Often abbreviated to engi-e 縁起絵. Paintings of the origins and history of a temple or shrine, usually amplified with…

Ch: Shiqiao. Lit. "stone bridge." A bridge on Mt. Tiantai 天台山 (Jp: Tendai) in eastern Zhejiang 浙江 Province, China. Mt.…

Also konnyakubon 蒟蒻本 or kohon 小本 (typically made of folded half-sized *…

Realistic sketches of nature made for study purposes, often in small handscroll format and later mounted in an album. The…

A seal used for private as opposed to official matters. The use of shi-in became popular in China after the Tang…

Ch: siai. Lit. "the four favorites." A painting subject of four beloved flowers and the four Chinese literati who…

Ch: Sima Guang (1019-86); also called Sima Wenguan (Jp: Shiba Onkō 司馬温光), and used the name Junshi (Jp: Kunjitsu 君実). A…

Lit. "ranking lists of plays." A generic term for a *kabuki 歌舞伎 playbill. A…

A pictorial subject taken from the *kabuki 歌舞伎 play by the same…

One of the three painting studios or guilds za 座 of the *nanto-…

Ch: jiuniaotu. Lit. "pictures of eagles and hawks." A painting subject that features eagles and hawks but may…

An old name for purple pigments *ganryō 顔料 and dyes senryō…

A hanging scroll with a literary inscription written above an ink painting. This format is a visual extension of the ancient…

A paper support for painting or calligraphy.

A pictorial subject taken from "Shiigamoto" ("Beneath the Oak"), Chapter 46 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

Lit. "pictures of the riverbed at fourth avenue Shijōgawara 四条河原." Shijōgawara was the amusement center of Kyoto…

Also written 仕懸本. A type of book which flourished during the Bunsei 文政 and Tenpō 天保 eras (1818-1844) and contained …

Paintings of the four seasons. The term designates representations of Japanese landscapes, flora, and people engaged in…

Paintings of birds and flowers representative of each of the four seasons. Most often these comprise a set of screens on…

Dyes and pigments. A collective name for all insoluble pigments *ganryō 顔料 and…

Thick colored square sheets of paper used for calligraphic poems or paintings. During the mid-Heian and Kamakura periods,…

Also called kakuban 角判. Lit. "poem card format." A size of *ukiyo-e…

Colored, square-shaped paper inscribed with verses, then cut and pasted onto the upper portion of large screens and sliding…

Paintings produced for general sale rather than upon the specific request of a patron. These works are therefore comparable…

A purple dye senryō 染料 made from the roots of the perennial plant Gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon…

Ch: sijunzi. Lit. "four gentlemen." A Chinese flower-painting theme that features depictions of plum ume 梅…

A stain on paper or silk. Generally caused by moisture or mold. The result is a discolored or brownish spot on the surface…

Also tsuizen-e 追善絵. Buddhist memorial pictures. In the 19th century, obituary pictures were printed and sold to…

Lit. "true view pictures." A type of landscape painting based on naturalistic depiction of a particular place. The term…

Ch: Shennong. The second of the legendary Three Emperors (Ch: sanhuang, Jp: sankō 三皇) credited…

1　Also shusha 朱砂, tansha 丹砂, tanshu 丹朱. Cinnabar, mercuric sulphide HgS. A…

1　Another name for *sekiō 石黄, a yellow pigment made from…

Lit. "brinemaidens." Women who worked hauling brine to make salt. In Japanese art, shiokumi often indicates the…

A geometric design pattern which may be described alternatively as four spindles arranged in a circle with ends touching, or…

Also read shira-e byōbu. A folding screen bearing motifs painted in ink or mica *…

Ch: sishen. Ancient Chinese mythical animals associated with the four cardinal directions: green/blue dragon (Ch:…

Ch: sishui. Lit. "four sleepers." A painting subject of the Tang dynasty eccentrics *…

A detailed preliminary drawing prepared before undertaking an actual painting hon-e 本絵. The first step in creating…

Small prints of actors, or genre scenes with actors produced around the mid-19th century which bear seals reading shita-…

Also called *jinuri 地塗り. A base coat. An undercoat applied during the…

Painting where the tip of the finger or a long finger-nail is employed instead of a brush. Also called shiga 指画 (…

The technique of keeping *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 print paper moist during…

Ch: Zhong Liquan. One of the Daoist Eight Immortals *hassen 八仙. Originally a…

Pictures of town fire-fighting units. These were first organized in 1719 and comprised construction workers and carpenters.…

An ancient Chinese philosophy which holds that calligraphy and painting are two aspects of a single art that springs from…

Also, pronounced shōbyōga (although rarely). Paintings on large surfaces of architectural structures. The term…

Lit. "paintings on screens 'shō 障' and walls 'heki 壁.'" Partition or interior wall painting, although…

Also daichō 台帳, daihon 台本. In the Kyoto-Osaka area kamigata 上方, it is often called *…

An Edo period novel which imitated the style of *kabuki 歌舞伎 stage books *…

Lit. "paintings on screens *shōji 障子." Shōji-e is a term…

Ch: Zhuge Liang (181-234). Also known as Kongming (Jp: Kōmei 孔明). A counsellor to the Chinese Han emperor Liu Bei (Jp: Ryū…

Small-scale, close-up painting of landscapes. The scenes generally depict misty fields and rivers or lakes and may also…

