英国王室と着物 | The British Royals and Kimono | c.1615 - 2022

In lieu of the usual post, to respect the passing over of HRH Queen Elizabeth and early departure of Diana, this post will be updated as and when in the future. It covers the known history of the British Monarchies brushes with Kimono and KTC which spans many types of materials and forms.

EIC

Whilst it is not certain, it is believed a series of Japanese Kosode could have been sent to King James I as part of the bid to begin trade with a European country such as Britain by as early as 1615.[1] These were originally exported into the country by the EIC between 1613-1620 when England operated a factory in Japan.

Indian Gownes

Banyan were imported into England by around 1665 and are likely to have been used in the courts of Charles II, brought from Amsterdam by the EIC ( East India Company ). During this time, the fashionable wore their Banyans with the sleeves and collars folded back to expose the luxurious silks used underneath.[2]

 Merry Vests

The Banyan often was companion to the 3 piece suit which was invented at the court of Charles II in 1666. To promote English trade over French fashions worn by the aristocratic classes of England, Charles began a new fashion of wearing vests at his English court.

[Charles II] hath yesterday in Council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes, which he will never alter. It will be a vest, I know not well how, but it is to teach the nobility thrift, and will do good. - Samuel Pepys 8/10/1666

The Banyan as a T-shaped garment made from silk for gentlemens loungewear was made in Britain certainly by the 1670s. It was with the advent of the newly fashionable three piece suit that aristocratic men began styling their wardrobes with lavish accents such as gold trim, silk buttons, satire worthy hats and overcoats to match. One of these fashions by 1675 was the Banyan style House coat or even Kimono in rarer instances in which the fashionable late 17th century man of means lounged around in.[2] 

The Glorious Porcelain Revolution

Arita Porcelain Ware Bijin (c1690-1700) Royal Collection Trust

During the Stuart House (1603-1704) Queen Mary (1662-1694) and her consort William were invited to 'invade' England and become the reigning *protestant* monarchs. The incoming Continental born Queen brought the fashion for Porzellan zimmer (Porcelain rooms) which displayed hundreds to thousands of decorative porcelain pieces in their collectors home. Queen Mary was known for collecting Japanese Arita-ware and Dutch Delftware (imitation Guangzhou export porcelain) at the Water Gallery in Hampton Court, and it is thought that this China-collecting habit carried on as a fashionable court hobby for ladies in particular. So much so that collecting porcelain was considered a 'feminine trait' after 1690.

The Bijin porcelain collected in the period where first the Kakiemon-ware by the 1680s, then Arita-ware in the 1690s and most prominently Imari-ware at its height from 1700-1850. Whilst it can be said that the earlier incarnations of collectors of Kakiemon and Arita bought for the 'Indian effect', later British collectors prized Imari-ware for its own beauty. You can distinguish Kakiemon figures by their subdued Ma Ji-Monnyu and sparse use of motif and colour. Arita Bijin use distinctly black Obi in their designs and a limited blue-red-emerald green colourway and Imari-ware are immediately noticable for their use of intricate red-deep blue-gold colourways and red obi. Some of these features by this time will also have catered to European tastes as export-ware.

 

Kakiemon Bijin (c.1675) | Arita Bijin (c.1690) | Imari Bijin (c.1700)

RTC, Dresden Palace (PD/CC3.0,4.0)

This (middle) Bijin figure wears a Genroku period (1688-1704) Ji-Monnyu style, and thus may be either from the collection of Queen Mary or Queen Anne (1665-1714). Due to the lack of interest in women collectors though, we can only go off the appearance clues alone in dating the figure, and whilst the Bijin figure is contemporary to Mary, the fashion for Imari, the colours associated in England with this aesthetic were far more popular in the reign of Queen Anne and thus could be from the collections of either of their majesties, reflecting the fascination with 'Indian Nightgownes' of the 1690s. This late Stuart tradition carried on until the Georgian period, when the fashions changed once more to suit contemporary tailoring.

Georgian Forays 

Japanese export Banyan worn by George VI (c.1800) Musuem of Applied Art and Sciences

This recent archival liberation was worn by King George IV by the 19th century and was most likely acquired through the VOC.

Victorian Escapades

Japanese Tableau Scene Postcard (1891, PD) Royal Collection Trust

A tableau vivant scene performed every year at the Royal Residence around Christmas in 1891 was dedicated to performing a Japanese scene with the many Japanese objects collected in the Royal Collection for the enjoyment of Queen Victoria.

Anglo-Japanese Alliance 1902-1923

The Abdicated One or Edward VIII (c1921, PD) Anonymous

Why we call him the Abdicated One. (1937, Fair Use) BBC

Edward was very friendly with his Japanese counterpart, the Crown Prince of Japan during the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. He visited during the 1920s and dressed in Japanese Wafuku during his time there.

The Elizabethan Epoch

The Queen in Japan (1975) Someone

Princess Diana

Princess Diana on official tour duties (1986) Japan School

When Princess Diana visited Japan in 1986, she was gifted this intricate Furisode.

For more related British-Japanese royal interactions, see the Japan; Courts and Culture Exhibition on until February 2023. Has a great selection of how the royal family has kept certain items related to Japan as well as some of the original reciprocal gifts during the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

Bibliography

[1] Japanese Export Lacquer: 1580-1850, Oliver R. Impey, ‎C. J. A. Jörg, ‎Christiaan Jorg, 2005, p.600?

[2] ヨーロッパのバンヤン | European Banyans | 1639 - 1750 | Essay #14 

External Links

https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/japan-courts-and-culture/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace

Social Links

One stop Link shop: https://linktr.ee/Kaguyaschest

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ミス・ユニバースとキモノペ | Miss Universe and Kimonope | 1959-2021 | Essay #16

This essay will explore how Beauty Pageants, principally Miss Universe, has engaged with KTC. While there may be real Kimono worn by Japanese and Japanese adjacent contestants in the 'National Costume' category, I will be focusing on the Kimonope worn by contestants. The idea of Kimono as a 'national costume' sparks interesting conversations on what 'national costumes' are, their target audiences, and how we form ideas about these things to begin with.

Akiko Kojima with Linda Watamaru in 'Oriental Dress' (1959, PD) Associated Press

Background on Miss Universe

Miss Universe began in 1952 as a marketing ploy by a California company Catalina to sell swimsuits and has continually run for 71 years now as an international arm of the Beauty Pageant Industry. Beauty Pageants such as Miss Universe have gone through many scandals, mostly regarding their lack of diversity, criticism from feminist groups, problems regarding eating disorders, ownership by the fart himself and denying full dignity (in the legal sense) to the incredibly intelligent and hard working women who take part in them.

Contestants today are judged on their looks, personality, aesthetics, knowledge, volunteer work and community based work as well. The Modern Miss Universe often provides opportunities such as modelling contracts, material goods and educational scholarships to winners.

Catalina Advertisement (1955, PD) Photoplay Magazine

Of Nations

Whilst it is rather semantic, a country it must be noted, is not a nation. Just as England is a country, the United Kingdom is the Nation. This I bring up to make note of why the first half of 'national costume' comes into play. The term 'Nation' as we understand it, derives from 18th century German philosophy (a very nasty headspace indeed; see Scientific Racism and Benjamin Rush for our Statesians friends) when the Holy Roman Empire was split up, creating Germany in its wake by 1815 (when your degree is actually useful XD). The idea of nation differs from country in that nation does not require the ownership of land to exist. A country does. It is in this fire and brimstone of the European republics phase that the term 'Nation' or 'Nation-state' came to be defined a group of people with shared attributes. 

