Page 233 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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Hanabusa Itchó (1652 -1724) Itó Jakuchü (1716 -1800) Itó Jakuchu (1716 -1800)
Pariniruana ofAriwara no Narihira Vegetable pariniruana Portrait of Baisaó
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper c. 1780 Hanging scroll; ink on paper
7
5
7
78.5 X48 (30 /8 x i8 /s) Hanging scroll; ink on paper 113.3 x 44.6 (44 /s x 1772)
7
Tokyo National Museum 181.7 x 96.1 (7172 x 37 /s) Private Collection, Hyógo
Kyoto National Museum
Illustrated page 212 • The subject of this painting, Baisaó
Illustrated page 213
• Ariwara no Narihira (825 - 880) was Ko Yügai (1675 -1763), was one of the
eighteenth-century
great eccentrics of
a celebrated poet of the early part of • To be understood, this extraordinary
the Heian period. He is one of the Six painting must first be compared to Kyoto. An orphan who was reared in
an Ôbaku sect Zen temple
in Kyushu,
23 2 Immortal Poets of the ninth century the classic parinirvana of the historical he became chief priest of a temple
and one of the Thirty-six Immortal Buddha. Great numbers of such paint-
Poets who lived prior to the eleventh ings were produced, often on a scale before abandoning the monastic life.
became
in Kyoto and
settled
He then
century. Much of the tenth-century grand enough to be viewed by crowds, a seller and préparer of the steeped
Tales of Ise revolves around a figure and they were displayed in temples tea (sencha) used in a Chinese form of
associated with Narihira, and more on the fifteenth day of the second the tea ceremony. As shown here, he
than a third of the poems appear- month to commemorate the Buddha's would carry his utensils from a pole
ing in the work are said to be by him. release from the cycle of rebirth.
His poetry is known for its strong In Jakuchu's painting fruits and veg- slung across his shoulder, stopping
for a small charge to any-
to sell tea
emotional content, often involving etables have gathered for the Bud- one who asked. Indeed his art name,
passionate expressions of lost love.
dha's passing. The Buddha has been Baisaó, literally means "old man who
Narihira is equally famous as a hand- replaced with a giant white radish sells tea." In one of his writings he
some lover whose affairs of the heart (daikon), the bier with a basket, and explained that he preferred the humil-
were numerous and widespread; his the customary sala trees with corn- ity of being a tea seller to his former
name even came to denote a comely stalks. To represent the deities, fol- position as a high-ranking prelate
appearance (Narihirazufcuri). In this lowers, ordinary people, and animals in a prosperous temple. His erudition
painting, uniquely Edo in its parodis- usually shown, Jakuchü has used a and inquisitive nature drew many
tic sentiment, Narihira is shown at his wide variety of plants, including the artists and intellectuals to him, and
death in the classic guise of a nirvana eggplant, turnip, lotus, melon, lily, he became a focal point of the artistic
of the Buddha painting (fig. i, p. 212). ginger, persimmon, and bamboo community of Kyoto in the mid-eigh-
The conventional depiction of this shoot, to name a few (see Hickman teenth century.
subject shows the Buddha lying on a and Sato 1989,164). At the far upper Itó Jakuchu was another famed
jeweled bier in a grove of sala trees, left appears a single quince, perhaps eccentric of the time, and a great
surrounded by mourners of every to represent the Buddha's mother, admirer of Baisaó's learning and wis-
description, from deities to unenlight- Lady Maya, descended from paradise. dom. At least four portraits of Baisaó
ened human beings and animals. The particular impact of this painting by Jakuchu are known, and this is
Enlightened beings show less grief, as derives from the careful attention thought to be the earliest. Baisaó is
they possess a higher understanding to iconographie detail and the skilled shown crossing a bridge, carrying his
of the nature of human existence, brushwork. Its meaning has naturally tea utensils, and turning to look to
while other beings writhe in anguish.
inspired much speculation. That his left. In Jakuchu's characteristic
In this classic example of Edo-period Jakuchü was a wholesale green-grocer manner, the emphasis is on the sub-
parody of a conventional theme, for many years is important if only ject's face: he is realistically portrayed
Narihira is shown on his deathbed to help explain the sure rendering of with a grizzled appearance, a single
surrounded by admirers, almost all each fruit and vegetable. Although tooth, and unkempt hair. His eyes
of whom are women. Every social there is clearly an element of humor reveal a wise and gentle nature. RTS
class is represented, from the lady in in the painting, there is also an un-
court robes just above him to the derlying emotion of heartfelt religious
entertainers at the lower right. RTS passion. It has been persuasively
suggested that this work was created
in memory of a relative, perhaps
Jakuchu's mother or brother. RTS