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…

Lit. longevity screen. Type of folding screen made for celebrations of longevity, ga 賀. They were embellished with…

A pictorial work or works that appear within a painting as part of the overall composition. The best example being the *…

Lit. Vajra on the Way of Painting, Nakabayashi Chikutō's 中林竹洞 (1776-1853) reactionary critique of contemporary…

Lit. Secret Principles on the Way of Painting, a late 17th-century discourse on painting *…

Ch: huapu. Lit. Painting primers, often illustrated books explaining the canon of painting production or appreciation. In…

Lit. Summary of Painting Laws, the first Japanese theoretical text on Western painting. Published in 1778, the text…

Lit. Painting Laws: Methods of Coloring, a mid-18th-century painting manual edited by Sugaodō Yūsashi 菅生堂祐佐子…

An album of paintings. Small-size paintings, sketches, or drawings are either pasted or directly drawn on the pages of an…

Chinese term for a painting on a handscroll. The Japanese term *emaki 絵巻 has the…

Silk used for painting. Same as *eginu 絵絹.

Also read Gakō benran. Lit. Handbook on Painters, a late 17th-century history of Japanese painting…

A modern term for drafts and other preparatory drawings used for making a painting. Includes *…

Lit. Deep Probes into the Skill of Paintings. A mid-18th-century six-volume history of the *…

A tablet, plaque, or framed picture. The oldest form, dating back to the Nara period, is the wooden plaque *…

Ch: Hama Tiegue. Two Taoist immortals frequently paired in Chinese and Japanese painting. Gama 蝦蟇 (Ch: Hama), also…

Formerly called hishi 斐紙. Paper made from the fiber of the ganpi plant (Diplomorpha sikokiana honda or…

1　Pigment. Powdered colors used in oriental painting. Insoluble in water and most other liquid media.…

A fake or forgery. To produce a likeness of another painting with intent to deceive. Generally the forger is careful to use…

Glass painting. Oil or thick pigments are mixed with glue and applied to the reverse sides of glass plates, to be viewed…

Ch: hualun. Discourses on Painting. Writings on painting theory, criticism, principles or classification, also including…

A kind of poetic inscription, added to a blank area above or next to a completed painting. Typically, this inscription gives…

Net of Paintings, an early 18th-century introductory text on the study of painting by Hayashi Moriatsu 林守篤 (fl. early 18th…

Also written 画箋紙 or abbreviated to gasen, written 画箋, 画牋, or 雅宣. A paper of Chinese origin, xuanzhi (Jp:…

Monks who produced paintings of Buddhist subjects to accumulate religious or spiritual merit. Gasō refers to those…

Principles of Painting. A mid-18th-century five-volume treatise on painting by Sakurai Sekkan 桜井雪館 (1715-90). An ally of the…

Lit. Worthless Discussion of Painting. A late 18th-century three-volume treatise on painting by sinophile, Southern…

Also hyōdai 表題. The title daimoku 題目 of a literary work or painting. It is written on the outer cover of a…

Ch: Yan Ziling. A scholar-recluse of the later Han period, who was a childhood friend of Emperor Guangwu (Jp: Kōbu 光武, AD 4-…

Pictorial representations whose subject matter comes from Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). Either a…

Also kō-no-zu 香の図. A geometrical design pattern originally symbolizing combinations of incense fragrances. The…

Also called hakuraku utsushi 剥落写し. Lit. a copy of the exfoliated state of a painting. An exact copy of the present-…

Ch: jianbi. Often genpitsubyō 減筆描. Also ryakuhitsu 略筆. Lit. abbreviated brush drawing. An…

Also known as Minghuang (Jp: Meikō 明皇). Ch: Xuanzong (685-762). The sixth emperor of the Tang dynasty, well-known for his…

Humorous or satiric paintings, or sketches or drawings done in fun. Typically, giga have human and animal figures…

An annual festival at Yasaka Jinja 八坂神社 and surrounding area of Kyoto, and a popular subject of Japanese genre painting *…

The technique of scattering drops of shell white *gofun 胡粉 onto a finished…

1　A white pigment *ganryō 顔料, used in Japan from the Muromachi…

The white pigment used for the white face powder of figures in a woodblock print *ukiyo-…

Lit. combining volumes. Long, complicated revenge stories which required two, three, or up to ten booklets, that were sewn…

Bright, strong color applied in layers to a painting, Buddhist image or architectural structure. The technique involves…

Also gomazuki ごまずき. A woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 technique whereby a…

Lit. five seasonal festivals. A popular pictorial theme in Edo period art. The five Chinese-inspired festivals are: …

An *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 subject depicting ladies and noblemen in formal attire, which…

Imperial carts. Ox carriages used by the emperor and empress, or aristocrats. Gosho 御所, meaning the Imperial Palace…

Painters who were given a salary in the service of the shogunate or daimyō 大名. Although the Imperial Court and…

White pigment *ganryō 顔料 including shell lime *…

Applying an undercoat to paper to be used for painting. The undercoat consists of a thin solution of animal glue *…

A light-colored, opaque pigment *ganryō 顔料 made by mixing white pigment such as…

Lit. pictures of herds of horses. One of several horse themes popular in 16th- and 17th-century screen painting. Unlike…

Also *iwa-gunjō 岩群青. A blue pigment made from pulverized azurite, randōkō…

Also written 呉利, and pronounced gori or gurin. A design of stylized bracken-leaf shapes forming repeated…

Ch: Judiyizhi. A 9th-century Chinese Zen monk famous for his one-finger isshi Zen. According to the Wumenguan…

An opaque, dark grey pigment *ganryō 顔料 made by mixing black carbon ink *…

Lit. inverted perspective. A visual technique sometimes employed in Chinese and Japanese painting. While the Western…

Also written 仰覆蓮華. A type of lotus flower design pattern *rengemon 蓮華文. The…

Ch: yuqiao wenda. A pictorial theme of a philosophical dialogue between a fisherman and a woodcutter. The origin of…