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…

When woodblocks are being carved to reproduce pages of handwritten characters, sometimes the point of a small knife will be…

Also called kōetsubon 光悦本 or suminokurabon 角倉本, although some scholars consider each of these names to…

A pictorial subject of an area in the western part of Kyoto city, famous for autumn grasses and singing insects. Besides…

Paintings based on Saigyō monogatari 西行物語 (The Tale of Saigyō), a fictionalization of the poet-priest…

The name for a group of *ukiyo zōshi 浮世草子 (books of the floating world;…

Ch: suihan sanyou. Lit. "three friends of wintery seasons." A painting theme featuring pine matsu 松, plum…

Also Yoshiwara saiken 吉原細見. Annually published guide to the new *Yoshiwara…

Miniature paintings in a detailed style best suited for fans or albums. Two other terms, mitsuga 密画 and saiga…

Lit. "festival pictures." Paintings that originated in folk beliefs and Shinto rituals shinji 神事, mostly related to…

The application of color to various architectural elements. In the case of paintings, this normally involves the use of…

Also simply saitan 歳旦. A woodblock print commissioned by a poet, or a man of versatile tastes, to give to his…

A pictorial subject based on "Sakaki" ("The Sacred Tree"), Chapter 10 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of…

The three types of distances desired for mountains in Chinese ink painting as defined by the famous Academy landscapist of…

1　A pictorial subject taken from the auspicious *kabuki 歌舞伎…

Lit. "Chatter of a Mountain Dweller." A two-volume treatise on painting theory by the late Edo artist and Confucian…

Lit. "thirty-six immortal poets." Imaginary portraits of the 36 outstanding poets from the 7th to 10th centuries selected by…

Ch: Sanjiao. A painting subject of the three patriarchs, Confucius (Jp: *Kōshi…

Lit. "crossing the Sano." A historic river crossing often a subject of ancient poetry. The place recorded as Sano 狭野 in Kii…

Also read sanpei niman. A homely woman's face characterized by three flat or low parts sanpei 三平: the…

Ch: Sanping kaixiong. Lit. "Sanpei baring his chest." Also Sanpei Sekkyō 三平石鞏 (Ch: Sanping Shigong) and Sekkyō…

Ch: sanpin. Lit. "three classes." Three classes of Chinese calligraphy and painting. In ascending order, the…

Ch: sansuantu. A painting subject of three san 三, Northern Song Chinese sages tasting wine san 酸…

Ch: sanshengtu. A type of painting of Taoist and Buddhist figures dōshaku jinbutsuga 道釈人物画, which features…

Ch: shanshuihua. Lit. "mountain and water painting." Far Eastern painting of an idealized nature. Although…

Lit. "inserted pictures." The term applies to any illustrations in books, magazines, and newspapers.

Also read sassubon. A bound book as opposed to a handscroll *kansubon…

A picture drawn for the purpose of inducing a sudden insight or "enlightenment". A caricature often *…

A pictorial subject based on "Sawarabi" ("Early Ferns"), Chapter 48 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

A picture which is incomprehensible when viewed with the naked eye but which appears in normal proportions when viewed…

1　Also pronounced seikaiha. A wave design made of the arches of concentric circles superimposed…

Ch: Xihu. Lit. "west lake." Of the several Chinese lakes known as West Lake, the most famous is the West Lake at Hangzhou 杭州…

Ch: Xiwangmu Dongwangfu. Ancient Chinese female and male deities associated with immortality and popular Daoism. Originally…

Ch: Zhenghuangniu. Lit. "Zheng (Jp: Sei 政) of the Yellow Ox." The popular name for a Chinese Northern Song Zen 禅 (…

Ch: qinglu shanshui. Lit. "blue-and-green landscape." A style of Chinese landscape painting heavily colored with…

Lit. "Discussion of Western Painting," Shiba Kōkan's 司馬江漢 (1747-1818) slim theoretical work in praise of Western naturalism…

An impromptu painting done upon request at a meeting with a guest or patron. It is recorded that Kano Kagenobu 狩野景信(fl. ca.…

Ch: Chibi. Lit. "Red Cliff." A painting subject of a peak in Hubei 湖北 Province featured in the prose-poem The Red Cliff…

Also yūō 雄黄. Orpiment, king's yellow. A lustrous yellow pigment *ganryō…

Ch: jixue kanshu. Lit. "reading by the light of piled snow." A Chinese painting subject depicting the dedication…

A pictorial subject based on "Sekiya" ("The Gatehouse"), Chapter 16 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji…

A pictorial subject in *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 taken from Senbonzakura (One…

Ch: qianjiang shanshui. A type of Chinese landscape painting using light red coloring for rocks and trees. The…

Votive papers. Small slips of paper on which pilgrims to temples and shrines wrote their names and addresses and which were…