The Spirit of Japanese Painting.

One of the things that comes to mind when people say “Japanese painting”

Kano school.

It has an image of mysterious and hidden techniques.

……, but in fact

This is all you need to handle Japanese paints!”

There is a very detailed technique book in existence, such as the following.

This time, we are pleased to present a book written a hundred years ago.

Japanese painting technique book written a hundred years ago, which conveys the tradition.

modern translation of “TANSEI SHINAN”!

The “Kano school” has appeared in Japanese history classes for a long time.
What kind of techniques did they have?

What kind of techniques did they have and how many generations of court painters did they have?

Tap the image for a summary of the TANSEISHINAN!

➡狩野派による日本画解説書「丹青指南」を現代語訳

Contents

1 What is “Tansei Shinan,” a Japanese painting technique book of the Kano school?
2 Who is Morishizu Ichikawa, a descendant of Kano school painters?
3 Is modern Japanese painting riddled with problems?
4 Contemporary translation of the Introduction
5 Reference sites and other information on “Tansei Shinan,” a Japanese painting technique book

What is “Tansei Shinan,” a Japanese painting technique book of the Kano school?

It is said to have been published in 1926 by the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

It is said to have been considered a “fantastic technique book” by the Tokyo University of the Arts.

In the days when there were no copying machines, students had to copy everything by hand.

famous Japanese painters have created their works based on this book.

The author of this book was an old man named Morishizu Ichikawa, a descendant of the Kano school.

Who is Morishizu Ichikawa, a descendant of Kano school painters?

The writing of “Tansei Shinan” began with an encounter between Naohiko Masaki, then head of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, and Morishizu Ichikawa.

Mr. Ichikawa was one of the top coloring experts of the Kano school, having handed down the traditional coloring methods that were kept secret in the Kano school workshops.

He not only painted everyday works, but was also entrusted with the occasional order to paint the halls of shrines and temples.

Why did such a painter of the Kano school come all the way to teach at the Bijutsu Gakko (now Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music)?

Is modern Japanese painting riddled with problems?

By the way, you have probably seen paintings on folding screens from hundreds of years ago that are still vividly visible today.

Take, for example, Kano Eitoku’s masterpiece “Karazhi-zu (Chinese Lion)” from the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Reference: Imperial Household Agency website.

狩野永徳唐獅子図 — Eitoku Kano – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4210868

This painting is still in existence without any loss.

However, this is because the correct use of Japanese paints was used.

If you use Japanese paints carelessly, the paint will peel off in tatters and soon become useless!

Mr. Ichikawa saw this as a problem.

”Some of today’s painters are very good with ink, but they don’t seem to know how to use paint!”

”This will destroy the techniques of the Kano school!”

This is the future of Japanese-style painting and its students.

So, for the sake of the future of Japanese painting and his students, he decided to teach them all the traditional coloring techniques of the Kano school.

The technique was compiled in the “Tansei Shinan,” a book of Japanese painting techniques.

It is thanks to Ichikawa Morishizu and Tansei Shinan that we can now enjoy Showa and Taisho period works by artists such as Hirayama Ikuo and Takayama Tatsuo, and modern Japanese-style paintings may also be the inheritors of tradition, carrying on the techniques of the Kano school.

conclusion

・Tansei Shinan is a traditional Japanese painting technique book of the Kano school.

・The artist is Morishizu Ichikawa, a coloring expert of the Kano school

・Japanese paints will flake off if not handled correctly.

Contemporary translation of the Introduction

Introduction

As I recall, in the summer of 1914, an old man who called himself Morishizu Ichikawa suddenly appeared and said.

He said,
“I have been familiar with painting since I was a child in the workshop of the Kano school, but I was never good at painting. （I am not a good painter. Not at all?)
He has been good at it in the Kano school because he has inherited the traditional coloring method, which has been kept secret in the painting studio, and has often learned it himself by experimenting for many years.

Therefore, the Kano school is at the top of the class in terms of coloring, as it has been entrusted with not only daily coloring, but also the coloring of the halls of the temple where they are sometimes commissioned to paint.

Before the Meiji Restoration, I had been away from painting for 40 years.

When I look at his recent works of Nihonga, I see that he is very good with ink brush strokes, but only one point of coloring is almost sparse.

However, I notice that one aspect of coloring has been almost completely neglected.

One might suspect that the artist did not know how to color from the beginning.

One of the works made me wonder if the artist did not know how to color from the beginning.

They say that paintings are fragile and enduring, but in this condition, everything but the ink would soon peel off.

I was thus saddened and indignant.

I also realized that if I did not pass on the secret Kano school coloring techniques that I had learned and used for many years, they would disappear along with my life, which was now almost gone.

There will be a class on coloring methods at school (Tokyo Fine Arts School), but if it is allowed, I would like to teach the students all the traditional coloring methods of the Kano school studio.

The old man said to me.

I was so moved by his passion that I asked the old man to teach the coloring method orally outside the school.

However, while preparing the textbooks and reference works, the old man became ill and was unable to teach.

He was left with only some of his reference works and a textbook titled “Tansei shinan.

Fortunately, this textbook is very thorough, and reading it is as if you were being taught in person.

It has already been more than a decade since this old man died.

It is lamentable that even painting experts nowadays neglect introductory practice.

Therefore, I have decided to include this book in the Tomokai magazine.

This is to prevent the Kano school’s coloring method from disappearing and to I only wish to prevent the disappearance of the Kano school’s coloring method, and to contribute to the study of the painters.

January, 1926
Naohiko Masaki, Director of Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko

Please! Please!!!

This is a hobbyist modern translation of a copy of the Tanqing Jinan at hand.

I am focusing on my own readability, so the nuances of details may differ from the original text.

Please read it on the assumption that I am not an expert and that there are many mistranslations.

If you are a student, I recommend the original, another modern translation, or this book.

リンク

Note: Parts of the text that could not be seen or translated (or understood) are marked with “? XX” and other symbols or annotations are added to the text.

I will upload the corrected version as soon as I understand it.