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Amida Buddha (center), surrounded by bodhisattvas, welcomes a dying Pure Land practitioner (bottom right) into his Pure Land in this Japanese raigozu ("descent pictures") scroll. | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Lettice Sands Phelps Stokes, 1988.

Within the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, the Pure Land schools of East Asia take as their guiding focus Amitabha Buddha, whose name means "immeasurable light." The light of this buddha shines everywhere, unlimited by conditions. (The name Amida is an abbreviation of Amitabha and is the usual form used in Japan.)

Like the bodhisattva Manjushri, Amida is associated with wisdom, but where Manjushri's wisdom is sharp and penetrating, Amida's is gentle and all-accepting. It is this all-embracing quality that has made Amida a favorite buddha in much of East Asia. Pure Land Buddhism starts from a humble appreciation of the human condition-a recognition that all human beings are fallible and prone to error. Rather than expecting us to overcome our weaknesses, Amida Buddha accepts us just as we are.

In the , one of the Pure Land school's Larger Pure Land Sutra central texts, Shakyamuni tells his disciple Ananda the story of Amida Buddha: how, long ago, a young man began his spiritual quest by going to see the buddha of that era, Lokeshvararaja. The young man, Dharmakara, is so overwhelmed by meeting Lokeshvara that he is inspired to make 48 great vows, and he perfects them through many rebirths to become Amida Buddha. The most important of these vows is the promise to receive in his Pure Land all those who simply turn their minds toward him and calls his name.

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The Pure Land schools of East Asia take as their guiding focus Amitabha Buddha, whose name means "immeasurable light." Amida is an abbreviation of Amitabha.

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The ancient Japanese found divinity manifested within nature itself. Flowering peaks, flowing rivers, and venerable trees, for example, were thought to be sanctified by the deities, or kami, that inhabited them. This indigenous "Way of the Gods," or Shinto, can be understood as a multifaceted assembly of practices, attitudes, and institutions that express the Japanese people's relationship with their land and the lifecycles of the earth and humans. Shinto emerged gradually in ancient times and is distinctive in that it has no founder, no sacred books, no teachers, no saints, and no well-defined pantheon. It never developed a moral order or a hierarchical priesthood and did not offer salvation after death. The oldest type of Shinto ceremonies that could be called religious were dedicated to agriculture and always emphasized ritual purity. Worship took place outdoors at sites proclaimed to be sacred. In time, however, the ancient Japanese built permanent structures to honor their gods. Shrines were usually built on mountains or in rural areas, often on unlevel ground, without any symmetrical plan.

In Japan, anthropomorphic representations of gods were unknown before the spread of Buddhism, although deities were symbolically associated with sacred objects, such as mirrors, swords, and jewels, that became imperial insignia. Following the advent of the new religion, Shintoists began to make images. The form of worship, however, did not change, as representations of gods were hidden away in the inner sanctuary of the Shinto shrine, adherents demonstrating their faith-at the entrance-simply by clapping their hands.

Department of Asian Art. "Shinto." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shin/hd_shin.htm (October 2002)

Mason, Penelope. History of Japanese Art. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.

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Shinto | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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The ancient Japanese found divinity manifested within nature itself. Flowering peaks, flowing rivers, and venerable trees, for example, were thought to be sanctified by the deities, or kami, that inhabited them. This indigenous "Way of the Gods," or Shinto, can be understood as a multifaceted assembly of practices, attitudes, and institutions that express the Japanese people's relationship with their land and the lifecycles of the earth and humans.

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The vast trade networks of the Silk Roads carried more than just merchandise and precious commodities. In fact, the constant movement and mixing of populations brought about the widespread transmission of knowledge, ideas, cultures and beliefs, which had a profound impact on the history and civilizations of the Eurasian peoples. Travellers along the Silk Roads were attracted not only by trade but also by the intellectual and cultural exchange taking place in cities along the Silk Roads, many of which developed into hubs of culture and learning. Science, arts and literature, as well as crafts and technologies were thus shared and disseminated into societies along the lengths of these routes, and in this way, languages, religions, and cultures developed and influenced one another.

Silk is a textile of ancient Chinese origin woven from the protein fibre produced by the silkworm as it makes its cocoon. The cultivation of silkworms for the process of making silk, known as sericulture, was, according to Chinese tradition, developed sometime around the year 2,700 BCE. Regarded as an extremely high value product, silk was reserved for the exclusive usage of the Chinese imperial court for the making of cloths, drapes, banners, and other items of prestige. Its production technique was a fiercely guarded secret within China for some 3,000 years, with imperial decrees sentencing to death anyone who revealed to a foreigner the process of its production. Tombs in Hubei province dating from the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE contain the first complete silk garments as well as outstanding examples of silk work, including brocade, gauze and embroidered silk.

At some point during the 1st century BCE, silk was introduced to the Roman Empire, where it was considered an exotic luxury that became extremely popular, with imperial edicts being issued to control prices. Silks popularity continued throughout the Middle Ages, with detailed Byzantine regulations for the manufacture of silk clothes, illustrating its importance as a quintessentially royal fabric and an important source of revenue for the crown. Additionally, the needs of the Byzantine Church for silk garments and hangings were substantial. This luxury item was thus one of the early impetuses for the development of trading routes from Europe to the Far East.

