, commonly shortened to , is a famous set of four picture scrolls, or ''emakimono'', belonging to

Kōzan-ji , officially , is a Buddhist temple of the Omuro sect of Shingon Buddhism in Umegahata Toganōchō, Ukyō Ward, Kyoto, Japan. Kōzan-ji is also known as Kōsan-ji and Toganō-dera. The temple was founded by the Shingon scholar and monk Myōe ( ...

temple in

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The ''Chōjū-giga'' scrolls are also referred to as ''Scrolls of Frolicking Animals'' and ''Scrolls of Frolicking Animals and Humans'' in English. Some think that Toba Sōjō created the scrolls; however, it seems clear from the style that more than one artist is involved. The right-to-left reading direction of ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga '' is traditional in East Asia, and is still common in Japan. ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga '' is also credited as the oldest work of

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

. The scrolls are now entrusted to the

Kyoto National Museum The is one of the major art museums in Japan. Located in Kyoto's Higashiyama ward, the museum focuses on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art. History The Kyoto National Museum, then the Imperial Museum of Kyoto, was proposed, along with the Impe ...

and

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

. The scrolls are the earliest in a linear monochrome drawing style that was to continue in use in

Japanese painting is one of the oldest and most highly refined of the Japanese visual arts, encompassing a wide variety of genres and styles. As with the history of Japanese arts in general, the long history of Japanese painting exhibits synthesis and competitio ...

(as they are all done with the usual writing and painting brush, they count as painting).Paine and Soper, 139-140 As opened, the first scroll illustrates

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

rabbits and monkeys bathing and getting ready for a ceremony, a monkey thief runs from animals with sticks and knocks over a frog from the lively ceremony. Further on, the rabbits and monkeys are playing and wrestling while another group of animals participate in a funeral and frog prays to Buddha as the scroll closes. The scrolls were also adapted into several novels published by Geijutsuhiroba, the first book simply compiled the scrolls into one publication, now out of print. One of the books participated as part of the company's ''Fine Arts Log'' series as well as some were exclusive to certain exhibitions. Other companies like Misuzu Shobo and Shibundō also published books based on the ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' emakimono. Although ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' is sometimes credited as the first manga, there have been some disputes with the ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'' newspaper. Seiki Hosokibara pointed to the ''

Shigisan-engi The is an or (painted narrative handscroll) made in the second half of the 12th century CE, during the Heian period of Japanese history (794–1185). It is an illuminated manuscript detailing miracles attributed to the monk , who lived on ...

'' scrolls as the first manga, and

Kanta Ishida Kanta may refer to: *Kanta (name) *Kanta (Japanese given name) *Kanta (Hungarian surname) *Kanta (play), a Gujarati play by Manilal Dwivedi *Kanta (shield), traditional shield in Indonesia *Kanta Museum in Argungu, Nigeria *Kanta, a character from ' ...

explained that the scrolls should be treated as masterpieces in their own right.

History

The ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga''

emakimono or is an illustrated horizontal narration system of painted handscrolls that dates back to Nara-period (710–794 CE) Japan. Initially copying their much older Chinese counterparts in style, during the succeeding Heian (794–1185) and Kamak ...

, belonging to the

temple in Kyoto, Japan as an ancient cultural property, are usually thought to have been painted in the mid- 12th century, whereas the third and fourth scrolls may well date from the

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 ( MCCI) through December 31, 1300 ( MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Eu ...

. Most think Toba Sōjō created ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'', who created a painting a lot like ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga''; however, it is hard to verify this claim. The drawings of ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' are making fun of Japanese priests in the creator's time period, characterising them as toads, rabbits and monkeys. ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' is read and rolled out from

right to left In a script (commonly shortened to right to left or abbreviated RTL, RL-TB or R2L), writing starts from the right of the page and continues to the left, proceeding from top to bottom for new lines. Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Pashto, Urdu, Kashmi ...

which can still be seen in

and

Japanese books Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspo ...

. ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' is credited as being the oldest work of manga in Japan, and is a

national treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

as well as many Japanese animators believe it is also the origin of Japanese animated movies. In ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' the animals were drawn with very expressive faces and also sometimes used "speed lines", a technique used in manga til this day. Emakimono like ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' and many others barely were seen in the public until they made their way into popular culture, with many common people imitating the style. Emakimono emerged very popular in the city of Ōtsu, Shiga, and being dubbed ''Ōtsu-e'' after its popularity in the city around the 17th century. The first two scrolls are entrusted to the

, and the second two are entrusted to the

. The scrolls currently on display at Kōzan-ji are reproductions.

''Emakimono''

The first scroll, which is considered the most famous, depicts various animals (frogs, rabbits and monkeys) frolicking as if they were human. There is no writing on any of the scrolls; they consist of pictures only. The first scroll is also the largest, with a length of 11 meters (36 ft) and 30 cm (1 ft) wide. As the first scroll is opened, rabbits and monkeys are bathing and swimming in a lake, moving on past the mountains, cliffs and trees are rabbits and frogs making bow and arrows. Further more, more rabbits and frogs are bringing pots and boxes to a (currently) unknown event. Frogs and rabbits pass by monks with their cattle (

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

sika deer The sika deer (''Cervus nippon''), also known as the Northern spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia and introduced to other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to ...

) and a monkey runs away, supposedly stealing, and being chased by a rabbit with a long stick, further more a frog is lying on the floor who could have possibly been knocked over by the thief. Nearby, a celebration has started with two frogs dancing, and a group of animals having a conversation. Not too far from the celebration are animals wrestling and fighting and two monkeys holding a box. Far from the celebration are a group of animals at a funeral and a frog praying in front of a frog shaped Budai as the scroll closes.

Gallery

File:Chouju swimming.jpg, Panel from the first scroll, depicting animals swimming and bathing for the upcoming ceremony. File:Chouju monks.jpg, Panel from the fourth scroll, depicting monks sitting down and smoking their pipes. File:Chouju lilypad.jpg, Fragment from the first scroll Detail, depicting a frog holding a lilypad over a monk's head.

File:Chouju lions.jpg, Panel from the second scroll, lions roar and scratching their backs. File:Chouju3rdscroll animals.JPG, Panel from 3rd scroll with frogs and monkeys harrying an oxcart File:Kozan-ji stamp.jpg, Stamp for placed on the scrolls. File:A Scene of Sorcery.jpg, ''A Scene of Sorcery''　depicting foxes (''

kitsune In Japanese folklore, , are foxes that possess paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser. According to ''yōkai'' folklore, all foxes have the ability to shapeshift into human form. While some folktales speak of employing t ...

''), 19th-century version

Publications

Four publications based on ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' have been released by the publisher Geijutsuhiroba. The first ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' book published by the company was which simply compiled the ''Chōjū-giga'' emakimono into one publication, released in February 2003, now out of print. A publication made for the anniversary of ''Chōjū-giga'' entitled was released on October 11, 2007, as a part of the series. All four scrolls were published in actual size in their boxset publication entitled ''Chōjū Jinbutsu Giga'' released June 10, 2008. Exclusive to the Suntory Museum of Art exhibition of ''Chōjū-giga'', the same company released a book entitled . ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga'' was also released in a ''shinsōbon'' (deluxe edition) by Misuzu Shobo. In 1991 a book by Shibundō entitled ''Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga to Okoe: Emaki'' was published and written by Nobuo Tsuji.

Disputes

The ''

'' newspaper with Kanta Ishida discussed different theories of what really is the "first manga".

Manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

, Seiki Hosokibara pointed to ''

'' as the first manga in history. Ishida said that the scrolls be treated as masterpieces in their own right, and not be cubby-holed as just the origin of manga and they have no connection with contemporary manga and the domestic works people are familiar with today.

Notes

References

*Paine, Robert Treat, in: Paine, R. T. & Soper A, "The Art and Architecture of Japan", Pelican History of Art, 3rd ed 1981, Penguin (now Yale History of Art),

External links

Miho Museum page for ''Chōjū-giga''

Japanese

Tokyo National Museum page for ''Chōjū-giga''

English

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choju-Jinbutsu-Giga 12th-century manuscripts 13th-century manuscripts Animals in art Buddhist paintings Entertainment in Japan Illustration Japanese culture Japanese paintings Manga National Treasures of Japan Paintings in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum History of art in Japan