yuusoku mon'you　有職文様

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Traditional design motifs, used either in single units or repeated to create patterns, based on designs from Heian courtly decoration. Originally the repertoire of motifs came from the continent in the waves of Tang Chinese influence around the 8-9c. Gradually motifs were transformed and Japanized into designs which were used to decorate imperial or state clothing utensils or furniture according to family status or court rank. The characters for yuusoku relate to the term yuushiki 有識 which meant wide learning and knowledge, but which by the 12c had come to refer specifically to knowledge of imperial court rules, ceremonies and decorum. Today, the term, yuusoku mon'you is used to distinguish all the motifs and patterns traditionally used by the imperial family on objects of both public and private function in a myriad of materials from textiles such as woven twill, silk brocades, or dyed fabrics, to wood, lacquer, gold, paper, or leather. A large number of yuusoku mon'you exist, categorized broadly by geometric shape or design, as in circular motifs *marumon 丸文, diamond or lozenge shaped motifs *hishimon 菱文, motifs of crossed diagonals *tasukimon 襷文, a checkerboard motif *ishidatamimon 石畳文, or a motif using vertical curvilinear lines *tatewaku 立涌, and by abstract, often geometricized images from nature, as in tortoise shell motif *kikkoumon 亀甲文, hailstone motif araremon 霰文, a floral arabesque motif *karakusamon 唐草文 (Chinese grass motif), etc.

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