Focus on Kokawa-dera Engi Emaki and explain the Style and composition.
The paintings in the emakimono are in the Yamato-e style, ie in accordance with the Japanese approach to painting that developed during the Heian period by deviating from Chinese canons. The work also belongs to the otoko-e subgenre, which is characterized by dynamic paintings with light color and continuous narrative rhythm, as opposed to the paintings of the onna-e (Court-style) subgenre, which are more decorative and emotional. There are few other extant examples of otoko-e works dating from the 12th century, but they include the Shigisan Engi Emaki, the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba and the Kibi Daijin Nittō Emaki. It is highly probable that these works from the end of the 12th century are relatively contemporary in relation to each other; Glum puts forward the hypothesis, from an analysis of the styles of each scroll, that the Kokawa-dera Engi would be subsequent to the Kibi Daijin and prior to the Shigisan Engi and the Ban Dainagon.
The paintings also observe a regular composition in three planes: a natural foreground (rocks, trees) serving to create depth in the scene; the figures and landscape elements (buildings, roads, fields, etc.) of the story occupying the entire center; and finally a distant and stylized landscape at the top of scroll. This composition is inspired by the canons of Chinese art of the Tang dynasty with typically Japanese variations. The unrealistic perspective is classically based on parallel lines and the point of view is always the same, slightly elevated at the front. On the other hand, the lines and outlines in ink are finer and less free than in the other otoko-e works. Here, the lines are characterized by their simplicity; landscape elements are stylised and used mainly to mark transitions between scenes. The narration is based on the repetition of scenes, fundamentally almost unchanged like the representation of the temple or the hunter's hut, in order to illustrate a succession of consecutive events.The figures in the paintings present some peculiarities, as they are more realistic and neutral than the other emakimono of the time, such as the highly stylised Court paintings, or the Shigisan Engi Emaki and the Ban Dainagon Ekotoba, which are a little more expressive and caricatural.
emakimono ink Shigisan Engi Emaki Yamato-e Kibi Daijin Nittō Emaki Heian Ban Dainagon Ekotoba Kokawa-dera Tang dynasty Heian period