Page 238 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

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reputation for paintings of flowers, fruits, Ming academic tradition established by ing both the Muromachi and Edo periods.
and birds that are as beautiful and charm- the court painter Lü Ji (fl. c. 1497 and af- During the latter period Turnip was known
ing as they are carefully detailed and life- ter), whose influence in Japan can be seen by another title, Kyakurai ichimi (Guest ar-
like. Bian is considered the last of the in the screens of Sesshu Tôyô (1420-1506) rives, shares one taste), which comes from
painters who followed the tradition of the of the late fifteenth century and Kano Mo- an inscription on a famous ink painting
Song academic style before the emergence tonobu (1476-1559) of the sixteenth cen- coveted by the Edo tea adepts entitled
of another academy painter, Lü Ji of the tury. Strictly, however, Li Yihe's paintings Vegetable, by the great Chinese artist
late fifteenth century-early sixteenth, hardly reflect the kinesthetic contour lines Muqi(fl. mid-i3th century).
whose monumental style is reflected in or the tactile forms of the Lü Ji tradition. Tan'yü's companion pieces are signed
the triptych by Li Yihe in this exhibition The forms are evenly flat, and the overall Tan'yu sai, the artistic sobriquet given him
(cat. 142). YS compositions more decorative. Monumen- in 1635 by the Zen monk aesthete Kôgetsu
tal hanging scrolls of flowers and birds like Sógan (1574-1643) of Daitokuji, followed by
142 Flowers and birds this triptych would have graced the walls an oblong relief seal, To or Fuji, referring
Li Yihe (?) of a large alcove of a daimyo's residence in to the Fujiwara clan from which Tan'yü
hanging scrolls, triptych; ink and color the eighteenth and nineteenth centu- claimed his family descent. This triptych
on silk ries. YS can thus be dated to after 1635. The trip-
each 128.1 x 62.5 (503/8 x 245/3) tych, an embellishment for tea, may have
Ming, late iyth century (?) 143 Turnip been formed during the 16408 when
attributed to Hu Tinghui (fl. ist Tan'yü was deeply involved with tea
Eisei Bunko, Tokyo quarter of i4th century) adepts of Daitokuji such as Kôgetsu him-
This triptych, consisting of three large hanging scroll; ink and color on silk self and the warrior aesthete Sakuma
1570-
Sanekatsu (also known as Shôgen;
paintings of flowers and birds, has been 21.9x20.7 (8 5/8x8 ^8) 1642), whose portrait, inscribed by Kô-
transmitted since the eighteenth century Yuan, i4th century getsu, was painted by Tan'yü around 1641
in the Hosokawa daimyo family of Higo Ueyama Ikuichi collection, Nara or 1642 (cat. 37). YS
(today's Kumamoto Prefecture). It was Prefecture
painted by an elusive artist, Li Yihe of
Shanhan (in Fujian Province), as signed on Lotus root with eggplants/Melon
the upper left of the center scroll. Al- Kano Tan'yü (1602-1674)
though Li Yihe is unrecorded in Chinese pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color
sources, he has been identified as either a on silk
x
Ming Dynasty Chinese painter or, as in each 21.9 x 20.7 (85/s x 8 /8)
the nineteenth-century Japanese art- Edo period, after 1635
historical source Koga bikd, as a Korean Ueyama Ikuichi collection, Nara
painter of the Yi Dynasty. Paintings bear- Prefecture
ing the signature of the artist have been
known in Japan since the seventeenth cen- These three works form a triptych assem-
tury. The painter and connoisseur Kano bled by Kano Tan'yü, the artist of the two
Tan'yü (1602-1674) reportedly made a flanking paintings. The center painting,
sketch of a painting by this artist. Turnip, is said to be by the Chinese artist
In subject matter and general style, Hu Tinghui, an early Yuan Dynasty
these paintings are related to the Chinese painter. The square relief seal at the upper
right cannot be identified; it may be a col-
lector's seal. Hu Tinghui's works were
among Chinese paintings in the Ashikaga
shogunal collections, and were valued dur-

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