About
There are four primary goals for this website. The first is to collect images and literature that establish the Japanese phoenix, or Hou-ou (鳳凰) as a composite animal, designed using the appearance of real birds. The second goal of this website is to look closely at Edo period (1603 - 1868) artists’ phoenixes to argue that the Edo expansion of natural history resulted in more naturalistic phoenixes. In particular, to serve my thesis, this website seeks to look at artist Itō Jakuchū’s (伊藤 若冲) phoenix paintings and their unique naturalism. This website also includes a number of works from the Momoyama period (1568 - 1603) in order to trace the changes in phoenix representations between periods.
This website also seeks to fill a gap left by present Japanese art historical texts. Many researchers have evidenced the composite appearance of the phoenix through literary analysis. However, there is very little art historical analysis of the phoenix's appearance. In addition, many researchers have outlined the influence of Edo period natural sciences. However, the influence of natural history on depictions of mythical creatures has not been written about. This website cannot comprehensively solve these questions, it does seek to begin the conversation and start the arguments for my Master's thesis.