Tenjin Crossing the Ocean to China (Tōtō Tenjin)
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Sweeps of ink form a figure in Chinese robes and hat. The figure is a “word-painting” (moji-e); the man’s hat is the character for “heaven” (ten 天), and his robe that for “deity” (shin or jin 神). One of many versions of a composition associated with the courtier, Zen practitioner, and master calligrapher Konoe Nobutada, the work depicts the poet and scholar Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), who is revered as Tenjin, the Shinto deity of poetry and learning.
The Zen monk Enni Ben’en (1202–1280) wrote that Tenjin came to him in a dream and said that he wished to study Zen. Enni told him to go to his old teacher in China, whereupon Tenjin miraculously crossed the sea and studied with the master. The poem, from the kagura play Tenjin, makes reference to legends of Michizane’s troubled spirit and his longing while in exile for the plum blossoms near his home:
Ume araba
iyashiki shizu ga
fuseya ni mo
waga tachi yoran
akuma shirizoke
Even at this humble hut,
if the plum is in bloom
the evil spirits
that try to haunt me
will be kept at bay.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
The Zen monk Enni Ben’en (1202–1280) wrote that Tenjin came to him in a dream and said that he wished to study Zen. Enni told him to go to his old teacher in China, whereupon Tenjin miraculously crossed the sea and studied with the master. The poem, from the kagura play Tenjin, makes reference to legends of Michizane’s troubled spirit and his longing while in exile for the plum blossoms near his home:
Ume araba
iyashiki shizu ga
fuseya ni mo
waga tachi yoran
akuma shirizoke
Even at this humble hut,
if the plum is in bloom
the evil spirits
that try to haunt me
will be kept at bay.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
Artwork Details
- 文字絵渡唐天神像
- Title: Tenjin Crossing the Ocean to China (Tōtō Tenjin)
- Artist: Konoe Nobutada (Japanese, 1565–1614)
- Period: Momoyama period (1573–1615)
- Date: 1609
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 42 5/8 × 18 3/4 in. (108.3 × 47.6 cm)
Overall with mounting: 73 7/8 × 19 1/2 in. (187.6 × 49.5 cm)
Overall with knobs: 73 7/8 × 21 1/2 in. (187.6 × 54.6 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Lent by Raymond and Priscilla Vickers
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art