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Show Ir A BAMUflM DISGUISED A& A MOKK, (MURAKAMI YOSItlMlMV, MJKADQ5 FLAG FROM T?ME EffifMILS "Happy Japan, Garden of glitt The battle of the Empres Jingo in the achievement of loyo-toHideeyo.-hi- , the Japanese Napoleon, and the story of the Forty-Seve- n Ronins are favorite subject in the old prints. Modern Japanese artist keep alive the same martial spirit, their great mine of ideas being the Chinese War of 1895. But in color, line and conception they are as far behind the old masters as Alfred Austin is behind Shakespeare. The three color prints here reprO' duced are all excellent examples of the best and most virile Japanese art The incidents depicted are familiar to the ftudent of the history of Japan. Masatsura, who is shown fighting his last great fight, was one of the finest warriors of a warrior race. He was known as the pious amuiai because of his single-minde-d devotion to his Emperor. "Pious" means "loyal in Japan, not "religious, though loyalty, indeed, is the religion of the Mikados subjects. Kusunoki, after a life of hard fighting, was slain in the year 1349, battling for his Emperor. Before he succumbed to a hundred wounds, he slew twenty men. In the picture he is hown carrying a bag full of their , Flower and fan, Flutter and flitter; Land of bamboo-juve- nile whacker Porcelain, too, Tea tray, and lacquer." HIS chorus from "The Gei- sha" expressed pretty accu- rately the opinion of Japan entertained, by. Occidental peoples before the deeds of Admiral Togo and his men opened their eyes to the stern practicality of the Japanese character. The world is learning now that Japan' is a land of first-cla' fighting men as well as of of butterfly-lik- e geishas, pretty, well as of fans. as swords Japanese art has attracted the admiration of western painters and connoisseurs for the past twenty or thirty years, by reason of its wonderful color effects and the vigor of its line, which often achieves brilliant results in absolute defiance of the laws of anatomy and perspective. But Japanese art has been misconceived as completely as Japanese character. It is commonly supposed to be merely a matter of a flower in a bamboo pot, a pious monk feeding storks in a temple garden, or the sweetly serious face of a cherry-blossomaiden, like that one on a Toyokuni. color print which made the late William Ernest Henley exclaim: "Was I a samurai renowned, Two--s worded, fierce, immense of bow, A histrion angular and profound, A priest, a porter? Child, although I have forgotten quite, I know , That in the shade of Fuji-SaWhat time the cherry orchards blow, I loved yon once in old Japan. But the ancient art of Japan means a great deal more than this to the Japanese. It enshrines the Talor of their samurai ancestor: for two thousand years, and tells them the glorious history of their unconquered land. Toyobuni, Hiroshima, and the other great aitist of a bygone day, whose color prints are the admiration and despair of degenerate moderns, were not content to paint only pretty girl Their main and chrysanthemums. work was to depict the brave deed of the ancient samurai and the principal military incidents of their country's history. ss . m n, Ku.-uno- -- heads. Yokoyama Tatsuran was a samurai renowned for his cunning. He was as crafty as Ulysses himself, and his exploits as a spy among his enemies form the theme of many a Japanese story. in the colored print here reproduced he is .shown in the disguise of a farmer, but it will be noticed that he is wearing his two swords and hi samurai armor. The artist desired to tell the whole story in the picture, so he showed the character both as a disguised spy and as a samurai. The old Japanese painters were as realistic as the most modern, but they loved symbolism in art, too. The main characteristic of all these military pictures of Japan is vigorous action. Although they are usually stiff, according to Occidental ideas, the ngures are always full of energy, and are thus in keeping with the characters depicted and with the spirit of Japanese life. Th old arti'ts are revered in modern Japan, and copies of their most bellicose color prints may be found in almost every home, except those of the coolie, who cannot spare even a few sen to gratify their patriotic and nrti tic tastes. Jananese history js taught to the children in the public chools by the aid of these print, and the Japanese complain bitterly because tourists and foreign collectors prefer to buy picture of geiha rather than tho e of the fighting men of ancient Nippon. - WILLIAM THORP. 1 f. |