Knowledge about silk production was very valuable and, despite the efforts of the Chinese emperor to keep it a closely guarded secret, it did eventually spread beyond China, first to India and Japan, then to the Persian Empire and finally to the west in the 6th century CE. This was described by the historian Procopius, writing in the 6th century:

"About the same time [circa. 550 CE] there came from India certain monks; and when they had satisfied Emperor Justinian Augustus that the Romans should no longer buy silk from the Persians, they promised the emperor in an interview that they would provide the materials for making silk so that never should the Romans seek business of this kind from their enemy the Persians, or from any other people whatsoever. They said that they were formerly in Serinda, which they call the region frequented by the people of the Indies, and there they learned perfectly the art of making silk. Moreover, to the emperor who plied them with many questions as to whether he might have the secret, the monks replied that certain worms were manufacturers of silk, nature itself forcing them to keep always at work; the worms could certainly not be brought here alive, but they could be grown easily and without difficulty; the eggs of single hatchings are innumerable; as soon as they are laid men cover them with dung and keep them warm for as long as it is necessary so that they produce insects. When they had announced these tidings, led on by liberal promises of the emperor to prove the fact, they returned to India. When they had brought the eggs to Byzantium, the method having been learned, as I have said, they changed them by metamorphosis into worms which feed on the leaves of mulberry. Thus began the art of making silk from that time on in the Roman Empire."

Beyond Silk: a diversity of routes and cargos

These routes developed over time according to shifting geopolitical contexts throughout history. For example, merchants from the Roman Empire would try to avoid crossing the territory of the Parthians, Rome's enemies, and therefore took routes to the north instead, across the Caucasus region and over the Caspian Sea. Similarly, whilst extensive trade took place over the network of rivers that crossed the Central Asian steppes in the early Middle Ages, their water levels rose and fell, and sometimes rivers dried up altogether, and trade routes shifted accordingly.

The history of maritime routes can be traced back thousands of years, to links between the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization. The early Middle Ages saw an expansion of this network, as sailors from the Arabian Peninsula forged new trading routes across the Arabian Sea and into the Indian Ocean. Indeed, maritime trading links were established between Arabia and China from as early as the 8th century CE. Technological advances in the science of navigation, in astronomy, and also in the techniques of ship building, combined to make long-distance sea travel increasingly practical. Lively coastal cities grew up around the most frequently visited ports along these routes, such as Zanzibar, Alexandria, Muscat, and Goa, and these cities became wealthy centres for the exchange of goods, ideas, languages and beliefs, with large markets and continually changing populations of merchants and sailors.

The map above illustrates the great variety of routes that were available to merchants transporting a wide range of goods and travelling from different parts of the world, by both land and sea. Most often, individual merchant caravans would cover specific sections of the routes, pausing to rest and replenish supplies, or stopping altogether and selling on their cargos at points throughout the length of the roads, leading to the growth of lively trading cities and ports. The Silk Roads were dynamic and porous; goods were traded with local populations throughout, and local products were added into merchants' cargos. This process enriched not only the merchants' material wealth and the variety of their cargos, but also allowed for exchanges of culture, language and ideas to take place along the Silk Roads.

Routes of Dialogue

Despite the Silk Roads history as routes of trade, the man who is often credited with founding them by opening up the first route from China to the West in the 2nd century BC, General Zhang Qian, was actually sent on a diplomatic mission rather than one motivated by trading Sent to the West in 139 BCE by the Han Emperor Wudi to ensure alliances against Chinas enemies the Xingnu, Zhang Qian was ultimately captured and imprisoned by them. Thirteen years later he escaped and made his way back to China. Pleased with the wealth of detail and accuracy of his reports, the emperor then sent Zhang Qian on another mission in 119 BCE to visit several neighbouring peoples, establishing early routes from China to Central Asia.

These routes were also fundamental in the dissemination of religions throughout Eurasia. Buddhism is one example of a religion that travelled the Silk Roads, with Buddhist art and shrines being found as far apart as Bamiyan in Afghanistan, Mount Wutai in China, and Borobudur in Indonesia. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Manicheism spread in the same way, as travellers absorbed the cultures they encountered and then carried them back to their homelands with them. Thus, for example, Hinduism and subsequently Islam were introduced into Indonesia and Malaysia by Silk Roads merchants travelling the maritime trade routes from the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula.

Travelling the Silk Roads

As trade routes developed and became more lucrative, caravanserais became more of a necessity, and their construction intensified across Central Asia from the 10th century onwards, continuing until as late as the 19th century. This resulted in a network of caravanserais that stretched from China to the Indian subcontinent, Iranian Plateau, the Caucasus, Turkey, and as far as North Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe, many of which still stand today.

Maritime traders had different challenges to face on their lengthy journeys. The development of sailing technology, and in particular of ship-building knowledge, increased the safety of sea travel throughout the Middle Ages. Ports grew up on coasts along these maritime trading routes, providing vital opportunities for merchants not only to trade and disembark, but also to take on fresh water supplies, as one of the greatest threats to sailors in the Middle Ages was a lack of available drinking water. Pirates were another risk faced by all merchant ships along the maritime Silk Roads, as their lucrative cargos made them attractive targets.

The legacy of the Silk Roads

Today, many historic buildings and monuments still stand, marking the passage of the Silk Roads through caravanserais, ports and cities. However, the long-standing and ongoing legacy of this remarkable network is reflected in the many distinct but interconnected cultures, languages, customs and religions that have developed over millennia along these routes. The passage of merchants and travellers of many different nationalities resulted not only in commercial exchange but in a continuous and widespread process of cultural interaction. As such, from their early, exploratory origins, the Silk Roads developed to become a driving force in the formation of diverse societies across Eurasia and far beyond.

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The vast trade networks of the Silk Roads carried more than just merchandise and precious commodities. In fact, the constant movement and mixing of populations brought about the widespread transmission of knowledge, ideas, cultures and beliefs, which had a profound impact on the history and civilizations of the Eurasian peoples.

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The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Yamato-e is a genre of painting that first flourished during Japan's Heian period (794-1185). Following several centuries of cultural exchange with China, in the late ninth century the imperial court of Japan ceased official trade missions with the mainland and turned its attention inward to focus upon national matters. The Heian period, literally "the period of calm and tranquility," was a peaceful era during which the court was the center of rich cultural activity, including the spawning of new trends in painting and literature. The term yamato-e, literally meaning "Japanese painting," was coined during this period. At the time, the term was meant to distinguish paintings concerned with Japanese subject matter from those featuring themes imported from China, which were known as kara-e, literally "Tang painting," referring to the Tang dynasty (618-907) of China. Japanese subjects included tales from Japanese literature and history, as well as activities and motifs associated with the four seasons in Japan. Such paintings depicted Japanese locales, typified by the soft, rolling hills of the Kyoto countryside.

