Woodblock Prints Research Articles

Image Layout and Schema Analysis of Chinese Traditional Woodblock Prints Based on Texture and Color Texture Characteristics in the Environment of Few Samples.

Technology is the means by which all arts, including woodblock prints, are realized. The “kinship” with modern science and technology makes the development history of woodcut art that can also be understood as a technology history. The purpose of the texture expression produced in the creation of contemporary woodcut is to explore the rich texture expression forms made by contemporary representative painters using special material materials and tools in artistic creation, form a painting technique of personalized words, add new aesthetic meaning to art, and lay a foundation for the formation of unique style of Contemporary Art and the creation and development of woodcut texture. With the development of the times and the change of the public's aesthetic taste, the traditional pattern of printmaking needs to be properly transformed if it is to adapt to the modern humanistic environment, which also involves the importance of screen layout and pattern analysis of Chinese traditional woodcut. Based on the analysis of texture and color texture features in a few-sample environment, this paper proposes an automatic classification method for vignetting texture pictures by extracting the corresponding vignetting coefficients, and through experiments to verify that the proposed SILCO has good generalization sex. In the algorithm designed in this paper, the experiment shows that the accuracy P has a 64.7% improvement effect, and the recall r has a 67.8% performance improvement. On the whole, the experimental data show that the comprehensive classification accuracy is more than 57.4%.

A multi-analytical approach to identify red colorants on woodblock prints attributed to Suzuki Harunobu

Red organic dye identification is an important topic for conservation of Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Of particular interest are the works of Suzuki Harunobu, who was working at the inception of full-color printmaking. These prints were made on thin kōzo paper and woodblock printed with semi-transparent to opaque regions of dye(s) and/or pigment(s) mixed with binder. This study used imaging analysis, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Raman, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies (SERS) to identify the red dyes and pigments on Harunobu prints in the collection of the Portland Art Museum. Through image analysis (visible, UV, and IR illuminations), 23 prints were categorized by appearance. XRF results provided identification of vermilion and ochre pigments, and identified color fields that contained lead. Raman analysis allowed the identification of red lead, and SERS was used to identify both safflower and madder dyes. This work is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding the red dye and pigment palette and mixtures in use in the mid- to late eighteenth century, in the critical early years of full-color printmaking.Graphical

Transkulturel kunsthistorie. Om epistemologi og appropriation af japansk kunst i Danmark

The article discusses transcultural art history with Danish examples about Japanese art. This includes an introduction to the concept of transculturation, and how the concept is used in art history research. The core of the argument concerns two interrelated aspects of Danish art historiography: the role of ethnography and the myth of modernism as a Western phenomenon. For the first of these aspects, I analyse the only existing Japanese art history in Danish language, published in 1885. For the other aspect, I analyse recent interpretations of the Danish painter Anna Ancher and her alleged use of formal elements from Japanese woodblock prints. I thereby wish to connect the theoretical issues of transculturation with analyses of transformative and constituent exchange of objects, phenomena and ideas, and point out the potential of the concept of transculturation as both theory and method. An investigation of transcultural connections between Japan and Denmark will contribute to writing a new art history on global interactions.

Publication Dating through Observations of Differences in Woodblock Printing Characteristics among Various Versions of Wanpanbon Editions of Honggildongjeon (Tale of Hong Gil Dong)

To understand the process of publication and distribution of ancient Korean novels under the Joseon dynasty and Japanese occupation, collecting information on the publication of various printed materials and estimating their publication date through various methods is extremely important. In this study, the characteristics and differences that appeared in the woodblock printing process were investigated using image comparison among editions of the Honggildongjeon (Tale of Honggildong) of Wanpanbon (完板本) (published in the Jeonju region) with other commercial editions of the ancient Korean novels. Additionally, the publication year of each edition was estimated. Printed images of different versions were compared with those of a recently discovered original series version and the changes in the process of carving replacement woodblocks were investigated and summarized. Various phenomena, such as differences in fonts, borderline shapes and integrity of printed characters, appearing in woodblock prints provided useful information for determining chronological relationships between the prints and estimating the approximate publication year for each edition. The various characteristics of woodblock printing obtained through this study are expected to serve as a reference for estimating the relationship between the printing method and the approximate publication date of old books and paper-based printed historical records.

