In Eastern culture, the tiger has been a symbol of strength and courage since ancient times, and is also the patron saint of the evil and evil, playing an irreplaceable role in religion and culture. It is the New Year of the Tiger in the lunar calendar, and in Korea and Japan, which are deeply influenced by Chinese culture, there are also the same zodiac signs as China, and from the tigers in Korean and Japanese paintings, it is vaguely visible how Chinese culture spreads and radiates to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago.
Tiger Diagram (partial), Joseon Dynasty, National Museum of Korea
Korea: The tiger is almost synonymous with the incarnation of the gods
Ancient Korea, because of its mountainous terrain, has had many tigers inhabit since ancient times, so it is called "Tiger Country". Ancient Korea is known as the "gentleman's country that drives the tiger", from ancient times to the Joseon Dynasty era (1392-1897), under the influence of Chinese culture, the tiger has been continuously transformed into a patron saint in tomb art, a mountain god in Buddhist art, a gentleman in painting and a symbol of warding off evil spirits, reflecting the Korean people's belief and reverence for the tiger.
In Korean art, there are not many roaring tigers, but more majestic tigers with witty smiles. These images reflect the Koreans' value for Confucianism and optimism and humor. This also proves that in the minds of Koreans, the tiger has always been a spiritual creature with divine power and courage, and is also a witty and close friend.
Korea's Three Kingdoms period (Baekje, Silla, Goguryeo) was active in exchanges with China, and "tigers" (night pots) were unearthed at the site of Buyeo Raseong Castle, the capital of Baekje (18-660 BC). The murals of the "Four Gods" (Green Dragon, White Tiger, Suzaku, and Xuanwu) in Goguryeo (37-668 BC) in Tomb No. 1 of Zhenpoli (Fengtu Stone Chamber Tomb, now in Pyongyang) also bear similarities with the Northern Wei tomb murals.
Mural of the White Tiger in Tomb No. 1 in Zhenpoli (copy), collection of the National Museum of Korea;
He was then an assistant professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, Tsuneyoshi Koba (1878-1958).
The "Four Gods" are derived from the Twenty-Eight Stars. Since the third century BC, people have divided the seven stars of the east, west, south and north according to the five elements, and the four sacred beasts of the Blue Dragon, the White Tiger, the Suzaku and the Xuanwu are respectively. With the passage of time, the meaning of the symbol of the "four gods" was also expanded, and the Han Dynasty added the role of the direction god on the basis of its repel of evil spirits, which was gradually accepted by Taoism after the fourth century.
White Tiger Mural of Tomb No. 1 in Koba Hengji Linzhen Po Li (Partial)
The four gods on the tomb frescoes want to protect the dead with their bravery and divine might. This idea is in line with the "tiger eating ghosts" recorded in the Later Han Dynasty's highly representative academic work "Customs and Customs".
The mural of the White Tiger in Tomb No. 1 in Zhenpoli has flame-shaped wings and an Elongated body with S-shaped limbs and neck. It's not so much a real tiger as it is an idealized animal. The white tiger is in a mysterious scene of five-colored clouds and flowers falling, which is speculated to be the incarnation of clouds in the immortal world. It is speculated from the white tiger's exquisite and smooth use of pens, cloud flowers and other painting methods, this ancient tomb was built in the early 6th century.
By the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), more and more paintings depicted tigers, such as the Mountain God Map. Mountain gods originated from the folk, and in the process of combining Buddhism with folk beliefs, mountain gods were elevated to protector gods. In the mid-to-late 18th century, the "Mountain God Map", which was originally placed in the Mountain Temple Temple, was moved to the Dao Temple Pavilion for worship.
"Mountain God Map", Joseon Dynasty, Collection of the National Museum of Korea
The "Mountain God Map" of the late Joseon Dynasty mostly uses anthropomorphic techniques, with clouds and distant mountains as the background, and Panasonic has mountain gods with rocking fans, children and squatting tigers. Some people think that the old man is the mountain god and the tiger is the messenger of the mountain god; others think that the tiger is the mountain god, and the old man next to him is the "king of the mountain" who anthropomorphizes the tiger.
