Synthesized answer
The passages confirm that wood-engraving in Japan has an antiquity nearly six hundred years greater than in Europe [Note 7], with Japanese block-printing introduced from China by the mid-eighth century and wood-engraving attributed to the ninth century [3]. This chronological head start allowed Japanese art to develop independently of European influences, with early woodcuts serving exclusively religious purposes—blocks preserved in temples printed pictures of deities for pilgrim worshippers [3]. The passages also note that in Japan, the engraver is considered a mere artisan with no honor, whereas in Europe the engraver shares credit with the artist for reproducing brush-marks and textures [4]. This suggests that the earlier, temple-rooted tradition in Japan may have fostered a different aesthetic, where the artist’s original design remained paramount and the engraver’s role was purely mechanical, contrasting with Europe’s collaborative emphasis on line and texture.
However, the passages do not explicitly describe how this chronological difference shaped the unique aesthetic qualities or societal role of art in each culture. They mention that Japanese chromo-xylographs (color…
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From the book
nd other priests enriched their country to an almost equal extent in the same century. ↑ See Appendix, note 6. Note 6. —Every collector knows these maki-mono , or pictorial scrolls. Sometimes the long series of pictures told their own tale, but generally the drawings served only to illustrate a chapter of history or legend written in their intervals or on their margins. ↑ See Appendix, note 7. Note 7. —It will be observed that this record assigns to wood-engraving in Japan an antiquity nearly six hundred years greater than that attributable to the beginning of the art in Europe. ↑ See…
portraits of patriarchs, and other priests enriched their country to an almost equal extent in the same century. Note 6. —Every collector knows these maki-mono , or pictorial scrolls. Sometimes the long series of pictures told their own tale, but generally the drawings served only to illustrate a chapter of history or legend written in their intervals or on their margins. Note 7. —It will be observed that this record assigns to wood-engraving in Japan an antiquity nearly six hundred years greater than that attributable to the beginning of the art in Europe. Note 8. —Dr. Anderson assigns 1700…
le here to note more than the most salient facts. There is some uncertainty about the origin of wood-engraving in Japan. It is generally attributed to the ninth century. That would make it fully a hundred years subsequent to the introduction of block-printing, which came from China certainly not later than the middle of the eighth century. Nothing like proficiency was attained, however, until the time ( 1320 ) of a priest named Ryōkin, and even his productions—a few of which are extant—derive interest from their period rather than their quality. All the motives of the early woodcuts were…
ring, violent pigments imported from abroad have taken the place of the delicate, rich, and costly colours of old Japan. One of the facts which the student of the Far East soon learns to expect is that Occidental precedents must be reversed to suit Japanese methods. In Europe or America the engraver on wood must be able to express light and shade by line or dot, and to distinguish between textures by means of his "line." It is frequently necessary for him to reproduce the very brush-marks of the artist in order to retain the character of the original. Hence the credit of the picture does…
fidelity. The figure-subjects which constitute his specialty are instinct with refined sensuality and graceful abandon. He introduces his public to a life where dancing, music, and sybaritism in every form are beginning to take the place of politics and war, and where even the strong contours of the male figure show a tendency to merge into the soft curves of the female. He did not succeed, however, in transmitting his inspiration to any of his pupils or immediate successors, and it was not till the close of the seventeenth century, when Hishigawa Moronobu employed the art of wood-engraving…
More questions about this book
- Notes 8 and 9 discuss conflicting dates for the origin of color-printing and the evolving definitions of terms like "nishiki" and "suri-mono." If you were tasked with creating a timeline of Japanese printmaking, how would these inconsistencies challenge your work, and what steps would you take to address them?
- Considering the emphasis on Chinese artists as "household words in Japan" (Note 3) and the prelate Kukai bringing numerous paintings from China in 806 (Note 5), how would you explain the profound and sustained influence of Chinese culture on early Japanese artistic development to a complete novice?
- Note 6 describes maki-mono scrolls as either telling a story directly or illustrating accompanying text. What does this dual function reveal about the relationship between visual art and narrative in historical Japanese culture, and how might it differ from contemporary Western approaches to art and storytelling?
- This excerpt comes from the appendix of a 1902 academic work. What specific details within these notes hint at the historical context or scholarly debates prevalent at the time Captain Brinkley was writing, and how might this influence our modern interpretation of the information presented?