飛鳥美人画 | Asuka Bijin | 538-710 | Bijin #14

The Asuka Bijin or Asuka Beauties (538-710) refer to a series of burial paintings depicting a number of beautiful people dressed in contemporary beautified attire. They are thought to have been made by a Korean artist due to their dress matching descriptions of contemporaneous Korean national dress, given that Japan had developed trade relations with the proto-Korean nations of Baekje, Silla, Gaya and Goguryeo.[1] It is thought that the tomb is most likely an ode to one of Emperor Tenmu's (c.631CE-686CE) relatives, Isonokami Ason Maro (640–717) or for the Japanese-Baekjean nobleman Kudara no Konikishi Zenkō (617CE-700CE).

Asuka Bijin (c650 PD) Maculosae tegmine lyncis, Wikimedia Commons

When we are seeing the aesthetics of the Asuka Bijin, we can see how these when compared to similar time period works  display the Asuka sense of beauty in relation to ideals about Buddhism, modesty, Asian ideology such as Confucianism, wealth and hierarchy. Whilst a lot of the information about the aesthetics of this period are lost to us with the passage of time, we can see that modesty clearly played quite a large role in how the body was adorned in particular, and how an almost excess of fabric, long trains, props, fans, dyed fabrics and coiffed duck hairstyles all played into the hierarchical aesthetic of portraying the Asuka aesthetic of having or being wealth adjacent.

Ruqun Han (c25CE, PD) Anonymous, Ws227

These depictions of beauties can be taken as part of a wider Pan-Asian acculturation of dress, adapted initially from the Chinese Ruqun. The Ruqun being a Chinese garment made of a lower top and skirt worn from the bust down. This was also the official court dress of Korea when Goguryeo became a tributary state to the Celestials in 32CE. Goguryeo courtiers received the official uniform every time they got a new king, and this system was known as the Gwanbok system, becoming the Korean Hanbok. The official set of garments worn in Goguryeo became known as the 'Ochaebok' becoming more fixed by around 200CE under the influence of the Han dynasty.[3]

Woman in Paofu Model (c206) 

The Han brought about many standardised and alternative Hanfu accessories we might say which included the Paofu, shown above. 

Gwanbok Ochaebok of Korea (c371, PD) Wikimedia Commons

During this time, with the rise and fall of many paperwork kingdoms and dynasties, the Ruqun changed forms to adapt to new climates in the Celestial Empire of the Middle Kingdom (Old China). When the court of the Northern dynasties ruled (around 300-550CE), this saw the introduce of the Durumagi, a type of overcoat worn by courtiers to keep warm.[3] By 360CE, this was introduced into the Gwanbok system from Chinese refugees fleeing civil wars and worn in Goguryeo.[3][4] By this time, the Han dynasty had fully developed and all of Gwanbok court attire was derived from their Hanfu (Han clothing) style of dress.

Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies (c.370, PD) Ku K'ai-chih

Guiyi style from back (c406[copy c.1279], PD) Anonymous

Another style which gained popularity in this manner at the same time, was the Guiyi (Swallow-Tail Flying Ribbons) garments.[3] This became the Guipao (one piece) and Gui-Chang (two piece) styles. The predominantly popular style was the Gui-Chang at the time, and it was this form of royal attire which was heavily worn by the courts during the first millenia which is the form of clothing the Asuka Bijin, most likely heavily influenced by their allies the Goguryeo court and their form of Ochaebok Gwanbok dress system wear. 

Durumagi bedecked  APEC goers (2005, CC3.0) Le Kremlin

By around the year 550CE, this form of dress developed in Japan into the Wafuku style of the Durumagi atop the Guiyi style bottom. At this point, Confucianism was on the wane in the China in lieu of Lao Tzu, Buddhist translations from Northern India, Humanitarian Philosophy and Taoism amongst lower nobles which caused infighting with the upper court nobles, resulting in lower nobles pursuit of Xuanxue (mysterious learning, or Chinese semantic arguments about Dao) to lead an almost aesthetic lifestyle of seeking for comfort and beauty as per their mysterious new philosophy.[4] In this 300 year timespan (200-500CE) we see how Chinese court attire was transmitted via cultural acculturation over from Imperial China via Goguryeo to Japan by the beginning of the Asuka period in 538CE.

