Ch: Fu Daishi. Buddhist Master Fu or Great Teacher Fu. The Chinese Buddhist layman Fu Xi (Jp: Fu Kyū 傅翕, 497-569)…

Sanskrit: Potalaka. Sometimes written 普陀楽山, 布落迦山; also called Fudaraku 補陀落. Octagonal island-mountain paradise…

Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing *Fudō …

The chief of the Five Great Myōō, *Godai Myōō 五大明王, Fudō has been, and…

Depictions of Mt. Fuji 富士 painted from the Heian period to modern times in a variety of contexts. A usually quiet (but still…

Lit. universally good (Sk: Samantabhadra); also Henkitsu 遍吉. A bodhisattva, *bosatsu…

Lit. axe-cut stroke. A painting texture stroke, *shunpō 皴法, said to have been…

Devotional paintings of Mt. Fuji 富士 in a large hanging scroll format. Usually they are in the form of sankei mandara…

A pictorial subject taken from the "Wisteria Leaves" (Fuji no uraba, underleaves of wisteria), Chapter 33 of …

A pictorial subject taken from the "Purple Trousers" (Fujibakama, also translated as Mistflowers), Chapter 30 of…

Lit. Wind God and Thunder God. Based on popular Indian deities (Sk: Vayu and Varun) and Chinese deities (Ch: Fengshen 風神 and…

Fujiwara period. A period of approximately two hundred years corresponding to the Middle Heian period (Heian chūki…

Deep. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a middle-aged woman torn by…

Ch: Puhua. An itinerant priest of the Tang Dynasty depicted in paintings as wandering the streets of Zhenzhou 鎮州 in a state…

Lit. Landscape painting, a general term, usually applied only to works in the long western tradition of landscape by…

Also zōkin bokashi 雑巾ぼかし, rag shading. Any wiping technique used to produce gradated tones (shading) on a woodblock…

A technique to create tints by placing a cut-out pattern on paper and scraping paint through a wire mesh with a brush,…

The part of a lotus-petal base, *rengeza 蓮華座, for a Buddhist image…

1　Also written 葺返. A board which projects diagonally out from the top of a statue canopy, *…

A compositional technique used to depict a residential interior. The technique involves rendering a building without a roof…

1　The arrangement of muntins, lattice (*fukiyose gōshi…

Also fukiyosebuki 吹寄葺, fukiyose renben 吹寄蓮弁, or *fukiyose…

A later-era appellation given to a group of artists from the late Edo period who consciously attempted revive the past *…

The god of happiness, represented in kyōgen 狂言 plays by a masked figure, *…

A restoration copy. A painting that is copied with the intent of restoring it to near its original state. This means…

Ch: Fuxi. A legendary Chinese sage and ruler who was the founder of Chinese civilization and first sovereign of the Five…

Also known as Fukūkensaku Kannon. His name, "non-empty noose," is pronounced differently in Shingon 真言 (Fukaukenjaku) and…

The woodblock-printed paper that formed the outer covers for prints and woodblock books. In the 1770s-80s it became popular…

A type of mounting for hanging scrolls, *kakemono 掛物. The *…

Ch: Fu Lu Shou. A popular deity of wealth (fuku 福), happiness (roku 禄), and longevity( ju 寿),…

Also read fukurotsuzuri. Also called karatoji 唐綴 and fukurozōshi 袋草子. Lit. pouch-binding. The…

Also fuchoku 布置. Composition in Chinese painting. Included in the fifth canon, "Plan and Design, Place and Position…

Replica casting. A technique used in metal casting, where a simple, flat metal object was covered with clay to make a mold.…

Also funagatakō 舟形光. Lit. boat-shaped halo. A halo, *kōhai 光背, with a…

Also read fundame. A technique of coating a statue with gold. Used during and after the Kamakura period. The figure…

Also funnugyō 忿怒形 or shinnusō 瞋怒相. An angry expression found on Buddhist images. The opposite of *…

1　A Tang Dynasty term for rough sketches or underdrawings made with gesso powder, *…

Also pronounced funsōe or funsōi. A Buddhist monk's robe made from rags. According to Buddhist tradition,…

Lit. refined taste. An aesthetic ideal implying traditional elegance, chic stylishness, creative ingenuity, and sometimes…

Ch: Fengliuzhentu. Lit. Depictions of Elegant Battles. A Chinese painting subject included among the Pictures of…

Lit. cloth masks. Also sakumen 作面. Eighth-century burlap (ramie) pieces with a human face sketched in the…

Lit. satirical pictures. Paintings and prints satirizing current events, world affairs, government, and politics. The…

Knotted zō. A noh mask, *nōmen 能面, representing a mature young woman. A…

Biography of Famous Painters in Japan, a comprehensive mid-19th-century biography of painters. Supplemented and…