From the Heian period onward, however, the term yamato-e evolved in meaning to indicate not just the content or setting of the paintings, but also paintings that employ particular formal conventions. Figures are generally highly stylized, with abbreviated facial features. Other stylistic features often associated with yamato-e include the use of bright, thick pigments, large bands of clouds that obscure and divide space, and a technique known as fukinuki yatai, literally, "blown off roof," in which the roofs of buildings are removed to provide a glimpse into the interior from above.

Several of these techniques are demonstrated in a sliding-door painting fragment remounted as a hanging scroll and showing a scene from "The Ivy" chapter of The Tale of Genji ( 2006.570). The most famous of Japanese novels, The Tale of Genji was written by a Heian court lady named Murasaki Shikibu around the year 1000 and details the many romantic liaisons of the fictional Prince Genji. Although this painting dates to the early seventeenth century during the Edo period (1615-1868), it preserves the yamato-e style, which continued to be preferred for illustrations of classical literature. Cloud bands, here richly embellished in gold, sprawl along the top and bottom borders, focusing attention on the narrative. Through the fukinuki yatai technique, we are able to look down on Genji's son Kaoru, the protagonist of the second half of the novel, and a maidservant inside the palace. By removing the roof, the artist allows the viewer a peek into a private scene, provoking a sense of voyeurism.

Yamato-e developed alongside other uniquely Japanese artistic advancements of the Heian period, such as waka poetry ( 1975.268.59). These thirty-one-syllable poems were sometimes created in conjunction with yamato-e or inspired by them. The beautifully dyed and decorated papers upon which such poems were often written also convey the yamato-e aesthetic. Few yamato-e paintings remain from the Heian period because many of these early works were executed on folding screens and sliding door panels. These moveable walls were functional architectural elements, and were lost along with the buildings themselves. However, the existence of yamato-e screens and panels is documented in prose and in waka poetry.

Many yamato-e paintings took the format of illustrated handscrolls, known as emaki, depicting literary classics such as The Tale of Genji. Narrative handscrolls, as opposed to screens or sliding door panels, could be rolled up and stored away safely, so several early examples still exist. These intimate formats were read in small segments opened one at a time, like a book.

An early yamato-e handscroll in the Museum's collection is the Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine ( 25.224a-e), which dates to the Kamakura period (1185-1333). This set of scrolls provides a pictorial retelling of the founding of the Kitano Shrine of the native Japanese Shinto religion. The story tells of the Heian-period poet and statesman Sugawara Michizane (845-903), who was falsely accused of treason and died in exile. When, after his death, a number of disasters befell the capital, it was believed that his spirit was exacting revenge on those who had wronged him. In the scroll, Michizane's spirit is depicted as a wrathful thunder god, wreaking havoc from atop billowing black clouds. So that his spirit would be appeased, Michizane was deified as the god Tenjin, and the Kitano Shrine was erected in his honor.

The Kamakura period, during which power shifted from the courtly nobility to the military class, brought new subject matter into the yamato-e genre. This included narratives revolving around the leaders of newly formed Buddhist sects that appealed to the warrior elite. The Illustrated Life of Shinran provides an example of a set of Buddhist paintings that make use of yamato-e techniques ( 2010.366a-d). Each scroll is divided into levels, resembling a handscroll that has been cut up and rearranged, with cloud bands dividing each layer. The scrolls relate episodes from the life of the Japanese monk Shinran (1173-1263), who laid the framework for the True Pure Land school of Buddhism. Although they were painted in the Edo period, the compositions in these hanging scrolls derive from those in a set of handscrolls dating from the fourteenth century.

Also during the Kamakura period, yamato-e painters first embraced portraiture. The realistic yamato-e portrayals were known as nise-e, or "likeness paintings," and illustrated military heroes, courtiers, and famous poets, among others. As opposed to the highly stylized faces seen in yamato-e narrative handscrolls, nise-e were meant to be faithful representations of particular personalities. A popular theme for nise-e was the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, figures chosen during the Kamakura period as representative poets from Japan's past. One of these poets, Fujiwara Kiyotada, is illustrated in this segment from a handscroll, accompanied by a famous poem he wrote ( 2014.719.1).

During the Muromachi period (1392-1573), new ink painting styles from China gained in popularity, competing with the classic yamato-e for the attention of the Japanese elite. However, artists of the Tosa School, the official painters to the imperial court beginning in the fifteenth century, sought to keep the yamato-e tradition alive. In the Museum's collection, we can find an example of a pair of folding screens attributed to Tosa Mitsunobu (1434-1525), Bamboo in the Four Seasons ( 1975.268.44,45). The Four Seasons were one of the most common themes in yamato-e, and paintings on this theme are called shiki-e. These screens focus on the transformation of one natural element, bamboo, as it cycles through the seasons. Beginning on the right, we see springtime denoted with violets, then new bamboo shoots in summer. The stalks are entwined with reddish ivy in the autumn panel, and dusted with snow in the winter.

Similar to shiki-e, another type of yamato-e relating to yearly cycles was known as tsukinami-e, paintings showing the activities of the twelve months of the year. In tsukinami-e, nature and its cycles are not separated from the human realm, but intertwined. The Museum's collection contains an example of tsukinami-e in the form of an Edo-period album of twelve paintings (1999.161). Each album leaf depicts the activities of one month of the year in Kyoto. The album leaf for September illustrates two important events of that month, the doll festival, which was celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month, and the blossoming of chrysanthemums. Inside the residence, dolls are displayed on a low table, while outside ladies admire the colorful flowers. While the album harkens back to the elegant world of the Heian court, the activities depicted are contemporary. The ladies are attired in Heian court garb, but the doll festival celebration did not begin until the Edo period, when this album was made.

During the Edo period, yamato-e evolved in new ways. It reached an expanded audience as new social structures led to the development of a wealthy merchant class eager to take on the trappings of nobility. Previously the domain of court painters like the Tosa School, yamato-e was now taken up by town painters and other artists who took advantage of this new market.

Yamato-e painting also influenced other styles of Japanese painting that emerged during the Edo period, such as the decorative Rinpa style and woodblock prints. Rinpa artists, such as Tawaraya Sōtatsu (died ca. 1640) and Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558-1637), drew on many of the same themes as yamato-e artists, such as classical literature and poetry, while incorporating new stylistic elements and reworking classical motifs ( 53.7.1-2). Ukiyo-e, like yamato-e, focused on Japanese people, places, and customs, but in a distinct format and with a new emphasis on the contemporary world ( JP3341).

Yamato-e painting has endured as a distinctive style of Japanese art, as each generation is drawn in by the allure of a golden age of Japanese culture. With tales of courtly splendor and depictions of the natural world and heroes of the past, yamato-e artists have distilled Japan's history into resounding images of pleasure and beauty.

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Yamato-e Painting | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

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Traditional yamato-e is characterized by native subject matter, often taken from literature.

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Mogao Caves, Dunhuang - Pureland Buddhism

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Mogao Caves, Dunhuang - Pureland Buddhism

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Mogao Cave 220 Overview 莫高第220号窟概览 – Dunhuang caves on the silk road: Online Exhibitions & Speaker Series 丝路上的敦煌石窟: 虚拟展览及演讲系列

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This article is a direct translation of the Chinese text from the Dunhuang Academy website with permission from the Dunhuang Academy. To read the article in Chinese, please click here. Images Courtesy of Digital Dunhuang of the Dunhuang Academy. 此文章为敦煌研究院授权其网站原文翻译。阅读原文中文版请点击这里。图像均由敦煌研究院授权发表。

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Historical records tell us a lot about how our ancestors lived and help future generations understand how things came to be. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki of Japan are the two oldest written documents that chronicle the history of the country. There's no better way to make a better future than to learn from the past.

A page from the Tanaka version of the Nihon Shoki..

The Kojiki (古事記), "Record of Ancient Matters" or "An Account of Ancient Matters" can be traced back to the early 8th century (711-712).

It is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan written by Ō no Yasumaro (a Japanese nobleman, bureaucrat, and chronicler), on the request from the Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a compilation of origin myths of the four main islands of Japan and the Kami (the spirits that are worshipped in the religion of Shinto). The Kojiki is mainly composed of various songs and poems. The myths are written in a form of Chinese characters that is used to convey sounds. The special use of the Chinese characters is known as Man'yōgana, an ancient writing system that employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language, critical in understanding the songs written in Old Japanese.

The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), "The Chronicles of Japan," is the second oldest book of Japanese history. It contains more detailed and elaborate ancient written texts than the Kojiki, and is considered the most complete extant historical records for many archeologists and historians. The Nihon Shoki was completed in 720 under the supervision of Prince Toneri, assisted by Ō no Yasumaro.

Kojiki_den. | Yanajin33

The Nihon Shoki begins with the myth of creation, explaining the origin of the world and the first seven generations of divine beings, followed by a number of other myths, and continues with accounts leading all the way to the 8th century. The Bihon Shoki is said to accurately record the reigns of Emperor Tenji, Emperor Temmu, and Empress Jitō. The ancient writings give details on the merits of virtuous Japanese rulers as well as errors of the bad rulers. They also tell us about mythological eras and Japan's diplomatic contacts with other countries. The Nihon Shoki was written in classical Chinese with multiple transliteration notes that tell the reader how words were pronounced in Japanese.

The writings contained in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki are part of the inspiration behind many practices in Japan and are deeply ingrained in the culture and way of life of the Japanese people.

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The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki of Japan | KCP International Language School

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The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki of Japan are the two oldest written documents that chronicle the history of the country. Read more about their deep history.

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Although literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese ' kara 唐' painting, its definition and usage changed with time. The term kara-e was often used in reference to large paintings, such as folding or sliding screens, but was seldom applied to small-scale painting. It made its first appearance in literature of the mid-Heian period at a time when the Japanese had turned away from the wholesale borrowing of China's culture and socio-political system which had been the norm for centuries, awakening to an increased appreciation of indigenous taste and aesthetics. Gradually efforts were made to distinguish native Japanese paradigms from those of the Chinese. The term therefore inherently connotes a contrast with and contradistinction from * やまと絵 (Japanese painting), emerging as a sign that the Japanese were willing to recognise the value of their own taste and indigenous styles of art. Kara-e first referred to imported Chinese painting; its definition was then expanded to include Japanese works modelled after Chinese painting. All Japanese painting thus came to be divided between the two large, contrasting categories of kara-e and yamato-e. Like the paintings that decorated some objects in the * 正倉院 collection at Toudaiji 東大寺 in Nara (various musical instruments, the plectrums of biwa 琵琶 and other furnishing, and the screen painting depicting ladies under trees), kara-e depicted Chinese men and women, or exotic landscapes with tall, rugged precipices. These paintings were executed in vivid colors of mineral pigments, shadings were applied, and outlines were drawn in clearly discernible brushstrokes of black ink. After the rise of yamato-e in the mid-10c, kara-e adorned screens used for public, official, or ceremonial occasions. The Imperial Palace was traditionally decorated with screen paintings of Chinese sages or historical figures, and views of turbulent seas and foreign lands inhabited by strange and exotic creatures, based on descriptions given in a Chinese classic, the Shanhaiching (Jp: SENGAIKYOU 山海経). Under the dominance of yamato-e, a gradual Japanization of kara-e occurred, transforming paintings of Chinese subjects along the stylistic lines of yamato-e. A good example of this transformation may be seen in the Senzui byoubu 山水屏風 of the Kyoto National Museum, formerly in the collection of the Kyoto temple of Touji 東寺. The screen depicts a popular poet of Tang dynasty China at his favorite mountain retreat. The landscape setting consists of low-lying, rolling hills and a wide expanse of water, which are reminiscent of scenery in the Kyoto region. An often-quoted observation about landscape paintings by Kose no Kanaoka 巨勢金岡 of the late 9c succinctly describes this shift in painting style. Kanaoka was known to have painted mountains in fifteen tiers (tall precipices), while one of his descendants, Hirotaka 広貴 of the late 10c, piled only five layers of hills. As kara-e lost its original, distinctive features, the term began to denote paintings depicting Chinese subjects. After Chinese paintings of the Song and Yuan dynasties were introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period, ink monochrome paintings came to be called kara-e, especially as distinct from the Tosa school's *Tosaha 土佐派 traditional yamato-e works. In the broadest usage of the term, Ming and Ching Chinese works, introduced via Nagasaki in the 18c, and the Japanese paintings modeled after them also may be called kara-e. On the other hand, ink monochrome paintings of the Muromachi period and Kanou school *Kanouha 狩野派 paintings are sometimes referred to as * 漢画 (Han dynasty Chinese painting). Throughout history, in spite of changes in definition, the term kara-e was used in a Buddhist context to describe Chinese imports .