The National Costume Narrative

Firstly when we are talking about National Costumes, we must remember that in English we are talking about the historically European tradition of giving 'National Costumes' to certain groups. This began in the 18th century as a way to define what a country was and took off in the 19th in the advent of European Colonization which saw a desire to pseudo-classify and catalogue everything in existence.[5] This saw series of illustrated books drawn by many European and later American and Asian artists depicting the 'National Dresses' of certain groups to quell the thirst of the public appetite for 'rational' 'native' outfits which continues as National Costume Colouring books today. Albeit the focus is more on folklore, shared cultures and mainstream ethnicities today, an example being the controversial Han-fu for China, when instead more people are familiar with the Qipao of the Manchu.

Spanish Beauty [of Havana] (1796, PD) James Gillray, Hannah Humphrey, British Musuem

Whilst the image depicts a Theatre Socialite in Western Europe in 'Roman' dress no less, it is notable that the background highlights Havana, a trope used to denote which part of the world she would have been considered to have her 'heritage' from. This is typical of especially British 18th century ideas about 'nationality', which somewhat remain in Britain today and highlights the uptick in interest of this nature.

The Kimono as a National Costume brings up a series of interesting debates about national identity. That is how to define National Costume. For some countries, it is their traditional dress in a postcolonial world, others their folklore or mythological dress, some unofficial ceremonial garb, particular silhouettes, some particular colours and others types of lavishly decorated fabrics. These things are all subjective though when we consider that Nationality like money and gender, is a social construct; one that at times gatekeeps other ethnic identities from exerting any kind of power and suppresses more diverse national stories.

In Britain for example, there is no such definitive thing as a Kimono to call a National Costume. Instead we are often represented by tacky costumes only fit for Halloween which riff on the idea of what it means to be 'British', which axiomatically is a million and one things. British contestants for example since Kim Carlton (the English semifinalist) dressed up as a Beefeater (Yeomans Warder) in 1962.[1] Other examples include the 1968, 1971, 2010 and 2015 Beefeater costumes.[1][2][3] Other editions draw on the more vague Britannia, Monarchy-adjacent, Union Jack attire, with the latest by Jeaneatte Akua in a bid to the Pearley Kings and Queens of working class London culture.[4]

Pearly King of Upminster in his Skeleton suit (2011, CC2.0) William

In fact Welsh and Scottish (Kilts and Betgwyn) national dress only arose in response in the 19th century as part of the Celtic revival to prevent them from becoming extinct, and to save them for posterity in lieu of the English wool suit. It is in this sense we can see why 'National Costumes' carved out a space for themselves, as a need to make space in a dominant cultural identity which threatened to wipe their own out. Tartan in particular was originally banned by the English in the 1500s, along with the Celtic languages as a way at the time for King Henry VIII; originally Welsh himself; to get England into the Continental European spotlight by pushing a narrative of England first (sound familiar?).[12] It is for this reason I in particular do not refer to Kimono as a National Costume or Dress, as it a patriarchal paternalistic notion of hegemonic cultural/White supremacy that Kimono are distinctly outdated womens attire, only fit for the 'lesser race' (in the words of Leonce Benedite[11]) which I shall hereby Christen : Macarthism.[13]

*C*o*o*l* Japan

When it comes to the Kimono as a National Costume, there are some interesting theories about 'Cool Japan' (japanese conservative soft power push). It is interesting how the 'Dying Kimono' trope works, as it is a principle example of Macarthism at work at pushing the idea that traditional Japanese culture is inferior to the superior Western culture.[13] When we examine Akiko Kojimas original use of Kimono at the Miss Universe pageant for example, whilst she may have done (I cannot exclusively find evidence) she wears Kimono as everyday or at least casual wear, not as a traditional 'Oriental costume'. Kojima wore Kimono to hand accept and handover the 1960 crown, on tour as Miss Universe, to get married and in domestic commericals for example.[14][15] It seems therefore that generally civilian Japanese had not got the message yet about Americas superiority complex. 

This had all changed however by the 1960s when Japan, as it had 100 years before, had to take on another great 'Modernization' period once more to reclaim its own position as great power once more. This internalized Macarthism is reflected in the way Ms. Akiko was represented in American society. In the same year that saw Donyale Luna, she and Akiko entered the pages of the previously all Hwight Harpers Bazaar, a magazine that refused previously to run models of 'color' in its pages. Akiko was presented in Western dress, not Kimono. This is striking as it tells us of the fact that Kimono was not considered fashionable enough to be considered as fashion in its own right, instead Akiko wore *acceptable* white brands such as Sarff-Zumpano Inc.[16]

It is interesting to note though that this comes with the caveat of internalized inferiority dealt with the idea that 'Japan lost the [Pacific] war'. This attitude in Japan commonly refers to the postwar generation of Japanese Teeners (I recently studied the etymology of teenager, never using that one again) who felt the burden of growing up in the shadow of Macarthism, in a world which saw the subjugation of Japanese culture as 'feudal', saw Japanese people as 'savages' for fighting on the wrong side of WWII and the unlawful incarceration of Nissei Americans (1942-1947). When 'Sukiyaki' was released to Western audiences it gave notions of Beef dinner, to a Japanese Teener, Ue o Muite Arukō (I look up as I walk) was reminiscient of the frustration of dealing with American occupation in the Anpo protests (1959-1970) and the Sunagawa Struggle (1955-1956). Its culmination being the murder of Chinese-American Vincent Chin in 1982 at the hands of Statesian men who thought he was Japanese.

Anti-Eisenhower Demonstrations (1960) British Pathe

Anpo Protests (2015) TuCraiN

It is in this cultural hegemony that we see the 'Dying Kimono' trope appear, because casual wear of the Kimono becomes a thing of your mothers generation by 1975, and your grandmothers by 1995. That is, the idiotic idea that Japanese=bad, American=good. When the next winner of Miss Universe wore Kimono, it was as a 'National Costume' in 2007 by Riyo Mori who wore an altered Kimono.[6] Ever since this time it has been commonly accepted that Japanese pageant goers wear Kimono to the National Costume section of the event. It is this internalized effort to become 'global' which has made the Kimono into 'vintage' exclusive fashion, if fashion at all, as Japan has attempted to claw back the image of the Kimono as fashion since the 1990s when it sees a revival amongst young people.

'Cool Japan', a sort of right wing Japanese politicians wet dream of global Japanese hegemony on par with the 1902 Russo-Japanese win in their books, has attempted to adopt the Kimono as a National Costume as well which is a strand of Japanese paternalism which in itself is just a strand of 1690s Iki ideas about the 'correct way' to wear Kimono (all 52 colourways and seasonal motif Houmongi or Komon included) mixed with a dash of inferiority complex, has thankfully yet to make any headway, but is certainly a proponent of the issue of bringing KTC into the global world as global fashion under Macarthism's influence.

It is in this climate that Ayako Hara wore an upcycled (?) Kimono to Universe 2012.[8] Yukimi Matsuo wore a Furisode to Universe 2013.[9] The cringe worthy conservative political version of 'Cool Japan' fosters a disturbingly ethnocentric idea of Kimono, which is also another thorn in the side of KTC. This thankfully saw a divergence when Miss Japan wore a bedazzled Seifuku (Sailor Uniform), influenced by Cosplay and Sailor Moon in 2018.[9] This move into national costumes like the Seifuku is particularly reassuring as it is the Death of the 'Dying Kimono' trope, in saying that Kimono is current and alive, and that culturally Japan has more to its 'national' culture than just reasserting 'Wafuku'. Wamono in this sense has shifted to a more inclusive contemporary understanding of the national, away from the stereotypical Longingism of 'coolies' and 'Geisha-girls'.

Kimonopes

It is in this strand of Kimono as national costume we come to the rather comical if mix of cultural Acculturation and Appropriation. They point thankfully to the more widely accepting side of global fashion which post 2005 began to accept Kimono as a global fashion garment. Post the John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen acceptance of KTC (lets be honest, who remembers half of the shows before the English swooped back in to finish Charles Worth's legacy) we recieve a number of reactions from the Western world which are tantamount to the grey area KTC exists in majority white spaces.

We see the confused 'National Costume' of Emiri Miyasaka who wore a Kimonope to Universe 2009.[7] This particular Kimonope appears to only worn in Summer, as the bottom half of the Susoyoke (Skirt Juban slip) is completely gone with only pink Panty and Stockings left. Designed by a French woman at the Miss Universe offices, a telling piece of Cultural Appropriation.

The absolute corker though that is Juri Watanabe's distinctly Kimo-nope to Universe 2021 is well ... there.[10] The ode to 'Harajuku fashion' (my 15 year old Textile class literally did better) that is that evening dress is stunning in its bid to be fashionable. Certainly more Cultural Acculturation than the mess that was Miyasaka's Kimonope, it still manages to be more Halloween than Ballroom gown. Topped with pink space buns, as you go down, the neckline falls away to reveal the Nihon Kanji etched in Sharpie and a sequined crossover pink cocktail dress with a train (right over left because we are dying of laughter), stretchy yellow polyester belt and 'Kimono' sleeves. Pink go-go boots and two moving beckoning cats complete the Camp.[10] Designed by the Israeli designer Aviad Herman, this Kimonope whilst horrifyingly bad, is a step in the right direction to curb the Dying Kimono trope of Macarthism, in displaying that KTC has made a comeback as global contemporary fashion.

Conclusion

In total we can how the context for many national costumes depends on how we define national culture. Kimono and other 'traditional' garments are often seen as 'national dress' due to the decline of their wear after the introduction of Western power structures, colonization and efforts to 'modernize' under globalisation. After 1955, this evolves from Macarthistic policy, which becomes internalized in Japanese culture by 1970 becoming the 'Dying Kimono' trope, which precipitates that old 'feudal' Japanese culture has been shed off becoming 'modern' Japan. After 1990 though, KTC was revived domestically and has since re-emerged as casual clothing once more both in Japan and globally with the rise of the digital age.

In context therefore, we see how the Kimono has become regarded as a 'National Costume' for Japan, but that when we explore how we get to the notion of certain modes of dress being 'Costumes' we can see how this can be a negative reinforcement of existing power structures through lenses such as Macarthism. The Kimonopes which exist in these spaces are often attempts at cultural appreciation, but more often are regarded as objects of cultural appropriation by many. Thankfully, we can also see post 2005, a resurgence in the pageant and fashion worlds of KTC as influential global fashion (for example the 2016 Furisode for Miss Mexico at Miss Latina USA designed by Sueko Oshimoto).[17] This sees the Kimono as a modern incarnation of fashion, part of its revival in the contemporary world we live in and allows Kimono to be seen as desirable in the current beauty standards we ourselves hold, unravelling the work of hwight supremacists. Thus seeing the reemergence of KTC as living, contemporary fashion, as seen in high fashion, beauty pageants and street fashion.

Bibliography

[1] https://kiddolovesit.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/always-the-bridesmaid-but-never-the-bride-the-curious-case-of-the-united-kingdom-in-miss-universe/

[2] https://metro.co.uk/2010/08/17/tara-vaitiere-hoyos-british-bid-for-miss-universe-dresses-as-beefeater-482213/

[3]  https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/beefeater-a-yellow-tree-and-an-entire-hockey-game-miss-universe-s-bizarre-national-costumes-9999220.html

[4] https://www.insider.com/miss-universe-wildest-national-costumes-from-pageant-2021-5#miss-great-britain-jeanette-akua-channeled-bridgerton-with-her-royal-ensemble-complete-with-a-glittering-tiara-and-extravagant-cape-18

[5] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=National+costume&year_start=1500&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=0&case_insensitive=true

[6] https://richardsamuel888.wordpress.com/2021/01/14/riyo-mori-miss-universe-2007-wore-sytlish-kimono-during-the-pageant-beauty-that-year/

[7] https://japantoday.com/category/national/barrage-of-complaints-force-miss-universe-japan-to-change-costume-for-finals

[8] https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/miss-universe-2012-national-costume-show-photos-415485

[9] https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/miss-universe-japan-picks-%27sailor-moon%27-ninja-transformation-dress-as-national-costume-for-2018

[10] https://soranews24.com/2021/12/15/miss-universe-2021-japan-entry-slammed-for-wearing-dead-persons-kimono/

[11] Allegorizing Aryanism: Fernand Cormon's The Human Races, Maria P Gindhart, 2008, Volume 9, Online Edition, The Journal of the History of Art (Aurora), WAPACC Organization

[12] http://www.britainusa.com/sections/articles_show_nt1_d_0_i_41110_L1_41013_L2_41013_a_28485.html

[13] Allied Occupation of Japan, Eiji Takemae, 2003, pp.6-7 | See https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ba5hXsfeyhMC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=Macarthur+boy+of+12+japan&source=bl&ots=zCWRz2JKwM&sig=ACfU3U2yVzbxXPKhsxIIudaoSyEeGqVQRg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp0b7IhZ_6AhWEnVwKHRmVBVoQ6AF6BAgUEAM#v=onepage&q=Macarthur%20boy%20of%2012%20japan&f=false

[14] https://www.insider.com/most-iconic-miss-universe-looks-of-all-time-2019-12#akiko-kojima-of-japan-wowed-in-a-traditional-outfit-before-winning-the-1959-event-23

[15] https://summerballads.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/akiko-kojima-wanita-asia-pertama-yang-menjadi-miss-universe/

[16] https://www.vintag.es/2022/07/akiko-kojima.html

[17] https://www.facebook.com/Kimono-SK-180754161968429/photos/kimono-dress-for-miss-mexico-at-miss-latino-usa-fashion-show-produced-by-virgeli/1201928273184341

Social Links

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文化の盗用 | Cultural Appropriation | 500 BCE - 500 CE | Essay #11 | CA Miniseries A

The topic of our essay is on the nature of Cultural Appropriation which will be an ongoing mini-series throughout 2022. 

According to Wikipedia:

Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures.[1]

To unpack what is needed therefore for any Cappro to take place, we need:

 - A culture/Identity

 - Element of the culture/Identity

 - Dominant Culture

 - Minority Culture

I tend to follow the OED's definition becuase soz, but Noah Webster can go die in the footnotes of history as the guy who didn't want abolition becuase it might upset Statesian slave-owning classes, and misspelt English, the 'unofficial' language of the United States.[3] And Wikipedia has a habit, unintentionally I imagine, of whitewashing quite a lot of unsavoury things. Plus OED is actually factchecked coughthisisadigatstatesiandictionariesandacademialookupHenriettaLacksandJohnHopkins cough.  Oh dear dreadful case of the history bug I seem to have caught there.

According to the OED

Cultural Appropriation: n[oun]. the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another (typically dominant) community or society.[2]

 To unpack what is needed therefore for any Cappro to take place, we need:

 - A culture

 - Element of the culture (aesthetics/practice/custom)

 - Dominant Group

 - Minority Group

A Giant Rant about Kimono Wednesdays, Wilsonianism, US global foreign policy, The American Subaltern and the 'Color' spelling issue

These four differ from Cultural assimilation, which is where from my understanding of neocolonialist theory, is the formation of the Subaltern (or the colonised mindset of the people subjugated by the dominant group). Whereas, Cultural Appropriation is simply one act or motion which does not give appropriate credit or credence between the dominant and minority culture or groups. I personally do not realise that people nowadays realise that there are many kinds of cultural-isms as seen by Kimono Wednesdays which proved how much this -ism is truly grasped and how applicable it is to the modern idea of Kimono (yes I actually do write about Kimono here sometimes). As such, I shall offer you a similar comparison to prove how ridiculous the arguments made on that fateful Mittvoch were.

We shall need  

 - A culture

 - Element of the culture (aesthetics/practice/custom)

 - Dominant Group

 - Minority Group

Using the 'ou' American English variant let us examine a type of Cultural Appropriation. Noah Webster, a 'right-wing, angry, white man'[4] was educated at Yale, an Educational Institution connected to a deeply entrenched history of slave owners and later white progressives (think Woodrow Wilson). Websters' narrative relies heavily on basing his estimation that only true 'Americans' were the slave-owning red blooded Conneticut patriots like his contemporary the 7th Statesian president John Caldwell Calhoun, a kretyn who owned 80 slaves and whose usage of the 'ou' we therefore judge as part of the dominant culture.

Using our Cappro recipe we have: A culture (Anglo-Saxon culture), Element of the culture (the practice of spelling colour as 'color'), Dominant Group (British at first, then American WASPs) and the Minority Group (WASPs at first, then British). As someone whose identity or cultural element has been subverted by an arguably (by the standards of Kimono Wednesday protestors) racist proponent of language given that Americans now are the 'Dominant' group and thus 'color' (the incorrect variant) is considered standard, that quite frankly as a minority, I would like my language (seeing as we invented it) back thankyou and to see and end to this derisive cultural appropriation of the use of this element of my culture.

I say this, because when Kimono Wednesday protestors protested, the culture (Japanese culture), Element of the culture (Kimono), Dominant Group (Japanese and American) and the Minority Group (Japanese Americans and Japanese culture) claimed to be being culturally appropriated. The argument was that the minority group here had Kimono usurped from them, as they could not wear it in public, or at least had a fear to do so in American society it seems. This narrative however forgets that Japanese culture is part of Global Culture, alongside American culture which together form Global Culture, not one more so than the other. It is saying that Japanese culture is a precious thing which must be preserved and only seen in museums, that the Japanese may bring their culture to America, and people may stare at it in paintings and on walls and behind glass, but that for other groups to interact with it in any way, including apparently when you have the permission of the 'minority culture' (mainland Japanese) is somehow wrong.

By this very logic, I may reclaim and vindicate all usage of the spelling 'color' as it I (the all important nobody) say 'color' has evil racist connotations and should therefore be revoked from my language, ignoring the fact that the vast majority who spell it as 'color' do not engage nor intend to use it this way. As for the 'well I cant possibly be racist' argument, unfortunately colourism still exists so take it up with CRT, a construct only valid in the small confines of

 the regional politics of the United States, a rather rude notion also is to ignore all the history of other groups involved in these things (94% of the Transatlantic trade

 went to South America, but hey thats just history right? Please please look this stuff up its important to understand other peoples POV). Rant over hopefully. I would argue that my interpretation of 'color' as needing a recall, is just as valid as the Kimono Wednesday is C.appro. argument, on the grounds that KimonoMittvoch is not Cultural Appropriation, it is dumbing down the situation to suit the needs of the white progressive agenda and a proponent of Wilsonianism. Quite a typeful that one.

What Kimono Wednesday was, having given it some more thought over these five years since I last laid eyes on the whole debacle is that whilst I sympathise with the POC outrage it created in America; KWP's have also effectively fallen in a trap laid for them. I am not trying to catch people out here by saying this, but Kimono Wednesdays protests are the same as me trying to recall 'color', it is a missguided analysis of the actual facts and state of things. The KWP and the 'color' debacle are something which Satan Wilson came up with in the 1910s-1940s. That is the framing of America as the sole arbitrators of power/prestige in a situation, thus requiring 'America' to bring 'democracy' to To Russia. To Korea. To Vietnam. To Iraq. To Afghanistan. the 'developing nations' to save the day.

By saying that the Kimono, brought by Japanese mainlanders, could not be interacted with in American society, you have confirmed not the renewal and acceptance of the Kimono, or the cultural appreciation of the Kimono in American society, you have rather displayed the mindset which Wilsonianism as a foriegn policy of the modern Statesian policy is bedrocked on, creating a global Subaltern. I mean by this that by acknowledging 'color' as the only correct way to use English, I give up my voice in this argument to use 'colour' as an English term in global culture. By acknowledging the 'Kimono' as only being correctly used in Japan, protestors gave up the right in the eyes of the 2015 'progressive' WASPs, to use Kimono as a Element of global culture. 

That is KWP's rescinded the 'moral' right for Japanese citizens, to engage with their own cultural element in another culture, by imposing the view that becuase of the fear from the enviroment Wilsonianism creates, that the minority culture in this argument may not do with their own cultural element as they wish in trying to reinvigorate a 'dying industry' or 'Kimono can only be a Traditional Garment' Argument, also another narrative pushed under another Wilsonian policy defender Douglas MacArthur.[5] In other words, saying that it is culturally appropriating to wear Kimono, is in the wacky world of Statesian politics, in fact a form of cultural appropriation as you are positing that only Americans have the right to decide what a minority culture (here Japan) can decide to do with their own Cultural Element.

END OF RANT.

What does this have to with Cultural Appropriation you may ask? I shall elaborate. Cultural Appropriation as thus defined above, does not adequately define what Kimono is in the modern global culture. It is infact describing notions of the Kimonope (the penultimate thing KWP's were in fact protesting), that is the Geisha costumes Japanese Americans are often subjected to, the whitewashing of Japanese American contributions to American history, etc. Kimono Wednesdays let us know how far along the crossroads of understanding of modern cultural theory, tolerance and Identity politics stood as recent as 2015 in that free and freedom loving hellscape land.

