Bijin
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (September 2014) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Bijin (美人) is a Japanese term which literally means "a beautiful person".
Meaning
However, in practice this term means "beautiful woman" because of kanji character bi (美) which has a feminine connotation.[1]
Bijin can also simply mean "(a) beauty"; in a modern and informal context it means "a doll". Bijins are usually beautiful, charming and harmonious women, who wear pretty clothes.
In Mandarin Chinese, 美人 (Pinyin: měirén) also means "a beautiful woman".[2]
Bijin in Japanese art
Pictures of bijins in Japanese art are called bijinga. Bijinga is described as a genre of ukiyo-e paintings.
Some of the greates bijinga artists are Utamaro, Suzuki Harunobu and Torii Kiyonaga.[3]
Until the beginning of the 20th century, bijinga was really popular.
Famous bijin women
Akita, located on Honshu, in northern Japan, is famous for its "bijins of Akita"[4] which are characterized by their round face, clear skin[5] and high-pitched voice.
Ono no Komachi, one of the Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry, was a beauty from Akita.[6]
Fukuoka, the largest city of Kyushu island in southern Japan, is also known for a large population of bijins.[7]
Some of Utamaro's favourite models have remained bijin famous; for example Naniwaya Okita (fr), a courtesan Hanaōgi (fr), Tomimoto Toyohina (fr) and Takashima Ohisa.[8]
-
Bijinga by Kitagawa Utamaro ("Flowers of Edo: Young Woman's Narrative Chanting to the Samisen", c. 1800). -
![ja [Mutsu Ryōko] (Mutsu Munemitsu's wife).](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/RyokoMutsu.jpg/79px-RyokoMutsu.jpg)
ja (Mutsu Munemitsu's wife). -
![ja [Byakuren Yanagihara]; one of ja [Three Beauties of Taishō period].](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Byakuren_Yanagihara.JPG/82px-Byakuren_Yanagihara.JPG)
![ja [Mutsu Ryōko] (Mutsu Munemitsu's wife).](/wiki/File:RyokoMutsu.jpg)
![ja [Byakuren Yanagihara]; one of ja [Three Beauties of Taishō period].](/wiki/File:Byakuren_Yanagihara.JPG)
References
Notes
- ^ Translation of kanji character 美
- ^ Translation of 美人 in Mandarin Chinese
- ^ Tadashi Kobayashi, Utamaro: Portraits from the Floating World, pages 89-92
- ^ Le Petit Futé : Les bijin d'Akita, page 379 (in French)
- ^ Chris Rowthorn, Ray Bartlett, Andrew Bender, Michael Clark, Matthew D. Firestone, Wendy Yanagihara, Lonely Planet, Japan, page 543
- ^ The Woman Without a Hole - & Other Risky Themes from Old Japanese, page 173
- ^ Chris Rowthorn, Ray Bartlett, Andrew Bender, Michael Clark, Matthew D. Firestone, Wendy Yanagihara, Lonely Planet, Japan, page 666
- ^ Images du Monde Flottant - Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe - XVIIIe siècles, pages 300-305 (in French)
Bibliography
- Images du Monde Flottant - Peintures et estampes japonaises XVIIe - XVIIIe siècles. (Septembre 2004) (ISBN 2-7118-4821-3)