Ch: Zhongkui. A god in the Chinese Daoist pantheon known as the Demon-queller, often depicted in sculpture and painting. A…

Illustrations of people of various occupations in their workshops, which became popular in the Momoyama and early Edo…

Also tsuyazuri つや摺 (lustre printing), and sometimes written 上面摺. Lit. "printing from the front." A printing…

Also written 勝南院座, 小南院座, 小波座. One of the painting studios or guilds, za 座 of the *…

Also shosaijiku 書斎軸 or saijiku 斉軸. Associated with *shigajiku …

Ch: Xiaoxiang bajing. Lit. "Eight views of the Xiao and the Xiang." The eight designated scenes of the area around…

Ch: Shangshan sihao. A pictorial subject depicting four elderly sages who fled from the turbulent society of the…

Ch: Zhu Maichen. A Chinese Han dynasty woodcutter so enamored with learning that he read as he carried bundles of firewood…

Ch: Zhou Maoshu (1017-73). A well-known Confucian scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty, depicted in a tradition of imaginary…

Vermilion. An intense orange-red pigment *ganryō 顔料 made of…

Ten Categories of Collected Antiquities, a late Edo period illustrated catalog of old art objects edited by the…

Ch: Zhougong Dan. The virtuous Duke of Zhou 周公 (Ch: Zhougong; Jp: Shūkō), the son of King Wen 文王 (Ch: Wen Wang; Jp: Bun Ō)…

Lit. "abbreviated illustration." A simple miniature copy of an earlier work of art, and, as such, a valuable source of…

Also formerly osokuzu-no-e おそくずの絵, makura-e 枕絵, makura sōshi 枕草紙, or e-hon 会本; also…

1　A Shingon 真言 priest (1143-79), who was an anti-Taira 平 conspirator, and a tragic exile. The story of…

Texture or modeling strokes used by artists to depict the surfaces of trees, rocks and ground, which lend a sense of form…

A pictorial subject taken from the popular tale, Ōeyama Shuten dōji 大江山酒顛童子 (The Drunkard Boy of Mt. Ōe),…

Also shuboku, akazumi 赤墨. Red ink. Black carbon ink *sumi 墨, mixed with cinnabar red…

Ch: Su Li Juebie. The farewell of Su Wu (Jp: So Bu 蘇武, ca. 140-60 BCE) and Li Ling (Jp: Ri Ryō 李陵, ?-72 BCE). A…

Ch: Su Dongpo (1036-1101). Lit. "retired scholar of the eastern slope." A Northern Song Chinese literatus who was a noted…

A large carving tool which is used to shave away large areas of a woodblock *hangi…

Lit. "overall border." An outer framing fabric surrounding a painting or calligraphy. The sōberi is used in various…

Ch: caochonghua. Paintings of insects and plants, where various kinds of insects including bees, butterflies, and…

Calligraphy, painting, documents, letters and other items that accompany tea utensils, and are mounted as hanging scrolls *…

The Soga school. A group of Japanese painters active from the 15th through the 18th century. Although later Soga artists…

A pictorial subject depicting scenes from Soga monogatari 曽我物語 (The Tale of The Soga), a seminal warrior…

Chinese painting of the Song (Jp: Sō 宋) and Yuan (Jp: Gen 元) dynasties, particularly as collected in Japan. The majority of…

Term used in the Nara and Heian periods for a red color obtained using madder akane 茜 dye.

A system of rank or title given by the imperial court to men and women in a Buddhist order who were also eminent scholars.…

Ch: caoyi chushui; also sōibyō 曹衣描. Lit. "wet-clothing drawing." A style of figure painting in which…

An ink painting brush stroke that uses the body of the bristles rather than tip to create a thick line. Generally, in…

Also read sōna. A signature in cursive script. During the Nara period, signatures were written in formal square…

A set of *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints published in a series with a common title *…

Paintings (or sometimes printed illustrations) e 絵, that usually illustrate narrative tales, waka 和歌…

Ch: Zhuangzi (369?-286? BCE). A famous Taoist philosopher, born in Meng 孟, Henan 河南 province. His real name was Zhou and his…

Also written 外隈. Lit. "exterior shading."

1　A shading *…

Lit. "princess whose beauty shines through her clothing." The popular name for the concubine of Emperor Ingyō 允恭 (412-…

A pictorial subject matter based on "Suetsumuhana" ("Safflower"), Chapter 6 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale…

Paintings directly executed on sliding doors made of cryptomeria wood *sugido 杉戸 which…

Also suhama 州浜. A shape made up of three rings. Used in garden design and landscape paintings. An imitation of a…

Ch: shuimohua. Also, in Japan, bokuga 墨画 or more colloquially sumi-e 墨絵. Lit. "water-ink painting…

Also read sugiharagami and abbreviated to suihara or sui. Handmade Japanese paper *…

Lit. "water-dropper." A small container used to hold the water which is added to the inkstone *suzuri…

The hero of the *kabuki 歌舞伎 play of the same name and the subject of woodblock…

Also called aisuki 相透. A carving tool used in woodblock printmaking *ukiyo-e…

A same size copy of an original painting made by placing a thin piece of paper or silk over the original and tracing the…

A pictorial subject based on "Suma," Chapter 12 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), which tells…

Ink. Ink was made from lampblack, soot susu 煤 produced by the incomplete combustion of aged pine wood (the product…