Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 7.djvu/59

RV 37 customs, all of which the Toba-ye artist illustrated. It is also necessary to remember the art axiom that in naturalistic drawing accuracy of proportion and beauty of line are properly sacrificed to the appearance of life. From the time of Toba Sōjō to the days of Hokusai and Kyōsai, the Japanese humorous painter always recognised that his first duty was to give the character—the burlesque, laughter-provoking character—of the objects he depicted, and that if he succeeded in conveying a strong and immediate impression of that character, his purpose was accomplished, even though his lines were classically incorrect. In short, his work forcibly illustrates the principle that whereas line in classic drawing is generally attained at the expense of life, life in naturalistic drawing is often attained at the expense of line.

In the fourteenth century Japanese art reverted to its old source of inspiration, China. This movement was headed by Josetsu, who took for models the masterpieces of the Middle Kingdom's artists at the close of the Sung and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty, so that to the school thus established was given the name of So-gen (Chinese, Sung-yuan). Josetsu was a priest of the Zen sect of Buddhism, just then beginning to gain disciples on a large scale in Japan, and he is also said to have been of Chinese origin. There are some close students who deny to him the title of having led the Chinese renaissance in Japan. They claim that honour equally for another naturalised Chinese artist, Shōga Shiubun, and for a predecessor of both, Nen Kawo. The fact is, that the tendency of the time was responsible rather than the genius of an individual. Readers of Japanese history know that feudalism was established in the thirteenth century, and that in the