Cultural Appropriation is the act of taking. What protestors seemingly forgot to factor in was that Japanese culture had engaged in the act as a form of Cultural Appreciation, another kind of Culturalism that was not considered, as it was clearly not arguably understood well enough to take into consideration when Japanese Americans boycotted NHK, the national broadcaster of Japan. KW showed the lack of though which went into allowing the Kimono to be a part of global culture, something it has always been, from its introduction as a garment from Chinese culture[6], incorporation of techniques from the diverse number of countries which made up the Silk Road (a trade route which went spanned Africa and Asia)[7], to European Nise-Kurenai,[6][8] Indonesian inspired Batik[9] or promotion of Indian Sarasa[8] right into the 20th century with the adaptive nature of new and traditional fabrics from North America such as Denim and Ryukyu fabrics such as Bashofu.[10] It might be added it could certainly be considered culturally insensitive to say Bashofu was solely Japanese as well it might added, even though it is.

It is this nuance and lack of tolerance for fluidity which inspired me to try to at least contextualise Kimono as a global textile, which is it is, and to understand KTC through the global perspective as something which does engage all of the Culturalisms, such as Cultural Appropriation, Cultural Appreciation, Cultural Assimilation, Pizza Effect etc which are all present in KTC, and to say otherwise, is not allow for the furthering of interest in and study of Kimono. By typecasting the Kimono as a 'subaltern garment' using the 'Traditional Garment Argument', one shuts down and stifles interest, which in Plain English means that you are declaring Kimono as an archaic garment and something unworthy of continued interest, relegating it to the shelves of bygone history. Which is rather *O*l*d* *J*a*p*a*n* or Wilsonianism at its finest, that is saying Japanese culture is subservient to WASP culture and letting Japanese culture catch dust in the locked cabinet of bygone times.

Asuka Bijin (c.500-600 CE, PD) Unknown

Asuka Bijin were influenced by Korean aesthetics (500-600 CE, PD) Unknown

Kimono as Culturalisms from 500BCE-500CE

Cultural Appropriation (defined above)

EX: Kimono derives silk weaving from Korean weavers of the Hata Clan, a fact usually left out of most Kimono factoids

Cultural Appreciation: the acknowledged or appropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another community or society

EX: Kimono . Just Kimono.

Cultural Assimilation: the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a dominant group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group

EX: Kimono takes on the form of the Tang Chinese court dress

Pizza Effect: the phenomenon of elements of a nation's or people's culture being transformed or at least more fully embraced elsewhere, then re-imported to their culture of origin, or the way in which a community's self-understanding is influenced by foreign sources.

EX: Kimono is created by the import and export of new textiles in Empress Suikos time between the diplomatic envoys of China-Okinawa-Honshu trade in textiles, ie the Kimono is transformed when when Japan trades through Okinawa, adopting and adapting to T-shaped garments to differentiate between the Yamato, Naha, Gaya, Han etc ethnic groups for diplomatically fostering an early Wamono spirit

Transculturation: the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures

EX: In the prescribed time period, this was the converging of Tang silhouettes and proto-Korean and South East Asian textiles into Japanese culture and proto-KTC 

Cultural Heterogeneity: the differences in cultural identity related to class, ethnicity, language, traditions, religion, sense of place etc, that can make it more or less difficult for people to communicate, trust and co-operate with each-other 

EX: In this time period, this would be in Japanese society between Korean (wealthy immigrant families) and Japanese (the so called 'Yamato') groups whose identities at this time were flipped as a very good amount of proto-KTC techniques, materials and technologies were brought in by Korean families escaping what I call the Korean collapse of the Three Kingdoms, which gradually shifted to the present day situation by around the Muromachi or Sengoku period (1336-1615) which saw the 1598 invasion by Hideyoshi.

Cross-cultural competence: a persons ability to understand people from different cultures and engage with them effectively

EX: Kimono as cross-cultural competence at this time would be a bygone conclusion for the workers for example between Korean and Japanese workers to further the local textiles industries using skills and aesthetics that Korean and Chinese silk-weavers brought with them from the mainland

Cultural Diffusion: the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages—between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another e.g- the spread of Western business suits in the 20th century

EX: How the Chinese court heavily influenced the fashions of the Japanese court

Cultural pluralism: the practice of various ethnic groups collaborating and entering into a dialogue with one another without having to sacrifice their particular identities

EX: The adoption of Buddhism by the Japanese from Paekche (now Korea) and China by adapting existing Japanese polytheistic gods from the exisiting early Shinto pantheon, and taking on their forms of dress, as worn by the Prince Shotoku, exemplified by the later Lakshmi turned Shinto deities Portrait of the Goddess Kisshouten ( 麻布著色吉祥天像 | 794 CE) helped to consolidate imperial power.

Polyculturalism: the ideological approach to the consequences of intercultural engagements within a geographical area which emphasises similarities between, and the enduring interconnectedness of, groups which self-identify as distinct, thus blurring the boundaries which may be perceived by members of those groups. Multiculturalism instead thought to emphasise difference and separateness, being divisive and harmful to social cohesion.

EX: Red dyes were popular throughout Korea and China around the time of the Asuka period, a practice which is reflected in Japanese paintings and extant textiles from the period as seen in the Takamatsuzuka Tomb (高松塚古墳) Asuka Bijin to the quick adoption of Benibana a century later as a colour worn by royalty and beauties 

Multiculturalism: the coexistence of people with many cultural identities in a common state, society, or community, also though in the prescriptive sense to refer to the political theory framework that individual cultures, groups or ethnic peoples be given their own space in the wider society which has led some to criticise policymakers use of multiculturalism as divisive (should only be considered post 1996 world due to the times tightening of immigration, the enforcing of borders and encouragement of national identity rather than encouraging individuals to think of themselves as global citizens)

EX: Kimono can be considered as both Japanese and part of wider Western trends as a fashionable item with long sleeves

Cultural diversity: the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term cultural diversity can also refer to having different cultures respect each other's differences.

EX: This can refer in KTC to the adoption of new techniques, textiles and aesthetic practices brought by 'immigrant' families from the Asian Mainland and down the Silk Road at this time.

Monolithic culture: a societal construct or organisation like religion which often has negative connotations in our society. For example, the percived rigidity and homogeneity of a monolithic culture that is not open to new ideas, these is their truest form are the few hunter-gatherer societies or uncontacted societies like those few found in the Amazon rainforest. Japan gained this marker during its time as the Empire of Japan under Sakoku, becuase of the percieved close borders the shogunate enforced.

EX: Using only Yamato people culture (doesn't really work does it?, there'd be no silks, no Buddhism, no Tang etc etc)

    Tenjukoku Shūchō Mandala celebrating the devout Japanese Buddhist Prince Shotoku (622[1944]CE, PD) Chuguji Temple, Tokyodo

Considering and Refuting the Kimono Wednesday Cultural Appropriation Issues

I am of course speaking on the side of the debate which says that Kimono is a type of clothing which can be worn by anyone, an idea which the broadcaster NHK clearly thought so as well. Japanese Americans, whilst rightfully having the historical claim to the Kimono garment most clearly in the context of Statesian politicking, perhaps did not foresee the global issues that claiming the Kimono as a 'Traditional Garment' may bring to the forefront. 

This Argument being unfortunately a spearhead of the 'culture wars' inspired by Wilsonianism which declares that non-White powers may not be considered or constituted in the worlds of academic, politics and popular culture, as being worthy of being considered global popular culture. Instead that as Wilson himself desired, that 'developing' countries instead be left to 'develop' away from the wealth of the United States, as seen by his 1924 Japanese immigration ban, a sort of FU to the fact that Japan had entered the world stage as a great power, and thus denial of all things Japanese as bad. The heroic United States must instead swoop in, save the country from communism (sound familiar?) and make sure everything went back to its natural order (in Wilson's mind at least). 