Asuka Bijin

Japanese Wafuku only distinguished itself as distinctive ethnic clothing in the face of European questioning and a move away and onwards in a distinct cultural sense from their neighbours in the late 16th century. The particular painter of the Takamatsuzuka Tumulus is thought to have been from southern Goguryeo.[2] These four figures comprise of the four serving maids of a procession for the owner of the tomb, and are half of the procession which follows Ancient Chinese celestial symbols around the mound interior.[2] Thus they are wearing a Gui-Chang and Durumagi dress style, adopted from the Goguryeo courts, in turn adopted from earlier Northern Chinese Dynasty styles.

Another distinctive element of dress reform was the inclusion of long sleeves over the Paofu (one piece floor length robe) which closely resembles the modern kimono, but the Kimono distinctly comes later and as more of a Heimin item than aristocratic one, hence Paofu being the Heimin derivative and Guiyi the aristocratic equivalent whose legacy in Japan is the Junihitoe.[4][5] The Paofu was originally simply an overcoat for the Shenyi, an older form of Ruqun. It seems to be in this sense that the Paofu was an early indicator of the Kosode, that is as an outer layer visible to the naked eye which wraps around the body, ties asymmetrically and would have used a belt to hold its place.

The Wa Bijin

In context we can see how the court dress of Imperial China and Ancient Korea has been passed down into the cultural Acculturation of the Kimono as one variety of Pan-Asian ethnic clothing. We can also see how this makes the Kimono rather more transnational and polycultural than some ethnocentrics would have us believe, and show how as a cousin of the Hanbok and granddaughter of the Ruqun, the Kimono developed during the early Asuka period. This acculturation of the Ruqun, Paofu and Guiyi styles of China into the Gogoryeo courts with the fleeing of Chinese refugees from the tumultous warring states period of China show how these ideas were transmitted to the early fiefdoms and leaders of Asuka period society by Far Eastern cultures, distinct from our modern understanding of them, in the national sense into Wa by 538CE. It is this context which allows us to comprehend what a beautiful person could look like in the area known as Wa at this time, and that this was based heavily on Chinese-Korean models, aesthetics and beauty ideals.

Bibliography 

[1] See Fabrics #3

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takamatsuzuka_Tomb#History

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwanbok#Goguryeo

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallow-tailed_Hems_and_Flying_Ribbons_clothing

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paofu

Bijin Series Timeline

11th century BCE

- The Ruqun becomes a formal garment in China (1000 BCE) [Coming Soon]

8th century BCE

- Chinese clothing becomes highly hierarchical (771 BCE) [Coming Soon]

0000 Current Era

7th century

Asuka Bijin (c.699); The Wa Bijin

8th century

- Introduction of Chinese Tang Dynasty clothing (710)

- Sumizuri-e (710)

- Classical Chinese Art ; Zhou Fang (active 766-805) ; Qiyun Bijin

- Emakimono Golden Age (799-1400)

15th century 

- Fuzokuga Painting schools; Kano (1450-1868) and Tosa (1330-1690) 

- Machi- Eshi painters; 1336-1650? [Coming Soon] 

16 century 

- Nanbanjin Art (1550-1630) 

- Wamono style begins under Chanoyu teachings (c1550-1580)

- Byobu Screens (1580-1670)

 - End of Sengoku Jidai brings Stabilisation policy (1590-1615)  

17th century  

- Land to Currency based Economy Shift (1601-1655)

- Early Kabuki Culture (1603-1673) ; Yakusha-e or Actor Prints

- Sumptuary legislation in reaction to the wealth of the merchant classes (1604-1685) 

- Regulation of export and imports of foreign trade in silk and cotton (1615-1685)  

Iwasa Matabei (active 1617-1650) ; Yamato-e Bijin  

The Hikone Screen (c.1624-1644) [Coming Soon]

- Sankin-Kotai (1635-1642) creates mass Urbanisation  

- Popular culture and print media production moves from Kyoto to Edo (1635-1650); Kiyohara Yukinobu (1650-1682) ; Manji Classical Beauty

- Shikomi-e (1650-1670) and Kakemono-e which promote Androgynous Beauties;

 Iwasa Katsushige (active 1650-1673) ; Kojin Bijin

- Mass Urbanisation instigates the rise of Chonin Cottage Industry Printing (1660-1690) ; rise of the Kabunakama Guilds and decline of the Samurai

- Kanazoshi Books (1660-1700); Koshokubon Genre (1659?-1661)

- Shunga (1660-1722); Abuna-e

Kanbun Master/School (active during 1661-1673) ; Maiko Bijin 

- Hinagata Bon (1666 - 1850) 

- Ukiyo Monogatari is published by Asai Ryoi (1666) 

Yoshida Hanbei (active 1664-1689) ; Toned-Down Bijin

- Asobi/Suijin Dress Manuals (1660-1700)

- Ukiyo-e Art (1670-1900)

Hishikawa Moronobu (active 1672-1694) ; Wakashu Bijin

- Early Bijin-ga begin to appear as Kakemono (c.1672)  

- Rise of the Komin-Chonin Relationship (1675-1725)

- The transit point from Kosode to modern Kimono (1680); Furisode, Wider Obi 

- The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) ; Yuezen Hiinakata

Sugimura Jihei (active 1681-1703) ; Technicolour Bijin 

- The Amorous Tales are published by Ihara Saikaku (1682-1687)

Hishikawa Morofusa (active 1684-1704) [Coming Soon]

- The Beginning of the Genroku Era (1688-1704)

- The rise of the Komin and Yuujo as mainstream popular culture (1688-1880) 

- The consolidation of the Bijinga genre as mainstream pop culture 

- The rise of the Torii school (1688-1799) 

- Tan-E (1688-1710)   

Miyazaki Yuzen (active 1688-1736) ; Genroku Komin and Wamono Bijin 

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1688 - 1729) : Commercial Bijin

Furuyama Moromasa (active 1695-1748)

18th century

Nishikawa Sukenobu (active 1700-1750) [Coming Soon]

Kaigetsudo Ando (active 1700-1736) ; Broadstroke Bijin

Okumura Masanobu (active 1701-1764)

Kaigetsudo Doshin (active 1704-1716) [Coming Soon]

Baioken Eishun (active 1710-1755) [Coming Soon]

Kaigetsudo Anchi (active 1714-1716) [Coming Soon]

Yamazaki Joryu (active 1716-1744) [Coming Soon]

1717 Kyoho Reforms

Miyagawa Choshun (active 1718-1753) [Coming Soon]

Miyagawa Issho (active 1718-1780) [Coming Soon]

Nishimura Shigenaga (active 1719-1756) [Coming Soon]

Matsuno Chikanobu (active 1720-1729) [Coming Soon]

- Beni-E (1720-1743)

Torii Kiyonobu II (active 1725-1760) [Coming Soon]

- Uki-E (1735-1760)

Kawamata Tsuneyuki (active 1736-1744) [Coming Soon]

Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820)

Miyagawa Shunsui (active from 1740-1769) [Coming Soon]

Benizuri-E (1744-1760)

Ishikawa Toyonobu (active 1745-1785) [Coming Soon]

Tsukioka Settei (active 1753-1787) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonaga (active 1756-1787) [Coming Soon]

Shunsho Katsukawa (active 1760-1793) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Toyoharu (active 1763-1814) [Coming Soon]

Suzuki Harunobu (active 1764-1770) [Coming Soon]

- Nishiki-E (1765-1850)

Torii Kiyonaga (active 1765-1815) [Coming Soon]

Kitao Shigemasa (active 1765-1820) [Coming Soon]

Maruyama Okyo (active 1766-1795) [Coming Soon]

Kitagawa Utamaro (active 1770-1806) [Coming Soon]

Kubo Shunman (active 1774-1820) [Coming Soon]

Tsutaya Juzaburo (active 1774-1797) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunimasa (active from 1780-1810) [Coming Soon]

Tanehiko Takitei (active 1783-1842) [Coming Soon]

Katsukawa Shuncho (active 1783-1795) [Coming Soon]

Choubunsai Eishi (active 1784-1829) [Coming Soon]

Eishosai Choki (active 1786-1808) [Coming Soon]

Rekisentei Eiri (active 1789-1801) [Coming Soon] [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ukiyo-e_paintings#/media/File:Rekisentei_Eiri_-_'800),_Beauty_in_a_White_Kimono',_c._1800.jpg]

Chokosai Eisho (active 1792-1799) [Coming Soon]

Kunimaru Utagawa (active 1794-1829) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Toyokuni II (active 1794 - 1835) [Coming Soon]

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai (active 1799-1823) [Coming Soon]

19th century

Teisai Hokuba (active 1800-1844) [Coming Soon]

Totoya Hokkei (active 1800-1850) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunisada Toyokuni III (active 1800-1865) [Coming Soon]

Urakusai Nagahide (active from 1804) [Coming Soon]

Kitagawa Tsukimaro (active 1804 - 1836)

Kikukawa Eizan (active 1806-1867) [Coming Soon]

Keisai Eisen (active 1808-1848) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (active 1810-1861) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Hiroshige (active 1811-1858) [Coming Soon]

Yanagawa Shigenobu (active 1818-1832) [Coming Soon]

Utagawa Kunisada II (active 1844-1880) [Coming Soon]

Toyohara Kunichika (active 1847-1900) [Coming Soon]

Kano Hogai (active 1848-1888) [Coming Soon]

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (active 1850-1892) [Coming Soon]

Toyohara Chikanobu (active 1875-1912) [Coming Soon]

Kiyokata Kaburaki (active 1891-1972) [Coming Soon]

Goyo Hashiguchi (active 1899-1921) [Coming Soon]

20th century

Yumeji Takehisa (active 1905-1934) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kotondo (active 1915-1976) [Coming Soon]

Yamakawa Shūhō (active 1927-1944) [Coming Soon]

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唐織り | Kara-ori | Chinese Embroidery Weave | Patterns #13

Kara Ori (Chinese motifs) refers to heavy silk brocades often designed with motifs derived from the Japanese-archipelago idea of Chinese motifs. The woven effect is here meant to look embroidered, to denote wealth. Often a Twill-weave silk Brocade, the Glossed Silk weft threads usually denote the design element of the motif. Flatter threads are covered in foil, and bound close to the warp threads. Due to its stiffness, it is said to evoke the drapery of noblewomen in Noh theatre.[1] Many designs heavily feature interlocking floral designs ( Shippo-Tsunagi ) which reference the Buddhist concept of the Seven Treasures, said to bring good luck. 

Floating Twill Brocade Embroidery Robe (c1799) Smithsonian Design Museum

Historically the weave known as Kara-Ori was brought to Japan from Guangdong China by Yazaemon Mizuta ( dates unknown ) in 1235 CE.[4] During this time due to a collapse of power structures in neighbouring China due to civil war, Chinese silks became astronomically expensive with Japanese silk thereby replacing them with copies of Ming designs.[3]  This very stiff type of brocade is still commonly associated in Japan as a feature of Chinese Silks. Kara-Ori began as a codified pattern in the Momoyama period (1573-1615) under the tutelage of Hikosaburo Mitsuta (c1485-1573?) to Iemon Takewaka (active 1573-1592), most often a garment worn by the elites or particularly wealthy textile patrons such as Nagamasa Kuroda (1568-1623) which developed into Hakata-Ori.[2][4] The bulk of Western collections go from the early 1700s, often saved due to the elaborate and decorative nature of the textiles for Noh plays which drew Western collector sensibilities to them during their height of collection in the Victorian era. Today, Kara-Ori is mostly regarded as a historical textile and collected and presented as such, and is rarely used in modern design, like other Chinese derived counterparts such as Bashu Brocade.

Bibliography

[1] https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/blog/496-japanese-noh-theatre-garments

[2] https://rcwg.scrippscollege.edu/blog/acquisition-essays/the-highlights-of-the-collection-noh-theater-robe/

[3] http://char.txa.cornell.edu/japantex.htm

[4] https://www.minnanokimono.com/tejido-obi-hakata/

[5] https://collection.artbma.org/objects/41873/buddhist-priests-robe-kesa-in-karaori-with-floral-designs

This is going up early due to my work schedule at the moment if you were wondering.

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