Kumashiro Yūhi (熊代熊斐; 17121772 or 1773) was a Japanese painter of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. A member of the

Nanpin school The Nanpin school (南蘋派 ''Nanpin-ha'') was a school of painting which flourished in Nagasaki during the Edo period. Etymology The school takes its name from Nanpin, the art name of Chinese painter Shen Quan (1682–1760), an artist who pa ...

, he worked in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

, where he studied art under the Chinese painter Shen Quan (1682–1760).

Names

Yūhi's birth name was Kumashiro Ayaru (神代斐). His common name was Hikonoshin (彦之進), and later, Jinzaemon (甚左衛門). His

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

was Kisen (淇瞻), and his

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

was Shūkō (繡江). Today, he is usually called Yūhi (熊斐), his Chinese-style sobriquet, which were popular among Japanese artists who studied Chinese arts and poetry during the Edo period.

Biography

Yūhi was born to the Kumashiro (神代) family, a family that supplied the government with ''tōtsūji'', or Japanese-Chinese interpreters. His father was one such translator. At age 21, Yūhi became an apprentice translator, but never advanced beyond that. In 1731, he became the pupil of Shen Quan (沈銓), a visiting Chinese painter who stayed in

until 1733. Later, he continued studying under Gao Qian (高乾), another disciple of Shen Quan. During this time, the

of art was established in Japan, largely based on earlier styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties, which focused mainly on

bird-and-flower painting Bird-and-flower painting, called () in chinese language, Chinese, is a kind of Chinese painting with a long tradition in China and is considered one of the treasures of Chinese culture. The was named after its subject matter. It originated in t ...

(''kachōga''). The school was named after Nanpin, which was Shen Quan's

, and Yūhi was considered one of the school's most passionate members. In one instance, when Yūhi was asked to paint a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, he approached a caged tiger brought by a foreigner, and struck it on the head with a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

pole to see it move. It roared, scaring off the other bystanders, but he continued to sketch the tiger, refusing to leave. Yūhi's art was esteemed by the Japanese public, who regarded his paintings as a worthy native substitute for Chinese works, which were hard to find in Japan. Later, he went on to teach other artists, such as

Sō Shiseki was a Japanese painter of the Nagasaki and Nanpin schools. Originally from Edo, he spent some time in Nagasaki, where he studied under the Chinese painter Song Ziyan, who was known as Sō Shigan in Japanese. The name Sō Shiseki is an art-name ...

Mori Ransai Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare Mori, Italian "Iron Prefect" * Claudia Mori, Italian actress, singer, television ...

(森蘭斎) and Kakutei (鶴亭). His students would then spread this "Nagasaki style" of art to major cities like

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Gallery

Kumashiro Yuuhi, Xi Wangmu's Peaches of Immortality.jpg, ''

Xiwangmu The Queen Mother of the West, known by #Names, various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese religion and Chinese mythology, mythology, also worshipped later in neighbouring countries. She is attested from ancient ...

Peaches of Immortality In Chinese mythology, Peaches of Immortality ( or ) are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them. Peaches symbolizing immortality (or the wish for a long and healthy life) are a common symbo ...

'' Kumashiro Yuuhi, Two Cranes at a Clear Stream, 1754.jpg, ''Two Cranes at a Clear Stream'', 1754 Carp Leaping the Dragon Gate by Kumashiro Yuhi (Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture).jpg, ''Carp Leaping the Dragon Gate'' Yūhi A pair of Cranes.jpg, ''Two Immortal Cranes of Longevity''

Notes

References

External links