Floating World in Japanese Art History - Essay Example

The “Floating World” in Japanese Art History The “floating world” of Japan refers to the world of entertainment, kabuki theatre, geisha and courtesans, a world separated from everyday care and work, where pleasure and beauty reign supreme. Historical Context and Development During the late 16th century a new class began to emerge in Japan, which was comprised of artisans, merchants and, in some cases, low ranking samurai. This new class gradually gained wealth and with that influence in society, and had money to spend to enjoy the arts and entertainment. The new art style of ukiyo had its origins in the large Japanese cities, in particular Edo (the modern Tokyo), Kyoto and Osaka. Within 100 years the meaning of ukiyo had shifted to describe a world of elegance and refinement, of pleasures accompanied by style and joie de vivre. Asai Ryoi wrote his famous Tales of the Floating World (Ukiyo-monogatari) in 1661 and describes the floating world thus: "Living only for the moment, savouring the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves, singing songs, loving sake, women and poetry, letting oneself drift, buoyant and carefree, like a gourd carried along with the river current” (History of Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print). The floating world became a centre of refinement, art, culture and elegance and led the tone in a bourgeois society that gained the confidence to lead the taste in art and fashion. Although officially looked down upon by aristocratic circles, the world of courtesans, actors, entertainers and gentlemen of private means was more or less openly admired and copied. Japanese courtesans enjoyed a very high status in society, comparable perhaps, only to the very few privileged maitresses en titre at the French court during the 17th and 18th century, and the higher ranking courtesans were well educated in literature, music and the art of conversation as well as leaders in style and fashion. The pleasure districts of Edo (Tokyo), Osaka and Kyoto provided a lively background and meeting place for the merchant class and the demimonde. Japanese Society The most prolific era for the arts in Japan was the Genroku period from 1680 to 1730. Literature, painting, poetry, but also the sciences, flourished during this period and the arts were encouraged by the shogun (military ruler) whose seat was in Edo (Tokyo). At the time of the Japanese shogunate the emperor was sidelined – he was a powerless figurehead reduced to conducting ceremonies and composing poetry. His seat was in Kyoto, well removed from the centre of power in Edo. Japanese society was divided into four strata: the nobility (samurai), who held all political power, the peasants, who in theory were second only to the nobility, as they provided rice for the nation (Hibbett, 2002) and were therefore of fundamental importance, and finally the merchant and artisan class, who formed the bottom rank of society and were grouped together under the title of townsmen (chonin). Despite their official low rank in society, members of the chonin were most likely to have the financial means to enjoy expensive entertainments whereas many members of the samurai class were impoverished because they were prohibited from taking up a profession; the peasant class, on the other hand, despite being lauded as the sustainers of the nation and producers of rice, mostly just eked out a frugal living. It was therefore the chonin who, through their growing wealth, were able to influence society via their tastes in the arts: the art of the floating world is the art of the merchant class, and the typically Japanese way of grouping theatre, literature, music and high class prostitution together in the floating world was suited to the merchants’ way of life. Art Forms This era of refinement and elegance was recorded and accompanied by ukiyo-e, the prints and paintings of the floating world. Although ukiyo-e flourished during three centuries, we can divide the period into two sections: the Edo period, which lasted from the early 17th century to 1867, followed by the Meji period which ended in 1912. Japan operated a political system of isolation before the Meiji period with very little foreign influence in Japanese art and culture. During the Meiji period Japan began to open to the West, with increased trade connections and influences on Japanese art and thinking. One of the first great artists in the ukiyo-e style was Hishikawa Moronobu whose works originated in the late 17th century. His prints were in monochrome and multicoloured prints first emerged in the 18th century when Suzuki Harunobu developed a polychrome printing technique (A History of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print). However, to this day, it is the work of Utamaro (1753-1808) counts among the best known examples of Japanese art worldwide (Kobayashi, 1993). Utamaro’s main oeuvre features the women of the Yoshiwara pleasure district in Tokyo, although his work also includes nature studies, in particular insects, and erotic (or shunga) prints. The elegance of his subjects, the refined gestures and expressions, the exquisite drapery of the kimono of the bijinga (female beauties) he portrayed all make Utamaro unique and he achieved national and international acclaim. Utamaro’s work is still known worldwide and one should note his influence on European impressionist art. Japanese literature also flourished under the ukiyo influence. One of the best known Japanese authors is Saikaku, who published his first novel, ‘The Life of an Amorous Man’ in 1682 and at the time of his death just over ten years later, he was one of the most popular writers of his period. Saikaku, himself born into the merchant class, had started his literary career by composing classical poetry in the haikai style but progressed to writing fictional novels in later life (Hibbett, 2002). Saikaku found the material for his novels in the floating world and depicted the lives and loves of its people. Although Saikaku widely read and greatly influenced the development of Japanese fiction, his contemporaries rated him as a merely populist writer, because his stories focused on mere townspeople. The most prominent playwright to treat topics from the floating world was Chikamatsu Monzaemon  (1633-1725). Chikamatsu was the second son of a minor Samurai family – his birth name was Sugimori Nobumori. Chikamatsu wrote plays for both the puppet (joruri) and the kabuki theatre and it should be noted that it was customary to write plays in both genres with a particular actor or chanter in mind who would fit the role perfectly (Keene, 1961). Chikamatsu’s puppet plays primarily dealt with either historical themes or with the lives of ordinary people of his time. That very fact makes his work extremely unusual, at least from a European viewpoint: European literature was not yet ready to depict ordinary people as the main characters, whereas Chikamatsu drew his inspiration from the world around him, and the very ordinariness of common people provided the material to him: he showed them as everyday heroes and heroines who struggle against the pressures of life that has been dealt them by society: European literature would not reach a similar stage until the 20th century (Keene, 1961). In modern times the complexities and intricacies of the floating world are little understood, even in Japan. By the middle of the 19th century, during the Kaei era (1848 -1854) Western influences, including modern printing techniques and photography, changed the demand and taste in art and the ukiyo-e gradually declined in importance. It did not help that depictions of geisha or courtesans were temporarily forbidden during the time of the Tempo reforms from 1841 to 1843 (A History of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print). Although the conservative reform attempt collapsed after two years, the attempted censorship measures dealt an additional blow to the ukiyo arts. It is somewhat ironic, as mentioned above, that during this time Western artists were for the first time exposed to Japanese art and were influenced by the Japanese techniques (A History of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print). Generally, the ukiyo arts flourished and developed because Japan enjoyed a long period of stability and relative prosperity, combined with a long period of isolation, which allowed the culture and taste of the time to mature into highly stylized forms of expression. In modern times, it is probably easiest for both modern Japanese and Western societies to appreciate the paintings and prints of that historical period, whereas novels and plays require a far greater understanding of the background of the times in which they were written, although the historical plays are still performed in Japan to this day. During the Meji period Japanese society was far less stable and social unrests were reflected in changes in the arts as well (A History of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print). Today, we can admire the exquisite ukiyo-e, even though we do not understand the society which made them possible, but we do not see them as expressions of every day life. Their timeless beauty and elegance, however, still speak to us with stylish eloquence. Sources A History of the Ukiyo-e Woodblock Print, available at: http://www.ukiyoe-reproductions.com/html/history.html, accessed on 22/12/2009 Hibbett, H., The Floating World in Japanese Fiction, Oxford University Press, 1959 Keene, D., (translator) Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, Columbia University Press, 1961 Kobayashi, T., Utamaro: Portraits from the Floating World, 1993, Kodansha International Ltd Michener, J.A., The Floating World, University of Hawaii Press, 1983 Read More