A hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit East Asian painting and

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

. They are different from

handscroll The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height. Handscrolls are generally viewed startin ...

s, which are narrower and designed to be viewed flat on a table. Hanging scrolls are generally intended to be displayed for short periods of time, after which they are rolled up and tied for storage. They are traditionally rotated according to season or occasion, rather than be on permanent display. Their artwork could be mounted with decorative

brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...

silk borders. The craft of creating a hanging scroll is considered an art in itself.

History

Scrolls originated in their earliest form from texts written on bamboo strips and

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

banners across ancient China. The earliest hanging scrolls are related to and developed from silk banners in early Chinese history. These banners were long and hung vertically on walls. Such silk banners and hanging scroll paintings were found at

Mawangdui Mawangdui () is an archaeological site located in Changsha, China. The site consists of two saddle-shaped hills and contained the tombs of three people from the Changsha Kingdom during the western Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD): the Chancellor Li ...

dating back to the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(206 BCE – 220 CE). The aesthetic and structural objectives for hanging scrolls were summarized by the time of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907) and are still followed in the present day. During the early

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(960–1279), artists found that hanging scrolls were well suited to their art styles. Originally introduced to Japan from China as a means of spreading

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, hanging scrolls found a place in Japanese culture and art and plays an important role in interior decoration.

Description

Hanging scrolls provide a vertical format to display art on walls. They are one of the most common types of scrolls for Chinese

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

. They are made in many different sizes and proportions. Horizontal hanging scrolls are also a common form. Hanging scrolls are different from the handscrolls. A handscroll is a long narrow scroll for displaying a series of scenes in Chinese painting. It intended to be viewed section for section, flat on a table, during its unrolling. In contrast, a hanging scroll is appreciated in its entirety.

Mounting styles

There are several hanging scroll styles for mounting, known in Chinese as: * ''Yisebiao'' (一色裱, one color mount) * ''Ersebiao'' (二色裱, two color mount) * ''Sansebiao'' (三色裱, three color mount) * ''Xuanhezhuang'' (宣和裝, Xuanhe style), also known as ''Songshibiao'' (宋式裱,

mount)

Arrangements and formats

Besides the previous styles of hanging scroll mountings, there are a few additional ways to format the hanging scroll. *Hall painting (中堂畫) : A hall painting is intended to be the centerpiece in a main hall. It is usually large, serves as a focal point in an interior, and often has a complicated subject. *Four hanging scrolls (四條屏) :These hanging scrolls were developed from screen paintings. They comprise several narrow and long hanging scrolls usually hung next to each other on a wall, but they can also be hung separately. Their subjects have related themes, such as the ''

Four Gentlemen In Chinese art, the Four Gentlemen or Four Noble Ones (), is a collective term referring to four plants: the plum blossom, the orchid, the bamboo, and the chrysanthemum. The term compares the four plants to Confucian '' junzi'', or "gentlemen" ...

'' (

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

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 ...

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums ( ), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia, and the center of diversity is in China. Co ...

, plum blossom) or the '' Four Beauties'' (ladies renowned for their beauty). *Panoramic screen (通景屏) :The panoramic screen consists of several hanging scrolls that have continuous images, in which the subject continues further in another scroll. These hanging scrolls cover large areas of a wall and usually do not have a border in between. *Couplet (對聯) :A

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

is two hanging scrolls placed side by side or accompanying a scroll in the middle. They have calligraphy in vertical writing. This style became popular during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644). *Thin strip painting (條幅畫) :Narrow strip paintings intended for smaller rooms and spaces.

Features and materials

Chinese mounting and conservation techniques are considered a traditional craft and are believed to have developed around 2,000 years ago. This craft is considered an art unto itself. Careful attention was and still is paid to ensure the quality and variety of the silk and paper to protect and properly fit the artwork onto the mounting, as it gives form to the art. The art is fixed onto a four-sided inlay, made from paper or silk, thus providing a border. The artwork in the middle of the scroll is called ''huaxin'' (畫心; literally "painted heart"). There is sometimes a section above the artwork called a ''shitang'' (詩塘; literally "poetic pool"), which is usually reserved for inscriptions onto the work of art, ranging from a short verse to poems and other inscriptions. These inscriptions are often done by people other than the artist. Although inscriptions can also be placed onto the material of the artwork itself. The upper part of the scroll is called ''tiantou'' (天頭; symbolizing "Heaven") and the lower part is called ''ditou'' (地頭; symbolizing "Earth"). At the top of the scroll is a thin wooden bar, called ''tiangan'' (天杆), on which a cord is attached for hanging the scroll. Two decorative strips, called ''jingyan'' (惊燕; literally "frighten swallows"), are sometimes attached to the top of the scroll. At the bottom of the scroll is a wooden cylindrical bar, called ''digan'' (地杆), attached to give the scroll the necessary weight to hang properly onto a wall, but it also serves to roll up a scroll for storage when the artwork is not in display. The two knobs at the far ends of the lower wooden bar are called ''zhoutou'' (軸頭) and help to ease the rolling of the scroll. These could be ornamented with a variety of materials, such as jade, ivory, or horn.

Method and processes

Traditional scroll mounters go through a lengthy process of backing the mounting silks with paper using paste before creating the borders for the scroll. Afterwards, the whole scroll is backed before the roller and fittings are attached. The whole process can take two weeks to nine months depending on how long the scroll is left on the wall to dry and stretch before finishing by polishing the back with Chinese wax and fitting the rod and roller at either end. This process is generally called 'wet mounting' due to the use of wet paste in the process. In the late 20th century a new method was created called 'dry mounting' which involves the use of heat activated

silicone In Organosilicon chemistry, organosilicon and polymer chemistry, a silicone or polysiloxane is a polymer composed of repeating units of siloxane (, where R = Organyl group, organic group). They are typically colorless oils or elastomer, rubber ...

sheets in lieu of paste which reduced the amount of time from a few weeks to just a few hours. This new method is generally used for mass-produced artwork rather than serious art or conservation as mounting done this way tends not to be as robust as wet mounting whose scrolls can last for over a century before it requires remounting.

References

External links

MoreInfo: Formats (Mounting)
National Palace Museum. (for a diagram of the components of a hanging scroll)
Short documentary about how a japanese hanging scroll is being made
{{Authority control Arts in China Chinese art Chinese inventions Chinese painting East Asian art East Asian calligraphy