STORY NOTES

Sumi-e, the Art of Ink, is comprised of “four treasures”: the brush, paper, ink (sumi), and ink stone. The arts of calligraphy and ink painting came to Japan from China near the end of the Asuka Period (circa 645 A.D.). Ink painting became an established art form mainly through the works of priests, whose monochrome paintings of nature depicted a world of contemplation and meditation.

Brushes (fude) come in various sizes and quality, but the best brushes are made of the straight hairs from the breasts of white sheep.

The paper (kami) is thinner and more textured than Western standards. It also has a shine to it, a rough reverse side, and is more absorbent. A paperweight (bunchin) is used to hold the paper stationary. In earlier days, paper was a luxury that few people could afford. The invention of paper is attributed to T’sai Lun, around the year 105 A.D. Chinese paper was generally made from the bark of mulberry trees. Around 600 A.D. paper made its way to Japan by way of Korea, where it was made an art form in itself. (For a quick description of how Japanese paper (washi) is made, see UY Book 5: Lone Goat and Kid.)

Ink sticks come in small bars, often decorated with motifs or gold writing. Rings at the top indicate their degree of blackness, with five being the darkest. Basically, there are four types of ink: black, black with gold leaf, gray, and oiled-gray, which has an outline of oil formed around each stroke. Making the ink can be a laborious effort. It is made of lampblack, or plant soot, and glue. The soot is collected from an inverted cover over a lower dish filled with burning oils or wood. Glue is culled from the hides and bones of cows and horses. The two are mixed, then left to dry in molds.

The ink stone (suzuri) is a shallow slate dish with a reservoir at one end. The best stones are those that come from the river beds near Sendai in Northern Honshu because of their fine grain and quality.

Fujiwara no Hidesato was a councilor to Emperor Shujaku (reigned 931-46 A.D.). As Hidesato was crossing Seta Bridge near Lake Biwa outside Kyoto, he found his way blocked by a dragon with red eyes and fiery breath. He ignored it and continued on his way, until he heard his name called. He turned to discover that the dragon was, in actuality, Ryujin, the Dragon King, who was on a mission to find a man courageous enough to kill a monstrous centipede that was destroying his kingdom. Hidesato followed Ryujin into the lake and down to the sea. As they were feasting in the Dragon Palace, the centipede attacked. Hidesato, a skilled archer, shot two arrows, but they glanced harmlessly off the monster’s body. Remembering that saliva has magical properties, he licked the tip of his next arrow and shot it into the centipede’s eye, slaying it. The Dragon King rewarded Hidesato with a bag of rice that never emptied, a never-ending bolt of silk, a large bronze bell, and a cooking pot that heated without fire. Hidesato donated the bell to Mii Temple, from which it was stolen two hundred years later by the warrior priest Benkei.

Soon after abdicating in 1123, Emperor Toba became ill. Abe no Seimei, the court astrologer, determines that the cause was malicious magic. Tamamo no Mae, the Emperor’s favorite concubine, was tricked into revealing her true form: a nine-tailed golden fox. Tamamo sprang into the air and flew to Nasu Plain. She was hunted and shot by the famed archer Miura Kuranosuke. Tamamo transformed herself into a rock, which became known as the sessho seki, or “death stone.” To touch it was fatal; even looking at it was dangerous. A noh play describes how, three centuries later, a priest performed religious rites over the stone, whereupon it burst and Tamamo reappeared with a clap of thunder. She then confessed that she had bewitched two other rulers, one in India and the other in China, before casting her spells on the Japanese emperor.

Bibliography

• Sho: Japanese Calligraphy by Christopher J. Earnshaw, 1989, Charles E. Tuttle Publishing of Boston, Rutland, Vermont, and Tokyo.

• A Look into Japan by the Japan Travel Bureau, Inc., 1985.

• Japan Day by Day by Edward S. Morse, 1990, Cherokee Publishing Co., Atlanta, GA

• The stories of Fujiwara no Hidesato and of the “death stone” were found in Yoshitsune’s Thirty-Six Ghosts by John Stevenson, 1983, John Weatherhill, Inc. of New York and Tokyo, and Blue Tiger Books of Hong Kong.