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Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System

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Although literally translated to mean Tang dynasty Chinese ' kara 唐' painting, its definition and usage changed with time. The term kara-e was often used in reference to large paintings, such as folding or sliding screens, but was seldom applied to small-scale painting.

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War and Sacrifice: The Tomb of Fu Hao (article) | Khan Academy

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Avalokitesvara Guiding the Souls from Mogao, Cave 17

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Avalokitesvara Guiding the Souls from Mogao, Cave 17

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avalokitesvara leading lady to pure land

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This is a British Museum Images licensable image titled 'Avalokitesvara leading lady to Pure Land, Painting, Tang dynasty, China, Qian Fo Dong, c.851-900.' by British Museum Images All rights reserved. You may not copy, publish, or use this image except for sample layout ('comp') use only.

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Every Japanese emperor and empress in the long line of familial succession can trace their ancestry and divine right to rule directly to the deities that, according to Japanese mythology, formed the islands of Japan from the murky darkness of the earth below the heavens. This ancestral lineage and the myths and legends that surround it created a strong foundation for Japanese culture and Shintoism in Japan.

Key Takeaways

The Creation Story: They Who Invite

Before the formation of the heavens and the world, only dark chaos existed, with particles of light floating throughout the darkness. As time passed, the particles of light rose to the top of the darkness, and the combined particles formed Takamagahara, or the Plain of High Heaven. The remaining darkness and chaos below combined to form a mass, what would later become Earth.

When Takamagahara was formed, Japan's first three deities or kamiappeared. From a shoot of reeds, two more gods appeared, followed by two more gods. These seven kami then birthed five subsequent generations of deities, each with a male and female, a brother and sister. The eighth generation of these deities was a male, Izanagi, meaning "He Who Invites", and a female, Izanami, meaning She Who Invites".

After their birth, Izanagi and Izanami were tasked by the older kami to bring shape and structure to the chaos of floating darkness. They were given a jeweled spear to help them with their task, which they would use to churn up the darkness and create the seas. Once the spear was lifted from the darkness, the water that dripped from the end of the spear formed the first island of Japan, where Izanami and Izanagi made their home.

The pair decided to marry and procreate in order to form the final islands and the deities that would inhabit the new land. They married by crossing behind a sacred pillar. Once behind the pillar, Izanami exclaimed, "What a fine young man!" The two were married, and they consummated their marriage.

The product of their union was born deformed and without bones, and he was abandoned in a basket that Izanami and Izanagi pushed out to sea. They tried once more to produce a child but this one too was born deformed.

Devastated and confused by their inability to create a child, Izanagi and Izanami consulted the kami of previous generations for help. The kami told the pair that the reason for their misfortune was that they had not completed the marriage ritual properly; it was Izanagi, the male, who should have greeted his wife, Izanami, before she greeted him.

They returned home and completed the ritual as instructed. This time, as they met behind the pillar, Izanagi exclaimed, "What a fine young woman!"

Their union was fruitful, and they produced all of the islands of Japan and the deities that inhabited them. The pair continued to produce the deities of Japan until the birth of the deity of fire. Though the deity was born unharmed, Izanami died in childbirth.

Land of the Dead

Overcome with sorrow, Izanagi traveled to Yomi, the land of the dead, to retrieve Izanami. In the shadowy darkness, Izanagi could make out only the form of Izanami. He asked her to return to the land of the living, and she told him he was too late. She would need to ask permission to leave the land of the dead because she had already consumed the food of the shadowy land.

Izanami asked for Izanagi's patience, telling him not to look at her in her current state. Izanagi agreed, but after a while, desperate to see his love, Izanagi lit a fire. His beloved Izanami was in a state of bodily decay, with maggots crawling through her flesh.

Overwhelmed by fear, Izanagi left his wife and ran from Yomi. Izanami sent deities to chase Izanagi, but he escaped the land of the dead and blocked the path with a large stone.

After such an ordeal, Izanagi knew that he needed to cleanse himself of the impurities of Yomi, as was ritual. While he cleansed himself, three new kami were born: From his left eye Amaterasu, the sun goddess; from his right eye, Tsuki-yomi, the moon god; and from his nose, Susanoo, the storm god.

The Jewels, the Mirror, and the Sword

Some texts indicate that there was a strong rivalry between Susanoo and Amaterasu that led to a challenge. Amaterasu won the challenge, and angry Susanoo destroyed Amaterasu's rice paddies and chased her in a cave. Other texts suggest that Susanoo desired Amaterasu's body, and in fear of rape, she fled into the cave. Both versions of the story, however, end with Amaterasu in a cave, a symbolic eclipse of the sun.

