An Account of the Final Day of Chinese New Year’s Celebrations, from the Wise Counsel for Social Intercourse

Kojima Sōshin was one of the great Japanese calligraphers nurtured in the cultural florescence of Momoyama-period (late-sixteenth and early seventeenth-century) in the capital of Kyoto, and established his own reputation for having a expert hand with the writing bruch in the wake of Hon’ami Kōetsu, Kōetsu, Karasumaru Mitsuhiro, and Shōkadō—the Kan’ei Sanpitsu, or Three Great Calligraphers of the early seventeenth century. Sōshin absorbed influences from them all and created his own dynamic, fluid and exuberant style of merging kana (Japanese phonetic writing) and kanji (Chinese character) calligraphy. He studied directly under Kōetsu at the end of the master’s career, and the way he intentionally and dramatically varied stroke width is evidence of that stylistic indebtedness. He was also on close terms with Suminokura Soan 角倉素庵 (1571-1632), a wealthy merchant and art connoisseur, who sponsored the Saga-bon deluxe typeset versions of classics, and who was a crucial patron of the art scene of the day. Kojima Sōshin himself was a noted collector of calligraphy, and the so-called “Kojima-gire,” (Kojima Fragments) are specimens of kana calligraphy from the Heian period he personally owned, and he compiled his own tekagami, or calligraphy album of prized examples of brush writing of the past, which could serve as a inspiration and model for his own scribal experimentation. The influence of Chinese calligraphy is apparent in his kanji calligraphy, especially from Southern Song calligraphers such as Zhang Jizhi (1186–1266). He used the common name Korobē, but also used the pseudonym Shindokuken Seisai, a variant of which is used here.

For this handscroll, he seems to have transcribed a passage from Volume IV the Chinese manual on social and ritual customs entitled Wise Counsel for Social Intercourse (Chinese: Choushi jinnang; Japanese: Shūsei kinnō 酬世錦囊), or from an earlier source that was incorporated in this work. The first passage here relates the celebration of Yuanxiao 元宵 (Japanese: Genshō), the 15th day of the first month, coinciding with the first full moon of the year. In China, even to this day, this is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, to mark the end of New Year’s celebrations. This corresponds in Japan to Ko-Shōgatsu 小正月, a more subdued occasion when New Year’s decorations are taken down, and many people enjoy partaking of a special rice gruel with adzuki beans (azukigayu), originally linked to praying for a good harvest in the year to come.

The calligrapher mentions in his signature that he wrote this on for the New Year of 1657, from the very end of his career—is it the last known dated work by the calligrapher—and amply attests to why he became so highly esteemed. Mysteriously for such a famous cultural figure, no documentary evidence seems to survive to pinpoint exactly when Kojima Sōshin died, though it is usually assumed to be circa 1655 or 1656, but this scroll is dated spring of Meireki 3 (1657), when he would have been in his seventy-seventh year (78 by Japanese reckoning), so we now have proof he was creating vivaciously brushed handscrolls right until the end; in any case, more research is called for on the final stage of his career, when he established a more independent style.