Sakaki Hyakusen (彭城百川)
Hyakusen SAKAKI (December 11, 1697 - October 2, 1752) was a Nanga painter (an original style of painting in the Edo period which had a great deal of influence from the Chinese Nanga style) who lived during the middle of the Edo period. Along with Nankaku HATTORI, Nankai GION, and Kien YANAGISAWA, he was considered as the founder of the Japanese nanga. As a painter, he was conferred Hokyo (The Third rank in the hierarchy of Buddhist priests). He was also active as a Haiku poet.
Biography
He was born to a second-class drug seller, Hassen do, in Honcho, Nagoya, Owari Province (the present Nagoya Prefecture) (He is also insisted by some people to be an adopted son-in-law). His real family name was SAKAKIBARA, and although his common name was Heihachiro TOSAYA, he called himself as SAKAKI. This was because his ancestors were from Hojo (彭城) in Jiangsu Province, China. His name was Mabuchi, his azana (Chinese courtesy name which was, historically, the name formerly given to adult Chinese men, used in place of their given name in formal situations; scholars and the literati of Japan adopted this custom of courtesy name) was Hyakusen, and his second names included Hoshu, Senkan, Hassen, and Hassen do. He called himself in the Chinese style as Hohyakusen.
Haikai (seventeen-syllable verse)
As for Haikai, he studied under Shiko KAGAMI who was one of the ten representative pupils under Basho MATSUO, and Hyakusen was active in Nagoya and Ise. His haikai were gathered in "An no sekku shu" (collections of seasonal haikai) in 1721. At first, his haigo (the pen name of a haiku poet) was Matsukaku, but from 1724, it became Shokaku.
Painting
He had already painted 'Yukyo dokusho zu' (a picture of one reading a book while living in seclusion) as a painter when he was 24 years old, but he started painting intensively from the age of 31 when he moved to Kyoto. It appeared that he had once belonged to the Kano School, but since he had extensive knowledge and understood kanbun (Chinese classics), he mastered literati painting and nanga through studying by himself, of the books and sketches introduced to Japan from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Furthermore, he devoted himself in studying paintings by continuing to travel to Ise, Osaka, Kanazawa, Okayama, Kochi, Nagasaki, Yamato, and so on. Especially in Kishu (the present Wakayama prefecture), he visited Nankai GION, and was presented with "Kaishiengaden" which was a picture book that was introduced from China, and he was said to have learned many things from it ("Kaisekigawa" [comments on paintings by Kaiseki NORO]). Hyakusen was in a status of townspeople by birth, and he was also in the trade of painting. He had different characteristics from Nankai and Kien who were likewise considered as the pioneers of the Japanese nanga. He had also worked on many of the wall paintings of temples, and through those great achievements or another, he was conferred the rank of Hokyo.
His style was evaluated as lacking in balance due to his broad forms, but he exerted great influence on the younger generations such as IKE no Taiga and YOSA no Buson who became germinators of Japanese nanga that later accomplished nanga, as well as Kenkado KIMURA who appeared after them. Especially YOSA no Buson, who engaged in two trades as Haikai and painting admired Hyakusen. Hyakusen was also active as a judge of calligraphic works and paintings.
Haiga (Simple paintings which accompany and interact with the 17-syllable poetic verse called haiku)
Hyakusen inserted Soga (a simple ink painting or light-colored drawing with rough strokes of a brush) painted by water ink into "Honcho hassen shu" which was a collection of Haiku. He also used different pseudonyms such as Hassen do and Hassen, and left many hanging scrolls that he himself praised. From these, he ranks highest as a painter of Haiga. Later, YOSA no Buson who admired Hyakusen studied Hyakusen's Soga, developed it, and established its painting style by naming it as "Haiga." With Hyakusen and Buson who made Nanga which was Chinese minded and Haikai which was Japanese taste compatible at the same time, Haiga which was a mix of Chinese and Japanese classics emerged.
He died at Kyoto in the summer of 1752. He died at the age of 56.
Representative works
Koshi kanbaku zu' (Men of high character, viewing a waterfall) 1730
Sekiheki zenyu' (Boating in front of the red cliff)
Omi Kyoto meisho zukan' (Picture scroll of famous places in Omi and Kyoto) after ward by Hansai HOSOAI
Guren zu' (Picture of red lotus flower) 1749
Kanzan houyu zu' (Picture of visiting a friend in the cold mountains) 1750
Tendai shakukyo zu' (Picture of a stone bridge in Tendai mountain) Paintings on the walls of Jimonin in Tanzan-jinja Shrine Important cultural heritage
Literary works
"Honcho hassen shu" 1726
"Gen Min Gajin ko" 1751 It is a simple biographical dictionary showing the origins and areas of works of painters who lived during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, but it became an important literature, revised and expanded by Fuyo KO, Kenkado KIMURA, and Tairoku TOBA, and published as "Gen Min Shin shoga jinmei roku" (biographical dictionary of painters who produced calligraphic works and paintings in Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties) (1777).