The kami were angry with Susanoo for eclipsing the sun. They banished him from the heavens and coaxed Amaterasu out of the cave with three gifts: jewels, a mirror, and a sword. After leaving the cave, Amaterasu was tied up to ensure she never went into hiding again.

An Emperor, Son of the Gods

After a while, Amaterasu looked down at the earth and saw Japan, which desperately needed a leader. Unable to go to the earth herself, she sent her son, Ninigi, to Japan with the sword, the jewels, and the mirror to prove he was a descendant of the gods. Ninigi's son, called Jimmu, became the first emperor of Japan in 660 BC.

Ancestry, Divinity, and Lasting Power

The current emperor of Japan, Akihito, who succeeded his father, Hirohito, in 1989, can trace his ancestry back to Jimmu. Though the jewels, the sword, and the mirror presented to Amaterasu and passed down to Jimmu were reportedly thrown into the ocean in the 12th century, they have since been recovered, though some accounts suggest the recovered items are forgeries. The royal family is currently in possession of the items, keeping them under heavy protection at all times.

As the longest-reigning monarchy in the world, the Japanese royal family is considered to be divine and infallible. The creation story of Japan highlights the importance of rites and rituals in Japanese culture and Japanese Shinto.

Hackin, Joseph. Asiatic Mythology 1932. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2005.

Henshall, Kenneth. A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

Kidder, J. Edward. Japan: Before Buddhism. Thames & Hudson, 1966.

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Every Japanese emperor and empress in the long line of familial succession can trace their ancestry and divine right to rule directly to the deities that, according to Japanese mythology, formed the islands of Japan from the murky darkness of the earth below the heavens.

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Experience a fantasy palace fit for a king. Bask in Regency splendour, inside and out.

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Murasaki Shikibu, author of Tale of Genji

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Murasaki Shikibu, author of Tale of Genji

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Casting Bronze Vessels: The Piece-mold Process

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The Essentials of Salvation (985) by Genshin

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The Essentials of Salvation (985) by Genshin

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Ojoyoshu (The Essentials of Salvation) - Japanese Wiki Corpus

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Ojoyoshu is a Buddhism book in one part and three volumes compiled in 985 by Genshin (priest), a Sozu (the Prelate) in Eshinin Temple at Yokawa on Mt. Hiei, in which he collected important passages relating to gokuraku ojo (the Pure Land of Amitabha where the dead are allowed to live peacefully), extracting from many sources such as Buddhist scriptures and instructions in terms of the Jodo Sect.

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Amaterasu (Sun Goddess) hides in the cave

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Amaterasu (Sun Goddess) hides in the cave

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I've been pondering the importance of retreating into one's own 'cave' for a few days now (I wonder why). Going deep inside of myself to seek what's lurking underneath, then to exorcise these demons, so to speak, and finding the treasure they have been guarding for me all this time, my buddha nature.

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When the Sun Goddess Hid in the Cave of Heaven: A Medicine Story from Japanese Creation Myths

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I've been pondering the importance of retreating into one's own 'cave' for a few days now (I wonder why). Going deep inside of myself to seek what's lurking underneath, then to exorcise these demons, so to speak, and finding the treasure they have been guarding for me all this time, my buddha nature.

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The Garden of Perfect Brightness - Destruction, Looting and Memory 

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The Garden of Perfect Brightness - Destruction, Looting and Memory 

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The Tale of Genji 1000th Anniversary (NPR)

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The Tale of Genji 1000th Anniversary (NPR)

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NPR - The Tale of Genji 1000th Anniversary

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Mirroring China's Past: The Piece Mold Process

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by Alfred Bloom, Emeritus Professor, University of Hawaii

Buddhist teaching is known throughout its history for its emphasis on Wisdom and Compassion. These two principles, values, or virtues are the basis of spiritual liberation in every tradition of Buddhism. Wisdom means to understand reality so that egoism is reduced or eliminated by understanding the true nature of our lives. Compassion is associated with Love in western tradition. However, it must be distinguished from the grasping, egoistic love that characterizes the popular Western view of romantic Eros-love. It is more Agape-self-giving love of Christian tradition. Compassion in Buddhism is, rather, like the self-giving love of a mother who loves and embraces her children equally, wanting them to avoid all suffering.

Kannon is often depicted in art with a leafy branch of the weeping willow tree, suggesting a trickle of teardrops as she encounters suffering in the world. She uses the branch to sprinkle the nectar of life on all beings. She is also clearly a Bodhisattva of this world, often represented as sitting on a rock in a more relaxed form. While no Buddhist text indicates her birth date, it is held on the Lunar second month, nineteenth day.

Compassion, central to Kannon, arises from Wisdom through the realization of interdependence of all beings and their essential identity in Emptiness beyond ego. It is non-dualistic, arising from a sense of oneness. Emptiness signifies that nothing has self-nature or absolute existence for itself. Everything is composite, existing through a variety of interdependent, interconnected causes and conditions. Emptiness, as a reality concept, is not mere nothingness, but inconceivable reality without marks, form, color or definition. When we probe existing things to their root we arrive at the mystery of why things exist. It is the age old philosophical question: "Why is there something and not nothing?" Emptiness is the potentiality out of which all things emerge to become whatever they are.

When we realize (make real) in our own experience our fundamental identity with all things in the great sea of beings through spiritual practice and contemplation, Compassion arises, just as with Gautama, seeing the ill, the aged and the dead, he identified with their plight. He knew that he also would experience those conditions, inspiring him to seek Enlightenment. We come to realize that we together with all others share a common destiny of Impermanence that carries us along in the flow of time in the stream of birth and death.

