Discussion

2023: The Year of the ???

There is some variation among countries. For example, when China celebrates the year of the Pig, Japan celebrates the year of the Boar. China celebrates the year of Goat when Japan celebrates the year of the Sheep. Not a lot of difference. 

One year, however, is very different. In 2023, China, Japan, and most other east Asian countries will celebrate The Year of the Rabbit. The image below is a very small section of a 12th to 13th century set of four scrolls (emakimono) titled (in English) Frolicking Animals and Humans (Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga or Chōjū-giga).

Vietnam is the exception. Instead of celebrating rabbits, Vietnam celebrates The Year of the Cat in 2023.

About Cats

There are 37 species of cat in the family Felidae. In that context, the term cat includes lions, tigers, bobcats, servals, ocelots, pumas, leopards, jaguars, etc. One of the 37 species, the smallest, is the domestic cat (Felis catus). This Abyssinian is an example.

Domestic Cats

Here are close-up views of a few more domestic cat breeds. This first one is a Bengal (no, not the tiger).

British cat.

Persian.

Sphynx, noteworthy for being hairless.

All cats are carnivores, though a small number occasionally enjoy a bit of green in their diet for a change of pace. About one in three domestic cats has a special yen for Nepeta cataria, otherwise known as catnip, a member of the mint family. It produces a chemical ingredient called nepetalactone that triggers a variety of behaviors in cats, including big ones like lions and tigers. In domestic cats, reactions to catnip typically last 10 to 15 minutes, after which they lose interest and won't respond again for hours.

Some say that domestic cats are cute, at least until they start shredding furniture, and pictures of them are popular. For those who would like models for cat paintings, the sheet below may be useful.

Pallas's Cat (Otocolobus manul)

n spite of its similar size and appearance, Pallas's cat is not a domestic cat. It is an entirely different member of the cat family, one of the 37 species referred to above. Named after its 18th century discoverer, Peter Simon Pallas, Pallas's cats live in scattered areas in central Asia (not counting zoos). Its lush fur makes it comfortable in elevated cool areas where some snow may last year round. Pallas's cats were once hunted for their fur, but they are now a protected species in most places.

The round pupils if its eyes is shared by only three other cat species and helps to account for its fierce look.

Maneki Neko

Japanese shopkeepers like cats, too, especially the maneki neko (beckoning cat), shown below.

Artwork

Japanese artists have not been shy about their admiration for cats. The netsuke below was carved from ivory in the late 18th century.

Itō Jakuchū (1716 – 1800)

Jakuchū was a grocer's son who took over his father's shop and managed it until he was about 40 years old. He then turned the shop over to his brothers to dedicate the rest of his life to painting. He painted many kachō-ga (birds and flowers pictures) and is especially noted for pictures of roosters. He painted many other subjects, too. Among them this print titled Birds, Cat and Dogs in a Garden.

Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865)

Kunisada was the most highly regarded artist of his era with a reputation even exceeding those of such masters as Hokusai, Hiroshige, and Kuniyoshi. After the end of the Edo period (1603 – 1868), his reputation faded. It wasn't until the 1990s that critics began to seriously reevaluate Kunisada's work. He is now considered to be among the greatest  ukiyo-e artists. Kunisada's main interest was in kabuki and actor ukiyo-e, though he also produced many bijin-ga, pictures of beautiful people, and sumo prints. Kunisada was a cat lover and owned as many as ten at a time. That love is reflected in this humorous spoof of bijin-ga titled Cats Enjoying the Evening Cool. It was produced in the 1839 to 1842 time frame.

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

Hiroshige was one of the greatest ukiyo-e landscape artists of the Edo period, matched only by Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849). Among his best work is a series of prints titled One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. (There were 119 prints in the series with the last few being done by Hiroshige II after Hiroshige's death.) The print below, number 101 in the series, is titled Asakusa Ricefields and Torinomachi Festival, dated 1857. It is a winter scene. The cat in the picture is symbolic of a courtesan after her work is over. Hair pins lie on the floor.

Shibata Zeshin (1807 – 1891)

Zeshin has been called Japan's greatest lacquerer. He worked with other media, too, but his most noteworthy work was with lacquer. His work is controversial in that he was regarded in his lifetime as being both too conservative and too modern. Zeshin is highly regarded in the west and is much studied, especially in Great Britain and the United States. The work below is from a hanging scroll titled Cat and Silver Vine. It is made of ink, lacquer and gold on paper.

Takeuchi Seihō (1864 – 1942)

Early in the 20th century, there were two prominent art movements dedicated to the restoration of traditional Japanese subjects, values, and techniques to Japanese art after the wholesale abandonment of them when Japan opened to the West at the end of the Edo period. The shin-hanga movement focused on Japanese woodblock printing; a modern version of ukiyo-e. The other movement dealt with other media and was known as Nihonga; literally Japan (Nihon) pictures. Seihō was one of the founders of the latter movement. He was awarded Japan's Order of Culture in 1937. His cat picture below was painted in 1924.