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Article

Adzhina Tepe  

T. I. Zeymal’

Buddhist monastery of the 7th century ad to first half of the 8th, in the valley of the Vakhsh River, 12 km east of Kurgan-Tyube, southern Tajikistan. During this early medieval period it belonged to Vakhsh (U-sha in Chinese sources), one of the 27 domains of Tokharistan. Excavations between 1960 and 1975 by the Academy of Sciences, Tajikistan, and the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, exposed the entire site; most of the finds are on loan to the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. The buildings, which covered an area of 100×50 m, were constructed of mud-bricks (c. 490×250×110 mm) and rammed earth, with walls surviving to a height of 5.5 to 6.0 m. The site comprised two square complexes linked by an enfilade of three rooms (see fig. (a)). The south-eastern complex or monastery (b) had domed cells (c) for monks, a hall or refectory (d), service quarters, store-rooms and a small sanctuary (e). An open courtyard in the centre had a fired brick path across it, linking the enfilade to the sanctuary. A corridor around the perimeter of the courtyard was divided into four right-angled sections by a deep iwan, or vestibule, in the middle of each side. One of these vestibules led into the sanctuary, the second into the meeting-hall, the third into the enfilade and the fourth to the monastery exit (j) and also on to a vaulted ramp (k) that originally gave access to the roof and the now lost second storey....

Article

Ai Xuan  

Chinese, 11th century, male.

Born in Nanjing.

Painter. Flowers, animals.

Ai Xuan specialised in flowers and birds and was a member of the academy of painting during the reign of Emperor Shenzong (1068-1085).

Beijing (NM): Aubergines and Cabbages (signed work)

Article

Aimi  

Japanese, 9th – 10th century, male.

Active in Kyoto 9th-10th century.

Painter. Religious subjects.

Aimi was the son and pupil of Kose no Kanaoka, the founder of the Kose school, and a member of the imperial bureau of painting. Like his father he painted mainly Buddhist subjects as well as imaginary scenes....

Article

Arihisa  

Japanese, 14th century, male.

Painter. Religious subjects, figures.

Kose no Arihisa was the third son of Kose no Ariyuku and held important positions at court. His works include the portrait of two Mandarins and an image of Benzaiten, Goddess of Fortune. He worked at the temple of Kyoogokokuji in Kyoto between ...

Article

Ariie  

Japanese, 14th century, male.

Activec.1321-1324.

Painter.

According to Brinkley, Ariie lived in Genko and was the son of Kose Mitsuyasu of Kyoto. His works include two handscrolls Gyogi-engi (Story of the Korean priest Gyogi) and Jizo-engi (Miracle of the Bodhisattva Jizo), as well as sixteen hanging scrolls of ...

Article

Ariyasu  

Japanese, 14th century, male.

Active in Kyotoc.1326-1334.

Painter.

Kose School.

Ariyasu was the second son of Kose no Mitsuyasu.

Article

Asa Taishi (Prince)  

Korean, 6th century, male.

Active in Japan from 597.

Painter.

Prince Asa was the son of the King of Paekche (Kudara in Japanese) and went to Japan in 597 during the reign of Empress Suiko. A portrait in Chinese style was formerly attributed to him. It represents Prince Shotoku (who lived from 573 to 622) and his two sons (Princes Eguri and Yamashiro). The source of the attribution is the biography of Prince Shokotu compiled by the monk Kenshin of the Horyu temple. However, the figures portrayed in the painting show similarities with the Chommmoryujo byobu (Screen with Beauty beneath a Tree) in the Shoso-in, Nara, and the murals in the tomb of the Tang Crown Prince Yide (706). The portrait of Prince Shokotu in fact dates from the 8th century and its attribution to Prince Asa is simply legend. The painting was in the Horyuji Yamato temple and belongs to the Imperial Family....

Article

Bell, Gertrude  

Stephen Hill

(Margaret Lowthian)

(b Washington, Co. Durham, July 14, 1868; d Baghdad, 11/July 12, 1926).

