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…

Also shibai-e 芝居絵 and geki-e 劇画. Includes kabuki gekijō zu 歌舞伎劇場図 and *…

The eighteen *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays selected as best by Ichikawa Danjūrō 7 七代市川団十郎…

Pictures of *kabuki 歌舞伎. In the broad sense of the term, kabuki zu…

Lit. bird-and-flower painting. Paintings of birds and flowers, flowers only *kakiga…

Also called sakaguma 反隈 (or 逆隈) or teriguma 照隈. Lit. highlighting. Reverse shading. A shading *…

A pictorial subject based on the "Flares" Kagaribi, Chapter 27 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

1　A pictorial subject taken from one of the eighteen great kabuki plays *…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Drake Fly" Kagerō (also translated as Dayfly or Mayfly), Chapter 52 of G…

Ch: jiehua. Lit. boundary painting. Both a painting technique and a painting genre in China. As a technical term,…

Kaigetsudō school. A school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists in early 18th century who…

A school of painters active from the 16th century to the 19th century founded by Kaihō Yūshō 海北友松 (1533-1615) and passed…

Lit. Humble Words on Matters of Painting, a late 18th century polemic on painting theory by Kuwayama Gyokushū 桑山玉洲 (1746-99…

Ch: Jieziyuan huazhuan. Lit. Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting; a Qing dynasty painting manual that had a…

A print mounted on a hanging scroll. A format used for *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints.…

Also called by names such as kakejiku 掛軸, kakefuku 掛幅, jikumono 軸物, *…

Lit. persimmon color. An orange color, said to resemble the persimmon fruit, or a reddish-brown like the color of persimmon…

Ch: huahui hua. Paintings of flowers and various types of grass. This term is usually applied to Chinese painting,…

The moveable paintings used as backdrops for a *kabuki 歌舞伎 play. A piece of…

Ch: Guo Ziyi (697-781). A Tang dynasty general, known for his military conquests and progeny. A native of Huazhou 華州 in…

Compilation of Kakuzen. An early Kamakura-period compilation of traditional Buddhist iconography. Also called Hyakkanshō…

A pre-13th century term for small paintings executed on paper in the *yamato-e…

*Ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints from the Osaka-Kyoto area (kamigata 上方 denotes…

Lit. paper figure. The preliminary underdrawing *shita-e 下絵 for a Kamakura and…

A painting subject of horse racing at Kamigamo Jinja 上賀茂神社 in Kyoto. The event was a popular custom held on May 5th (today…

Ch: Han Wudi (159-87 BC). Lit. Emperor Wu of Han. The seventh emperor of the Former Han (Jp: Zenkan 前漢), who ruled from 141-…

A signature *rakkan 落款 or a seal *…

Ch: Guan Yu (d. 219 CE). A Chinese general. A painting theme and the subject and title of a *…

Lit. book in kana script. A popular literarily form produced between 1600-82, principally in the Kyoto area. These…

Lit. Eight views of Kanazawa. Eight scenic spots around Kanazawa, the southern part of Kuraki 久良岐 in Sagami 相模 Province (…

Ch: guanputu. A pictorial theme that features a scholar gazing at a waterfall. The theme probably relates to the poem Ballad…

Lit. beauties of the Kanbun 寛文 era (1661-73). A generic and recently coined term for paintings of beautiful women and men,…

Lit. Chinese painting. Several painting styles which developed in Japan after the mid-13th century under the influence of…

Guide to Chinese Style Painting. A late 18th century treatise on *nanga 南画 by…

A pictorial subject taken from Kanjinchō (The Subscription List), perhaps the best-loved *…

Ch: quanjietu. Also written 鑑戒図 (Ch: jianjietu). Lit. pictures of advice and admonishment. Paintings based on Confucian…

A hereditary school of professional artists, patronized by military governments from the late Muromachi to the early Meiji…

A painting depicted on a plectrum guard kanpachi 捍溌, a sheet of leather attached to stringed instruments, such…