Kimono as a visible cultural marker, were by this point definitively recognised by the Japonisme movement at the very least, as global popular culture, and thus the birth of the Traditional Argument (ie that Kimono is simply just a Japanese garment only to prevent pan-Asian interests taking root) and breaking down of US-Japanese relations began (see Fred Korematsu v United States, 1944-2018). In consideration of these things, I can see why Asian Americans felt this was a dirty move by the Boston Musuem of Arts, but it also unwittingly falls into the same trap CTR falls into, that is the very trap Wilsonianism lays for 'developing' nations. It isolates the object in question (here Kimono), rips it asunder from its history, values and context, and flings it to the sorting bins of history where nobody will find it. Kimono Wednesday protests meant well, but in the end, they have sent the wrong messages to the wrong people, and helped to isolate, relegate and simplify Kimono into a relic of the Yamato. 

That is to say deny how the Kimono played a role in and from Asian Empires, to ignore the Kimono as a global presence in Western and other Art Histories, and to penultimately again, isolate, relegate and simplify the Kimono into an exotic national costume, worn by the Japanese. A label I do not wish to ever have to repeat here or anywhere else. By this, I mean they have done Wilsons work for him in promoting the idea of the Kimono as an exotic 'ethnic garment' only to be worn by Japanese people and their descendants, and which denies the wider history of Kimono as a cultural touchstone. 

It is essentially saying that Japanese fashion is less important than American fashion, by relegating Kimono to being a product only worn in the past (highly hypocritical considering the environmental damage the United States causes from textile consumption and waste), isolating Kimono as something exotic or 'Japanese' (a fraught argument supporting homogeneity and ethnocentrism) and simplifying the complex worlds which KTC operates in as somehow unworthy of note to anyone who isnt Japanese. As such, I refute that Kimono making is a dying industry on the grounds that is a blatant lie, it is in fact adapting to the age it is in, as it has always done as a social construct, and that to think that one thing can belong to only one group as rather part of the 20th century Wilsonian anti-Asian dogma.

Conclusion

From this Miniseries, I am hoping to introduce a more nuanced understanding of cultural exchange from the ashes of #KimonoWednesday that under the argument proposed by the protestors, Kimono are a product found only in Japan. 

Until we see how this garment was created under Chinese and Korean influence during the Asuka and Kofun periods, and as part of globalisation, not simply as 'a national costume appropriated by Westerners', but rather as with the rest of KTC, and other garments, simply a social construct. This is seen in the paintings, Mandalas, Embroideries and texts extant from the period when corrobarated with wider Mainland Asia garment history. I relate this to Kimono Mittvoch because it may allow for a wider dialogue on cultural exchange in the hope not everything 'foreign' is labelled exotic, turned into a problem, lost to history or simplified as just being a 'costume' or 'cultural appropriation'.

Kimono therefore does not belong to one group of people specifically, nor to any single institution or organistion. Given that this is a small sample of the history of cultural exchange required to make Kimono a possibility, we can see that contextually speaking, we how messy, blurred, and unpredictable KTC, simply a societal construct surrounding textile production and use by humans, is in reality. 

I hope it is clear that I am approaching the CA argument from a polyculturalism lense, rather than the 'Multicultural' lense which is applicable to Wilsonianism in particular in a sort of Divide and Conquer (cultural edition) way. That is I hope to encourage the 'revival' in the study, interest and buying of new and old KTC to help modern artisans and to see the new fun fashions people make up without problematizing it before it gets out of the gate.

Bibliography

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation

[2] See Glossary, or the Oxford English Dictionary (2018) at 

[3] https://www.readex.com/blog/connecticut-webster-slavery-joshua-kendall

[4] https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/30/noah-websters-american-english/

[5] See Essay #3 (cant believe I held off that long to rant about Kimono Wednesdays honestly)

[6] See Fabrics #10

[7] See Fabrics #3

[8] See The Genroku Osaka Bijin (1680 - 1700) in Bjin #3

[9] See Fabrics #5

[10] See Fabrics #1

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着物とラファエロ前派の画家たち | Kimono and the Pre-Raphaelite Painters | 1864 - 1877 | Essay #7

This essay will cover the aspects of Kimono in the Portraiture of the Pre-Raphaelites. The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of British artists and writers active during the late Victorian period. Unlike the Royal Academy artists, this circle of painters operated outside of the established comfortable boundaries of the expected white, cisgender middle class audience of the Victorian age. The movement is notable for its inclusion and encouragement of women, and in portraying and engaging non-conventional beauty and beauties as figures from the Classical World alongside Religious, Mythological and Folklore Heroines into Victorian 'Femme Fatales'.[8]

Morgan Le Fay (1864) Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys

The woman portrayed in our first image is the mythological heroine Morgan le Fay by Frederick Sandys (1829-1904). Sandys as an artist often produced beautiful images of voluptuous women whose hair was often in freefall, here painting his mistress Keomi Gray (1849–1914) as the magickian of Arthurian legend. It is most likely that Sandys acquired his Kimono through either an import merchant shop in London, or from a bulk warehouse such as Farmer & Rogers’ Great Shawl & Cloak Emporium's Eastern Goods Warehouse.

Sandys uses the Kimono here as an aesthetical tool. The dramatic colours fit into the bold colour schemes which were characteristic of the Brotherhood. The Kimono itself is clearly a Furisode, perhaps for a young woman of wealthier status going by the red inside of the sleeves. Whilst unknown if Sandys was aware of this, Green in Japan was recognised as being associated with nature, vitality and immortality.[3][4]  Green was also a favourite of the Victorians as associated with the natural or nonindustrial world, and the occult, specifically the fae.[5] Red for the Victorians would signify (military) power, boldness and ardour.[6]

Whilst it is unknown how much Sandys collected or and understood of Japanese aesthetics, he was a clear early adopter of the aesthetical importance of Kimono in placing it at the center of the composition. The placement with other objects of Middle and Far Eastern and Celtic origin  also may offer further clues as to the mindset of how Sandys used the Kimono as a signifier of the junction of wisdom and power, and in this depiction as a enchantress, using the green which was associated with the occult at the time to denote this. It is most likely Sandys therefore used it to denote the atmosphere of the otherworld of the green man and employed the silks lustre to enhance this effect.[5]

Young woman applying Makeup | The Pearl (1876) Frederick Sandys

(c.1795) Kitagawa Utamaro |                                                 

Sandys was certainly aware of used Japanese motifs in many of his works, using Mon, Uchiwa fans, gold Byobu and references to Ukiyo-e seemingly as in his 1876 Pearl painting. As you can see,the mirror motif, falling robe and upswept hair reveal the curving nape, a proponent of Japanese admiration and attraction in the female beauty standard. Whilst as mixed with the Hellenestic ideal by Sandys, Sandys particularly used the curved or revealed nape motif in his portraits and drawings and obviously came into contact with enough Japanese objects to merit his understanding of the Bijin in the age of the Japan Cult (see the Glossary).

