technique (a variation of monoprint), in which two adjacent sheets of paper are wetted and then ink is splashed or poured on them to diffuse in. Liu used the incidental ink patterns formed by these processes as the basis for his artistic vision for the work-in-progress.

By technical experimentation and innovation, and infusing his work with modernist visual styles, Liu Guosong has invigorated Chinese ink painting to reflect the contemporary context of Chinese culture.

Buddha: Lacquered and gilt Papier Mâché, 19th c., Myanmar  

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter – March 2021, p 5

 

Although the object featured this month is a sensitively rendered Buddha which has never been on display, it is brought to life in this analysis.

This sculpted image of the Buddha is made from lacquered and gilt papier mâché (27 1/2 in x 18 in x 12 in). Dressed in a monk’s robe with its sash of three-dimensional folds cascading over his left shoulder, he sits in the full lotus position or padmasana. His gracefully sculpted left hand rests palm up in his lap in the dhyana mudra, or meditation gesture, while his right hand, in the stylized iconography of the bhumisparasa mudra, touches the ground to reflect how he called upon mother earth to bear witness at his moment of enlightenment under the bodhi tree. The face is sensitively modeled to express benevolence, repose, and a slight smile of contentment. Long ears touching the shoulders carry dual meaning: they relate to the heavy earrings once worn by the Prince before he renounced materialism to seek spiritual enlightenment, and to his all-hearing compassion as the Buddha. The cranial protuberance, or ushnisha, signifies his wisdom.

Close examination of the figure (viz. expanded view on the SDMA website) reveals small mirrored roundels along the edges of his garment and on the uppermost and lowest of the three tiers of the pedestal, including rosettes of red and green mirrored roundels. The decorative element of embedded mosaic mirror detail is characteristic of the Mandalay style of Burmese Buddha sculptures. The headband extending across the hairline from ear to ear is another identifying characteristic of the Mandalay style Buddha, and in this sculpture may also include the decorative mirror tesserae. The headband, along with the broad shoulders and narrow waist of the figure, reflect the stylistic influence of Thai artisans beckoned to Burma in the mid 1700’s for their carving skills.

This image of the Buddha was likely made using the dry lacquer technique, which became prevalent in Burma in the 18th c. but which fell into disuse after the 1920s. With this method, the rudimentary form is first created in clay and then covered with a plaster of straw ash in water. Next, several layers of lacquer-soaked cloth are applied and each allowed to dry before the next application. The lacquer is the sap from the thitsee tree, Melanorrhoea usitata, endemic to Burma. A layer of lacquer putty called thayo, made from lacquer, sawdust, and straw ash, is applied to refine the figure by sculpting with an iron tool called a thanlet. Strips or other shapes of thayo may be applied to create relief features. Once dry, the inner clay core is removed either by washing or by splitting the piece and removing the clay, then reassembling and sealing with lacquer. Additional topcoats of lacquer may be applied before the piece is rewashed and polished; the best lacquer is naturally black and shiny. Final embellishments, such as the thayo lacquer scrollwork and embedded glass mosaics seen on the robe and base of this work, may be added and lastly gilding is applied. Gold represents the sun or fire in Buddhist symbolism, and thus when applied to a sculpture or architectural feature signifies the radiance of spiritual energy and power of the Buddha.

Buddhism was rooted in Burma by around the 5th c. Mandalay became the last royal capital of Burma when King Mindon (r. 1852-1877) established his court there during the British occupation and eventual annexation of the entire country. With King Mindon’s direction and support, Mandalay became the center of Buddhist scholarship and art, and remains today as the cultural and religious heart of Burma.

Korean Scene, 1950-1960, Woodblock Print, Japan 

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter – April 2021, p 5

 

This color woodblock print is an oban yoko-e; the most common size of Japanese paper for woodblock prints is oban, 9 3/8 in x 14 1/4 in, and yoko-e is a print in landscape format. In the lower right of this print, the artist’s seal, a stylized Japanese kanji for the verb

stem mamo of the verb mamoru, meaning to protect, defend, or guard, is seen in red above the seal for the publisher, Kyoto Hanga-in, also known as the Shinagawa Printing Co., after the original owner Kiyoomi Shinagawa.

The artist Hiyoshi was born in Tokyo in 1885, and graduated from the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1909, where he studied with Okada Saburosuke (1869-1939), a Western-style painter who had studied in France (another of Okada's students was the print designer Kawase Hasui, 1883-1957). Upon graduating, Hiyoshi accepted a teaching post in Korea, one of many Japanese artists who taught in Korea, and he stayed until 1945, when the colonial occupation of Korea by Japan (1910-1945) came to its end.

After returning from Korea, Hiyoshi designed woodblock prints for the publisher Kyoto Hanga-in in the early 1950s, focusing on scenes from Korea. The official print title for this work is shown as Korean Scene, on page 15 in the publisher’s catalog dated from somewhere between 1952 and February 1953, and is shown as Korean Scene (Gate of Castle) A, on page 20 in the next catalog published between August 1953 and January 1954. It is one in a series of at least six prints that Hiyoshi created showing scenes of daily life in Korea, based on his remembered experience from living there. Therefore, though this print depicts a scene from Korea, it was created in Japan.

