Poems from the “Cloud-Patterned Paper” version of Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Kumogami-bon Wakan rōeishū)

On a sheet of indigo dyed kumo-gami (cloud-patterned paper) are brushed a series of poems on the theme of drinking rice wine, taken from the anthology known as the Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Wakan rōeishū). The small characters written below each verse identify the original authors including, most prominently, the Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi (772–846), whose poetry was long admired in the Japanese court for its literary refinement and its frequent meditations on intoxication. The poems are written in a style that sets each character apart, often using the side of the brush tip to create fluid variations in thickness. Although the brush writing reflects a thirteenth-century manner of writing and has traditionally been attributed to the monk Jakuren (1139–1202), a calligrapher of the Fujiwara lineage known for its literary and calligraphic cultivation, the script differs from his verifiable manuscripts.

For comparison, other examples in Japanese collections, one in Tokyo National Museum (acc. no. E0026846), are illustrated on Cultural Heritage Online website: https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/386354