Interpretation of the term "floating world"
Ukiyo (meaning?, "floating world"), in its ancient sense, is heavily laden with Buddhist notions, with connotations emphasizing the reality of a world where the only certain thing is the impermanence of all things3. It is there for the Japanese a very old concept that they know since thetime of Heian (794-1185)
This word marked with resignation, the inhabitants of Edo (and, with them, those of Ōsaka and Kyōto) resumed it in the seventeenth century by turning it away from its meaning at a time when their city was experiencing a remarkable expansion due to its new status as a capital as well as to the peace that reigns now.
The term Ukiyo appears for the first time in its current meaning in the tales of the floating world (Ukiyo Monogatari), work of ASAI ryōi published around 1665, where he writes in the preface4 :
Live only the present moment,
indulge all in contemplation
of the Moon, the snow, the cherry blossom
and maple leaf... don't get shot down
poverty and not let it be reflected in the
on his face, but drifting like a calabash
on the river is what is called Ukiyo3.
The use of the word Ukiyo ("impermanent world") to qualify the "images" (e) — prints and paintings — of the time is difficult to interpret for Westerners who discover theUkiyo-e in the second half of XIX century: its connotations, its latent irony — it is charged with religiosity as it refers to the bubbling life that revolves around the " green houses " and the "reserved area" of the yoshiwara — arouse some questions. Edmond de Goncourt, a Japanese art lover, strives to raise them by asking the question to Hayashi, the japanese interpreter of the1878 World Exposition, which will become one of the great Outfitters of the West in Prints. He replied that «your translation of Ukiyo-e by the school of the living world or life as it happens before our eyes makes exactly the meaning.
The transposition that appears in some French books, "image of this ephemeral world ", seems pertinent, because it reflects both the notion of Buddhist impermanence and the recklessness of a society in full transformation, committed to describing the pleasures of everyday life as it is.
The Ukiyo-e print, an art within the reach of all.
This art form is highly popular in the Edo metropolitan culture during the second half of the seventeenth century, emerging in the years 1670 with the monochrome work of Moronobu who was the first leader.
Economic aspects
Initially, the prints were exclusively printed inChina's ink SUMI ; later, some prints are enhanced with hand-affixed colors6 — which remained costly — then by printing from blocks of wood with the colours to be printed, still very few. Finally, in the last half of the eighteenth century, Harunobu developed the polychrome printing technique to produce Nishiki-e ("Brocade prints").
The Ukiyo-e are financially affordable because they can be reproduced in large series (in the order of a few hundred, because after about three hundred copies, the wood becomes dull and the traits become less precise7). They are mainly intended for urban dwellers who are generally not rich enough to afford a painting. This development of theUkiyo-e is accompanied by that of a popular literature, with the significant sales of kibyōshi and sharebon 8. The initial subject of Ukiyo-e was urban life9, especially the daily scenes in the entertainment district. Beautiful courtesans, massive bulky Sumo wrestlers, as well as popular Kabuki actors are thus portrayed engaging in pleasant activities for the eye. Later on, landscapes are also experiencing success.
Censorship
The democratization of the art brought by the print does not, however, go without a few counterparties.
Political subjects and characters exceeding the most humble strata of society are not tolerated and appear only very rarely. Although sexuality is not allowed either, it is nevertheless present in a recurrent way. Artists and publishers are sometimes punished for the creation of these shunga with explicit sexual character.
In this regard, the case of Utamaro is10, who was handcuffed for 50 days for producing prints depicting the woman and the five concubines of a famous character in recent history, Hideyoshi. It is true that he had by this way associated with a libertine subject the political world of his time.
In a more anecdotal way, but very revealing of the attitude of the authorities towards the world ofUkiyo-e, the edict of censure went, starting from 1793, to prohibit the inclusion of the names of women on the prints that represented them, at the only exception of the Yoshiwaracourtesans. This gave rise to a new intellectual game for artists such as Utamaro, who continued to include the name of the interested party... but in the form of a rebus13. However, censorship reacted from the 8th month of 1796, by prohibiting such rebus14.
Story
The Ukiyo-e belong to two major eras of Japan's history : the Edo period, which includes ukiyo-e origins at about 1867, and then (much less significantly) theMeiji era which continues until 1912. As a whole, the Edo period is rather quiet, providing an ideal environment for the development of art in a commercial form. TheMeiji era, it is distinguished by the opening of Japan to the West and the decline of the traditionalUkiyo-e , in its style, its subjects and its techniques (arrival of chemical colors, for example).
Courtesy of www.wikipedia.org