Ch: hanlintu. Lit. pictures of a cold grove. A painting theme featuring a grove of leafless trees in a cold or…

Correctly read kanshi かんし. Connoisseurship. Originally referred to engraved inscriptions on Chinese bronzes, but…

Appreciation. To take intuitive pleasure in the total sense of form and expression of content of a work of art. Inherent in…

Also kansu 巻子, makimono 巻物 and kansō 巻装. A handscroll or horizontal scroll. A bound-…

Ch: Hanshan Shide. Semi-legendary Tang dynasty, Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) eccentrics who were frequently depicted in Chinese and…

A bright yellowish-orange color. Named after the yellow dye lily flower kanzō 萓草. Kanzō-iro dye was…

Also kakihan 書判, lit. written seal mark, or han 判. Specifically designed character representing or…

Lit. river child. A supernatural water-sprite believed to inhabit Japan's lakes and rivers. The name kappa varies…

Also かっぱ摺 or kappaban かっぱ版; sometimes kōhan 孔版 or katagamizuri 型紙摺. A technique used to apply…

Ch: kebi. Lit. dry brush. Also kohitsu 枯筆 (withered brush) or sappitsu 擦筆 (rubbed brush). An ink…

Lit. inspector mekiki 目利 of Chinese painting. The post of official art appraiser for the Tokugawa 徳川 shogunate…

Although literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese 'kara 唐' painting, its definition and usage changed with…

Lit. Chinese floral motif. Intricate foliage patterns transmitted from China to Japan. Karahanamon is a general…

Ch: tang shizi. The Chinese lion. Representations of lions were produced by Chinese and then Japanese artists based…

1　Any paper imported from China. Although the terms karakami and *…

Ch: tangzi you. A painting subject of Chinese children at play. The theme has two types: in the first children play…

Lit. Chinese grass motif. Also called karakusa 唐草. Often used interchangeably with *…

Also written 刈安. The name of a yellow dye, and the plant from which it is taken. Kariyasu is a tall grass…

A depiction of a famous beauty of the Meiwa 明和 era (1764-72). Until her marriage in 1771 at age 19, Osen お仙 was a…

Images of the so-called immortal poets kasen 歌仙, distinguished historical poets of waka 和歌 (Japanese 31…

Lit. head carving. The title of the master engraver and also of the engraving process by which the key block *…

A pictorial subject taken from "The Oak Tree" Kashiwagi, a type of oak, Quercus deutata, Chapter 36 of Genji…

Lit. battle pictures. Edo period depictions of warfare from the 16th and early 17th centuries as well as scenes from the…

1　A pattern representing mist, often stylized into shapes like the ideographs 工 or 王. It is used as a…

Catechu, cutch. A brown vegetable dye taken from a leguminous plant Acacia catechu wild, grown in S.E. Asia. The stems and…

Lit. Katsukawa school. A school of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists who…

Lit. roof-tile print. Also later known as yomiuri 読売 (sell by reading), because newsprint vendors read their…

Also yose-e 寄せ絵. A type of woodblock print that depicted human faces, necks, or hands with contorted miniature…

Fine, thin bush-strokes employed to depict animal fur or human hair, especially sideburns, beard, or eyebrows. Strokes of…

A knife which is used with a ruler to carve a straight line on a woodblock *hangi…

In Chinese art refers to reproducing a likeness of the form of object. Also shajitsu 写実. It is the third of the Six…

Sliding screens with paintings of thirty-two Chinese sages, which form the main wall behind the Emperor's throne in the…

A painting or calligraphy executed on silk; the term is applied to specify the support used for the work. In particular,…

Ch: Xianzi. A semi-legendary 9th-century itinerant priest and eccentric. His name, meaning something like "Clam Priest," is…

The marks carved in all the woodblocks of a set needed to produce a full-color woodblock print *…

A straight bladed chisel used to make *kentō 見当, guide marks used…

To trim the white margins off a finished woodblock print *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 with a…