However, the principles of Wisdom, Compassion, Impermanence, Interdependence, are inconceivables. They are abstract terms, seemingly distant from everyday experience. They take distinct form in our minds in various symbols or metaphors, enabling us to negotiate our lives, make choices, express devotion and concern, and give meaning to life. Similarly, some people form concepts of God as a caring being, believed to incarnate in flesh and blood to share life with us, though he is inconceivable in himself. So also in Buddhism, Wisdom and Compassion take forms, establishing an ideal toward which we can direct and focus our deeds and actions.

The focus of this essay is Kannon (also Avalokitesvara [Sanskrit], Kuan-yin [Chinese]), the Bodhisattva [Buddha-to-be] of Compassion who is the chief symbol for Compassion in Mahayana Buddhism. In its original conception Kannon was male as was Sakyamuni Buddha. A Buddha-to-be stays in this world to help save others, though eventually becoming a Buddha. In the case of Kannon, he remains in form in this world to save all beings. His name is Kannon or Kanzeon which means "He who sees (experiences, perceives) the cries [of all suffering beings in the world."] Though initially male, Kannon became a beauteous female in China, perhaps because the male-dominated Confucian tradition does not readily express the tenderness of compassion. She gained a foothold in the hearts of the common people, peasants and fishermen and remains to this day.

In Chinese and Japanese Buddhist traditions there are some eighty texts which teach about Kannon. However, the most popular text is found in the twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This chapter describes the ability of Kannon to help all people in any kind of distress, if they call upon her name. It has become an independent Sutra attracting many followers, often transcending sectarian lines. In the Pure Land tradition, Kannon [Compassion] and her counterpart Seishi [Wisdom] are embodiments of the nature or attributes of Amida ([Amitabha] Buddha. Amida Buddha is the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life, the Buddha who extends universal and unconditional Compassion and Wisdom in his offer of salvation for all beings. As the Infinite that embraces all being, as Reality itself, Amida and his attendants Kannon and Seishi, express the deep faith that the heart and essence of Reality is Compassion and Wisdom.

Kannon, like Amida and other salvation figures in Mahayana Buddhism, is not a historical person in our usual secular sense. However, they have a reality as value, ideal and natural aspiration of the human heart. When we hear of the suffering of those near and dear to us, in our powerlessness, we seek to change the course of their destiny through prayer and devotion, thus giving birth to Amida, Kannon, Seishi in the depths of our hearts and the hope that the universe will respond with Compassion. The Reality of Compassion represented in Amida, Kannon and Seishi becomes our reality, making us more compassionate in our relationships and understanding of others. Niwano Nikkyo, founder of the Rissho-kosei-kai movement in Japan, indicates that such Bodhisattvas should not be viewed as gods on whom we rely for help coming from outside us and giving special favor. Rather, they are models to inspire a way of living. (http://www.kosei-shuppan.co.jp/english/text/mag/2008/08_456_2.html)

In order to express this ideal, Kannon has taken many forms in Japan and is probably the most venerated of Buddhist divinities. There is the Thousand-armed Kannon representing the all-sufficiency of the Buddha-to-be to rescue and respond to every need. She is very personal. There is the eleven-headed Kannon, representing eleven aspects of the Bodhisattva, and her ability to manifest in any form, and the Horse-head Kannon as protector of animals. In the famous Kyoto Sanjusangendo (a hall divided into 33 bays), there are a thousand and one images of Kannon. The famed Kiyomizudera in Kyoto enshrines several figures of Kannon. A popular one is the Koyasu-no-to Kannon which promises easy childbirth. The famed Asakusa Sensoji in Tokyo is also devoted to Kannon. She is also the object of pilgrimage in groups of thirty three temples in Shikoku, Chichibu and Bando regions. Thirty three is the number of transformations the Buddha can take for the salvation of beings. All these expressions of Kannon can be interpreted as calls for us individually to manifest the qualities of the Bodhisattva in our own lives, using our talents and abilities to serve others. Also Kannon's engagement with the world provides a good image or symbol for contemporary Engaged Buddhism, a movement concerned for the welfare of people in the areas of human relations, peace and justice, environment and economic conditions.

Although Pure Land Buddhists are devoted primarily to Amida Buddha for their salvation, Kannon (and Seishi) are not ignored. In the case of Shin Buddhism, Shinran (1173-1262) had a vision in the Rokkakudo temple in Kyoto dedicated to Kannon. In his vision, he received a message that led him to his teacher Honen who opened a new direction in Pure Land Buddhism, embracing the common people. According to one tradition, Shinran received a vision in the Rokkakudo in which Kannon promised to become his wife and, as his helpmate-wife, propagate Buddhism in Japan. In his wife Eshinni's letter to her daughter, she recounts her vision of Shinran as a manifestation of Kannon. Shinran was devoted to Prince Shotoku (7th century) who is noted for establishing Buddhism in Japan on a firm basis. The veneration of Shotoku who was a layperson developed over centuries, particularly in the Tendai sect. Shinran himself wrote numerous poems concerning Shotoku and regarded him as a manifestation of Kannon in Japan.

It should not be forgotten that the most active contemporary expression of Kannon is the Dalai Lama (Ocean of Wisdom) who is believed in Tibetan Buddhism to be the fourteenth embodiment of Kannon (Avalokitesvara, Chenrezig in Tibetan), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, in the historical world (beginning in the late 16th century). True to the symbolism, the Dalai Lama has worked for peace and justice, not only for his own people, but for all people through his speeches and notably in his writings.

In Hawaii Kannon is specifically present in the Koon-yum temple by Foster garden in Honolulu. She is the object of worship in the Hawaii Chinese Buddhist Society temple at the foot of Nuuanu Avenue near School Street. The Soto Mission on Nuuanu Avenue has Kannon as its object of worship. The Palolo Kannon Temple, associated with the Tendai sect, is devoted to Kannon. The Tendai Mission in Nuuanu area on Jack Lane has a thousand-armed Kannon standing by the temple. Kannon images (Kuan-yin) are often found in homes and gardens as reminders that Compassion/Love is the highest spiritual ideal, working for the welfare of all beings.

