Moon in Contemplation and Revelation

“Lament!” does it say?

Is it the moon that makes me

dwell on things?—No, and yet,

look at the tears flowing down

my reproachful face!

- Saigyō Hōshi (1118-1190)

In Japanese culture, the moon has a long tradition for being an inspiration for poets and artists alike. Through themes such as love, longing, and revelation, the moon connected the Japanese print tradition with European works of the nineteenth century. Yoshitoshi’s Sumiyoshi Full Moon reflects the Shinto tradition, by placing the deity of Sumiyoshi as an old man. In Portrait of Adolphe Willette, the renowned artist is depicted as the traditional Pierrot while gazing at the moon. And finally, The Cry of the Fox is based on a story which would have been well known to the viewer. These prints with the theme of people under the moonlit night, in particular, show us an array of moods-poignant, sad, gentle, sweet, and memorable. Contemplating and gazing at the moon, in this context, appears to be a means to reveal the true nature of things, pacify the heart, and to inspire thoughts, within both ukiyo-e and Japonism.

In the Heian period (794-1192) people considered dreaming important for contemplating the future and connecting with the divine. Temples and shrines often had designated spaces where people stayed until they had a significant dream. In Yoshitoshi’s Sumiyoshi Full Moon, the court poet Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (1161-1241) is sleeping at the Sumiyoshi shrine where the Shinto patron deity of waka 和歌 poetry reveals himself in a dream. Sumiyoshi’s 住吉 appearance against a dark smoky silhouette gives an illusion of the deity actually standing beside Teika. Sumiyoshi inspires Teika while appearing as a wise old man, who takes the place of the full moon. This scene alludes to the poet’s famous diary, The Record of the Clear Moon (Meigetsuki 明月記). In Teika’s works the moon symbolizes aspects of the human condition such as love, longing, and sadness. Yoshitoshi expresses these themes through his prints, conveying a sense of nostalgia for Japan’s classical age when poetry, mythology, religious ideals and visual culture flourished. Teika’s inward contemplation while revealing Sumiyoshi as the moon and the somber environs of the night finds similarities in Western contemporary prints such as Heidbrinck’s Portrait of Adolphe Willette. Likewise, the mysterious appearance of the Shinto deity finds commonalities with Yoshitoshi’s The Cry of the Fox, in which the fox reveals its true self in the moon’s presence.

Photo Peter Jacobs

This drawing depicts Adolphe Willette (1857-1926), a renowned artist most commonly associated with Le Chat Noir as well as Pierrot, which he is dressed as in this work. Pierrot, a stock character from the commedia dell’arte tradition in Europe, had great popularity in French culture as a lovelorn figure heavily associated with the moon. During this time, Pierrot was a frequent figure in popular culture and literature, including Albert Giraud’s 1884 series of poems, Pierrot lunaire (Moonstruck Pierrot). Artists were also familiar with the moon as a source of inspiration in Japanese poetry. Oswald Heidbrinck (1860-1914) was inspired by themes such as love and longing in relation to the moon and depicts Willette gazing at the moon while perhaps practicing his own art. Much like Sumiyoshi Full Moon, we see a subject matter that uses the moon to understand human nature. And like Yoshitoshi’s The Cry of the Fox, Willette is dressed as Pierrot, rather than as himself, showing that under the moon, there is a personal transformation.

Photo Peter Jacobs

The Cry of The Fox is another work from Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon series, based on a traditional comical kyōgen 狂言 drama. In this story, a fox gives birth to many baby foxes that are caught by a hunter. The fox then transforms into a priest to admonish the hunter for killing the foxes, and continues to live as a priest for decades. This work depicts a waning moon and a landscape of Chinese silver grass, creating a desolate autumnal scene. Autumn is suggestive of the end of life, arousing within the fox a sense of mono no aware もののあはれ, the impermanence of things and the short-term gentle sadness that occurs at the time of death. The lonely, waning moon has lost its vitality, reminding the fox of losing its children and reflecting the fox’s inner sadness and loneliness.It is similar to Portrait of Adolphe Willette, where Pierrot sits alone in the moonlight, revealing a contemplative nature under the moon and Sumiyoshi Full Moon, where the protagonist is quietly meditating under the moonlight.

These works show the moon’s agency in personal introspection and revelation through each of the subjects’ personal journey through emotions and inner revelation. We see a poet who became inspired through dreams, we see an artist understanding that his love will not be his, and we see a fox who has tricked people before returning to its true form. Although the stories and artistic conceptions are different, they all reflect people's varying emotions through the moon.

Suyog Prajapati (MA ‘21), Sara Márquez Durst (‘21), Yanqin Li (‘21)

Bibliography

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