Glamorized Exploitation: Visual Images of Meiji-Period "Factory Girls" (jokō).

The cover image of this issue of Technology and Culture is a collage crafted from two figures in this essay. On the right side of the image is a detail of a black and white photograph from around 1900 of female silk mill workers () juxtaposed on the left with detail of a color woodblock print from 1877 depicting a mock-up of the Tomioka silk mill featured in an industrial exposition staged that year in Tokyo (). The collage was composed by reversing the two figures to create a dynamic "V" designed to draw the viewer's eye from left to right and, by implication, from the glamorized rendition of silk mill work in the woodblock print to a more real-world photograph documenting actual working conditions in a silk mill. This essay provides a socio-historical matrix for, and critical analysis of, representative visual images of sericulture and silk mills.

“An Eternal Dance”: Paul Claudel, Japan, and Thermodynamics

“An Eternal Dance”: Paul Claudel, Japan, and Thermodynamics Ryan Johnson (bio) Early during his time as French Ambassador to Japan from 1921 to 1927, Paul Claudel reflected on the structure of the universe.1 Having read at length about developments in physics, especially thermodynamics, Claudel wished to make recent discoveries in science fit with his Catholic cosmology. The world, he wrote in his journal, must have had an origin, but that origin must have been prompted by an outside power. The world has a trajectory, therefore a sense of movement. But movement cannot begin by itself: it must have been commenced “by a foreign power” (par une force étrangère).2 Once in movement, the world and all of the things in it gradually wind down and, “having achieved their task, enter into a state of eternal dance” (Claudel, Journal, 615; ayant achevé leur tâche, entrent dans un état de danse éternelle). Certainly, for the Catholic Claudel, the foreign power is God, and the eternal dance is life in God’s eternal kingdom. Yet Claudel’s religious interpretation of thermodynamics overlaps with his views on the writing systems and aesthetics he was encountering in East Asia. Though Claudel’s engagements with physics and East Asian aesthetics mirror the concerns of other early twentieth-century poets, the religious valency that Claudel gives to his readings in thermodynamics and the ultramodern dimension he adds to his appreciation of East Asian aesthetics produces a subtly different image of Japan and East Asia in his poetry than what we find in other early twentieth-century orientalists.3 My aim in this article is to draw attention to Claudel as sharing many of the concerns and interests of the assorted eccentrics and malcontents with whom we associate late nineteenth and early twentieth-century [End Page 265] orientalism but, through his blend of science, religion, and Japan, as existing in a unique dimension of the orientalist realm. Though Claudel and writers like Henry Adams, Ezra Pound, and Marianne Moore drew inspiration from East Asia at roughly the same time, and though all of them approached Asian, especially Chinese, and Western writing with similar interests and similar presuppositions, Claudel arrived at remarkably different conclusions about the nature of the archipelago, its art, culture, and landscape. In effect, what we find in Claudel’s writings on Japan is an attempt to make the art and scenes associated with premodern Japan incomparably modern, part of a country whose nature and writing anticipates and facilitates the understanding of developments in physics from the nineteenth century onwards. At the same time, Claudel attempts to shift the interpretation of physical theories, particularly of “énergie,” back to an older, more religious framework. The result is an image of Japan in Claudel’s work that is both antiquated and ultramodern, in time and timeless, with a peculiar interpretation of thermodynamics working to resolve the contradiction in Claudel’s conceptual universe. The ways in which East Asia has served as an alternative to Western industrialization have been well surveyed. R. John Williams describes how artists and writers from Lafcadio Hearn, Ernest Fenollosa, and Ezra Pound to Robert M. Persig and Steve Jobs have drawn inspiration from the ostensibly less mechanistic culture of East Asia in order to provide an alternative to the machine-oriented culture of the modern West.4 The view that “only the inherent aesthetic tradition of the East could rescue us [Westerners] from the inherently mechanical demons of the West” was, as Williams points out, largely founded on error.5 Williams’s monograph builds on Christopher Benfey’s and T. J. Jackson Lears’ earlier projects.6 Both earlier critics investigate the role of Japan as a focal point for American writers discontented with apparently materialistic and positivistic turn-of-the-century American culture—“misfits,” as Benfey calls them. Like Williams, both Benfey and Lears indicate that these Americans—among them Henry Adams, William Sturgis Bigelow, and Percy Lowell—flocked to Japan in search of a “primitive” culture that could turn the clock back on Western modernity. The impetus for most of the journeys to the East was a material appreciation that was bound up with Japanese art, particularly woodblock prints or...