The Beloved (1865) Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Those depicted in this painting were from 12:00 Clockwise the models Alexa Wilding (1847-1884), Fanny Eaton (1835-1924), Keomi Gray, Gabriel (model dates unknown) and Ellen Smith (active 1863-1869) and Marie Ford (dates unkown). Interestingly the young child figure Gabriel is meant to act as a stand in for Rossetti to the viewer, who both attend to the central bridal figure.[1]

The Kimono presented here is most likely the same as that used in Frederick Sandys Morgan le Fay (1864), although Rosetti was known to have a rivalry with Whistler in the collection of Japanese art objects which Rosetti first began collecting from the famous French importer Madame Louise Mélina Desoye (1836-1909). Rosetti frequented these establishments as he was a collector of beautiful objects of global origins, with his inspiration in composition being drawn from the classical world of Renaissance Italy and the Greek Hellenistic standard.

Kimono is used here arguably in juxtaposition with other elements of the Beauty of Venus trope, which Rosetti used to reference the beauty ideal in Titians Venus with Mirrors (1555).[1] The Venus trope is a particularly frequent one used by Rosetti, here denoting the wife of King Solomon de-robing for her husband in lavish dress. Venus at the center, is surrounded by mirrors or here reflecting beauties, which either signify in Titians work her vanity, or under the original Greek understanding of Venus as a/the great standard of beauty, signifying the beauty of those surrounding Venus as well, imparting the notion of beauty in the objects and clothes they wear, ie Kimono, therefore.[2] 

Kimono here is used not as an allegorical device to my knowledge, but in appreciation of its dyed colour and ability to drape, as Rosetti frequently used bright colours in his paintings and a common gripe among the Pre-Raphaelites was the ability to find decent cloth which would hang as they desired with the ability catch light correctly and as needed for producing such lavish, decorative and bold paintings as the Beloved. The Kimono itself here is bundled up at the sleeves and clearly displays a pattern along the sleeve of Plum and Bamboo, and may perhaps be worn back to front.

The inclusion of Kimono tells us that was in the early acceptance of Kimono as beautiful objects in British painting. Kimono clearly held a place among the Pre-Raphaelites as art objects, if not for their usefulness in their ability to provide useful fabric qualities but also for their decorative patterning to be included rather than painted out.

Girls Portrait (1868) George Price Boyce

The sitter for this portrait is Anonymous as very little information is held surrounding this portrait, but ould easily be one of the many muses of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; Marie Spartali Stillman (1844-1927), Fanny Cornforth (1835-1909), Jane Morris (1839-1914), Georgiana Burne-Jones (1840-1920), Effie Gray (1828-1897), Maria Zambaco (1843-1914), Aglaia Coronio/Ionides (1834-1906) Elizabeth Burden (1841-c1902) or Annie Miller (1835–1925).

It is most likely that Boyce had access to Kimono through either their own collecting of objects or from an artist friend who collected Kimono, perhaps someone such as Rosetti. However given that the Pre-Raphaelites had painted Kimono, it is also plausible this could have been Boyce's own Kimono, which Boyce would have come into contact with through most likely similar means to Rosetti, or through other proto-Department or Emporium stores which by 1867 were known to stock them in limited quantities as items for decorating the home.

By this time as Kimono had become more available, and were highly sought after items amongst artists for their ability to drape, which allowed the painter more room for playing with light and depth in their work. Boyce may have particularly taken to this Kimono as it depicted rural lifestyles, as seen in the blue section of fencing motif and presumably larger structure in the blue fold on the neck. Boyce as a painter was a frequent landscape painter using soft tones and spots of colour, so this particular pattern which distributes ornamental Ji-Monnyou using florals and scenes of Japanese farm life would be right up his alley. The Blue, White and Red may also be reminiscent of the Blue and White porcelain Rosetti famously collected, or perhaps specifically within the English context the collection of Kakiemon Porcelain colour pallettes as well. 

Amber (1876) | The End of the Story (1877) Albert Moore

Now whilst this is a bit presumptuous of me because Arabesque patterns were no doubt also used in Albert Moore use of Turkish and Persian patterning, I do believe his use of this fabric is indicative of popular Kimono patterns available in the West at the time. Only a hunch, however Moore was more than familiar with Japanese Ukiyo-e and design theory having being introduced to it in the late 1850s if I recall correctly. However, the pattern layout is reminiscent enough of trailing vines and wisteria, small florals and possible matsu motifs that is plausible this could be Japanese fabric.

In conclusion therefore we see that by 1865, Kimono as art objects had developed a highly sought after reputation among artists for their beauty and decorative qualities. By 1867, Kimono had clearly become established as an item used in the Pre-Raphaelites repertoire of costumes and props to embody on their own resplendent decorative beauty  within the feminine mystic and lover archetype. By the 1870's, the wider influence of the Japan Cult had come to pass which is reflected in the wider and more subtle use of Japan as influencing composition, aesthetics and for the Pre-Raphaelites, inspiration surrounding the female form and beauty. Kimono formed an early visual engagement with British artists between Japanese and Western sensibilities, during what Ono; byway of Lacambre; terms the Discovery stage of British Japonisme for each the 1860s, and Adoption by the 1870s in Pre-Raphaelites Art.[7]

Bibliography

[1] http://www.rossettiarchive.org/docs/s182.raw.html

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_with_a_Mirror

[3] https://kokoro-jp.com/culture/298/

[4] https://www.color-meanings.com/color-meanings-japan/

[5] https://madeleineemeraldthiele.wordpress.com/2016/06/04/huxtable-on-her-false-crafts-morgan-le-fay-and-the-wild-women-of-sandys/

[6] https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/the-red-craze/

[7] Japonsime in Britian: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and nineteenth century Japan, Ayako Ono, 2003, p.18, RoutledgeCurzon

[8] https://www.artandobject.com/articles/women-pre-raphaelite-art

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仲朗 | Zhou Fang | 730 - 800 | Bijin #7

Zhou was a Tang era Chinese painter who inspired Iwasa Matabei's classically inspired drawings which became the basis for Ukiyo-e in the second half of the 17th century. Zhou painted for the Imperial Chinese Tang court Emperor Dezong between 779-800, but his own background came from being a painter in a noble family during Tang China, specialising in pictures of beautiful court women. He himself was inspired by Gu Kaizhi (344–406) and Zhang Xuan (713–755) and lived in Chang'an, modern Xi'an city working during a time which saw a change in beauty standards for Chinese women and idealised imagery of beauty. He is best known for his Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers and Court Lady With Servants.[12]

Court Ladies adorning their Hair with Flowers (c799) Zhou Fang

Chinese historical figure depiction in the time of Kaizhi was rather two dimensional until the end of the Six Dynasty era (220–589) and began forming new ideals as power shifted from the Northern-South Kingdoms with the sixteen kingdoms (304 to 439) and the Sui Dynasty onto to Tang China by 618AD. During the end of the Six Dynasty period, Chinese art began to become more ethereal, light and evocative of the three rather than two dimensional. Acceptable figures to portray as beautiful, were the immortal nymphs of Chinese legends, over this period (300-550AD) the clothes of these figures began to become more fitted and showed off the wearers body.[4] Women of the era were seen through a form of the patriarchal lense in a Confucian prism however, and whilst admired, their agency was subjective at best in this worldview.[8] Fortunately though, they were often admired, for their wit, charms and beauty in the love poetry of women in love written in the 6th century which became the basis for the newly emerging Beautiful Woman genre as it became known by art historians later on. Common motifs of this poetry often was the pining beauty, 'plainly elegant' plum tree (on account of its blossoms), bamboo for fragility, peonies, hand fans, incense smoke and lotus roots symbolising conjugal love, spring with willow trees, autumn with mirrors, and the ephemeral nature of cosmetic beauty which accompanied these texts, such as Du Fu's (712–770) 'Ballad of the Beauty'.[7] Other imperial beauties of the period included the plump beauty Yang Yuhuan or Guifei ( 楊玉環 | 719-756), who is considered one of the 4 great beauties of Classical China.[10] 

Yang Guifei (c.907) Liao Tomb Wall Painting on Pao Mountain

In an amend to the historical record may I lead you to the fact that women also figured prominently in Chinese myth such as the mother goddess Nuwa and Leizu, the creator deity of the mulberry tree and sericulture.[9] Others include the contemporary Empress Regent Wu Zetian. Fu Du, for example, exemplifies the beauty who wears her 'gauze robes', comparing them to the 'spring' of their youth.

Third month, third day, in the air a breath of newness: by Chang'an riverbanks the beautiful ladies crowd, rich in charms, regal in bearing, well-bred, demure, with clear sleek complexions, bone and flesh well-matched, in figured gauze robes that shine in the late spring, worked with golden peacocks, silver unicorns. - Fu Du the Uninventive [11] 

Wu Zetian (c.1700) British Library

It is said in the Tang period, it was established that both the pictorial, and mirth or ability to depict and capture personality was just as important as each other. In the tale of the General Guo Ziyi (697-781) and his daughter Ms Zhao, when asked which of 2 Tang era painters who depicted her husband the best, Zhou was chosen for his ability to depict Zhao's husband in his characters entirety.[1] The period Zhou  produced his images saw a shift towards the rigidity of the Chinese bureaucratic system, which saw the rise of innuendo and the cult of the character which peeked from under the bureaucratic curtain of modesty now and then, with a beauty in barely there silk sleeves, yet otherwise modestly dressed.[7] It was this ability to depict a 2D image, and allow its audience to empathise with it as a 3D entity in Classical Chinese art which Iwasa Matabei clearly admired in the work of Zhou Fang and was carried over into his style. 

This quality of art, was known as 'Qiyun' ( Spirit resonance | 气韵 ) and was the first of the 6 classical principles of Chinese Art.[2] Another proponent of the Chinese Zhou Beauty, is their full figure, and lavish dress which often incorporated fake flowers, birds and metal in their elaborate hairstyles and accessories, such as the floating sashes of immortals.[4] From my own research, I know that in Japan at least, Chinese chignon Tang hairstyles and dress styles were in vogue at many different periods, but had arisen once more during Matabei's era. This plump or Rubenesque silhouette, was popular during the end of the period Zhou and his contemporaries painted in.[3] Indeed it is rare to find depictions of male figures from this date in Zhou's work.[4] 

Lady with Servants (c.799) Zhou Fang

Other elements which were considered in the depiction of beauty, was the appropriate placement of figure object and depth within the space, which often also relate to a specific contextual setting or theme in a play, poem or story.[2][4][7] This was both due to the confines of the available technology at the time, and to complement the appropriate way to read and appreciate the connotations and connoisseurship of these paintings of worldly and divine beauties, who were often plumply seated in groups of 3 in handscrolls or on standing screens.[5] These depictions found in Japanese art such as Ma, or the compositionally pleasing absence of a filled space are still a mainstay of Japanese and Chinese art and aesthetics. It is said these were imported, specifically in the instance of Zhou throughout the routes of Korean traders into Japan.[6] As Classical China, particularly Tang, was considered the height of civilisation for that time in Japanese society, the modes of Tang were greatly emulated.

Qiyun Bijin

It is from this context that we see how the mind, style and elements of Iwasa Matabei came to form early Ukiyo-e. It is often thought therefore that as the court painter of the height of Tang Dynasty China, the Bijin figure of Tang China, also influential in the fashions of Japanese aesthetic and fashion, held great sway due to Zhou's artistic ventures into the perfection of that Qiyun quality. It will have been this element to embody a flat into full and rotund beautiful figure which will have drawn the eye of many, including Iwasa Matabei, which influenced many Asian ideals of Beauty in Women, given the reach and scope of Zhou's position in East Asian art, akin to that of Eadfrith (active 698-721) of Lindisfarne's carpet pages in contemporary Northumbria, albeit more in a depiction of the divine than worldly beauty, through the use of compositional space and decoration to display their influential styles of powerful beauty to the average viewer of their works, which in those days may have held more of a literal spiritual connection than in later centuries. Zhou's work therefore as depicting the more plump and fetching idealised Tang Qiyun Beauty gave the impetus for Matabei to merge 'classical' figures of Beauty together with religious proprietal imagery to create the basework for his own Qiyun Bijin as the Yamato Bijin, which fed into the Genre known today as Ukiyo-e, or rather the longer tradition of depicting Beauties in Eastern Asian art aesthetics.

Bibliography

[1] A New Life for Literati Painting in the Early Twentieth Century: Eastern Art and Modernity, a Transcultural Narrative?, Aida-Yuen Wong, 2000, Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 297-326, Artibus Asiae Publishers 

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_principles_of_Chinese_painting

[3] Huizong's New Clothes, L.C.W. Blanchard, 2009, Vol. 36, p.113, Ars Orientalis

[4] Tao Yuanming's Sashes: Or, the Gendering of Immortality, S. E. Nelson, 1999, Vol. 29, p.15, Ars Orientalis

[5] Review for 'Examination and Identification of the Forging of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting' in Xu Bangda Review, by T. Lawton, 1987, Vol. 17, p.186, Ars Orientalis

[6] Elegant or Common? Chen Hongshou's Birthday Presentation Pictures and His Professional Status, Anne Burkus-Chasson, June 1994, Vol. 76, No. 2, p.280, The Art Bulletin 

[7] Chinese Palace-Style Poetry and the Depiction of a Palace Beauty, Ellen Johnston Laing, June 1990, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp.284-290, The Art Bulletin

[8] https://www.schwarzmanscholars.org/events-and-news/confucianism-feminism-conflict-new-understanding-necessary/

[9] For more and to amend this notion, see Chinese Myths, Anne Birrell, 2000, pp.46-50, British Musuem Press, Chapter Gender in Myth

[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guifei

[11] http://www.textetc.com/workshop/wt-du-fu-2.html

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Fang_(Tang_dynasty)

Bijin Series Timeline 

8th century

- Introduction of Chinese Tang Dynasty clothing (710)

- Sumizuri-e (710)

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

15th century 

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

16 century 

- Nanbanjin Art (1550-1630)

- Byobu Screens (1580-1670)

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

17th century  

- 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  

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

- Shikomi-e (1650-1670) and Kakemono-e which promote Androgynous Beauties; Iwasa Katsushige (active 1650-1673) [Coming Soon] 

- Mass Urbanisation instigates the rise of Chonin Cottage Industry Printing (from 1660) ; 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)

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

- 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 

Miyazaki Yuzen (active 1688-1736) [Coming Soon]

Torii Kiyonobu (active 1698 - 1729) [Coming Soon]

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