The Shogun's painted culture : fear and creativity in the Japanese states, 1760-1829

313 Pages·2000·1.81 MB·English

by  Timon Screech.

ENVISIONING ASIA
THE SHOGUN'S PAINTED
CULTURE
Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States
n6o--r8 9
2
TIMON SC REECH

The Shogun’s Painted Culture
ENVISIONING ASIA
Series Editors:Homi Bhabha, Norman Bryson, Wu Hung
In the same series
Fruitful Sites
Garden Culture in Ming Dynasty China
Craig Clunas
Camera Indica
The Social Life of Indian Photographs
Christopher Pinney
In the Image of Tibet
Tibetan Painting after 1959
Clare Harris
China into Film
Frames of Reference in Contemporary Chinese Cinema
Jerome Silbergeld
THE SHOGUN’S
PAINTED CULTURE
Fear and Creativity in the
Japanese States, 1760–1829
TIMON SCREECH
REAKTION BOOKS
This book is dedicated to Zoo:
. . . iro o mo ka o mo shiru hito zo shiru
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
79Farringdon Road
London EC1M3JU, UK
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
First published 2000
Copyright © Timon Screech 2000
The Shogun’s Painted Culturewas published with the assistance
of The Japan Foundation.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publishers.
Colour printed by BAS printers Ltd, Over Wallop, Hampshire
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddles Ltd,
Guildford and King’s Lynn
British Library Cataloguing in Publishing Data
Screech, Timon
The Shogun’s painted culture: fear and creativity in the
Japanese states, 1760–1829
1.Sadanobu, Matsudaira – Influence 2.Art, Japanese – Edo
period, 1600–1868 3.Art, Political aspects – Japan –
History – 18th century 4.Art and state – Japan – History –
18th century 5.Japan – Civilisation – 18th century – 1600–1868
I. Title
709.5'2'09033
isbn 1 86189 064 8
Contents
Acknowledgements, 6
Chronology, 7
Introduction, 9
1Matsudaira Sadanobu and the Domestic Dilemma, 17
2Sugita Genpaku and the Dismemberment of the Present, 56
3Image Management for Royal Power, 111
4O¯kyo’s ‘New Concept’, 167
5Boundaries for a Centre, 208
References, 267
Select Bibliography, 296
Photographic Acknowledgements, 306
Index, 307
Acknowledgements
My first debt is one of thanks. The research necessary for writing this
book was undertaken during the academic year 1994–5 at Keio
University, where I was a guest of the Department of Art History.
Kawai Masatomo ensured that I had every facility there and I am
profoundly grateful to him. I was financially supported during that
period by an Asahi Fellowship.
Development of the ideas presented here and completion of the
manuscript that became this book were immensely aided by discus-
sions with Chino Kaori, Timothy Clark, Stephen Dodd, Kasuya Hiroki,
Kobayashi Tadashi, John Rosenfield, Henry Smith, Takayama Hiroshi,
Tanaka Yu¯ko and others too numerous to mention. Inception, gesta-
tion and fruition were assured by Kazuhiro Murayama and Nicole
Rousmaniere, and the small measure of success here attained is due to
them. I would also like to thank Andrea Belloli and all at Reaktion
Books. All errors remain my own.
6
Chronology
1603 Investiture of Tokugawa Ieyasu as first shogun
1616 Death and deification of Ieyasu
1617 Kano Tan’yu¯ nominated first shogunal artist-in-waiting
1629 Shujo Kotohito (posthum. Go-Mizunoo) resigns in favour of daugh-
ter Okiko (posthum. Meisho¯)
1657 Great Fire of Edo
1689 Matsuo Basho¯ embarks on ‘narrow road to deep north’
1704 Invention of ‘Prussian Blue’ pigment
1716 Birth of boy later known as Ito¯ Jakuchu¯
1727 Engelbert Kaempfer’s History of Japanpublished (London)
