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…

A pictorial subject taken from "Maboroshi" ("The Wizard"), Chapter 41 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Painters born during the period extending from the Nanbokuchō through the Muromachi periods, when major social changes took…

A general term for the Kano school *Kano-ha 狩野派, or for Kano-…

A pictorial subject based on "The Cypress Pillar" Makibashira, Chapter 31 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (…

Ch: Magu. Two female Taoist immortals. The first is said to have lived in the Han dynasty and was sister of the immortal…

A low folding screen about 50 cm high, and usually with two panels, *nikyoku byōbu…

Also called keshibon 芥子本, keshigatabon 芥子形本, and hinamamehon 雛豆本. A miniature book. The…

Lit. "chopping board format." An extremely large size of wood-block *ukiyo-e…

Edo period sketches usually done impromptu or in fun, often of unusual or humorous subjects. In modern times manga…

Also read maniaishi, maniai 間似合. A rough paper of poor quality attached to sliding partitions *…

Also written 卍文. A decorative pattern symbolizing good fortune, popularly known as the swastika motif. It is thought to have…

Ch: manhuahui. Lit. "gathering amid myriad flowers." A Chinese painting subject showing the peony procession of…

A circular, decorative design used either as a single unit or repeated to create patterns for textiles and family crests. A…

Sometimes referred to as Kyō-ha 京派 or the Kyoto school. A painting school in Kyoto which was popular during the…

Also written 政. An abbreviation of masagami 柾紙, also written 政紙. A smooth grain, lightweight, off-white paper…

Traditional Japanese paper *washi 和紙 made from hemp, asa…

A zigzag pattern which forms a decorative band resembling a series of lozenge shapes. It was used on the built-up ridges of…

1　A pictorial subject taken from "Matsukaze" ("The Wind in the Pines"), Chapter 18 of  Genji…

Also matsu-ni-taka-(no)-zu 松に鷹図. Lit. "paintings of hawks in pine trees." Pine trees matsu 松 were not…

Lit. "glasses picture." A painting which is designed to be viewed through an apparatus which further heightens an illusion…

Paintings of famous locations around the Japanese capital of Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō 平安京) at certain characteristic…

Illustrated topographies of famous places within a defined geographical region, published from the mid-to-late Edo period.…

A privately published Edo period topography and guide to famous places. Official topographies were compiled before these…

A picture calendar koyomi 暦 totally set out in pictures. Originally these were made for the illiterate, but when…

Ch: Malangfu. One of 33 manifestations of *Kannon 観音 (Sk:…

1　A surface of a Japanese architectural component that faces front.

2　Endpaper,…

A type of mounting for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. In this mounting, the…

A type of mounting for a hanging scroll *kakemono 掛物. A …

Also read minoshi. Lit. "mino paper." A generic term for handmade paper *…

A pictorial subject based on "Minori" ("The Rites" or "The Venerable Law"), Chapter 40 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (…

Chinese painting of the Ming (Jp: Min 明) and Qing (Jp: Shin 清) dynasties. The term, used primarily in distinction to *…

A pictorial subject based on "Miotsukushi" ("Channel Buoys"), Chapter 14 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

Also written 水松色.

1　Olive color. A color name used in dyeing, produced by…

Pictures depicting shows of acrobatics, jugglers, magic tricks and curious animals which were produced with intent to…

Ablutions performed to remove sin or illness. As a pictorial theme it is most closely associated with Section 65 of Ise…

A piece of silk used for a Buddhist painting, particularly icon painting, which is sanctified at a ceremony in esoteric…

Parody pictures. Also nise 擬, yatsushi 略絵, fūryū 風流. Analogues of Japanese and Chinese…

Lit. "Litharge painting." A modern term for a type of ancient oil painting that uses lead oxide, or *…

Lit. "yellow lead monoxide," PbO. Made by heating lead. Used as a yellow pigment in early Japanese painting, for example on…

Paper made from the fibres of mitsumata 三椏 (edgeworthia papyrifera). The mitsumata bush, native…

A pictorial subject taken from "Miyuki" ("The Royal Outing"), Chapter 29 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

One kind of early polychrome print *benizuri-e 紅摺絵, or…

Also suisai-enogu 水彩絵具. Water colors. Paints with a water binder *baizai…

Ch: Mao Bao zhugui. Lit. "Mao Bao rescuing a tortoise." A Chinese painting theme showing the Jin dynasty scholar…