Optimized micro-sampling and computational analysis for SERS identification of red organic dyes on prints

The goals of this study were to develop a robust methodology and data analysis procedure to identify red dyes in artwork where dye collection is inaccessible by traditional methods. With Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) it is possible to obtain identifying molecular information from dilute and degraded dyes. A minimally invasive, soft-mechanical sampling method to gently contact printed paper is described; using a customized polymeric hydrogel surface with an exposure area of about 1 mm2, micrometer-diameter colorant particles were collected. To validate that the sample collection methodology is minimally invasive, test papers were photographed before and after sampling under UV and white light; and DART-MS analysis of the sampled area was conducted. A reference library of SERS spectra from binder (hide glue), dyes (safflower, sappan, and madder), and binder-dye mixtures was built and used by a spectral-matching genetic algorithm (GA). Fifty individual GA runs returned results that precisely matched at least one dye component in 48–50 of the 50 runs, and matched both dyes in a mixture between 29 and 50 of the 50 runs. Finally, in an artwork application, the methodologies were demonstrated on micro-samples from three areas of an 18th century Japanese woodblock print by Suzuki Harunobu in the collection of the Portland Art Museum, on which, madder dyes were positively identified. Conclusions and extensions from this work are expected to contribute to the body of knowledge about 18th c. Japanese woodblock prints.

Colour on Maps: Systems, Schemes, Codes

ABSTRACT Colour on maps is a key component in their use and meaning. Hitherto, however, the terms by which the different categories of the purpose of colour are usually described tend to be inconsistent. The aim in this brief note is to discuss these terminologies and suggest a working definition for each, with a view to establishing, in the longer term, an explicit methodology for the study of colour on maps. To illustrate the three key terms discussed here, particular reference is made to manuscript maps and hand-coloured woodblock prints produced in East Asia, especially in Korea and China before the twentieth century.

Брюсов и Хокусай: Заметка об одном эротическом образе [Bryusov and Hokusai: A Note on One Erotic Image

This article concerns the likely source of an erotic image from Valery Bryusov’s hoax poem collection Stikhi Nelli ( Nelli’s Poems ). It shows that the image of an octopus copulating with a woman in the culmination of the poem “Nochnoi ropot” (“Night Murmur”), is related to Japanese erotic engravings ( shunga ), and originates from Hokusai’s woodblock print “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife” (1814). Thus, the source established supports the idea that shunga inspired European modernist poetry in its search for a new erotic language. Keywords: 20 th -Century Russian Literature, Valery Bryusov (1873—1924), Nelli’s Poems (1913), Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎, 1760—1849), Shunga, Iconographic Subtext, History of Literature.

Japanese Modernization Prints Collection (Yokohama-e and Kaika-e) in the Náprstek Museum

This article deals with the collection of prints Yokohama-e and kaika-e, which are part of the collection of woodblock prints in the Náprstek Museum. The Yokohama-e and kaika-e woodblock prints were created in the second half of the 19th century in response to Japan’s changing politics, the arrival of foreigners, and the modernization of the country, thus capturing both the first introduction to Western innovations and the manner in which these subjects were presented to the public in Japan. The modernization prints in the Náprstek Museum have not yet been evaluated by scholars; the aim of this article is to provide information concerning this part of the woodblock print collection – the artists of the prints, the subjects depicted, and the question of the donors through whose agency the prints came into the museum’s possession.

