Page 155 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

monk Kisei Reigen (1403-1488) as a student horse always being fearless at the battle quently represented in narrative
of the painter Shübun, a frequent com- ground, being one with men in spirit, thus handscrolls of the medieval period in Ja-
panion of Ikkyü, and who died in Ise in leading a great victory? One day, Jinzan, pan, often in the stable of a warrior's resi-
1473. Not much else is known about our donning gold armor, seated himself on the dence. By the Muromachi period the
painter. silver saddle and went to the South Gate of subject became independent. The warrior
In this work, the bold brushstrokes the To;i[in] on Nijd Street of Kyoto, where Ogasawara Norinaga, an instructor of
that delineate Daruma's robe are the mark he summoned a painter to paint his portrait. equestrian archery, had a portrait of his be-
of a Soga painter. The half-length type of That painting is known as 'the armored por- loved horse Tanjo (Short Cane) painted in
Daruma portrait, with the robe executed trait', and the horse mounted [by the sitter] 1483, which was inscribed by the Zen
in sketchy brushwork, and with more care- is this very horse. In antiquity, the Emperor monk Osen Keisan (1429-1493). In other
fully described facial features, was trans- Gao Zu of the Han dynasty told Lu Jia instances tethered horses were often
mitted to Japan from China during the [from the state of Chu], 'I acquired my painted on large screens showing horses
Muromachi period. The later Japanese realm on horseback. How can I be bothered and grooms (cat. 105). It is likely that the
versions are distinguished from the Chi- by the Book of Odes and Canon of His- artist of this painting used an existing
nese precedents by the bolder use of dark tory?' Jia replied, 'You may have acquired work as a model (funpon). In fact, the type
ink tones resulting in abstract, patterned your realm on horseback, but how can you of horse, the style of the mane, the man-
forms, especially in the definition of the possibly rule your realm on horseback? [One ner of tying the ropes to the halter and the
robe. The style of Bokkei, his immediate achieves] the skill of government that en- two posts, and the flat, stylized form of
successor Soga Sôjô (cat. 87), and two gen- dures by cultivating both arts (bun) and this horse are similar to features depicted
erations of Soga Chokuan (cat. 129) of the arms (bu).' Thereupon Gao Zu had Jia write in a pair of screens of tethered horses in
sixteenth century consistently show strong the accounts of the rise and fall [of the past the Imperial Household collection. By the
individualistic brushwork and the achieve- rulers], thus laying the foundation for the late fifteenth century and the early dec-
ment of dramatic tonal contrasts, marking Han [dynasty] that lasted for more than ades of the sixteenth, Kano painters such
them as expressionistic artists who had four hundred years. Lord Jinzan['s forces] as Masanobu and his son Motonobu also
emerged in the provinces after the mid- rose in the east, dispersed rebellions that began to depict this theme.
fifteenth century. YS brought chaos to the nation, and restored to Keijo Shürin, the inscriber of this
it the Correct Path. He brought peace to the painting, was one of the most important
82 Excellent Horse realm, establishing himself as the founding scholarly Zen monks in fifteenth-century
hanging scroll; ink and color on paper chief of this [Ashikaga] family. All of this Kyoto. He was born the son of Odate Mo-
66.7x58.0(263/4x227/8) [he] began on the back of this horse. Jin- chifusa, a warrior and waka poet, who
Muromachi period, c. 1502 zan's rule delivered benevolent government, served several shoguns closely, but espe-
benefiting all people. In addition, his heart cially the eighth shogun Yoshimasa (1436-
Kyoto National Museum was devoted to our [Zen] school and he of- 1490) during the Onin civil war
Important Cultural Property fered a vow in writing to [our patriarch] (1467-1477). As a Zen monk Shürin be-
Shôgaku [Musô Soseki], establishing perpet- longed to the influential school of Muso
This stately horse, tethered front and back ual patronage of [our school], to be contin- Soseki (1275-1351), mentioned in the in-
to a pair of square posts, is described in ued by his offspring who passed it on to scription as having had Ashikaga Takauji,
profile with contour lines. The horse's their offspring, which has continued already
forelock, mane, tail, and lower legs are for more than a hundred years without in- the first Ashikaga shogun, as his patron.
Shürin's
career was intimately linked to
painted in black ink. The body is colored terruption. How felicitous this is! Now, the the Shókokuji monastery, where he at-
with light ocher, the headstall with vermil- current wise Minister, the Barbarian- tained its abbacy eight times between 1495
ion, and the posts with light reddish Subjugating Great Shogun, ordered a and 1508.
brown. A long inscription by the Zen painter to paint [a picture of] this horse, Keijo Shürin's inscription is included
monk Keijo Shürin (1444-1518) in the top which he keeps close to him to look at. This,
third of the scroll consists of a narrative too, is an instance of revering people of the in his voluminous collected literary works,
Kanrin koroshù, although without the
concerning the horse, Shürin's short past. [The shogun] asked this old rustic to short poem and colophon. The works in
poem, and a short colophon. Shürin writes compose a eulogy. I am obliged to do this
that the horse depicted is a famous one, by respectfully composing a short verse: the book are arranged in chronological to or-
der, and this inscription
can be dated
owned by the first Ashikaga Shogun, Ta- within three years after 1501. Based upon
kauji (1305-1358), and that the current sho- Victorious battle after battle the horse such internal evidence, recent Japanese
gun had the horse portrayed in order to neighs loudly,
remind himself constantly of his ancestor's The shogun chastised enemies in the south, scholarship has reasonably established that
by the
the painting was commissioned
deeds. The colophon notes that the scroll conquered rebels in the west. eleventh Ashikaga shogun, Yoshizumi
was presented by the current shogun as a Peace came to the realm', (1480-1511); that the master of the Ren-
gift to the master of the Renkiken (annex The horse, tethered, bows to the emperor, kiken mentioned in the colophon is the
of the Shókokuji Zen monastery in Kyoto). and listens to the daybreak bush warbler. monk Juzan Eisô (1462-1508), a tonsured
The inscription reads: [Signed] Rustic monk Shùrin son of the imperial prince Fushiminomiya
The Prime Minister, Lord Jinzan [Sho- [Colophon] Sadatsune; and that the painting was exe-
gun Ashikaga Takauji] [the founder of] the cuted around 1502.
T5;i[in] temple, once owned a famous horse. This hanging scroll was presented to The artist who painted this work was
The affectionate care [he bestowed on the the master of the Renkiken [an annex of possibly Kano Masanobu (1434-1530). Ma-
horse] was quite extraordinary. When [the the Jôtokuin subtemple of the Shókokuji sanobu was in direct service to the shogun-
Lord] mounted the horse in a winning bat- monastery] by the shogun. The purpose is to ate. He is known to have executed
tle, chastising the enemy, the horse would praise the horse's divine excellence. paintings of horses for the shogun and he
neigh loudly, leading the officers' and sol- [Signed] [Shu]rm recorded this. could have had ready access to models on
1
diers victorious cheers. Isn't this precisely The Japanese tradition of depicting which to base this painting. In March 1489
what [the Lord's] vassals said about the tethered horses dates back to at least the
Kamakura period. Tethered horses are fre-

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