8/6/2021 Higashiyama culture - Wikipedia

Higashiyama culture
The Higashiyama culture ( 東 山 文 化 Higashiyama bunka) is a
segment of Japanese culture originated and promoted in the 15th
century by the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after he retired to his
villa in the eastern hills ( 東 山 Higashiyama) of the capital city
Kyoto.

Contents
History Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku) and
garden of Jishō-ji, the residence of
Important dates
the Ashikaga shōgun in the
Examples Higashiyama hills of Kyoto
Architecture
Calligraphy and painting
See also
Notes
References

History
Based largely on the ideals and aesthetics of Zen Buddhism and the
concept of wabi-sabi, Higashiyama culture centered on the
development of chadō (Japanese tea ceremony), ikebana (flower
arranging), Noh drama, and sumi-e ink painting. Much of what is
commonly seen today as Japanese Zen aesthetics originated in this
period. Higashiyama culture is often contrasted with Kitayama
bunka ( 北 山 文 化 ), the "Kitayama Culture" from earlier in the
Muromachi period. In this comparison Kinkaku-ji, representative of
Kitayama culture is compared with Ginkaku-ji, representative of
Higashiyama culture.
Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who
developed the Higashiyama culture
Yoshimasa's retirement villa was turned into the temple Ginkaku-ji
(painting by Tosa Mitsunobu, latter
(the Temple of the Silver Pavilion) after his death. It is situated in
half of 15th century)
Kyoto's Sakyō-ku, and was the center of the Higashiyama cultural
outgrowth in a number of ways. The Pavilion is revered for its simple
beauty, the silver having never been added. The rock garden next to it is likewise one of the most famous
in Japan, and praised for its Zen and wabi-sabi aesthetics. It is a quintessential example of the idea that
only the trained expert should be able to recognize the subtle beauty within art and architecture; the
beauty of the object should not be underscored and emphasized, but gently hidden. The retired shogun
also invited many artists, poets, and court nobles to his villa, encouraging the development of their arts.
A vast and priceless collection of artifacts came together, which was known as the Higashiyama
Treasure.

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The Tōgudō building includes a shoin-style room called the Dōjinsai.

It originally had a fireplace built into the floor, and due to this, the
Dōjinsai is considered the earliest extant example of a room
designed for use as a tea room.[1]

There were many architectural innovations in this period, exhibited

in the Ginkaku-ji in particular, which would later become core
elements in the shoin style of 17th century architecture. One of these
elements was the tokonoma, a small alcove in which scrolls are
Interior of the Kuri, the main building
hung, and flowers or other small articles are placed to enhance the
of the Ryōan-ji, featuring elements
aesthetic feel of the room. The great ink-painter Sesshū Tōyō spent
of traditional Japanese style culture
much time at the Ginkaku-ji, and this period also saw the birth of
such as washitsu (fusuma, tatami,
the Kanō school of Japanese painting as well as an early version of and shōji) which were stylized in the
chanoyu tea ceremony. Tea ceremony would be further formalized Higashiyama culture
by Sen no Rikyū in the 16th century.

Important dates
In the history of this period, a few specific dates are noteworthy:

February 21, 1482 (Bummei 14 , 4th day of the 2nd month):

Construction of the Silver Pavilion commenced.[2]
January 27, 1490 (Entoku 2, 7th day of the 1st month): The
former-Shogun Yoshimasa died at age 56 in his Higashiyama-
dono estate,[3] which marks the beginning of the end of
Higashiyama bunka.
Karesansui of Ryōan-ji

Examples

Architecture
Ginkaku and Garden of Jishō-ji
Karesansui of Ryōan-ji
Karesansui of Daisen-in

Calligraphy and painting

"View of Ama-no-Hashidate" by Sesshū (Kyoto National Museum) (Image)
"Zhou Maoshu Appreciating Lotuses", a hanging scroll by Kanō Masanobu (Kyūshū National
Museum)
"Seikōji engi emaki" by Tosa Mitsunobu (Tokyo National Museum)

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"View of Ama-no- "Zhou Maoshu "Seikōji engi emaki"

Hashidate" by Appreciating by Tosa Mitsunobu
Sesshū Lotuses", a hanging
scroll by Kanō
Masanobu

See also
Culture of Japan
Japanese art
National Treasures of Japan

Notes
1. Yasuhiko Murai, tr. Alfred Birnbaum, "A Brief History of Tea in Japan." Chapter One in CHANOYU:
The Urasenke Tradition of Tea. Weatherhill, 1988.
2. Keene, Donald. (2003). Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion, p. 87. (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=xtPsa5zI8jcC&pg=PA86&dq=ginkaku&lr=&client=firefox-a#PPA87,M1)
3. Titsingh, p. 361. (https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP9&dq=nipon+o+dai+its
i+ran#PRA1-PA361,M1)

References
"Higashiyama Bunka" (http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/h/higashiyamabunka.htm), JAANUS:
Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System (http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/).
Keene, Donald. (2003). Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan. (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=xtPsa5zI8jcC&client=firefox-a) New York: Columbia University
Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13056-1; OCLC 52268947 (http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/52268947)
Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834), [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou,
Annales des empereurs du Japon (https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+
o+dai+itsi+ran). (https://books.google.com/books?id=18oNAAAAIAAJ&dq=nipon+o+dai+itsi+ran)
Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland.
Sansom, George Bailey. (1943). "Japan: A Short Cultural History". New York: Appleton Century
Crofts, Inc.
Steiner, Evgeny. (2014). Zen-Life: Ikkyu and Beyond. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-
4438-5400-9.

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