The topics last week were interesting and the folktales led me to look outward to what was happening to Japan during this period. There are many differences in how literature and art had evolved. My favorite piece of art was the Frolicking Animals scroll within the Tale of Genji. The reason why I was intrigued by it was due to its idyllic nature. While we have seen other pieces, which featured these themes (about court life, and its chill/pleasant atmosphere), I have never seen this done with animals. It was captivating to see as they are personified and do daily chores and play. There is a calm vibe that embodies the piece, lending itself to feeling domestic and peaceful. In one of the articles, there was a depiction of animals that is very soft, and they take on human qualities in order to help better emote. The rabbits, frogs, and other animals all coexist with one another, and the different species all denote their social class. The animals which are in play imply that they are of higher status as they do not have to work, and the animals carrying heavy loads, vegetables, and farming equipment are of the lower class who are hard at work. Yet even though they are meant to show the differences in social class, they all carry the same ideal and blissful appearance. This piece was created sometime during the beginning of the Kamakura period. Due to the period in which it was created, I was wondering if this piece could possibly be used as a political tool in creating peace and stability between the separate social classes. Art has been a notorious tool in order to spread propaganda (i mean in broad terms, not denoting the negative nature). The leadership within the Heian period I think was quite messy: Masakado’s rebellion, Taira No Kiyomroi and his authoritarian leadership, the Genpei wars and retaliation to Kiyomori, Minamoto Yoritomo’s succession, Taira no Makasado, etc. As the Heian period came to a close and the Kamakura period emerged, it’s not such a far stretch to believe that this art piece was an attempt to reconcile the instability which troubled Heian. To leave the political and social strain behind in the old period, and to create a more peaceful and harmonious period 😀 The animal’s ability to find a way to coexist with one another sends the message to citizens that there is a way to find stability in life, which did not exist during the Heian period.
[i found this art piece that was inspired by the frolicking animal scroll which i thought was cute]
Friday, Karl. “The Dawn of the Samurai.” In Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850, edited by Karl F. Friday, 178-188. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018.
“Scrolls of the Frolicking Animals”, attributed to Toba (1053–1140).
