Section from The Life and Acts of the Great Master from Kōya (Kōya daishi gyōjō zue)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.This portion of a long banquet scene comes from an illustrated biography of Kūkai (774–835), the founder of Japan's Esoteric Shingon School. Kūkai is also known by his posthumous title Kōbō Daishi (Great Master of Spreading the Buddhist Law) and by the sobriquet Koya Daishi, a name that derives from his primary temple of residence on Mount Kōya. In this painting, Kūkai celebrates his initiation into the esoteric teachings of his master Huiguo (746–805) of the Zhenyan School. The architecture of the temple and the garb of the figures attending the monks indicate that the location is China. A monk who may be Kūkai sits on a platform with two other monks and raises his black lacquered bowl and spoon. Illustrated biographies such as this flourished in the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods (1336–92), when members of the Pure Land School founded by Hōnen (1133–1212) and other Pure Land Buddhist organizations created them to promote their recently deceased founders and patriarchs. The Shingon School is notable among the more traditional Buddhist schools for the unusual vigor with which it matched the visualizing efforts of these newer Pure Land organizations. The scrolls would have played a central role in bringing to life and humanizing the school's dynamic ninth-century founder Kūkai.
Artwork Details
- Title: Section from The Life and Acts of the Great Master from Kōya (Kōya daishi gyōjō zue)
- Period: Kamakura period (1185–1333)
- Date: late 13th–early 14th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and colors on paper
- Dimensions: Overall with mounting: 49 13/16 x 27 7/8 in. (126.5 x 70.8 cm)
Image: 10 7/8 x 21 1/4 in. (27.7 x 54 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Lent by John C. Weber Collection
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art