handscroll
{{Short description|Long narrow scroll for displaying painting and calligraphy}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|title = Handscroll
|pic=Qian Xuan - Early Autumn.jpg
|piccap=Section of a 13th century handscroll painting, Early Autumn by Song dynasty painter Qian Xuan.{{cite web | url=http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=57885 | title=Early Autumn (29.1) | publisher=Detroit Institute of Arts | access-date=24 September 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002162351/http://www.dia.org/the_collection/overview/viewobject.asp?objectid=57885 | archive-date=2 October 2008 }}
|picsize=420px
|c=手捲
|p=shǒujuàn
}}
The handscroll is a long, narrow, horizontal scroll format in East Asia used for calligraphy or paintings. A handscroll usually measures up to several meters in length and around 25–40 cm in height.{{cite book|last=Dillon|first=Michael|title=China: A historical and cultural dictionary|year=1998|publisher=Curzon|location=Richmond|isbn=978-0-7007-0439-2|page=273|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VA5tKw11K8YC}} Handscrolls are generally viewed starting from the right end.{{cite book|last=Laing|first=Ellen Johnston|title=Reading Asian art and artifacts: Windows to Asia on American college campuses|publisher=Lehigh University Press|location=Plymouth|isbn=9781611460704|pages=104|chapter=Chinese Painting|year=2011}} This kind of scroll is intended to be read or viewed flat on a table, in sections.{{cite book|last=Qu|first=Lei Lei|title=The simple art of Chinese brush painting|year=2008|publisher=Sterling|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4027-5391-6|pages=58–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GGFRtpz5WmYC}} The format thus allows for the depiction of a continuous narrative or journey.Delbanco, Dawn (2008). [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chhs/hd_chhs.htm "Chinese Handscrolls"]. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
The traditional alternative format in East Asian paintings is the vertical hanging scroll, which is rarely as long.
History
File:NEZAME MONOGATARI1 handscroll.jpg, 12th century]]
According to the National Palace Museum in Taipei, the handscroll format originated with ancient Chinese text documents.{{cite web|quote=The origins of the handscroll format lie in the ancient texts and documents of China.|url=http://www.npm.gov.tw/english/exhbition/ehan0101/ehan0101.htm|title=Famous Handscroll Paintings and Calligraphic Works|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801134702/http://www.npm.gov.tw/english/exhbition/ehan0101/ehan0101.htm|archive-date=1 August 2020|publisher=Taipei: National Palace Museum|access-date=24 September 2011}} From the Spring and Autumn period (770–481 BC) through the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), bamboo or wooden slips were bound together and used to write texts on. During the Eastern Han period (25–220), the use of paper and silk in the handscroll format became more common. The handscroll was one of the main formats for texts up until the Tang dynasty (618–907). From the Three Kingdoms period (220–280), the handscroll became a standard format for paintings. New styles were developed over time.
Handscrolls were introduced to Japan centuries later through the spread of Buddhism. The earliest extant Japanese handscroll was created in the eighth century and deals with the life of the Buddha. Japanese horizontal picture scrolls are called emakimono (or emaki), and more often cover narrative subjects than their Chinese equivalents.Willmann
Description
A handscroll has a backing of protective and decorative silk ({{lang|zh-Hant|包首}}) usually bearing a small title label ({{lang|zh-Hant|題簽}}) on it. In Chinese art, the handscroll usually consists of a frontispiece ({{lang|zh-Hant|引首}}) at the beginning (right side), the artwork ({{lang|zh-Hant|畫心}}) itself in the middle, and a colophon section ({{lang|zh-Hant|拖尾}}) at the end for various inscriptions.{{cite web|title=Chinese Scrolls|url=http://www.artic.edu/taoism/diag-scrolls.php|publisher=The Art Institute of Chicago|access-date=25 September 2011|archive-date=23 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123061106/http://www.artic.edu/taoism/diag-scrolls.php|url-status=dead}} The beginning of the scroll, where the frontispiece was located, is known as the "heaven" ({{lang|zh-Hant|天頭}}). Vertical strips ({{lang|zh-Hant|隔水}}) are sometimes used to separate the different sections. Most handscrolls contain only one painting, although several short paintings can also be mounted on the scroll. At the beginning of the scroll is a wooden stave ({{lang|zh-Hant|天杆}}), which serves as a support. A silk cord ({{lang|zh-Hant|帶子}}) and a fastener ({{lang|zh-Hant|別子}}) is attached to the stave and used to secure the rolled-up scroll. A wooden roller ({{lang|zh-Hant|木杆}}) is attached at the very end, around which the scroll is rolled.
Examples
{{wide image|Gu Kaizhi 001.jpg|2000px|The extant nine scenes of the Admonitions of the Court Instructress, scene 4 at the right to scene 12 at the left|dir=rtl}}
{{wide image|Alongtheriver QingMing.jpg|3200px|Panorama of Along the River During the Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145)|dir=rtl}}
{{wide image|15 Qian Xuan Eight Flowers National Palace Museum Beijing.JPG|1200px|Eight Flowers by Qian Xuan (1235–1305)|dir=rtl}}
{{wide image|Anonymous-Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River.jpg|5000px|Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)|dir=rtl}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite web |last1=Willmann |first1=Anna |title=Japanese Illustrated Handscrolls |series=Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jilh/hd_jilh.htm |website=Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=9 December 2020 |date=November 2012 }}
Further reading
- [https://transculturalink.com/essays/Hugh/essays/03-handscrolls.html Transcultural Ink: The Realm of Infinite Subtleties]. The Handscroll Experience.
External links
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Commons category|Hand scrolls}}
- [http://scrolls.uchicago.edu/ Digital Scrolling Paintings Project]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131203050417/http://tech2.npm.gov.tw/sung/moreinfo/index.htm#5 MoreInfo: Formats (Mounting)]. National Palace Museum. (for a diagram of the components of a handscroll)