Pandemonium and postmedia animism

In what follows I distinguish «postmodern animism» from my preferred term «postmedia animism», which I propose is a better term to express a minor, virtual, contrarian art and media. In the time of planetary trauma, ecological devastation and collapse, this term will serve as a heuristic concept to trace the passage from pandemic, panic, catastrophe and crisis to the series pandemonium, delirium and the carnivalesque. My gambit is to invoke a rebellious and affirmative Yōkai imaginary (妖怪, ghost, phantom, strange apparition) in order to contest passive forms of «transcendental narcissism» or «transcendental miserabilism».This we shall designate s an aesthetics of existence. In particular, I will analyse the relationship between natural disasters and politics within the Japanese imagination through reference to Namazu-e (鯰絵, woodblock prints depicting catfish), and their political effects in the aftermath of the earthquake of October 1855 (安政江戸地震, Ansei Edo Jishin) in the Edo period of Japanese history (FIG 1). My intention is to show that this historic art form, which grew out of trauma, demonstrates a fabulatory, dissensual and political aesthetics of resistance and creativity. It is an imaginary which appears conspicuously absent in our contemporary moment

A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu

Reviewed by: A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu Whitney Emerson A COUPLE OF SOLES: A COMIC PLAY FROM SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA. By Li Yu. Translated by Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. 360 pp. Paperback, $25.00. A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China comes as a welcome addition to Columbia University Press’ Translations from the Asian Classics series; it offers an accessible new translation of an important comic work by playwright Li Yu. Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel’s translation allows English-speaking scholars and theatre artists access to another seminal work of dramatic literature from China; this also serves to aid the teaching of theatre history within a global context. Shen opens the book with a thorough introduction to the playwright and plot, giving context to the drama for readers unfamiliar with early Qing dynasty theatre (1644–1661). In the plot summary, Shen makes a point of highlighting the playwright’s depiction of the lead actors both on and off stage as chaste and virtuous as a way into the play’s broader discussion of morality and ethics. However, as Shen notes, the depiction may also be Li Yu’s attempt to elevate the poor reputation of actors during the Ming/Qing dynastic transition. Sections on vocal music conventions help the reader imagine the play in performance, giving an aural dimension to what could have been a dry translation. The introduction also draws attention to Li Yu’s controversial professional and personal life through discussion of the choice to invite the “woman scholar Wang Duanshu” to write the original 1661 preface to the play, also included in this translation. The historical significance of the work, especially when put in conversation with both previous Yuan dynasty zaju and contemporary Qing dynasty chuanqi, facilitates a deeper appreciation of the work within the context of traditional drama in China. Eye-catching artwork on the cover and the inclusion of several contemporaneous woodblock prints of the play in performance serve as illustrations of dramatic moments in the play and add a pleasing visual element to the book. The plot, performed through aria, poetry, and spoken dialogue, concerns a young scholar named Tan Chunyu, who falls in love with the beautiful young actress Fairy Liu. In order to get closer to her, he joins her family’s acting troupe and works his way up to playing romantic lead roles opposite her. Performing as lovers, they express their love for each other through onstage dialogue. However, the evil Moneybags Qian purchases Fairy Liu as a concubine from her greedy mother. The distraught lovers then commit suicide mid-performance by jumping [End Page 221] from the stage into a nearby river. However, the local river god learns of their plight and transforms them into the titular pair of soles to save their love. Murong Jie, a retired official who became a fisherman, catches the fishandthepairarerestoredtotheiroriginal humanforms. Followingthe sage advice of Murong, Tan quickly attains a government position and, aftersomestruggles, defeatsalocal bandofmonstrous brigands. Tanthen resigns his post to spend a quiet life with Liu in the mountains. In keeping in line with the stage conventions of chuanqi drama, the scenes of this lengthy play alternate in tone-romantic “wen” scenes of the lovers Tan and Liu are contrasted with military-focused “wu” scenes about brigands attacking a town. Many hallmarks of comedy are present: lovers separated by a disapproving father, mistaken identity, weddings, and metatheatre, particularly the consequential scene of the actress Fairy Liu playing an inconsolable lover in a play-within-a-play. The use of metatheatre within a kind of tongue-in-cheek criticism of the culture of performing arts is perhaps testament to Li Yu’s own command of the theatre. The work of the translators to enhance the comic tone of the play is perfectly encapsulated in the choice for the title, which plays on the pun of the homonyms “souls” and “soles.” The title also incorporates the offhanded “couple of” which has the meaning of a romantic couple as well as the casual way of referring to a small number of things...

Writer Lu Xun and the Renewal of Woodblock Printing in Chinese Art in the 1920-1930s

Writer Lu Xun and the Renewal of Woodblock Printing in Chinese Art in the 1920-1930s

Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema by Daisuke Miyao

Reviewed by: Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema by Daisuke Miyao Naoki Yamamoto (bio) Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema. By Daisuke Miyao. Duke University Press, 2020. xii, 210 pages. $99.95, cloth; $25.95, paper; $25.95, E-book. Daisuke Miyao's new book appears to be a very timely and provocative attempt to decipher the entangled relationships among Orientalism, early cinema, and Japanese modernization. The key term for his inquiry is "Japonisme," which first appeared in 1872 to designate the widespread obsession with "things Japanese" in the mid- to late nineteenth-century European art scene. Throughout the book, Miyao narrates a very informed and eye-opening story concerning "Japonisme-generated conversations and negotiations in the transnational flow of cinema during the period of global imperialism" (p. 8). It is well known that Japanese art, especially ukiyo-e woodblock prints that were initially used as wrapping paper for items imported from Japan, served as a major source of inspiration for impressionist and postimpressionist painters such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Vincent van Gogh. At the same time, early French films, especially those produced by or under contract with the Lumière Brothers have often been studied in comparison with impressionism. In spite of this, no in-depth study has yet been made into the equally significant link between Japonisme and Lumière films. The present book fills this gap in a way that is both empirically rich and theoretically stimulating. Drawing on Miyao's viewing of all 1,428 surviving Lumière films, it powerfully retrieves long-forgotten mutual influences between France and Japan from the very beginning of global film history. The book is divided into three chapters and an epilogue, with the chapters organized in such a way as to guide readers on a circular trip from Japan to France, then back to Japan, as we follow the global circulation of the discourses and practices of Japonisme. In the first chapter, Miyao suggests that "Lumière films need to be understood within their contemporary media ecology of photography, painting, and cinema, all under the sway [End Page 230] of the compositional principles of Japonisme and the new idea of a kinetic and corporeally grounded realism that arose from it" (p. 9). To producers of these visual media products, Japonisme meant more than a simple appropriation of exotic themes frequently appearing in Japanese art. Rather, it signified their serious learning of the principles and techniques that penetrated their beloved Japanese paintings. For this reason, Miyao argues, "[w]hat impressionist and postimpressionist painters valued most in ukiyo-e was the method of sketching and composition that not only captured moments and movements of the environment instantly but also physically mobilized the eyes of the spectator" (p. 10). It is easy to understand how Lumière cinematographers could readily accomplish the first task of instantaneously capturing living and moving objects with the aid of the movie camera's recording ability, but what about the second? Miyao's answer is that both impressionist painters and Lumière cinematographers frequently adopted a special compositional technique developed by famous ukiyo-e artists such as Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige. Alternatively termed "kinzō-gata-kōzu," "chūkei-datsuraku," and "en=kin-hō" by ukiyo-e specialists, this compositional technique intentionally stressed the contrast between the main object placed at the forefront (usually depicted with an extreme close-up) and the landscape and other small objects placed far in the background as if there were no middle ground in the frame. Because these two planes were usually drawn from two different perspectives—one in the newly imported Western linear perspective, and the other in the traditional "bird's eye" or "parallel" perspective—the technique also succeeded in creating a "heterogenous" or "equivocal" space in which the viewer's gaze is free to roam according to the viewer's subjective choices. This technique appeared to be well suited to French impressionists whose main enemy was academic painting and its uncritical reliance on linear perspective with a single, fixed vanishing point. Drawing on recent studies in the fields of psychology and physiology, impressionists and postimpressionists had already adopted the new idea that reality was composed of...

