kyōji 経師

Originally, professionals who hand-copied sutras in the Nara period. Later the appellation referred to artisans who mounted those sutras into handscrolls *kansubon 巻子本. During the Heian period when hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物 appeared, kyōji worked on hanging scrolls as well as handscrolls. After the Kamakura period, those who mounted hanging scrolls were often called hyōhaishi 表はい師 and kyōji was primarily used to refer to hyōgushi 表具師 (mounters; see *hyōgu 表具, which is the preferred term today, who work on all kinds of mountings for painting including handscrolls, hanging scrolls, albums, and screens.