Includes bibliographical references and index.

Historical Conditions and the Origin of the Style -- Korean Embassies to Japan in the Eighteenth Century -- Southern School Painting in China, Korea, and Japan -- The Nanga Pioneers and Their Relationship with Korea -- Gion Nankai and the Korean Embassy of 1711 -- Sakaki Hyakusen, Yanagisawa Kien, and the An Kyon School Style -- The Second Generation: Ike Taiga and the Impact of Korean Namjonghwa -- Ike Taiga's Circle and the Korean Embassies -- Korean Influence on Ike Taiga's Painting Style -- Korean True Scenery Painting and Its Spread to Japan -- Conclusion: Korean Contributions to the Creation of the Nanga Style -- Korean and Japanese Texts.

It is well known that Japanese literati painting of the eighteenth century was inspired by Chinese styles that found their way to Japan through trade relations. However, because Japanese and American art historians have focused on Japanese-Chinese ties, the fact that Japan also maintained important diplomatic-and aesthetic-relations with Korea during the same period has long been neglected. This richly illustrated, cogently argued book examines the role of Korean embassies in shaping the new Japanese literati style, known as Nanga in Japan. Burglind Jungmann describes the eighteenth-century Korean-Japanese diplomatic exchange and the circumstances under which Korean and Japanese painters met. Since diplomatic relations were conducted on both sides by scholars with a classical Chinese education, Korean envoys and their Japanese hosts shared a deep interest in Chinese philosophy, literature, calligraphy, and painting. Texts such as Ike Taiga's letter to Kim Yusong and Gion Nankai's poem for Yi Hyon plus accounts by Korean and Japanese diplomats give a vivid picture of the interaction between Korean and Japanese painters and envoys. Further, the paintings done by Korean painters during their sojourns in Japan attest to the transmission of a distinctly Korean literati style, called Namjonghwa. By comparing Korean, Japanese, and Chinese paintings, the author shows how the Korean interpretation of Chinese styles influenced Japanese literati painters and helped inspire the creation of their new style.