Although
literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese '
kara 唐' painting, its
definition and usage changed with time. The term
kara-e was often used
in reference to large paintings, such as folding or sliding screens, but was seldom
applied to small-scale painting. It made its first appearance in literature of
the mid-Heian period at a time when the Japanese had turned away from the wholesale
borrowing of China's culture and socio-political system which had been the norm
for centuries, awakening to an increased appreciation of indigenous taste and
aesthetics. Gradually efforts were made to distinguish native Japanese paradigms
from those of the Chinese. The term therefore inherently connotes a contrast with
and contradistinction from *
yamato-e
やまと絵 (Japanese painting), emerging as a sign that the Japanese were willing
to recognise the value of their own taste and indigenous styles of art.
Kara-e
first referred to imported Chinese painting; its definition was then expanded
to include Japanese works modelled after Chinese painting. All Japanese painting
thus came to be divided between the two large, contrasting categories of
kara-e
and
yamato-e. Like the paintings that decorated some objects in the *
Shousouin 正倉院 collection at Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara (various musical instruments, the plectrums
of
biwa 琵琶 and other furnishing, and the screen painting depicting ladies
under trees),
kara-e depicted Chinese men and women, or exotic landscapes
with tall, rugged precipices. These paintings were executed in vivid colors of
mineral pigments, shadings were applied, and outlines were drawn in clearly discernible
brushstrokes of black ink. After the rise of
yamato-e in the mid-10c,
kara-e
adorned screens used for public, official, or ceremonial occasions. The Imperial
Palace was traditionally decorated with screen paintings of Chinese sages or historical
figures, and views of turbulent seas and foreign lands inhabited by strange and
exotic creatures, based on descriptions given in a Chinese classic, the Shanhaiching
(Jp:
SENGAIKYOU
山海経). Under the dominance of
yamato-e, a gradual
Japanization of
kara-e occurred, transforming paintings of Chinese subjects
along the stylistic lines of
yamato-e. A good example of this transformation
may be seen in the
Senzui byoubu 山水屏風 of the Kyoto National Museum, formerly
in the collection of the Kyoto temple of Touji 東寺. The screen depicts a popular
poet of Tang dynasty China at his favorite mountain retreat. The landscape setting
consists of low-lying, rolling hills and a wide expanse of water, which are reminiscent
of scenery in the Kyoto region. An often-quoted observation about landscape paintings
by Kose no Kanaoka 巨勢金岡 of the late 9c succinctly describes this shift in painting
style. Kanaoka was known to have painted mountains in fifteen tiers (tall precipices),
while one of his descendants, Hirotaka 広貴 of the late 10c, piled only five layers
of hills. As
kara-e lost its original, distinctive features, the term began
to denote paintings depicting Chinese subjects. After Chinese paintings of the
Song and Yuan dynasties were introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period, ink monochrome
paintings came to be called
kara-e, especially as distinct from the Tosa
school's *
Tosaha 土佐派 traditional
yamato-e works. In the broadest usage of the term, Ming and Ching Chinese
works, introduced via Nagasaki in the 18c, and the Japanese paintings modeled
after them also may be called
kara-e. On the other hand, ink monochrome
paintings of the Muromachi period and Kanou school *
Kanouha
狩野派 paintings are sometimes referred to as *
kanga
漢画 (Han dynasty Chinese painting). Throughout history, in spite of changes in
definition, the term
kara-e was used in a Buddhist context to describe
Chinese imports .