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    Japanese Sculpture
    Japanese Sculpture
    Japanese Sculpture
    Ebook111 pages44 minutes

    Japanese Sculpture

    By Seiroku Noma

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    About this ebook

    Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateSep 9, 2016
    ISBN9781473356788
    Japanese Sculpture

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      Book preview

      Japanese Sculpture - Seiroku Noma

      JAPANESE SCULPTURE

      BY

      Seiroku Noma

      (Translated by M. G. Mori)

      Kitizyōten, Zyōruri-zi Temple (wood coloured, 12th cent.)

      CONTENTS

      Sculpture-Lover’s Pilgrimage in Japan

      Short Bibliography

      One of Zyūnisinsyō, Sin-Yakusizi Temple (clay, 8th cent.)

      I. INTRODUCTION

      East and West, separated as they are by geographical distance, differ from each other considerably in their modes and aspects of artistic expression. Since, however, all forms of art are worthy to be treasured as the common property of mankind, the Orient and the Occident should constantly strive for mutual understanding and respect in matters of art-appreciation. And this necessity has never been greater than at the present time, when civilization has so amazingly reduced the distance between East and West that Oriental art is no longer the art of a distant land that it once was to the Westerner, but is that of his immediate neighbour. Yet even now, how few are the Westerners who really understand Eastern art! It may well be that there is no urgent need for such an understanding on the part of the Occidental; but his neglect of efforts to acquire any knowledge of Eastern art would be tantamount to allowing his own artistic or aesthetic sense to lie half asleep when he should awaken it to full activity. If, then, this brochure on Japanese sculpture should serve, however slightly, to awaken the Westerner’s interest in this subject and give him fresh and fruitful ideas in the creation of new works of art, the author’s efforts will be more than amply rewarded.

      It may surprise my readers to learn that there survive in this country a great many works of Japanese sculpture of all periods beginning with the fifth century of the Christian era. Even those works which receive special official protection as national treasures, alone number more than two thousand. All these sculptures are older than the sixteenth century, and have been selected from a much greater number because of their superior workmanship. Not a few of them, indeed, are masterpieces not at all inferior in artistic quality to representative works of Greek and Renaissance sculpture. What is more, they reveal modes of expression and devices of technique hitherto unattempted by Western sculptors. These marvellous achievements of Japanese sculpture owe their origin in part to the rich artistic genius of the nation and its great love of art, and in part to the geographical position of the country. Forming, as it does, the extreme eastern border of the Orient, Japan is a tranquil sea-girt country, unaffected by the frequent political storms raging over the continent of Asia, yet well able to adopt, preserve, and still further develop all the best features of Oriental art.

      To the average Westerner who has been brought up in an environment totally unlike ours, Japanese sculpture may be very difficult to understand and appreciate. Quite often the truly artistic qualities of our art have been eclipsed to him by what has impressed him as its bizarre and mystic character. Such an impression is in reality traceable to an imperfect knowledge. This brochure is presented to the Western reader primarily as an aid to the understanding of Japanese sculpture, but I take this opportunity of asking him to look at Japanese works of plastic arts with that broad-minded humanitarian love which knows no national border.

      II. BRIEF HISTORY OF JAPANESE SCULPTURE

      It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the history of Japanese sculpture is little else than a history of Buddhist sculpture in this country,

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