Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-02
Personal Ambition Restricted.

personal ambition being restricted the
| sphere of the esthetic faculty was limited
| to the point of least resistance. The mind
of the nation was obliged to seek solace
| from the mOnotony of existence either in
| amusement or study. The policy of the
Tokagawa shoguns left the mind free
only IN the direction of literature and
! painting. and it was in these two direc-
tons that repressed personality found
| means to utter itself, and fancy became
| creative.
Following the line of least resistance,
esthetic taste turned It's attention mainly
! to the interests of everyday life. The
artist found his themes among the incl
! dents that might be watched from a
window or studied in garden He por-
| trayed the familiar aspects of nature in
| her various moods and seasons; trees and
| flow ers, birds and fishes, reptiles real and
| imaginary, insects and the ways of them;
| all kinds of small details, delicate trif1es
and amusing curiosities: any bit of i'm
personal fancy that revealed no trace of
| desire to take liberties with authority
or tamper with the morals Of the nation.
| Subsequently, under the influence of
| Buddhism, Japanese art became ascetic
as well as dainty and tiny in it's choice
of theme. The masterpieces of faience
| and other ceramic wares kakemono and
works in ivory that have come down to
us invariably inculcate seclusion, SIM
|
cultivated taste of the time loved to
| gaze at the moon from some lonely spot
| In the mountains, where, In a hut with a
solitary companion, the artist was con-
| tent to live on vegetables, nuts and
| water. Thus Japanese art, Indifferent to
i the industry and progress of real life.
| became devoted to leisure; till it's hermit
! like. star-gaZing influence chilled the
heart of the nation, leaving it polished.
but cold, and lacking the sublime aspira-
ton of universal man.
Fairy Pictures.
ut was during the Tokagawa period,
| too. that the race-genius of Japan
brought forth most of that queer brio
a-brac that still forms the delight of
western curio hunters and travellers gen.
| orally. The painter vas left free to revel
| in his fairy pictures. the ivory carver in
his exquisite grotesqueries and the deco
! rator in his miracles of Lilputian art in
metal. enamel and lacquer of gold. 1t
was then. too. that the arts assumed that
inexpensive form which placed esthetic
| qualification within reach of the common
people. Though the vision was narrow.
| it was beautiful, and 1t was shared by ALL
| AS In the cities OF ancient Greece, SO in
1.-THE remote towns of old Japan, artistic
form. which is always power for Gull
ture. began to display itself in every
household Observation-Disclosures, lamps.
| kettles, trays, lanterns-until even the
| most trif1ing object was, in respect of de-
sign. a piece of art revealing sense OF
beauty and fitness unknown to the cheap
| production of the west.
'"Then it was that a sense of beauty
| spread out everyN here into common life;
until love of art became the national
| characteristic that 1t still is. The pos
session and enjoyment OF art ceased to
be the right of the upper classes. The
spirit of estheticism began to pervade all
departments of life. The art Of illustra-
ton. producing those wonderful color
prints that still delight the eyes of the
connoisseur and the wealthy dilettante.
was freely developed, and literature in the
shape of cheap popular fiction became
possible while a popular enjoyment of
culture and social refinement character
lied the age"