Watanabe Kazan
A scholar of Dutch learning of the late Edo period who criticized the bakufu's policy of national isolation; also, a painter influenced by Western art who went on to establish his own style 1793-1841
Watanabe Kazan was a scholar of Dutch learning and a painter. His personal name was Sadayasu; his courtesy names were Hakuto and Shian; he was commonly called Noboru; and his signature was Kazan (at first written 華山 and later written 崋山). His father, Watanabe Sadamichi, was a retainer of the Tahara domain in Mikawa Province, and he was born as his father's eldest son in the Edo residence of the Tahara domain. He studied the Chinese classics from Sato Issai and Matsuzaki Kodo.
Growing up in poverty, he took up painting to earn a living, and his talent was recognized by the literati painter Tani Buncho. In 1824 he succeeded his father as family head, and then in 1832 he became his lord's chief retainer. His concurrent duties as coastal superintendent brought him in contact with Takano Choei and Koseki San'ei, scholars of Dutch learning, and they induced him to study conditions in the West.
In 1837 the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry aboard the American merchant ship Morrison revealed the inadequacy of Japanese coastal defenses, and one years later Kazan wrote Shinkiron (Arguments for Restraint in Critical Times), an essay critical of the bakufu's policy of national isolation. Inspector Torii Yozo looked upon such developments with hostility and had him arrested, along with Choei and other scholars of Dutch learning as part of a wider move to imprison scholars of Dutch learning (bansha no goku). Kazan was placed under house arrest. Mistakenly believing that his painting while under house arrest was forbidden, and that his actions embarrassed his lord, Kazan, by way of atonement, committed seppuku where he was residing in 1841.
In addition to Shinkiron, Kazan also wrote Seiyo jijo kotaegaki (Answers to Questions about Circumstances in the West). As a painter, Kazan first came under the influence of Tani Buncho and the Chinese painter Shen Quan, painting birds and flowers and the like. Later after devoting himself to the study of the West, he incorporated into his painting Western perspective and shadowing, establishing a style uniquely his own. He was especially gifted in realistically portraying facial expressions. Among his best portraits are those of Takami Senseki and Ichikawa Beian. He also painted Senzan bansui zu (A Thousand Mountains, Ten Thousand Rivers). His pupils included Tsubaki Chinzan and Okamoto Shuki.
The life of Watanabe Kazan
Related People, Things and Events
Books
伝記・評伝
Related Works
絵画作品など
Past Exhibitions
| Title | shusai | Place | open | close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Institutions Holding Related Materials
愛知県田原市に所在。田原藩家老であった渡辺崋山の関係資料を展示。生い立ちから、藩士としての崋山、学者としての崋山、画家としての崋山、外国事情の研究、蛮社の獄、崋山の最期までその一生を紹介。また「一掃百態図」をはじめ画家渡辺崋山の残した作品を展示する。
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.
Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.
The National Archives is an organization for preserving, as historical materials, public records and archives of importance transferred from state organs, and providing them for public use, with the aim of achieving appropriate preservation and use of such public records and archives that are kept in the National Archives or state organs as historical materials.
External Links
渡辺崋山の作品を多数収蔵。
渡辺崋山の蔵書印を紹介。
国会図書館 電子展示会 「江戸時代の日蘭交流」第2部「蘭学者の活躍」
References
- 渡辺崋山 著,崋山会 編,崋山会
- 日立デジタル平凡社,平凡社