Shoushou Hakkei　瀟湘八景

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Ch: Xiaoxiang bajing. Lit. Eight views of the Xiao and the Xiang. The eight designated scenes of the area around the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers and Lake Dongting 洞庭 in China's Hunan 湖南 province. Each of the eight views is identified by a four character poetic title: "wild geese descending to sandbar" heisa rakugan 平沙落雁; "returning sails off distant shore"enho kihan 遠浦帰帆, "mountain village after storm" sanshi seiran 山市晴嵐; "river sky in evening snow" kouten bosetsu 江天暮雪; "autumn moon over Lake Dongting"doutei shuugetsu 洞庭秋月; "night rain over the Xiao and Xiang" shoushou yau 瀟湘夜雨; "evening bell from a distant temple"enji banshou 煙寺晩鐘; and, "fishing village in sunset glow" gyoson sekishou 漁村夕照. Northern Zong painter Zong Di (Jp: Sou Teki 宗迪; ca.1015-ca.1080) is credited with creation of the theme according to literatus Shen Kuo (Jp: Shin Katsu 沈括; 1029-1093), who coined the term "eight views" *hakkei 八景. However, there is much debate which came first, the titles or the paintings. The subject was popular among the scholarly elite, and the Emperor Huizong (Jp: Kisou 徽宗; reign:1100-25) of the Northern Song dynasty is reported to have commissioned artist Zhang Jian (Jp: Chousen 張せん) to travel to the area by boat and paint the scenery in eight scenes. Despite, or perhaps because of the Chinese locale, the Shoushou Hakkei theme became extremely popular in Japan. Four Chinese handscrolls, including works by late Song - early Yuan (late 13c) painters Muqi (Jp: Mokkei 牧谿; Nezu 根津 Museum) and Yujian (Jp: Gyokkan 玉澗; Idemitsu 出光 Museum), were in the collection of the Ashikaga 足利 shogunate by the mid-15c. The earliest Japanese painting of the theme, or a fragment of it, is "Geese Descending to a Sandbar" by Shitan 思堪 (early 14c; Kyoto National Museum). Among the many notable Muromachi period paintings are those by Toushun 等春 (1505-42), Sesson 雪村 (1504-89), Bokkei 墨渓 ( ?-1473) and Souami 相阿弥 ( c1485 -1525). Japanese paintings of the Shoushou Hakkei, particularly those executed on folding screens *byoubu 屏風 and sliding screens *fusuma 襖, often have a distinct seasonal character and show the changes from spring to winter through the eight scenes. In the Edo period the theme was popular with sinophile *nanga 南画, painters and even parodied by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists, most notably Suzuki Harunobu's 鈴木春信 ( 1725- 70 ) clever *Zashiki Hakkei 座敷八景 or "eight parlor views." The Japanese also adapted the idea of eight views and applied it to their own geography. The *Oumi Hakkei 近江八景 (eight views of the Lake Biwa region) and the *Kanazawa Hakkei 金沢八景 (eight views of Kanazawa) are just two examples.

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