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title Article from Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia's Kyoto Articles (Version 2.01)
source Wikipedia 2011/01/13
taken from BDS_00001.xml (Available from https://alaginrc.nict.go.jp/WikiCorpus/index.html).
terms of use Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

1Sesshu        [BDS_00001;1]
2Known as Sesshu (1420 - 1506), he was an ink painter and Zen monk active in the Muromachi period in the latter half of the 15th century, and was called a master painter.        [BDS_00001;2]
3He revolutionized the Japanese ink painting.        [BDS_00001;3]
4He was given the posthumous name “Toyo” or “Sesshu.”        [BDS_00001;4]
5Born in Bicchu Province, he moved to Suo Province after entering Shokoku-ji Temple in Kyoto.        [BDS_00001;5]
6Later he accompanied a mission to Ming Dynasty China and learned Chinese ink painting.        [BDS_00001;6]
7His works were many, including not only Chinese-style landscape paintings, but also portraits and pictures of flowers and birds.        [BDS_00001;7]
8His bold compositions and strong brush strokes constituted an extremely distinctive style.        [BDS_00001;8]
96 of his extant works are designated national treasures. Indeed, he is considered to be extraordinary among Japanese painters.        [BDS_00001;9]
10For this reason, there are a great many artworks that are attributed to him, such as folding screens with pictures of flowers and that birds are painted on them.        [BDS_00001;10]
11There are many works that even experts can not agree if they are really his work or not.        [BDS_00001;11]
12Representative works include: Long Landscape Scroll, Summer and Winter Landscape, View of Amanohashidate, Broken Ink Landscape, Portrait of Ekadanpi, Fall and Winter Landscape, and Folding Screen of Birds and Flowers of the 4 Seasons.        [BDS_00001;12]
13His disciples include Shugetsu, Soen, and Toshun.        [BDS_00001;13]
14The Artist's Life        [BDS_00001;14]
15He was born in Akahama, Bicchu Province (present-day Soja City, Okayama Prefecture), in 1420.        [BDS_00001;15]
16He was born to a Samurai family called ODA.        [BDS_00001;16]
17He entered nearby Hofuku-ji Temple (Soja City) while young.        [BDS_00001;17]
18He moved to Kyoto's Shokoku-ji Temple at the age of around 10, and while studying and having Zen training under Shuto SHUNRIN, learned painting from Shubun TENSHO.        [BDS_00001;18]
19In around 1454, he moved to Suo Province, and built his studio, Unkokuan (Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), with the patronage of the feudal lord, Ouchi.        [BDS_00001;19]
20In around 1465, he acquired a calligraphy work by Bonki SOSEKI on which the characters of Sesshu were written, and requested Shinkei RYUKO to write a certificate about the origin of the name, Sesshu.        [BDS_00001;20]
21It is believed that after that, he came to be known as Sesshuu.        [BDS_00001;21]
22It is thought that until this time he was known as Touyou SESSHU, but there is not a firm source to indicate that SESSHU and Sesshu were the same person.        [BDS_00001;22]
23In 1468, he sailed to Ming Dynasty China with a mission.        [BDS_00001;23]
24He familiarized himself with authentic Chinese ink painting and studied it for about 2 years.        [BDS_00001;24]
25In the fall of 1481, he traveled to Mino Province.        [BDS_00001;25]
26There is no reliable record of the date of his death, but most put it at 1506.        [BDS_00001;26]
27Other records write that he died in 1502.        [BDS_00001;27]
28In addition to the date of his death, there are many other aspects of Sesshu's life that remain unknown.        [BDS_00001;28]
29A Rat Drawn In Tears        [BDS_00001;29]
30There is an interesting episode about Sesshu.        [BDS_00001;30]
31A young Sesshu who entered Hofuku-ji Temple only liked pictures and did not want to read sutras; so the monks of the temple tied him to a pillar in the building enshrining a Buddhist statue.        [BDS_00001;31]
32However, when the monks saw that he drew a rat with his tears that fell on the floor by using his big toe, they were impressed so they allowed him to draw pictures.        [BDS_00001;32]
33This is thought to be the most well known story about Sesshu.        [BDS_00001;33]
34The story first appeared in “Honcho Gashi” compiled by Eino KANO (published in 1693, the Edo period).        [BDS_00001;34]
35Deification        [BDS_00001;35]
36Sesshu started to be deified in the Edo period.        [BDS_00001;36]
37It is thought to be because the Kano School that ruled painting circles at the time venerated him as a master, and feudal lords wanted to have Sesshu's artwork.        [BDS_00001;37]
38It is said that this is why the number of artworks attributed to Sesshu increased.        [BDS_00001;38]
39Reflecting Sesshu's popularity, a Japanese puppet drama / Kabuki work entitled “The Gion Religious Festival” was created. The drama was first performed in January 1758. The scene of Kinkaku-ji Temple, where Sesshu's granddaughter, Yukihime, takes an active role, is famous and similar works were performed.        [BDS_00001;39]
40Today, Sesshu who gave birth to one of Japanese cultures is a leading historical figure of this country.        [BDS_00001;42]