Primer on Master Painters of Japan, an early 18th-century biography of painters by Asai Fukyū 浅井不旧. Asai, a native…

Ch: Fengshuidong. Lit. the wind and water caves. A grotto complex near Hangzhou 杭州 which was the subject of poems by Su…

Abbreviation of fusumashōji-e 襖障子絵. Paintings on sliding-door panels, *fusuma…

A term used for one of the parts of the mounting of a hanging scroll, *kakemono…

Also shokanbukuro-e 書簡袋絵. The woodblock-printed pictures on folded paper covers which functioned as envelopes, …

Abbreviation of either the *kekka fuza 結跏趺坐 (full-lotus posture) or the *…

Paintings with the daily activities and special pleasures of contemporary life as their subject matter. Equivalent to the…

Also referred to as zasei 坐勢 (Sk: asana). A seated position for a Buddhist image. Ancient Indian ascetics used…

A collector's seal, kanzō-in 鑑蔵印, which was impressed on Song and Yuan dynasties paintings *…

Also Kongō Zaō Bosatsu 金剛蔵王菩薩. The deity of Kinpusen 金峰山 in Nara, one of the most important deities of the Japanese…

Lit. "Eight parlor views"; a parody of eight views *hakkei 八景, in which…

A Buddhist image which is seated, as opposed to standing *ryūzō 立像. The…

Gourd-shaped shumon 朱文 style seal introduced into Japan from China during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Today there…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 meetings." Paintings that depict a philosophical dialogue between a Zen priest and a layman,…

A school of Buddhist sculptors *bussho 仏所, who often used the character 'Zen' 善…

Commonly known as Zendō Daishi 善導大師 (Ch: Shandao Dashi, 613-81) or Great Master Zendō . The third patriarch of Pure…

Lit. "Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) painting." A modern and somewhat ambiguous term often used to indicate painting and calligraphy that…

Ch: Chanyueyang Luohan. A type of ink painting of arhats or *rakan 羅漢…

Also abbreviated to zengohagi 前後矧. A method of making a wooden statue where the statue is carved in two separate…

An early type of folding screen *byōbu 屏風, in which panels are individually made…

Lit. "meditation mudra." A mudra or hand gesture *in 印, formed by placing the palms…

Lit. "paintings of Zen 禅 (Ch: Chan) occasions." Illustrations of acts (including dialogues) which led to enlightenment. The…

Images of the *Amida 阿弥陀 trinity made in the style of the Amida trinity at Zenkōji 善光寺 in…

Also known as Zenmyō nyoshin 善妙女神. A deity that protects the Kegon 華厳 sect of Buddhism. According to the legend, a…

Lit. "Dragon King Zennyo." The subject of a painting by one of the disciples of *Kūkai 空海…

Lit. "full-size paper." Paper having the same size as that produced in the factory. The size varied according to each period…

The general term used for any art related to the practice of Zen 禅 Buddhism in Japan. Zen flourished in Japan in the…

Lit. "images of patriarchs of Zen 禅 sects." Paintings of Zen patriarchs. Although all schools of Buddhism create images of…

A Noh mask *nōmen 能面, representing a young angel, goddess or enlightened woman.…

Also Tōdaiji Zōbussho 東大寺造仏所. A workshop which made statues for Tōdaiji 東大寺 in Nara. In 748, the government set up a…

Government-run workshops making Buddhist statues during the Nara period. Post-9th-century independent and temple-run…

Sk: Virudhaka. A fierce-looking guardian deity *funnusō 忿怒相, believed to…

Inlay. It is also written 象眼 (elephant eye). A decoration technique in which the surface of such materials as metal, pottery…

A portrait of a lay person in formal secular dress. This contrasts with the more numerous portraits of Buddhist priests…

Offertory mask. Cloth or paper masks used in *bugaku 舞楽 in the pieces *…

Also nōnyūhin 納入品, tainai nōnyūhin 胎内納入品, tainai nōnyūbutsu 胎内納入物. Objects found in the…

A patron. A person who requests the building of a Buddhist temple or work of art.

Also zōzōki daiki 造像題記, zōzōmei 造象銘. A record that keeps track of the completion and repair dates of a…

A name given to a sandalwood statue of Shaka Nyorai 釈迦如来 (in the same style as the figure in Seiryōji 清涼寺, Kyoto). See *…

Lit. head light. A nimbus or halo that encircles the head of an image of a Buddhist deity. In the case of sculpture it is…

A yellow pigment *ganryō 顔料, made from the bark of the deciduous…

Miniature shrine shelf. A cabinet shrine *zushi 厨子, used to store the writing…

Iconographic sketches of Buddhist images done in simple ink drawing (see *hakubyō…

Selected Iconography, a late Heian compendium on Buddhist iconography. Also called Jikkanshō 十巻抄 (…