One figure representing 'Southern Barbarians' (i.e. Also featured are minor deities of the Buddhist religion and envisioned and actual peoples of Asia and beyond. Other drawings include spirited studies of both real, and imagined, animals and birds (figures 3 and 4). The artist's animated figures dramatise the origins of Buddhism in India (figure 1) and the development of habitation, fire, agriculture, weights and measures and even rice-wine brewing in ancient China (figure 2). I may not be allowed to travel to modern China, Hokusai seems to say, but you can't stop my imagination roaming over continents and dynasties back to the very roots of human civilisation. Many of the drawings imagine and bring to life scenes from the ancient history of these two great Asian cultures. 'India – China' is the subtitle announced on what seems to be the volume's frontispiece image. As the drawings show, despite Japan's lockdown, Hokusai's imagination and invention were not to be limited by political and temporal boundaries.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |