Ch: Ma Shihuang. An ancient, legendary practitioner of Daoist arts and horse doctor during the rule of Emperor Huang (Ch:…

Ch: Mei Fu. Chinese immortal shown in painting as riding a luan (Jp: ran 鸞), a mythical bird similar to a…

Lit. double format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print used for full-color woodblock…

Also kōchakuzai 膠着剤. Binder, vehicle. A liquid mixed with a pigment *ganryō…

Also written 馬棟 or 波連. The most important tool used in the process of woodblock printmaking. A baren is made up of…

Also written ベンガラ, 紅柄, or 紅殻. Sometimes pronounced benigara. Red earth pigment. A bright, purplish-red pigment *…

Discriminating Jade from Stone Collection, a late 17th-century miscellany on art which ranges from the discussion of tea…

A black-line hand-colored woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 that began to be…

A red dye, senryō 染料, and pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the safflower…

Also murasaki-e 紫絵; beni-nuki 紅抜き. Woodblock prints which completely omit bright vermilion *…

Primitive polychrome woodblock prints in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵. Appeared after *…

Musashibō Benkei 武蔵坊弁慶, a semi-legendary warrior-monk of the 12th century, who was associated with Minamoto no *…

Also bero-ai ベロ藍. Prussian blue or Berlin blue. A synthetic blue paint made from ferric ferrocyanide, imported to…

Miscellaneous Record of Classified Sacred Images, a late Heian compendium of Buddhist iconography. Also called the…

A term which comes from the Portuguese for painting with oil pigments on the reverse side of glass. Fifty such paintings are…

Lit. pictures of beautiful women. Pictures depicting the beauty of the appearance, manners, and customs of women. The word…

Ch: Pipaxing. A painting subject based on the Song of the Lute, a narrative poem by the mid Tang dynasty poet, Bai…

Various block carving and printing techniques used to create gradated tones (shading) on woodblock prints, particularly 19th…

1　A gradation of colors or tones from dark to light or vice versa. One example is colorization of the…

Lit. pictures of horses at pasture. One type of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Lit. ink plum. Ch: momei. Paintings of plum (actually prunus) rendered in sumi 墨 ink. Along with ink…

Ch: mozhu. Painting of bamboo rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Bamboo…

Lit. herdboy and ox. Ch: mutong muniu. A Chinese painting theme long popular in Japanese ink painting. The subject…

Lit. ink play. Ch: moxi. The literati conception of painting as a form of self-expression, meant to convey ideas…

Ch: molan. Paintings of wild orchids rendered in *sumi 墨 ink. Related to…

1　Abbreviation of botan karakusagawara 牡丹唐草瓦. A roof tile, often an eaves-end tile, whose pendant…

A Chinese floral pattern *karakusamon 唐草文, composed of curling grape vines…

Paintings of *bugaku 舞楽, a classical Japanese court dance that sometimes used…

Ch: Fenggan. The Tang-dynasty priest noted for his eccentric behavior, who was usually depicted with his pet tiger. Fenggan…

Also bunbō shigan 文房四玩, bunbō shiyū 文房四友, and bunbō shikō 文房四候. Lit. the four treasures of the…

A general term for objects like brushes, paper, ink *sumi 墨, and inkstone *…

Bunchō's Treatise on Painting, an early 18th-century miscellany on painters, painting techniques, tools, and…

A class of mounting for hanging scrolls *kakemono 掛物, that was originally…

Ch: wenrenhua. Lit. literati painting.  A type of painting in China, Korea, and Japan. In Japan, the term …

Catalog of objects in Butsunichian, the 14th-century inventory of artistic and other properties of Butsunichian 仏日庵…

A pale blue pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

A pale green pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japanese painting *…

Paintings on folding screens *byōbu 屏風. 

The earliest record of…

A folding screen consisting of multiple, joined panels. Folding screens vary in size; the standard size consists of six…

Plovers or (rarely) sanderlings: small birds that live in flocks near water, a popular design motif either alone or combined…

Ch: Zhulin Qixian. Lit. Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. A pictorial theme based on seven Chinese literati who, to…

A yellow-brown paper made in China from bamboo fibers. Commonly known in Japan as *tōshi…

Also chinzō. Lit. head's appearance. A naturalistic portrait, sculpted or painted, of a Zen 禅 master's head.

A multi-colored print which was rolled around a bar and then rubbed to give it crinkles and creases as if it had been…

Ch: Zhang Guolao. Also called Tongxuan (Jp: Tsūgen 通玄). One of the Daoist, eight immortals *…

Ch: Zhang Liang・Huang Shigong. Heroic Chinese warriors of the Han dynasty. 

Zhang Liang (BC 168-137), originally…

Lit. pictures of horse training. One theme of genre painting *fūzokuga 風俗画…

Also read nagaban. Also called naga-e 長絵. Lit. long format. A size of *…

Also written 丁字. A deep yellow, dull orange, or tan colored aromatic dye senryō 染料 made from the flowers or…

1　A hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物 that is vertically oriented…

Ch: Niaoke. Lit. bird's nest. A painting subject depicting the Tang dynasty eccentric priest Dōrin 道林 (Ch: Daolin), also…

A bird's-eye view. Also fukan zuhō 俯瞰図法 (view from above). One type of perspective popular in Japanese…

Ch: diexingtu. Lit. Picture of the Butterfly of Happiness, or Picture of the Butterfly and the Emperor's Visit. A…

A painting and calligraphy technique where the brush is held perpendicular to the paper so that just the tip is used to…

Also read kōzogami and kajigami 梶紙. Formerly called kokushi 穀紙 during the Heian period. Paper…

Ch: Zhutou. A painting subject depicting the Northern Song dynasty eccentric priest Zhimeng (J: Shimō 志蒙). He was known…

Ch: chaoyang duiyue. A Zen painting subject depicting a priest sewing in the morning sun (Jp: chōyō …

Lit. medium-size format. A size of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print. The term chūban…

A part of the mounting of a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. The chūberi…

Lit. a middle-size book. A woodblock printed book, popular during the Edo period, which is one-half the size of a …

A pictorial subject matter taken from The Treasury of Loyal Retainers Chūshingura, an epic and well-loved story of…