1730 Birth of boy later known as Kano Eisen-in
1731 Qing-period painter Shen Nanpin arrives in Japan
1733 Birth of boy later known as Maruyama O¯kyo
1743 Closing of Dutch station in Siam
1745 Birth of boy later known as Shimazu Shigehide, daimyo of Satsuma
1748 Choso˘n embassy arrives
1753 Birth of boy later known as Kano Korenobu
1754 Birth of boy later known as Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki
1758 Birth of boy later known as Matsudaira Sadanobu
1760 Investiture of Tokugawa Ieharu as tenth shogun; George III
crowned King of England; second Great Fire of Edo
1763 Kano Eisen-in made ‘inner painter’; birth of boy later known as
Tani Buncho¯
1764 Choso˘n embassy arrives; Dutch threaten cancellation of embassy
1765 Maruyama O¯kyo meets the prince–abbot Yu¯jo¯
1774 Matsudaira Sadanobu adopted by daimyo of Shirakawa; publication
ofKaitai shinsho (New Anatomical Atlas)
1775 Carl Peter Thunberg arrives
1778 Appearance of malevolent star; Kubota Castle burns; Hendrik
Duurkoop dies en route to Japan
1779 Investiture of Tomohito as shujo (posthum. Ko¯kaku); Tokugawa
Iemoto dies falling from horse
1780 Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (to 1784); Akizato Rito¯ publishes Miyako
meisho zue (Complete Illustrated Places of the Capital); Isaac
Titsingh gives Tokugawa Ienari a mouth-organ
1781 Promulgation of the Tenmei (‘heavenly brilliance’) era
1782 Both Dutch ships fail to arrive
7
1783 Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes daimyo of Shirakawa; Shiba Ko¯kan
produces first copperplate print; eruption of Mt Asama; Daikoku-
ya Ko¯dayu¯ shipwrecked; death of Yosa Buson
1786 Assassination of Tanuma Okitomo; death of Tokugawa Ieharu
1787 Investiture of Tokugawa Ienari as eleventh shogun; Matsudaira
Sadanobu becomes chief councillor
1788 Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes regent; Shibano Ritsuzan nomi-
nated shogunal Confucian expert; Great Fire of Keishi (Kyoto)
1789 Promulgation of the Kansei (‘lenient government’) era
1790 Death of Kano Eisen-in; Tomohito returns to the new Dairi
1791 Matsudaira Sadanobu holds poetry test; English word ‘panorama’
neologized
1793 Matsudaira Sadanobu resigns principal posts; Daikoku-ya Ko¯dayu¯
repatriated; Tani Buncho¯ produces ‘realistic’ coastal views
1794 Tani Buncho¯ made attendant to Matsudaira Sadanobu; Cho¯busai
Eishi begins study with Kano Korenobu
1795 Death of Maruyama O¯kyo; French invasion of Netherlands; Carl
Peter Thunberg’s Travelspublished (London)
1796 Choso˘n embassy mooted
1797 Air pump manufactured in Japan; Matsudaira Sadanobu commands
survey of Mt Fuji
1798 Burning of Great Buddha; death of Gijsbert Hemmij; promulgation
of Kansei Calendar
1799 Motoori Norinaga writes E no koto (On Pictures); Shu¯ko jusshu¯
(Collected Antiquities in Ten Categories)completed
1800 Females allowed on to Mt Fuji; death of Ito¯ Jakuchu¯
1802 Jippensha Ikku publishes first instalment of To¯kaido¯chü hiza-
kurige (Down the To¯kaido¯ on Shank’s Pony)
1805 Doi Tsudayu¯ repatriated by Nicolai Rezanov
1807 Eitai Bridge disaster
1808 Death of Kano Korenobu; arrival of HMS Phaeton
1810 Death of Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki
1811 Choso˘n embassy arrives
1812 Matsudaira Sadanobu retires from daimiate of Shirakawa
1822 Isaac Titsingh’s Illustrations of Japanpublished (London)
1823 Death of O¯ta Nanpo
1829 Death of Matsudaira Sadanobu
1833 Death of Shimazu Shigehide
1837 Death of Tokugawa Ienari
1840 Death of Tani Buncho¯
1845 Death of Tomohito (posthum. Ko¯kaku)
1854 Burning of Dairi
8