English archaeologist and architectural historian. The first woman to achieve a first-class honours in modern history at Oxford University, she travelled widely in Europe, Japan and especially the Middle East in the 1890s, achieving fluency in a number of European languages as well as in Persian, Turkish and Arabic. She developed an interest in archaeology and architecture that was reflected in an authoritative set of articles on the Early Byzantine churches of Syria and southern Turkey, based on her travels in 1905. Her first major travel book, The Desert and the Sown, contains a mixture of travellers’ tales and archaeological information, as does her Amurath to Amurath. Between 1905 and 1914 she made archaeological studies of the Early Byzantine and Early Islamic monuments of Turkey, Syria and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). In 1905 and 1907 she surveyed Binbirkilise with Sir William Ramsay; their book, The Thousand and One Churches, remains the authoritative account of this important site. The architectural recording by survey and photography at Binbirkilise was carried out by Bell and is a lasting monument in its own right. Bell’s interest in Anatolia was inspired by Josef Strzygowski and his book ...

Article

Bencheng  

Chinese, 14th century, male.

Active in Sichuan Provincec.1356.

Painter. Landscapes, flowers, animals.

Bencheng was a priest. Among his known works is Cabbage, Sparrows and Insects, preserved in Japan and signed and dated 1356.

Article

Bian Chushan  

Chinese, 15th century, male.

Active during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

Painter. Flowers, fruit, birds.

Bian Chushan was the second son of the painter Bian Wenjin.

Article

Bian Luan  

Chinese, 8th – 9th century, male.

Active at the court of Chang’anc.785-802.

Painter.

Bian Luan was a painter of the Tang dynasty and the most important bird painter of his generation. All that remains of his work is one signed album leaf, Dove on a Branch...

Article

Bian Wenjin  

Chinese, 15th century, male.

Active at the beginning of the 15th century.

Born in Shaxian (Fujian).

Painter.

Bian Wenjin was a painter at the court of two successive emperors at the beginning of the 15th century: Yongle (1403-1424) and Xuande (1426-1435). His work is a good illustration of the weaknesses of court painting during the Ming dynasty (...

Article

Bian Wu  

Chinese, 14th century, male.

Active in the first half of the 14th century.

Born in Beijing.

Painter. Animals, flowers.

Bian Wu painted many birds, bamboos, and rocks.

Berlin: Birds on a Branch above a Rocky Promontory (painting in the shape of a fan, signed...

Article

Bo Liangyu  

Chinese, 12th – 13th century, male.

Painter. Figures.

Song dynasty.

Bo Liangyu was a member of the academy of painting during the reign of Emperor Ningzong (1195-1225). He devoted himself to painting Taoist and Buddhist figures.

Article

Bo Ziting  

Chinese, 14th century, male.

Active in the first half of the 14th century, during the Yuan dynasty.

Painter.

Bo Ziting was a Buddhist painter from Jiading (Jiangsu) who painted rocks and flowers.

Article

Bokkei  

Japanese, 15th century, male.

Active in the middle of the 15th century.

Died 1473.

Painter.

Bokkei was inspired by the work of Shubun (active 1425-1450) but developed a powerful style of his own under the spiritual influence of the Zen monk Ikkyu Sojun. His own successor Jasoku would found the Soga School, which is characterised by very sharp pen strokes....

Article

Bokusho  

Japanese, 15th century, male.

Born 1394; died 1469.

Painter.

Bokusho was a Zen priest and a contemporary of Sesshu. He lived in the Nanzenji temple in Kyoto and painted the ‘Bodhidharma’ of Jisho-in Temple, Kyoto, which is now registered as a National Treasure. He belonged to the ink painting school of the Muromachi period....

Article

Boyan Buhua  

Chinese, 14th century, male.

Activec.1308during the Yuan dynasty.

Painter.

Boyan Buhua was a Mongol noble who distinguished himself as a soldier. He painted dragons and landscapes.

Article

Bunsei  

Japanese, 15th century, male.

Active in the middle of the 15th century.

Painter.

Bunsei was a Zen priest who lived in the Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. He belonged to the ink painting school of the Muromachi period.

Article

Cai Shan  

Chinese, 13th – 14th century, male.

Active during the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368).

Painter.

Tokyo (National Mus.): Arhat Seated on a Rock (ink and light colours on silk)