DOI Heft:
Nr. 212 (November 1910)
DOI Artikel:Harada, Jirō: Japanese art and artists of to-day, [4]: wood and ivory carving
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20971#0126
Japanese Art and Artists of To-day.—IV. Wood and Ivory Carving
engrained in their taste and saturated in their
character.
Let us note one or two facts in this connection
before proceeding to give an account of the
evolution of this artistic talent along one of its
many channels, namely, wood and ivory carving.
Take, for example, the Spirit of Yamato, “ the
Soul of Japan,” which, beginning first as the glory
of the elite, became in time the aspiration and
inspiration of the nation, and permeated the veins
of every true Japanese. It is claimed, among
others by Dr. Nitobe, that “few ethical systems
are better entitled to the rank of religion than
Bushido,” if religion is no more than “ morality
touched by emotion,” as Matthew Arnold defines
it. This spirit, called by the Japanese “Yamato
damashii,” the life of Bushido, is likened to
“ Scenting morn’s sunlit air,
(Which) blows the cherry wild and fair.”
For ages the cherry
blossom has been the
favourite object of our
people and the emblem
of our national character.
Thousands from far and
near have journeyed to
out-of-the-way Yoshino
and other spots every
year to see the cherry in
blossom —r a bloom that
rarely lasts twenty - four
hours. Surely it must be
strange to Western people
to find, not only artists
and men of letters, but
common labourers and
peasants as well, going
into ecstasy over this
flower, so that “ their
limbs forget their toil and
moil, and their hearts
their pangs and sorrows.”
The simplicity, refine-
ment, grace and beauty
of this blossom appeal to
our aesthetic sense as no
other flower could. It
carries no thorn like the
rose, nor does it show the
rose’s tenacity to cling to
life as though afraid to
die. It is ever ready to
depart at the call of
nature, and herein the ivory carving : “ noon-day rest ” by yoshida homei
i°S
Japanese find and appreciate the subtle artistic
beauty.
The history of the nation is full of incidents
carrying their own artistic suggestions. Every child
in Japan goes wild with delight over the story
of the Forty-Seven Romins, who endured every-
thing in order to carry out the wish of their feudal
lord, and who, when the deed was done, all knelt
before his tombstone and committed seppuku.
The love, the faithfulness and devotion to their
master, the beautiful and simple manner in which
they faced their end, with a smile, a readiness,
even as that of the cherry blossom—an intensely
artistic touch—captivate the Japanese mind.
Someone has observed that in Japan the sense
of sight for beauty is developed to a much greater
extent than the other senses, the “common’’
sense not excluded. As a race we seem to enjoy
the subtle beauty in forms, colour, and effect to a
engrained in their taste and saturated in their
character.
Let us note one or two facts in this connection
before proceeding to give an account of the
evolution of this artistic talent along one of its
many channels, namely, wood and ivory carving.
Take, for example, the Spirit of Yamato, “ the
Soul of Japan,” which, beginning first as the glory
of the elite, became in time the aspiration and
inspiration of the nation, and permeated the veins
of every true Japanese. It is claimed, among
others by Dr. Nitobe, that “few ethical systems
are better entitled to the rank of religion than
Bushido,” if religion is no more than “ morality
touched by emotion,” as Matthew Arnold defines
it. This spirit, called by the Japanese “Yamato
damashii,” the life of Bushido, is likened to
“ Scenting morn’s sunlit air,
(Which) blows the cherry wild and fair.”
For ages the cherry
blossom has been the
favourite object of our
people and the emblem
of our national character.
Thousands from far and
near have journeyed to
out-of-the-way Yoshino
and other spots every
year to see the cherry in
blossom —r a bloom that
rarely lasts twenty - four
hours. Surely it must be
strange to Western people
to find, not only artists
and men of letters, but
common labourers and
peasants as well, going
into ecstasy over this
flower, so that “ their
limbs forget their toil and
moil, and their hearts
their pangs and sorrows.”
The simplicity, refine-
ment, grace and beauty
of this blossom appeal to
our aesthetic sense as no
other flower could. It
carries no thorn like the
rose, nor does it show the
rose’s tenacity to cling to
life as though afraid to
die. It is ever ready to
depart at the call of
nature, and herein the ivory carving : “ noon-day rest ” by yoshida homei
i°S
Japanese find and appreciate the subtle artistic
beauty.
The history of the nation is full of incidents
carrying their own artistic suggestions. Every child
in Japan goes wild with delight over the story
of the Forty-Seven Romins, who endured every-
thing in order to carry out the wish of their feudal
lord, and who, when the deed was done, all knelt
before his tombstone and committed seppuku.
The love, the faithfulness and devotion to their
master, the beautiful and simple manner in which
they faced their end, with a smile, a readiness,
even as that of the cherry blossom—an intensely
artistic touch—captivate the Japanese mind.
Someone has observed that in Japan the sense
of sight for beauty is developed to a much greater
extent than the other senses, the “common’’
sense not excluded. As a race we seem to enjoy
the subtle beauty in forms, colour, and effect to a