Object

Seven-Syllable Quatrain by Karasumaru Mitsuhiro

Keio Object Hub
Person
Date
制作年 AD17
Title
カラスマルミツヒロヒツシチゴンゼック
Collections
Depository
Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
Ref. number
AW-CEN-001841-0000
License
CC BY Images license
Creditline

慶應義塾(センチュリー赤尾コレクション)

URL
Classification
Art
AI Tagging
Brown Wood Rectangle Art Font

Karasumaru Mitsuhiro (1579-1638) was an aristocratic poet of the early Edo Period and had an active career as a liaison between the imperial court (in Kyoto) and the military government (in Edo). Although he was once banished from the capital due to a sex scandal, he won the trust of the Tokugawa Military Administration and eventually reached the high government post of Provisional Major Counselor of the Senior Second Rank. A man of multiple talents, Mitsuhiro was brilliant in waka and renga composition, calligraphy in writing and painting as well as sado (ceremonial tea). He also practiced Zen Buddhism training under the Zen master Isshi Bunshu (1608-1646). In calligraphy, Mitsuhiro was one of the “Kanei-no-Sampitsu” (Three Brushes of theKanei Era) and left behind many beautiful brushworks. His writing style changed four times in his lifetime. At first, it was developed on the foundation of the Jimyo-In School, popular among the nobility, then it shifted to the Koetsu and Teika and other writing styles, until finally evolving into a unique style that one may as well call the “Mitsuhiro Style,” characterized by the free and dynamic flow of the brush.This ryoshi paper has an arabesque vine pattern created with a printing block on three-color dyed base paper. Mitsuhiro ran the brush on this decorated ryoshi at one sitting. He gave it the title “Upon a Miniature Mountain on a Tray,” so perhaps this piece was written ad hoc at a friend’s mansion. Miniature mountains were elements in miniature landscapes created in boxes or on clay trays in Bonsai (dwarf trees) style. From the Muromachi Period through the early Edo Period, Bonsai-viewing was a popular artistic pursuit among the nobility and high-ranking priests. From the writing style, the exhibit was likely created when Mitsuhiro was in his 50s. Each letter is deformed wildly, a feat only achieved by writers like him.

題于盆山凹々凸々又崔嵬霞彩斜横絶頂堆本是乾坤一巻石盆中戴得化工裁光広

Rights

Ref. number
AW-CEN-001841-0000
License
CC BY
Creditline

慶應義塾(センチュリー赤尾コレクション)

Images
license

Depository and ID

Depository
Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko)
Campus Mita
URL
Classification
Art

Components

OPEN DATADESIGN

Details

Identifiers

Title (EN)
Seven-Syllable Quatrain by Karasumaru Mitsuhiro

Physical description

Weights and quantities
Quantity 1幅

Identifiers

Title (EN)
Seven-Syllable Quatrain by Karasumaru Mitsuhiro

Physical description

Weights and quantities
Quantity 1幅