Manga and Western Comics: A History Part 1: Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga and The Bayeux Tapestry

The first topic I will be discussing in this series is the history of Manga and Western Comics. In this first article I will be discussing Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga and the Bayeux Tapestry. Beyond cave painting, these are the first significant achievements of illustrative storytelling.

Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, otherwise known as Chōjū-giga, are a set of four picture scrolls (emakimono) that belong to the Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto Japan.

Some believe that Toba Sōjō created the scrolls but this is difficult to verify. Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga is often considered the oldest manga. The first scrolls were drawn in the twelfth century, while the third and fourt

h scrolls were drawn in the mid thirteenth century.

The first scroll illustrates anthropormophic rabbits and monkeys bathing and getting ready for a ceremony. A monkey thief runs from animals carrying sticks and knocks over a frog from the boisterous ceremony. These animals were parodies of the Japanese priests at who were around at the time that the first scroll was created.

Credited as being the first works of manga, some of the techniques used to create these scrolls are used in manga to this very day. The animals were drawn with expressive faces and also sometimes seen with "speed lines". Even the order in which the scroll is read, from right to left, is the way modern manga is read.

The Bayeux Tapestry, by contrast, is shrouded in mystery. The first historical account of the tapestry is of a 1476 inventory of the Bayeux Cathedral. Scholars have yet to agree on the precise origin of the tapestry.

According to French legend, the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Mathilda, William the Conquerer's Wife and her ladies-in-waiting. However, the following evidence suggests it is more likely that William's half-brother, Bishop Odo commissioned the work. Firstly, three of the bishop's followers appear on the tapestry. Secondly, it was found in a cathedral that was built by the bishop. Finally, it was commissioned at the same time the cathedral was constructed and more than likely completed within the same time frame to coincide with the cathedral's dedication. There are many other theories, including ones that the tapestry is Anglo-Saxon or even English in design, however none of these theories can be substantiated.

While Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga is heralded as the first work of manga the Bayeux Tapestry doesn't make the same connection to comics. Scholars wouldn't refer to the tapestry as the earliest comic, they would more likely call it illustrated storytelling. Chōjū-giga innovated techniques that are still used in modern day manga, while scholars don't make any connections with the tapestry and modern comics. In fact, the only link that seems to be made with the tapestry and anything in the modern world is storyboarding in the film industry. Interestingly enough the same tie is also made with Chōjū-giga and anime.

As we move forward in history, we will see the growing differences between manga and western comics. As we can see already there is a difference in which Japan treats it's artisans. In future articles I will examine these differences and why it was so important for Japan to have visual storytelling as a staple of it's culture.