Title: Biwa Hōshi Dōchū-ki-zu? (Biwa Priest Travelogue), Not After 1841. An Emakimono Handscroll Depicting the Travels and Hardships of Travelling Biwa Performers, Including Blind Ones. 23 Painted Figures of Performing Artists of Early Japan
Author: Provenance of Watanabe Kazan
Condition: Very Good
A Late Edo Period, 19th century emakimono handscroll, dubbed Biwa Hōshi Dōchū-ki-zu, or the Biwa Priest Travelogue. The handscroll is a series of paintings depicting 23 different Biwa hoshi, also known as lute priests. They were travelling performers preceding the Meiji Period, and earned their income by reciting vocal literature, poetry, and the like, along to biwa music, which they themselves usually played. Biwa hoshi were typically blind and took upon the shaved heads and robes common to Buddhist monks, a practice which was once common in China and India. Often considered the first performers of the Tale of the Heiki, they took on a range of roles including poetry and song, plague prevention, and spiritual purification.
This handscroll provides a fictitious glimpse into what it might have been like for a Biwa hoshi to travel and perform around Japan, from performing and singing with the biwa, to wandering the roads, with only a walking stick to detect and move about obstacles. One particularly challenging moment is with several priests attempting to cross a bridge, with two helplessly tumbling into the waters. There are priests dancing and making merriment, and one priest with eyesight trying to read as well.
While the paintings themselves are unsigned, the emakimono curiously does have the Ex-libris stamp of Late Edo Period painter Watanabe Kazan (1793-1841), stamped 全楽堂, or zenrakudo.
Born in Edo, Kazan’s given name was Josei, and early on in his life, he was a samurai of the Mikawa Tahara Domain. While working diligently as a chief retainer in the affairs of the domain, he familiarized himself with Dutch studies and formed the Shoshikai with Takano Choei and Koseki Sanei. He studied painting under Shirakawa Shibayama and Tani Buncho and showed talent in depicting the manners of the day while studying various painting techniques. He also absorbed Western painting techniques and showed deep insight and sharp brushwork, especially in portraits. He committed seppuku in 1841 at the age of 49 while under house arrest for his involvement in the Bansha no Goku Incident, to make amends for the shame he caused to his lord. He was regarded as one of the most talented literati artists of his era and is still renowned for his character-revealing portraits.
The paintings have been laid down and bound in a scroll for preservation, with a beautiful brocade decorated cover, and there are jikusaki (knobs). The handscroll is enclosed in a wooden box.
One brocade bound emakimono (picture scroll) on paper, 24.5 x 410 cm. The knobs are not included as part of the measurement.
This emakimono is in very good shape, with minimal wear and rubbing to the brocade fabric. There are a few crease marks and a couple of repaired worm tracks, and one fold mark with two small tape repairs. There is minor soiling and staining.