Page 191 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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Watanabe Kazan (1793 -1841)
Silk Weaving under Moonlight
c. 1841
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
127x56(50x22)
The Seikado Foundation, Tokyo
Important Art Object

• Watanabe Kazan selected the three
scenes in the foreground of this
I 90 painting — weaving, threading silk on
a skein, and crossing between pavil-
ions by way of a roofed corridor —
from a Chinese book entitled Rice Cul-
tivation and Weaving Scenes from the
"Peiwen Anthology" He chose images
from the rice cultivation section of
the book for the bucolic village in the
middle distance.

The Peiwen Anthology of moralistic
sayings was compiled in 1711 under
the direction of Emperor Kangxi
(r. 1662 -1722). The Confucian writings
recognized the farmer as the foun-
dation for economic security and
defined him as a metaphor for peace
and prosperity. Silk weaving symbol-
ized industry.
Kazan conceived the painting as a
tripartite composition, using the stan-
dard practice in Chinese painting
whereby one looks down on the fore-
ground, straight across toward the
middle ground, and up at the back-
ground. The composition is connected
by large branching trees that range
up the left edge. The efficacious use
of "hemp-fiber" brushstrokes in the
background mountains shows Kazan's
deep study of Chinese painting under
his teacher Tani Bunchó (1763-1840).
The clustered foreground buildings
reveal an interest in western-style
perspective.

Although Kazan dated this painting
to 1829, it is believed to be from about
1841, the date of his painting Count Yu
Raising the Gate (cat. 98). HG

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