Shinki itsufutsu 心機一拂

FSC-GR-780.343.1-3

Commentary by Hinohara Kenji

Posted March 10, 2017
Original unedited text in Japanese follows)

This work illustrates one image in each opening or half opening. It completely differs in appearance from Masayoshi’s set of ryakuga shiki (略画式), or works in an “abbreviated drawing or sketch style,” in which he excelled (see Ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.335; Chōjū ryakuga shikiFSC-GR-780.342; Jinbutsu ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.336; Sansui ryakuga shiki FSC-GR-780.337; Sōka ryakuga shiki FS-GR-780.341). Instead, it follows the format of older illustrated books as known in the work of the seventeenth- to eighteenth-century artists Tachibana Morikuni (橘守国) and Ōoka Shunboku (大岡春卜). The style is not that of quick sketches (rakuga), but rather reflects Masayoshi’s training in Kano style techniques. This is seen, for example, in the simplified brush style that reveals the movement of the irregular tip of the brush. There are a number of instances where the title is recorded as Shinki issō (心機一掃) but this is an error in the recording of the actual title, which is Shinki itsufutsu 心機一拂.

To date the colophon information on the inside back cover of the second volume was undocumented, and for this reason the Pulverer copy is extremely valuable because it establishes the year of publication as 1801. The Pulverer copy is a first printing. There are other printings, including a later 1814 second printing with an introduction by a different author (Ōta Nanpo大田南畝) and a reprint of that same volume under the name Keisai soga 蕙斎麁画 (publication date unknown). The latter work is not to be confused with the book of the same title in the Pulverer Collection (FSC-GR-780.334.1-5). [1]

The book’s contents focus on the theme of flowers and birds, animals, and figures from China and Japan. The images are as follows:

Volume 1: “Hawk;” “Horned Owl on a Withered Tree;” “Willow and Swallows;” “Dragon in Clouds;” “Sōshiarai” (Washing Manuscripts); “Narcissus;” “The Four Sleepers;” “Bamboo and Sparrow;” “Fukurokuju;” “Hitomaro;” “Platycodon (Balloon Flower);” “Mouse and Sorghum;” “Plum and Bush Warbler;” “Bird;” “Heron;” “Plum and Adonis Flower;” “Daikoku;” “Loquats;” “Rabbit;” “Shōki;” “Poppy;” “Landscape;” “Chickens;” “Jade in a Lotus;”“Ō Gishi” (Ch. Wang Xizhi); and “Daruma” (Bodhidharma).

Volume 2: “Performing Monkey Trainer;” “Manzai Comedians;” “Li Haku” (Ch. Li Bo); “Landscapes;” “Plum and Pigeon;” “Grapes;” “Fukurokuju;” “Hotei” (Ch. Budai); “Geese in Reeds;” “Wild Horses;” “Pheasant and Dandelion;” “Pine and Crane;” “Plum and Turtle:” “Bamboo;” “Carp;” “Lion;” “Tiger;” “Enkō;” “Eagle;” and “A Saint.”

Volume 3: “Flowering Crabapple and Island Bulbul;” “Oxen,” “Chrysanthemum;” “Iris;” “Mandarin Ducks;” “Chōkarō” (Ch. Zhang Guolao); “Robin in Plum Tree;” “Forty Sparrows and Hibiscus;” “Gama;” “Morning Glory;” “Peony;” “Imperial Fan;” “Iris and Nemophila;” “Bulbul and Nandina;” “[Arihara no] Narihira;” “Scarlet Parakeet on a Peach Bough;” “Chinese Sumac and Eurasian Wren;” “Wild Boar;” “Tanuki” (Raccoon Dog); “Monkey;” “Bull-headed Shrike in Camilla;” “Lily;” “Cicada and Windmill Palms;” and “Tekkai” (Ch. Tieguai).”

書名心機一拂

執筆者日野原健司

半丁あるいは見開き１丁に１図を収める形式の絵本。政美が得意とした略画式シリーズとは全く体裁を異にし、18世紀に活躍した橘守国や大岡春卜に見られる旧来の絵本の形式に則っている。画風も略画ではなく、先の粗い筆の動きを残した略筆のもので、狩野派を学んだ成果が反映されている。題名は『心機一掃』と記されるケースが多いが『心機一拂』の誤り。また、従来下巻裏表紙にある奥付については報告されていなかったため、奥付のあるプルヴェラー本は刊年が明らかとなるという意味で貴重である。なおプルヴェラー本は初版であるが、後に序文を大田南畝に変えた文化11年（1814）刊の再版本や、その改題本である『蕙斎麁画』（刊年未詳）が存在することが指摘されている。［1］

内容は主に花鳥や動物、和漢の人物である。目録を列挙すると以下のとおり。上巻は「鷹」「枯木に木免」「柳に燕」「雲龍」「草紙洗」「水仙」「四睡」「竹に雀」「福禄寿」「人麿」「桔梗」「蜀黍に鼠」「梅に鶯」「烏」「鷺」「梅に福寿草」「大黒」「枇杷」「兔」「鐘馗」「罌粟」「山水」「鶏」「蓮に翡翠」「王義之」「達摩」。中巻は「猿曳」「万歳」「李白」「山水」「梅に鳩」「葡萄」「福禄寿」「布袋」「芦雁」「野馬」「雉子蒲公英」「松に鶴」「梅に亀」「墨竹」「鯉」「獅子」「虎」「猿猴」「鷲」「聖像」。下巻は「海棠に島鵯」「牛」「菊」「燕子花」「鴛鴦」「張果郎」「梅に駒鳥」「芙蓉に四十雀」「蝦蟇」「蕣」「牡丹」「檜扇に瑠璃」「南天に鵯」「業平」「桃に緋音子」「白膠木に鷦鷯」「附猪」「狸」「猿」「椿に鵙」「百合」「棕櫚に蝉」「鉄拐」。

Selected readings:
Kano Hiroyuki 狩野博幸, “Kuwagata Keisei ehon no kentō”「鍬形蕙斎絵本の検討」, MUSEUM 338 『MUSEUM』338号 (May 1979), 18–28.

Fukuoka University Library 福岡大学図書館, “Keisai・Shūho sakuhingun to kyōdo haikai no sekai. Wahon no bi”『蕙斎・秋圃作品群と郷土俳書の世界和本の美』, 2003.

Orii Takae 折井貴恵, “Jūhasseiki no edehon kan: Kuwagata Keisai (Kitao Masayoshi) o rei ni” 「十八世紀の絵手本観―鍬形蕙斎（北尾政美）を例に」, in Edo no shuppan bunka kara hajimatta imēji kakumei 『江戸の出版文化から始まったイメージ革命』, ed. by Ōta Akiko太田昌子 (Kanazawa: Kanazawa Geijutsugaku Kenkyūkai, 2007), 117–32.

Copies in other collections:

Aichi University of Education Library
Fukuoka University Library
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Institute of Japanese Literature, Tokyo

[1] Kano 1979, 18–28.