Page 167 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

at one time the abbot of Kenchôji and re- to the age of about eighty-six, produced al- and Senka. His journeys to Kamakura and
ferred to in the preface as the "Venerable most all of his most important paintings Odawara in the 15505 may have taken him
Master of the Hosen." Hosen or Hôsen'an not in Kyoto, the capital, but in the east- as well to the Ashikaga Gakkô, or Ashikaga
is the name of a subtemple of the Ken- ern and northeastern provinces under the School, the great learning center for sino-
chôji monastery, to which the monk patronage of various local daimyo. The logy in Shimotsuke Province (in present-
Shochü is likely to have retired when he peripatetic Sesson was a truly creative day Tochigi Prefecture) in the sixteenth
wrote this poem. Very little is known about painter whose art diverged from the estab- century. By the 15405, Sesson, still under
this monk. The poem, which directly re- lished aesthetic norms of fifteenth century Satake patronage, had probably estab-
sponds to the snow landscape and the artists such as Shübun and Sesshü, who lished his reputation as an artist. In 1542 he
study, is in the form of seven-character used Chinese paintings as their models. wrote a painting treatise, Setsu monteishi
quatrain: Sesson not only reinterpreted the works of (Advice to students), in which he articu-
these artists, but injected his own sense of lated his theories on style, especially the
One cannot see enough of the solitary peak thematic eccentricity and graphic expres- methods of brush work and the techniques
once the scroll is unrolled; siveness. Whether he painted figures, ani- of discriminating ink tones, as well as on
Craggy and lofty, the mountain soars in the mals, or landscapes, Sesson invented the importance of observing nature and
ceaseless snow; highly personalized forms imbued with a learning by copying earlier paintings. He
The study's master must surely know the energy, humor, and passion. emphasized the importance of an individ-
marrow of Du Fu's poetry; The facts of Sesson's early biography
A view of eternal snow from where the are unknown, but it is believed that his ual style that demonstrated the ability to
transcend the model.
poetry is born. birthplace was near Ota in Hitachi Prov- The style of these two paintings indi-
[by] Tdkei Tógyo Shóchü ince (part of today's Ibaraki Prefecture), a cates a date earlier than the more per-
[followed by a square relief seal Shdchu] territory then ruled by the Satake family sonalized, later landscapes. His bulky
The poem on the left, also a seven- residing at Ota Castle. Sesson became a mountain forms reflect Sesson's response
character quatrain, is by the monk Kyüsei Zen monk, most likely taking the tonsure to Chinese Ming landscapes, which were
Sókiku (d. 1567), who also served as abbot under the auspices of the Satake family. In known to Sesshü in the 14605. Yet, the
at Kenchôji, probably Shochu's "compan- the 15505 he is believed to have gone to Ka- crisp, clearly delineated motifs of the sum-
ion" in the preface: makura, the city of important Zen monas- mer and winter landscapes are more
teries such as Kenchôji (where Kenkô closely linked to the style of Kenkô Shôkei,
Snow cleared at dusk hurrying a calendar's Shôkei had been) and Engakuji. He also active in Kamakura in the last decade of
turn; went to Odawara, a castle town and head- the fifteenth century and early part of the
The precious jade disk, short are winter's quarters of the regional hegemons, the sixteenth. In the summer painting, the
hours reserved for study; powerful Hôjô family. Odawara under the overall composition and the craggy preci-
The book remains half-read when the sun Hôjô in the sixteenth century was the veri- pices share an affinity with cat. 93, a land-
sets over the western quarters. table cultural center of the east. The Hôjô scape by the warrior-painter Nagao
A bunch of plum blossoms—more books on had amassed a sizable collection of art, in- Kagenaga (1469-1528). The chilling white
the peak. cluding a number of Chinese paintings of mountain peaks looming against the noc-
[by] Shdkyoku Ran'unshi Sdkiku legendary renown. Among these were turnal sky in the winter painting recall cat.
[square relief seal Ydshi] Southern Song works such as those by 91, the Snow Peak Study by Senka (fl. mid-
YS Muqi and Yujian that had been in the sixteenth century and after), also shown
92 Summer landscape; Winter landscape Ashikaga shogunal collection in the fif- here. This pair of landscapes probably
Sesson Shükei (c. 1504-^ 1589) teenth century. In the 15605, Sesson is be- dates from the 15505, when the artist was
pair of hanging scrolls; ink and slight lieved to have been in Aizu in Iwashiro in his late forties or early fifties and in Ka-
color on paper Province (part of today's Fukushima Pre- makura and Odawara. YS
each 102.0 x 40.5 (40^4 x 16) fecture), where he enjoyed the patronage
Muromachi period, mid-loth century of Ashina Moriuji (1521-1580), a powerful 93 Landscape
daimyo to whom he had offered a painting Nagao Kagenaga (1469-1528)
Kyoto National Museum earlier. hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
By the mid-^yos, however, the entire 99.0 x 47.5 (39 x 183/4)
Massive rocks crowned with trees, a water- Kanto had become embroiled in fighting Muromachi period, early i6th century
fall in the distance, and a cascading stream among the contending powers of the re-
in the summer scroll at right contrast with gion. This eventually resulted in the rise of Private Collection,
snow-covered mountain paths amidst leaf- Date Masamune (1567-1636), who in 1589 Important Art Object
less trees, icy peaks, and a pale moon in put an end to the Ashina family power and This painting of a craggy mountain land-
the winter scroll at left. The artist's square took over their territory. It is speculated scape towering above a lake bears the art-
intaglio seal, Sesson, is stamped at the that at this point the artist decided to re- ist's square relief seal, Kagenaga, at the
outer edge of each painting, above the tire to Miharu in Iwaki Province (an area lower left corner. The artist, Nagao Kage-
mountain peaks. The oddly shaped fore- that today includes the southeastern part naga, was a warrior and head of the Nagao
ground rocks and boulders in the summer of Fukui Prefecture and southern tip of family who, as shugodai (assistant consta-
scroll, the contrasting dark and light sur- Miyagi Prefecture), seeking the protection ble), ruled the region of Ashikaga in the
faces of the rocks and cliffs conveying an of the local power, the Tamura clan, who southwestern sector of Shimotsuke Prov-
eerie, nocturnal atmosphere in the winter were related by marriage both to the ince (part of today's Tochigi Prefecture to
scene, and the diminutive hunched fig- Ashina and the powerful Date. the north of Tokyo). This was the area in
ures are all characteristic of the work of Sesson, like Sesshü and Kenkô Shôkei which the Ashikaga warrior family had
Sesson Shükei. before him, enjoyed certain freedoms and originated.
Sesson Shükei was the last of the ma- privileges because he was a Zen monk. He Through its mannered, intense brush-
jor painters to develop the two-hundred- had studied classical Chinese, and during work, this painting is related to the picto-
year-old Japanese ink landscape tradition. his travels he was permitted to view prized rial style associated with Kenkô Shôkei (fl.
Even more remarkable, Sesson, who lived Chinese paintings and more recent paint-
ings by the Japanese painters in Kama-
kura, including works by Kenkô Shôkei

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