Production and Consumption of Coromandel Lacquer Screens in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Coromandel lacquer screen is a Chinese folding screen made from the 17th century to 19th century in China. The screen is usually about 250cm high, 600cm width and consisting of twelve panels. Although these screens were made in China during the Qing dynasty, they received their name from India’s Coromandel coast, where they were transshipped to Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries by merchants of the English and Dutch East India companies. The Dutch traders carried these screens from Bantam in Java, and in early accounts they were frequently called Bantam screens as well as Coromandel screens. This paper examines Coromandel lacquer screen's art historical significance in the incising global interaction and consumer culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. It first discusses historical and cultural background of production in China which have been little known about. The primary sources focus on the record of <i>Xiu Shi lu</i>, the 16th century book about lacquer, and the inscriptions left on the screens. They will give information about when the screens were produced, what was the purpose of them, and the technique of decoratively incising lacquer and adding polychrome to the voids, called <i>kuan cai</i> in Chinese. The lacquer screen features a continuous scene run through all twelve panels, just like a hand-scroll painting with variety of colours. The prominent subjects for decoration are human figures, landscape and bird-and-flower. The narrative theme with human figures, such as Birthday Reception for General Guo Ziyi and the World of Immortals were shaped by literature or play. Also, the parallels between the lacquer screens and the paintings on the same theme are found. The scenes with Europeans are rare but bring various interpretations within the historical context of the time. The landscape themes, such as the Scenes of Lake Xihu and the Nine Bend in Mountain Wuyi, were depicted famous scenic spots in China. The composition and expression of the screens were probably inspired by landscape woodblock prints, it’s because the technique of lacquer screen and woodblock cutting are similar. Lastly, bird-and-flower theme has a long tradition of wishing longevity, happiness and peace in one’s life and produced in various medium. Thanks to the enormous progress in navigation and discovered sea roots in the 16th century, Dutch and England East India Companies imported quantities of Chinese lacquerworks in the 17th century. As Chinoiserie gain popularity all over Europe, Chinese objects were consumed in various ways. Imported Coromandel lacquer screens were incorporated into European interiors. They were cut into a number of panels, which mounted within wood paneling on walls and inserted into contemporary furniture. The lacquer screen also inspired European’s imitation of Asian lacquer known by a variety of names. This paper surveys Coromandel lacquer screen’s domestic production, exploding consumption and global conquest from the 17th century to 18th centuries, when the screen was explosively made. The lacquer screen is an active participant in cross-cultural interaction, not merely a passive commodity of china. Investigating the material culture of the lacquer screen, it was originally created in chinese domestic background concerned with social prestige, in Europe, consumed to show off exotic luxury and triggered a new stylistic changes in chinoiserie.

Comparative Study on Very Similar Jeungdoga Scripts through Image Analysis - Fundamental Difference between Treasure No. 758-1 and Treasure No. 758-2 -

Photographic images of the Samseong-version (三省本: Korea’s Treasure No. 758-1) and the Gongin-version (空印本: Korea’s Treasure No. 758-2) of Nammyeongcheon Hwasangsong Jeungdoga (南明泉和尙頌證道歌: Nanmingquan Song Zhengdaoge) were compared and analyzed to investigate the differences between the two versions. According to a report in 2012 at the time of the designation of the Gongin-version as Korea’s treasure, both versions were printed from the same woodblocks. The Gongin-version is presumed to be a later print than the Samseong-version. The two versions are very similar in format and shape of border lines and characters. It is difficult to determine the differences with the naked eye, even for experts. In this study, based on the printing characteristics observed from each version through image analysis, useful evidence to determine whether it was printed using the same or different woodblocks and the order of printing was collected. As a result of careful image comparison and analysis, we concluded that the Samseong- and the Gongin-version were printed from different woodblocks, or possibly different typesetting. It was difficult to agree with the content of the report that the Gongin-version was a later print than the Samseong-version. In addition, it was noted that the Gongin-version print has characteristics quite different from the typical characteristics of woodblock printing seen in the Samseong-version. Additional investigations and follow-up studies on the printing technology used for Gongin-version print and the timing of printing are recommended.

The Earliest Extant Example of Woodblock Printing: 
 the Precept Certificate of the 29th Year of Kaiyuan (741 A.D.)

In this paper, the present author focus on the three printed images of Buddha on the precept certificate from the Dayun Monastery of Dunhuang preserved in St. Petersburg (Дх.02881+Дх.02882). It is the earliest extant example of woodblock printing, with a definite date the 9th day of the 2nd month of the 29th year of Kaiyuan 開元 (A.D. 741), which has long been ignored by the specialists on the history of printing. The certificate was given the monk Daojian from the Great Anguo Monastery from the capital Changan, as the representative of the royal monastery. The precept certificate with printed Buddha images has great significance in the history of printing. Based on the facts that Sinicized monasteries in Central Asia and Japan should have the same institution as in Dunhuang and Changan, we can assume the certificate with the same woodblock printing was very likely to be spread to the Western Region (Central Asia) as well as to Japan.