"Out of the mountain tiger" is also a common subject of tiger painting after the middle of the Joseon Dynasty, "out of the mountain tiger" began in the Northern Song Dynasty of China painting tiger master Zhao Miao, "out of the mountain tiger" shows the majesty of the tiger as the king of the hundred beasts, can also be seen as an urge for the government to care about the people's livelihood, strict law enforcement.
Anon. "Tiger Figure", Joseon Dynasty, Collection of the National Museum of Korea
In a painting of "The Tiger Out of the Mountain" in the collection of the National Museum of Korea, the ink-painted tiger jumps on the paper, and it stops and turns to stare at the front. Because the work has the fall of the late Joseon Dynasty painter Shen Shizheng "Xuan Jae", it was once considered to be his work. However, the "Jia Wu Nian" on the inscription does not coincide with the activity period of Shen Shizheng (1714-1774), according to which it is speculated that the inscription and the falling paragraph on the work are later, and its author is unknown.
But the painter's artistic attainment is not low, and he draws the fur of the tiger's back with delicate brushstrokes. Through the twisting of the tiger's back, the viewer can feel its robustness and strength, as well as the king's style of being unmoved by the surrounding environment.
Anon. (anon.), Tiger Figure (partial), Joseon Dynasty, Collection of the National Museum of Korea
This picture is realistic and thick, and the use of fine brushwork shows the mighty posture of the tiger quietly coming out of the mountain and the agile posture. The prickly beard, the domineering eyes, and the majestic demeanor of wanting to do and stop fully demonstrated the domineering and mysterious sense of the king of the hundred beasts. The viewer is also immersed and has the feeling of looking at the tiger.
The "I Ching" says that the adult tiger changes, the villain changes his face, and the gentleman leopard changes. Therefore, the mountain tiger has the meaning of a gentleman who is hidden in the mountains to save The right to be born.
Kim Hong-do, "Panasonic Tiger", Joseon Dynasty, Collection of Samsung Museum of Art, South Korea
Two tiger paintings by the 18th-century Korean painter Kim Hong-do (1745-1806) are considered to be the finest tiger paintings of the late Joseon Dynasty, showing the painter's talent for painting.
Among them, the pine tree painting method in "Panasonic Tiger Diagram" is unique, because there is also the word "Leopard Painting Pine" next to the pine tree, which is said to be a joint work with his teacher Jiang Shihuang (1713-1791), but the performance of the pine tree is a certain distance from Jiang Shihuang's painting style.
Kim Hong-do, "The Tiger Figure under Takeshita", Joseon Dynasty, Personal Collection
"Tiger Under the Bamboo" is a tiger standing under the bamboo, looking up and tailing. On the right side there is an inscription written by Huang Jitian (1760-1821), who served as the superintendent of Gangdong County and the governor of Gyeongsang Province, and was good at calligraphy. The inscription reads "North Korea's West Lake Scattered People Paint Tigers, Shui Yue Ong Paint Bamboo Mai Shan Dao Ren Commentary", confirming that this work is Kim Hong-do painting tigers, Lin Hee-chi painting bamboo, and Hwang Ki-tien comments. Lin Xizhi was a literati painter of Middle-aged origin, he was between the class of two classes and commoners, and his bamboo painting skills were no less than those of Jiang Shihuang.
Kim Hong-do, "The Tiger Figure under Takeshita" (partial), Joseon Dynasty, Personal Collection
As in China, dragons and tigers represent beasts and are usually painted in pairs. The National Museum of Korea houses two masterpieces that are more than two meters long and wider, with six thick white sheets of paper pasted on the back to form a bottom surface, and the top is fixed by a thick rope curl. It is speculated that it is a hanging painting hanging on the door of the palace and the hall of the official government in the first month of the Joseon Dynasty, which is used to highlight the tiger power and the town house to avoid evil and welcome blessings, which is also the largest ink painting of the dragon and tiger in the existing Korean era tiger painting.
