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Esoteric Buddhist Icons,
1321
Ryōshō 了性, active first half of 14th century
Japanese
Kamakura period, 1185–1333
y1958-42
Information
Title
Esoteric Buddhist Icons
Dates
1321
Maker
Medium
Handscroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
30 x 1096 cm. (11 13/16 x 431 1/2 in.)
w. with knobs 35.5
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr., Memorial Collection
Object Number
y1958-42
Place Made
Asia, Japan
Signatures
signed: Konkōshi Ryōshō 金剛資 了性 at the age of 41
Inscription
dated 1321
inscribed: 元亨元年辛酉四月九日於角寺以或人本書寫挍合了
金剛資了性 俗年四十一 法歲二十一
"On the ninth day of the fourth month in the xinyou cyclical year, the first year of the Genkō era [1321], I have transcribed this from a version by some person, and finished the collation at the Sumidera [the Corner Temple, namely Kairyuo-ji in Nara]. Monk of the Diamond Order (Konkōshi 金剛資), Ryōshō, whose secular age is 41, and whose sacred age [after receiving Buddhist commandment] is 21."
(Monk Ryōshō’s inscription appears at end of scroll)
Description
Scenes interspersed with sections of text, this iconographic scroll has been identified as a fragment of a copy of the ninth scroll of the Compendium of Iconographic Drawings (Zuzōshō圖像抄), also called Ten Scrolls of Esoteric Icons (Jikkanshou 十巻抄), a work compiled by Byōdōbō Yōgen平等房 永厳 (1075-1151) (some say by Shōjōbō Ejū 恵什 [fl. 1135-1141], or by both) in the first half of the 12th century. From the beginning of the twelfth century, priests of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism compiled several iconographic books. The Zuzōshō is one of the earliest and most basic among them. Principally based on the historic and fundamental pairs of Mandala, it furnishes not only a variety of individual images of deities included in the Mandala, but also excerpts of scriptures that ordain the proper method of contemplating their images. It also prescribes the correct way of drawing these in the order of the Shingon theological system, beginning with Dainichi Nyorai 大日如来 (Sanskrit: Vairochana or Mahāvairocana), the primordial sun Buddha, from whom all beings in the universe emanate.
The Compendium is an encyclopedic compilation of Esoteric icons arranged in ten categories in hierarchic order: buddhas, bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, and finally celestial beings. Each icon image is accompanied by text (to the right) that may include: the sutra on which the icon is based, the icon’s Sanskrit name, the emblematic Sanskrit character for the deity, and the mudra, weapon and vehicle associated with the icon. In some cases, annotation is added at the end of the text giving giving further iconographic information. The Princeton fragment is missing the first 3 icon images. It contains 18 icons, but the first is missing its text.
The drawings are faithful copies dating to the 14th century, as explained in the artist’s inscription at the end of the scroll. There are additional lines of calligraphy on the back and when a later backing paper was added, cutouts were made to expose the calligraphy: (1) on the back of the section on the Four Heavenly Kings 四天王, and two columns written on th back at the end of the scroll.
The Compendium is an encyclopedic compilation of Esoteric icons arranged in ten categories in hierarchic order: buddhas, bodhisattvas, heavenly kings, and finally celestial beings. Each icon image is accompanied by text (to the right) that may include: the sutra on which the icon is based, the icon’s Sanskrit name, the emblematic Sanskrit character for the deity, and the mudra, weapon and vehicle associated with the icon. In some cases, annotation is added at the end of the text giving giving further iconographic information. The Princeton fragment is missing the first 3 icon images. It contains 18 icons, but the first is missing its text.
The drawings are faithful copies dating to the 14th century, as explained in the artist’s inscription at the end of the scroll. There are additional lines of calligraphy on the back and when a later backing paper was added, cutouts were made to expose the calligraphy: (1) on the back of the section on the Four Heavenly Kings 四天王, and two columns written on th back at the end of the scroll.
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