shini-e (死絵) (genre )

Links

Biography:

Literally a death (死) picture (絵). They had also been referred to earleir as tsuizen-e (追善絵 or ついぜんえ). This term has a very clear association with a Buddhist service in commemoration of the anniversary of a death. Julien Faury referred to tsuizen-e as 'a transfer of merits'.

****

Julien Faury wrote 'Mourir en scène: les portraits nécrologiques d’acteurs de kabuki au milieu du XIXe siècle' in Arts asiatiques, published in 2011. Here, on page 197, is the abstract: "Ordinary “shini-e” (literally: “ images of death”) designates a group of prints edited to commemorate the passing of famous kabuki theatre actors. The golden age of this type of print can be placed in the middle of the 19th century, when a generation of talented and very popular actors left this world one after the other."

"These shini-e can be considered a last homage to the deceased actors, and at the same time, they are very good indicators of their popularity if we consider the number and variety of prints. Generally, the images depict the actors in the hereafter, sometimes with a touch of humour when Buddhist classical images of the afterlife are diverted in a parody."

"This paper gives a presentation and analysis of some shini-e issued during that period (middle of the 19th century), following the route of the deceased from the moment he passes away (where the continuity between this world and the beyond is emphasised), to his arrival at the crossroads of the Six Paths of Rebirth, or his debut on the new stage in the other world."

"The speciality of the shini-e is their ability to incorporate the personality and the unique circumstances of the actor’s death in the picture, while embodying all the feelings of the spectators left behind to whom those prints appear to be a last message from beyond the grave, where the actor seems to tell us that his death is, after all, nothing but a stage effect of his last play for posterity."

The oldest know shini-e was that devoted to Ichikawa Yaōzō II (市川八百蔵: 1735-77) from 1777. Later Faury wrote: "Mais c’est au milieu du xixe siècle, avec la disparition de plusieurs grands noms du kabuki en quelques années, que le genre connut sa période la plus prolixe avec une diversification du traitement pictural du thème, du format d’estampe, mais également de la qualité allant des akuzuri 悪刷り, littéralement « mauvaises impressions », estampes de basse qualité faites en hâte pour profiter de l’effet de nouveauté, jusqu’aux somptueux diptyques de format ōban aux couleurs chatoyantes et rendant hommage à un ou plusieurs acteurs." (Page 198)

"Il semble cependant que le succès du genre n’ait pas perduré bien longtemps, d’autant qu’il dut subir au début du xxe siècle la concurrence de la photographie qui accéléra son déclin, jusqu’en 1935 où l’on recense la dernière impression de shini-e pour commémorer la mort de Nakamura Ganjirō."

Faury describes what is found on many, if not most, shini-e on page 199: "Y figurent également les informations suivantes : le nom de l’acteur (et parfois son nom de scène, yagō} 屋号 et/ou son « nom de poète », haimei 俳名), son nom d’ordination posthume (kaimyō} 戒名), le temple dans lequel il repose (bodai-ji 菩提寺), la date du décès et son âge à cette date, ainsi qu’un poème d’« adieu au monde » (jisei 辞世), censé avoir été composé par le défunt, ou un hommage posthume (tsuizen 追善) exprimant le désarroi des admirateurs et des admiratrices abandonnés à leur tristesse. Le défunt tient généralement un rosaire à la main, tandis que les onna-gata sont souvent représentés assis, un genou relevé, devant une table basse sur laquelle sont disposés un rouleau de sūtra et de l’encens, réunissant ainsi les principaux motifs du culte funéraire."

In summary in English: the actor's name and sometimes his stage-name or yagō (屋号), and/or his poetry name of haimyō (俳名), his posthumous name or kaimyō (戒名), the temple or bodai-ji (菩提寺) in which he rests, the date of his death, his age at that time, a farewell poem to the world or jisei (辞世) supposedly composed by the deceased and a posthumous message tsuizen (追善) to his distraught devotees. The deceased often held a Buddhist rosary and if it was an actor portrayed as an onnagata he/she would be posed kneeling before a low table holding items of ceremonial significance.

Men were frequently portrayed wearing the blue of their shrouds, whereas onnagata would be seen wearing white, the traditional color related to death in the Far East. The men wearing hakama, the women in kimonos.

Shini-e rarely displayed the name of the artist who created it, the name of a publisher or the date on which it was printed.



On page 201 Faury mentions hangon-kō (反魂香) 'incense which supposedly allows the spirit of a departed loved one to be seen in the smoke'.