Dragon Map, Joseon Dynasty, Collection of the National Museum of Korea
Tiger Figure, Joseon Dynasty, Collection of the National Museum of Korea
The painter renders the base color with light ink and light yellow, renders the tiger skin with ink color and white, and paints rocks and pine trees with thick and light ink. A pair of magpies on pine branches is a popular "tiger magpie figure" structure in the Joseon Dynasty, and the "tiger magpie figure" is also widely used in folk New Year paintings, and its significance has been further expanded. In a "folk tiger magpie" from the late 19th to the early 20th century, the tiger sits and roars, surrounded by three young tigers.
Shin Jae-hyun, "Tiger Magpie Diagram", Joseon Dynasty, Collection of Samsung Museum of Art, South Korea
The picture is like a paper cut, without a sense of three-dimensionality. Tigers, Sanshen Mountain, pine bark, etc. present formal craft styles, and the tigers and magpies in the paintings show a typical, concise and strong perspective effect like a mascot. On the right side of the tiger there is "the sound of the wind smells in thousands of miles, roaring at the cliffs and cracking the stones"; above there is the circular "Tiger Roaring Nanshan County Magpie Metropolis", that is, the tiger roars in the South Mountain, and the magpies gather. Next to the young tiger on the back of the tigress, it is written "Grandson under the knee" to take the tigress as a benevolent and kind feature, reflecting people's desire to have many children and grandchildren. On the right side of the work is written "Koshu New Year's Day Shin Jae Hyun Writing", which inferred that this New Year painting was painted by Shin Jae-hyun.
Portrait of Kwon Young-baht, Joseon Dynasty, Personal Collection
The official costumes of the Joseon Dynasty also imitated the Chinese system. The official clothes are embroidered with unicorns, white ze, badgers, peacocks, cranes, tigers and leopards, etc. to indicate different grades. The portrait (Korean Artifact No. 668) of the mid-Joseon Dynasty warlord Kwon Young-baht (1546-1608) shows the basic style of a portrait of a 17th-century hero, with a chest decorated with a tiger chest symbolizing the military attaché.
Portrait of Kwon Young-baht (part of the chest of the tiger), Joseon Dynasty, personal collection
Kwon was admitted to the Wuke in the 17th year of Xuanzu (1584), and was awarded the title of Xuanwu Gongchen (宣武臣) with outstanding achievements in defeating the Japanese army during the Rebellion. The portrait of General Quan Yingba was given by Xuanzu and is presumed to have been painted on the occasion of the sealing of the gong. During the reign of Yingzu, the chest and back of the military attaché used tiger and leopard in the first and second products, and the bear in the third product. There are also some tigers on the "chest and back" that are not striped but spotted, and the characteristics are also close to that of leopards. Some studies believe that in Korea at that time, the tiger and leopard were a unique gesture of combining the two animals.
Chest back, Joseon Dynasty, 19th century, Tokyo National Museum collection
There are no tigers in Japan, and "drawing tigers according to cats" is still lacking
There are no tigers in Japan, and around the 15th century, when Chinese tiger paintings were brought to Japan, tigers were also popular in Japanese paintings as a subject of painting. In Zen monasteries, they became symbols of secular spirit, often paired with the image of the dragon, symbolizing the soaring and enlightenment spirit, and were often represented in paintings and crafts.
Museum sketch (tiger skin), illustrated by unknown artist, 19th century (Edo-Meiji period), Tokyo National Museum collection
However, the tiger in the Japanese painter's pen really does not dare to compliment, and its structure, demeanor, and shape give people a sense of looseness. Because almost no Japanese painters before the Edo period witnessed real tigers, they could only refer to tiger skins imported from abroad and tiger paintings from China, so the tigers painted were often unnatural, such as high shoulders and lack of joints. Due to the limited reference, even the Kano school painters of high status in Japan who painted exclusively for the imperial family were very different from the Buddha-figures in their paintings, and even considered to be like overgrown domestic cats.
For example, the Tokugawa shogunate's imperial painter and the famous painter Ofo Ino in the early Edo period, Kano Tosuno (1636-1713), did not paint the mighty power of the tiger, although in his "Tiger under the Bamboo" tiger only promises to crawl between the bamboo. In fact, in Japan, the tiger is a symbol of power, and bamboo is also highly respected for its resilience.