Gods and Demons of Diseases: Japanese Traditional Views on Epidemics and the Ways of Resistance to Them

The article discusses the mechanisms of protection against infectious diseases that have been employed in Japan through ages, and the religious, social, and individual practices considered effective in the struggle with epidemics. Studying the cultural and ethnoreligious roots of Japanese attitude towards epidemics is particularly relevant these days. The coronavirus pandemic has reanimated the memory of old popular beliefs and actualized traditional, even archaic, rituals and superstitions. Alongside obvious hygienic measures going back to the Shinto rites of purifications, historically, the amplitude of responses (whether on state or local or family levels) oscillated from the ceremonies of appeasing the demons of diseases to the rituals for exorcising them.Besides written historical sources, the main material analyzed in this article is visual: popular woodblock prints with mythological subjects, leaflets on vaccination, children’s toys representing protective characters, and apotropaic amulets. The main focus is on the materials against smallpox and cholera in the early modern period in Japan (the Edo epoch, mainly the 18th—19th centuries) and the mass reaction (not medical but resurrecting traditional superstitions) to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning the coronavirus, this is a new academic subject, and as for the analytical studies of visual sources on the magical reaction on epidemics during the Edo time, there are hardly any of them in Russian and quite few of them in other languages, including Japanese.In conclusion, the author posits that along with certain real benefits (like the propaganda, albeit mythologized, for vaccination, or the practices of “self-purification” jishuku of the COVID times), the demonological approach played (and partly plays) the role of a humorous and entertaining instrument that alleviated the sense of menace and insecurity.

Comparative Study of the Illustrations and Images of the Chinese Classical Novel “Investiture of the Gods” in Woodblock Editions, Popular Prints and Temple Paintings

The paper discusses visual material based the plot of the Ming dynasty novel Fengshen yanyi (“Investiture of the Gods”, “封神演義”,), formed on the basis of a large corpus of written historical works and Song—Yuan vernacular literature. Various illustrated woodblock and lithographic editions of the novel (published before 1911) are discussed in chronological order with focus on the special features and artistic level of the illustrations, their content and technique are compared. Artisans' approaches to interpretation of the novel is also a subject of discussion. Popular woodblock prints nianhua from Russian collections are examined in order to trace whether connections with book illustrations exist and what episodes of the novel became more popular and for what reason. The paper refers to materials stored in prominent libraries, museums and research centres of Russia, Europe, US and Asia.

An Experimental Reproduction Study on Characteristics of Woodblock Printing on Traditional Korean Paper (Hanji)

The history of printing technology in Korea is studied by investigating existing ancient documents and records and comparing accumulated data and knowledge. Cultural property research requires non-destructive testing and observation with the naked eye or aided by a microscope. Researchers’ experience and knowledge are required even though they cannot guarantee the outcome. For ancient documents and records that are presumed to consist of woodblock printing, wood type printing, metal type printing, or their combinations, each researcher draws various opinions and conclusions. This often causes confusion and divides the opinions of ordinary citizens and field specialists. Among them, the criteria for judging ancient documents or books printed using woodblock and metal movable material are ambiguous. Academic research on the development history of printing technology in ancient Korea has been stagnant, and conflicts among researchers have also erupted. Involvement of national investigative agencies not specialized in cultural properties has exacerbated the situation. In this study, we investigated printing characteristics that are likely to serve as more objective judgment criteria by quantitatively analyzing the experiments of retrieving several sheets of Korean paper (Hanji) using a replicated Hunminjeongeum (訓民正音) woodblock and quantitatively analyzing the images of the printed papers. In addition, the validity and questions for the typical phenomena presented as a method for distinguishing between woodblock and metal print are reviewed. We investigated the possibility of developing new objective judgement criteria through quantitative analysis using image analysis and investigating the printing characteristics of Korean paper through a reproduction experiment of woodblock printing.