Japanese Art and Poetry: Influence of China (Middle Kingdom)
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Maruyama Ōkyo (1733–1795) demonstrated remarkable innovation in his approach to artistic media, exerting a substantial influence on the Japanese art world during the Edo period.
His work reflects a synthesis of visual traditions, drawing from native Japanese aesthetics, Chinese (Middle Kingdom) artistic conventions, and a limited exposure to Western art forms.
The British Museum says, “He specialised in a close observation of nature, but also drew on the tradition of Chinese bird-and-flower painting. Second son of Maruyama Tōzaemon, a farmer…”
The artist Sōami (art above), whose work continues to be esteemed despite the passage of centuries, remains an enigmatic figure; while the details of his birth are uncertain, it is widely accepted that he died in 1525.
Sōami’s artistic vision was profoundly shaped by the aesthetics of the Chinese Southern School and the philosophical tenets of Zen Buddhism. His engagement with Chinese literati painting traditions—especially those emphasizing expressive brushwork and contemplative themes—positioned him within an elite cultural milieu. This confluence of Chinese influence and Zen thought informed his lifelong dedication to the ideals of refined artistic and intellectual expression.
The Cleveland Museum of Art says, “Kyoto-based painter Sōami adapted the small-format Chinese album leaf and handscroll painting compositions belonging to the Ashikaga shogunate to the large-scale paintings he created for residences and Buddhist temples. As curator of the shogunal collection, Sōami would have carefully examined its Southern Song and Yuan dynasty Chinese paintings, gaining specialized knowledge of a variety of brush modes, including the soft style used for this painting.”
The Japanese scholar and poet Abe no Nakamaro (698–770) spent much of his life immersed in the cultural and intellectual milieu of the Tang Dynasty, the preeminent center of East Asian civilization during his time. As the cultural influence of the Middle Kingdom extended throughout the region—shaping the artistic, political, and philosophical traditions of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and beyond—Nakamaro became deeply integrated into this Sinocentric world order.
Eventually adopting the Chinese name Chao Heng (晁衡), Nakamaro attained significant status within the Tang court. Although circumstances prevented his return to Japan, his life was richly fulfilled through deep engagement with Tang China’s flourishing scholarly and literary culture. His experience stands as a testament to the transnational intellectual exchanges that characterized East Asia in the 8th century.
Despite his profound admiration for the cultural sophistication of the Middle Kingdom and the intellectual richness he encountered during his life in the Tang Dynasty, Abe no Nakamaro continued to lament his permanent separation from his homeland.
His enduring longing for Japan—particularly for Nara, the ancient capital—found poignant expression in his poetry. In the verse below, Nakamaro reflects on his yearning for the distant land of the rising sun:
When I look up
into the vast sky tonight,
is it the same moon
that I saw rising
from behind Mt. Mikasa
at Kasuga Shrine
all those years ago?
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