Discussion

Shikunshi -- The Four Gentlemen

The Mustard seed garden: A Manual of Painting, the first part of which was published in China in 1679 followed by parts 2 and 3 in 1701, had a huge impact on Chinese and Japanese painters of the time. It was that book that introduced the concept of The Four Gentlemen (shi·ku·n·shi or 四君子 in Japanese); bamboo, chrysanthemum, plum, and orchid. These four painting subjects have become among the first that new sumi-e artists learn but also among the last that artists master. They are among the first taught because collectively, the four shikunshi subjects utilize all of the basic sumi-e strokes. They are among the last mastered because of the great potential they have for subtle and sophisticated expression.

Another thing that makes the shikunshi subjects important in Japanese culture has to do with the four seasons. Japanese culture is highly attuned to seasonal changes. Each season has its own traditional foods, often served on seasonal tableware; for example glass or bamboo for summer and thick earthenware for winter. Floral displays (ikebana--生け花) are made that select from among the considerable number of plants with seasonal associations. Poetry is written or displayed that contains at least one word appropriate to the season. The same is true for artwork depicting seasonal subjects. Among them are the shikunshi subjects.

• Bamboo is associated with summer.

• Chrysanthemum is a fall plant.

• Plum trees blossom in the winter.

• Orchids are spring plants.

The predominant subject in the fusuma (sliding door panel) painting  below by Eitoku Kano (1543-1590) is a plum tree, but bamboo, chrysanthemums, and orchids, though hard to see in this image, are featured, too. All four seasons as well as all of the shikunshi subjects appear in this one composition. That is something that appears to have been unique to Japanese art. 

This 1566 Muromachi period (1336 to 1573) painting is among four of sixteen fusuma panels in the abbot's quarters of Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto.

This module and the next are specifically focused on the study of bamboo. Chrysanthemums, plums, an orchids will be covered in later modules.

About Bamboo

Bamboos are a type of evergreen perennial flowering grass and are among the fastest growing plants in the world.  Some species of bamboo can grow as fast as an inch every 40 minutes. The intermodal parts of the stems (the parts between the joints) are usually hollow. Most bamboo are native to warm and moist tropical and warm temperate climates.

Bamboo has a number of practical uses from food (shoots of some species), to writing pens, to eating utensils, to vases, to textiles, to paper making, to construction.

Bamboo fabric pattern.

For construction purposes, bamboo is harvested when it is the strongest; around 7 years old. Harvested bamboo regrows from roots. When allowed to grow to full maturity, most bamboo species are genetically programmed to flower once between 65 to 120 years of age depending on the species, then die. That happens to an entire species worldwide at the same time. To continue, they must grow from seeds. A minority of bamboo species can flower repeatedly; some even annually.

Because most bamboo flower so infrequently, the sight of a bamboo blossom is rare.

Bamboo seeds.

In Japan, a bamboo forest sometimes surrounds a Shinto shrine as part of a sacred barrier against evil. Many Buddhist temples also have bamboo groves like Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto.

Bamboo leaves.

Some bamboo make good household plants like this Lucky Bamboo.