Green Tara, 18th c., Thangka, Tibet 

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter – May 2021

 

An art form that originated in Tibet as early as the 7th c., the thangka is a portable sacred object with a painted devotional image mounted within a textile border and frame, usually silk brocade. This thangka is a typical size for the genre (25 ¾ in x 19 ¼ in) and shape, with flared lower brocade section, and was painted on a cotton fabric, also standard. Wooden rods are stitched into the upper and lower hems to facilitate hanging. To protect the painting when not being viewed, there is usually a square cloth veil to cover it, which is secured at the top with cords or ribbons when viewing the painting, however these are not visible in the photo image of this work. Though the medium for this painting is described as gouache and gilt, thangka pigments, which may be mineral or organic, are mixed with water and also typically a binder of gelatin size, i.e. animal hide glue, and therefore are more properly termed distemper paints. They dry quickly to an opaque and matte finish. However, as thangkas are intended to be rolled up for transport and storage, the paint and textiles are susceptible to damage from such handling, as well as to deterioration from light exposure.

The subject of this thangka, Green Tara, depicts the Tibetan female principle of the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokiteśvara, also known in Chinese Buddhism as Guanyin. Within Tibetan Buddhism, Tara has 21 major manifestations, each associated with a specific color and specialized abilities and powers. Popular beyond Tibet in other Himalayan countries and also Mongolia, the most venerated manifestations are Green Tara and White Tara.

Tara means “star” in Sanskrit, reflecting the belief invested in her that she is able to guide followers, like a star, on their spiritual path.

Symbolizing her affiliation with the night, she is depicted sitting on a moon disk and this rests on a lotus seat, the iconographic base for an enlightened being.

The typical pose for Green Tara as seen in this thangka (Acc. No. 2000.6) is the lalit asana, or “pose of royal ease”, in which the left leg is in the lotus position but the right leg hangs down over the edge of the lotus seat. Furthermore, her right foot is usually resting on a small lotus footstool as seen here. This symbolizes her readiness to jump into action to assist her followers, as she is believed to take an active role in the daily affairs of believers, particularly by alleviating fears brought to her attention. Notice that the background behind the replicate figures of this thangka is black on the upper half, whereas the lower half background is green, alluding to the night sky and earth, respectively, with the central Green Tara figure straddling both domains. Her right hand is shown in the varada mudra, or gesture of benevolence. Green Tara most often holds in her left hand a blue lotus as seen here, also called the night lotus (utpala), as another reference to her association with the moon and night-time.

Thangkas depicting a deity are consecrated for use, to serve as the abode of the deity for worship and supplication by the devotee. Meditation upon the iconographic imagery of a thangka, including those with designs of a mandala (geometric diagram representing the cosmos) in place of one or more deities, would accrue merit for the adherent and aid their spiritual progress. Thus thangkas are hung in monasteries or the shrine area of a personal space. The design of this thangka, with a central main deity amidst a background of many smaller similar replicates, is an established compositional type. Arranged in neat rows and columns, there could be up to two hundred smaller replicates of the main image; one hundred miniatures are visible in this work. A composition of this type would be commissioned to enhance the merit obtainable by the patron or to increase the force of the deity’s response to petitions, as it is believed there is strength in numbers, and multiplying the number of images also multiplies the potency of the thangka as a spiritual vehicle.

Dream of The Red Chamber, 1923, Ivory painting, China 

First printed for members in the AAC Newsletter – June 2021

 

Carved from ivory in the form of an open book, this double wrist rest is quite small at 4 1/8 in x 3 7/8 in x 1 3/4 in. On the convex face, the left side is incised with text whereas the right side is inscribed with a scene of four women seated at a table in an outdoor pavilion framed on two sides by a gnarled tree and its branches. There is a signature on the concave face, and incisions to resemble the binding of a book. The incisions on both sides are stained with ink, principally in black, though a few Chinese characters flanking the narrative scene are in red and the “edges” and “binding” of the “book” are stained a golden tan.

Beginning with the tradition of the scholar’s desk during the Ming dynasty, writing accessories such as brush handles, brush rests, brush pots, wrist rests, seals, and table screens were sometimes carved in ivory. Wrist rests were used in the creation of calligraphy and brush paintings to prevent smudging of freshly laid ink. Chinese is traditionally written from right to left and top to bottom, so an arm rest or wrist rest would be placed over the fresh ink to prevent a wrist or sleeve from spoiling it. Thus arm rests and wrist rests were typically rectangular with concave (interior) and convex (exterior) surfaces, commonly obtained from a split bamboo cane or elephant tusk. Most ivory wrist rests are longer than this work, and have elaborate figural interior carvings in high relief with undercutting. The convex, i.e. publicly displayed side, is typically rather plain with low relief carving or only incisions often of poetry, consistent with the literati scholar’s outwardly restrained and refined aesthetic that reserved extravagant displays for private viewing.

The subject matter of this wrist rest is the 18th c. Qing dynasty novel, The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xuegin, considered one of the four great classical novels of China. The first edition was published in 1791 and it has since been translated into over 100 languages; the standard Penguin English translation is 2500 pages. There are 30-40 major characters and over 400 minor individuals; the number of women characters and the depth of their portrayal is noteworthy. The story may be semi-autobiographical, following the rise and fall of the author’s family of nobility, and emblematically, of the Qing dynasty. Much of the novel takes place in the Prospect, or Grand View, Garden, presumably the location for the vignette on this wrist rest.

  

  

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