Kano Tsunenobu, "Takeshita Tiger", 1704-1713
After the Hunting School, the Han, Lin, and Yuanshan school painters all dabbled in tiger painting.
Nao-an, "Dragon and Tiger Picture Screen", 17th century (Azuchi Momoyama- Edo period), Tokyo National Museum Collection
For example, Yuanshan Yingju (1733 - 1795), in his early years, studied painting with the Kano school painter Ishida Youzhi, and later learned the sketching techniques of the Chinese Ming and Qing dynasties style from the painting style of Shen Nansheng, who lived in Changshan; He also studied the principles of perspective in European painting and attached great importance to sketching, thus mastering superb realism techniques and creating a new style of painting. His tiger paintings have the meaning of Chinese ink painting, and he has also studied tigers, but there is still a lack of shape.
Left: Maruyama, Tiger Map, Collection of The Fukuda Museum of Art, Kyoto; Right: Ashshu Nagasawa, Tiger Map, Collection of the Kyoto Fukuda Museum of Art
The most representative works of Maruyama's disciple Nagasawa Ashiyuki (1754-1799) are the ink barrier murals on paper, "Tiger Diagram" and "Dragon Diagram". The two barrier murals are located in the southernmost part of Honshu Island in 1707 due to earthquakes and tsunamis, and when the reconstruction was about to be completed in 1786, the abbot of The Temple invited Maruyama to create a barrier mural for the temple, who could not be completed due to busy work, so he was replaced by his disciple Nagasawa Ashyuki.
Nagasawa Ashyuki, Tiger Map, 1786, Wuliangji Collection
Nagasawa's paintings are based on the themes of nature and animals, and his painting style is more free-spirited than that of Maruyama, incorporating Western realism into his works.
Another disciple of Maruyama, who was famous for copying Chinese painting in the early days of Naka (1750-1837), later established his own style between Chinese literati painting and the "Maruyama School", and is considered a leading figure in the Kyoto painting world. In a piece in the British Museum's "Tiger Roaring", a tiger stands nervously on a steep hillside from which pine trees grow. This work is likely modeled on Chinese Ming Dynasty painting, but it shows the characteristics of Japanese painting, and it is known from the inscription that this work was made in the winter of 1775.
Originally in the middle, "Tiger Howling Wind Life", 1775, Collection of the British Museum
In the era of "ukiyo-e" popularity, the first Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) studied Utagawa Kuniseada (1786-1865) and Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861) and left many works related to tigers. In 1827, Utagawa Kuniyoshi published the "Samurai Painting" showing the "108 Water Margin Heroes", and the image of the Hero of the Water Margin was heroic and mighty, and soon became the embodiment of the ideal samurai image. His Wusong fighting tigers is full of movement; other ukiyo-e paintings that show "dragon and tiger fighting" express the opposite principles in nature, with dragons representing water and east, tigers representing wind and west, and confrontational "dragons and tigers" full of courage. As a beast, dragons and tigers also appear in many aspects of oriental culture.
Utagawa Kunitada, "Catching the Tiger", circa 1830, collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, "The Production of Qinghe Prefecture Takematsu", 1827
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, "Dragon and Tiger Fighting"
In Japan, the feather weaving is a symbol of the identity of the samurai, and the bravery of the tiger is the embodiment of the status of the samurai. The Tokyo National Museum has a mighty tiger on the back of a piece of feather weaving, which is not woven or printed and dyed, but depicted directly with a brush.
Shinoeori, white coarse woolen cloth ground tiger motif, 19th century (Edo period), Tokyo National Museum collection
After entering the Meiji era, zoos began to raise tigers, and Japan re-recognized tigers from a naturalistic perspective. Painters such as Takeuchi Andishi were able to express the real tiger image on the basis of sketching, and the animal "tiger" had a new exploration.
Shibata Ishima, Lacquer Painting Posters, 19th century (Meiji era), Collection of the Tokyo National Museum
Note: This article is partially referenced to Google "Culture and Art"