The Fury of Monk Raigō

Kobayashi Kiyochika Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 227

Kobayashi Kiyochika’s painting captures the drama of a semihistorical incident associated with a resentful Buddhist monk at Miidera, a temple at the foot of Mount Hiei northeast of Kyoto. Monk Raigō (1002–1084) flew into a rage during a goma-e, an esoteric Buddhist fire ritual related to worship of the deity Fudō Myōō. Furious that an emperor had broken his promise—to allow ordination ceremonies at Raigō’s temple after the monk performed rituals for the safe birth of a royal heir—Raigō starved himself to death and was reborn as a horde of rats. Here, he bites and rips sacred texts and hurls them into the fire as Fudō Myōō seems to arise from the flames.

On view for rotations 3 and 4.

The Fury of Monk Raigō, Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japanese, 1847–1915), Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold paint on silk, Japan

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The Fury of Monk Raigō, Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japanese, 1847–1915), Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold paint on silk, Japan
The Fury of Monk Raigō, Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japanese, 1847–1915), Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold paint on silk, Japan
The Fury of Monk Raigō, Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japanese, 1847–1915), Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold paint on silk, Japan
The Fury of Monk Raigō, Kobayashi Kiyochika (Japanese, 1847–1915), Hanging scroll; ink, color, and gold paint on silk, Japan

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