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Gentiana Scabra

Gentiana, a large genus of flowers, has about 400 member species. Most species of gentians have large, blue, trumpet-shaped flowers. One species, Gentiana scabra, is common to much of East Asia.

G. scabra is often called the Japanese gentian, or rindō (bellflower) in Japanese. Rindō bloom in mid-summer through autumn. While most gentiana blossoms are blue, variations can be white, cream, yellow, or red. The red blossoms below are rare rindō.

Clumps of rindō grow from 1 foot to a little more than 3 feet high. 

Individual blossoms and stems have opposing leaves.

Here is a view down the mouth of the "trumpet".

Though variations of gentiana exist, there are some features common to most of them.

In Chinese herbal medicine, dried G. scabra root is called Long Dan Cao. 

Sasarindō

Rindō blossoms have been associated with Japan's Minamoto clan, an influential family since the Heian Period (794 – 1185). A version called the sasarindō was used as the personal crest of Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147 – 1199) and his descendants. It features three rindō blossoms along with five bamboo leaves. Here is one variation; the circle is optional.

The sasarindō appears in several Japanese paintings of members of the Minatomo clan. It shows up quite clearly in this print by Utagawa Yoshitora (fl. 1850 - 1880) depicting Ushiwakamaru playing his flute. The odd looking striped object sticking out from behind the figure's left side is a scabbard made from a tiger's hide. Minamoto no Yoritomo is said to have had one.

The historical Minamoto no Yoritomo was sometimes featured as a character in kabuki plays. One way to know which actor was portraying him was by the sasarindō on the costume the actor wore as depicted in this 1827 print by Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – 1865). 

Sasarindō sometimes even shows up in unlikely places like this manhole cover in Kamakura.

Haiku

This week's painting subject is another haiga, a painting that combines an image with a haiku poem. This week, it is a haiku by Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694).

Haiku had its early origins in the 14th century with the rise of renku, linked poetry. Gatherings of poets would take turns composing stanzas, each of which would take its inspiration from the preceding stanza. By the early Edo Period (1603 - 1868), renku had become formalized and was called haikai no renga. The first stanza, called hokku, was composed of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. The next had two lines with 7-7 syllables. Succeeding stanzas repeated the syllable pattern of the first two stanzas. Bashō's favorite activity in haikai no renga gatherings was composing hokku; first stanzas.

Eventually, hokku began to stand alone without being linked. Bashō is generally acknowledged as the world's greatest hokku master. Centuries after his death, standalone hokku became known as haiku.

Here is Bashō's haiku to accompany this week's haiga.

Artwork

Rindō is sometimes used in ikebana. Unfortunately, the photo of this one isn't very sharp.

Sakai Hōitsu (1761 – 1828)

A prominent member of the Rinpa School, Hōitsu is credited with reviving the style of decorative art originally created by Tawaraya Sōtatsu (1570 – 1640) and Ogata Kōrin (1658 – 1716). One of his masterpieces is a pair of byōbu titled Cherry and Maple Trees. The cherry tree byōbu is shown below. Look for the rindō. 

This closer look makes it a little easier to spot some of them.

Note the mottled appearance of the tree trunks. It was created using the tarashikomi technique, a trademark of Rinpa artists.

Kōno Bairei (1844 – 1895)

Bairei was an art teacher, painter, and illustrator of the Maruyama-Shijo school and specialized in kacho-ga (pictures of birds and flowers). He is most remembered today for his book, Bairei's Album of One Hundred Birds (Bairei Hyakucho Gafu) in 1881. In 1901 Kōno Seiko, Bairei's heir, edited and published more of Bairei's work in One Hundred Varieties of Flower (Kusa Bana Hyakushu). One of the flowers is this rindō.