Page 268 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art, Hong Kong Dec 3 2021

UNYIELDING SPIRIT —

THE HOSOKAWA FAMILY COLLECTION

of classical Chinese texts was pre-requisite for the Japanese ruling
class, but the Hosokawa family continued this tradition well after
the Meiji Restoration. The Kyoto school follows the methodology
of Kaojuxue (evidential scholarship) established by Qianlong/Jiaqing
scholars such as Dai Zhen (1724-1777) and Hui Dong (1697-
1758) in emphasizing careful textual study and critical thinking.
This training greatly influenced Morisada’s political career. As the
executive secretary of the prime minister, he was very critical of the
expansionist policy of the then government much to his own risk.
After 1945, Morisada retired from politics and returned home to
take over as director of Eisei Bunko (fig. 4), the family museum
set up by his father Moritatsu, and also assumed chairmanship of
Nihon Kogeikai (Japanese Arts and Crafts Association). The seed
fig. 1 Kumamoto Castle cultivated by the Kyoto school in his youth started to grow during
圖一 熊本城
this time, and his love for Chinese culture and art led him to collect
The Hosokawa family is an important family both in politics and Chinese paintings, calligraphy and antiques. His training in Kaojuxue
arts in the Higo Kumamoto Domain on Kyushu Island, residing in also influenced his collecting, as he was critical of the opinions
the Kumamoto Castle (fig.1) for 240 years (1632-1871). The family’s of authority on authenticity, preferring to study and research
initial collecting interests, as with most of the collections of daimyo thoroughly himself before coming to a conclusion. In 1946, the
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(feudal lords) families of that period, encompassed a wide variety painter Ueda Tangai, a friend of Kano Naoki, introduced him to a
of art works such as Japanese tea ceremony utensils, Buddhist art, painting dealership Kōsetsu-ken, where he made his first purchase,
Japanese paintings and swords. As early as the beginning of 19th acquiring a landscape scroll by Shen Zhou and a calligraphy scroll
century, however, it is recorded that the 10th head of the family, by Zhu Yunming. Later, he became acquainted with Hirota Fukosai
Hosokawa Narishige (1755-1835) (fig.2) purchased a series of over of Kochukyo, under whose tutelage he began collecting scholar’s
100 Chinese paintings. This is the earliest recorded account of the objects.
family’s long history of collecting Chinese art.
Morisada identifies himself as a literati scholar, and his collecting
After the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, many great families ethos is very much in keeping with the literati taste of qingqu (delight
started selling their heirloom treasures collected over the centuries in purity). It emphasizes the purity of beauty through the five senses
in order to survive. According to Takahashi Soan (1861-1937), a that is informed by academic study and life experiences, beauty that
successful businessman and Japanese tea ceremony practitioner, only is not vulgar or morbid, with an inherent robustness. He compares
four families were able to avoid this fate, Hosokawa being one of
them. Through entrepreneurship and astute investments in property the Chinese scholar’s aesthetics to ‘burgeoning young leaf buds in
and modern industry, the family managed to prosper in the Meiji spring’, in contrast to that of Japanese aesthetics which inclines to
period and amassed a great fortune by the Taisho period. It was ‘frail and perishing beauty of a withered field at sunset’. Morisada is a
then that the 16th head of the family, Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883- great example of a literati collector, in that his aesthetic appreciation
1970), began to diversify the family collection to include other Asian corresponds to the integrity of his outlook on life. In politics, he
works of art. His enthusiasm in art and culture was exemplified by took action in difficult political situations in the spirit of a Chinese
his financial support in major archaeology research. He became literati. In collecting, he seeks out works of art and objects that reflect
known as a Han specialist and was welcomed by scholars, and art this same unyielding spirit.
dealers in Europe, where he acquired masterpieces of Chinese art. He
also helped to formulate the policy on art and cultural heritage in Hosokawa Morisada’s collection has been exhibited multiple times in
modern Japan. the Kumamoto Prefecture Museum and Eisei Bunko, and published
in numerous catalogues, making these museums important locations
Moritatsu’s son, the 17th head of the family, Hosokawa Morisada for exhibiting Chinese art in Japan. Christie’s is honoured to be
(1912-2005) (fig. 3), was a student of renowned Kyoto-school entrusted with the sale of thirteen Chinese classical paintings and
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sinologist Kano Naoki (1868-1947). In pre-modern Japan, the study calligraphy, and nineteen lots of works of art.

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