"The Dharma-body of Kuan-yin

Is neither male nor female.
Even the body is not the body,
What attributes can there be? . . .
Let it be known to all Buddhists:
Do not cling to form.
The bodhisattva is you:
Not the picture or the image."

(From a Chinese Poem)

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Buddhist teaching is known throughout its history for its emphasis on Wisdom and Compassion. These two principles, values, or virtues are the basis of spiritual liberation in every tradition of Buddhism. Wisdom means to understand reality so that egoism is reduced or eliminated by understanding the true nature of our lives.

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Ise Jingu(Ise Shrine) is the shinto shrine that the Japanese adore as "Soul of Japan". Located in Ise city, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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The Heart of History: The Tale of Genji - Association for Asian Studies

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The defensible claims that The Tale of Genji is history’s first novel and the first major literary work written by a woman have won it international recognition and accordingly inclusion in many survey courses of world literature. Within Japan today, The Tale of Genji commands a space in the canon of the national literature roughly […]

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Faces of Sanxingdui: Bronze Age relics shed light on mysterious ancient kingdom

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Faces of Sanxingdui: Bronze Age relics shed light on mysterious ancient kingdom

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Bronze Age relics shed light on mysterious ancient kingdom | CNN

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Little was known about the Shu kingdom until a farmer stumbled across a series of sacrificial pits containing otherworldly masks, sculptures and ornaments dating back more than 3,000 years.

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A temple built in 1164, Sanjūsangen-dō is primarily famous for its thousand statues of Kannon, the goddess of compassion, in her thousand-armed incarnation along the entire length of its main hall.

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縁結びの神・福の神として名高い出雲大社（いづもおおやしろ）の公式ウェブサイト。 御祭神は大国主大神（おおくにぬしのおおかみ）で、広く「だいこくさま」として慕われ、日本全国でお示しになられた様々な御神徳は数多くの御神名によって称えられています。

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Facsimile Finder - Manuscript Facsimile Editions

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Tale of Genji Scroll - Facsimile Editions and Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts

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The Marquis Yi of Zeng ı Bronze Objects - Google Arts & Culture

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Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world’s treasures online.

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Standing Saint Kuya

A statue of the Buddhist monk Kuya is known for having small statues of Buddhas emerging from his mouth. The statue, usually kept in Kyoto, is currently on display at the special exhibition "The Saint Kuya and Rokuharamitsuji Temple" at the Tokyo National Museum through May 8. It marks the first time in half a century that people can see it in Tokyo.

The six Buddha statues represent Amitabha Buddha. Kuya was known for his tireless efforts to teach Buddhism by chanting, "I take refuge in Amitabha Buddha."

Kuya was active in the middle of the Heian period (794 to late 12th century) amid rampant plagues and a series of events such as earthquakes, flooding and uprisings by Taira no Masakado and Fujiwara no Sumitomo. The disasters especially afflicted the common people.

The Buddhist monk helped the poor and sick throughout his life, earning him the nickname "Ichi no Hijiri," a saint living among the ordinary people.

The standing statue, believed to be from the early Kamakura period (late 12th century to 1333), is only 117 centimeters tall, but its muscular appearance in a simple outfit so overwhelms many viewers that they cannot help but feel like standing straighter before it.

The statue is enshrined at Rokuharamitsuji temple in Kyoto and is normally only seen from the front, but at the Tokyo exhibition, visitors can view it from all angles.

With conflict and disease again creating an uneasy society, it may be even more special to some visitors to view the statue of Kuya. It will be a great opportunity to imprint into one's mind the image of the saint who lived for the sake of others in trying times.

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Kuya statue stands as beacon in dark times

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A statue of the Buddhist monk Kuya is known for having small statues of Buddhas emerging from his mouth. The statue, usually kept in Kyoto, is currently on display at the special exhibition "The Saint Kuya and Rokuharamitsuji Temple" at the Tokyo National Museum through May 8.

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The Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo preserves and displays an extensive collection of artifacts related to the history of Shimane Prefecture—particularly the region known as Izumo. Often called the “land of the gods,” Izumo is one of three former provinces that make up modern Shimane. Izumo features prominently in some of Japan’s earliest written chronicles, and the region holds considerable significance in the mythology and early political history of Japan.

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In 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa allowed for trade between Japan and the West. Artists like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh began to collect ukiyo-e prints, or woodblock prints. Western art commonly utilizes the illusion of having three-dimensional space, while Japanese art focuses more on bold outlines and flat regions of color. The medium for Asian art is commonly thin rice paper or woodblocks while Western paintings are usually oil on canvas. At the end of the 19th century, Impressionism was greatly influenced by Japanese art. Japanese prints are characterized by elaborate patterns, communal subject matter, unusual perspectives and lack of chiaroscuro or depth. Japanese artists such as Koide Narashige, Hazama Inosuke and Hayashi Shizue spent time in Paris and picked up Western techniques and theories of art.

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Japanese and Western Art Influences - Google Arts & Culture

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In 1854, the Convention of Kanagawa allowed for trade between Japan and the West. Artists like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh began to collect ukiyo-e prints, or woodblock prints. Western art commonly utilizes the illusion of having three-dimensional space, while Japanese art focuses more on bold outlines and flat regions of color.

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Illustrated scroll from the Tale of Genji

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Illustrated scroll from the Tale of Genji

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The image above, which shows the private lives of female courtiers in the royal palace in Kyoto, comes from the classic story and first major literary work written by a woman (Murasaki Shikibu), the Tale of Genji ( Genji monogatari 源氏物語 ). The Tale of Genji was written a thousand years ago, in the first years of the 11th century, and is attributed to a lady-in-waiting at the imperial court, Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji is a complex novel that focuses on the romantic interests and entanglements of prince Genji and his entourage. It provides a fascinating entryway into Heian-period court life, complete with the aesthetic principles and practices of its residents.

In this image, we see three main female characters from a chapter in the Tale of Genji - Nakanokimi, Ukon, and Ukifune (together with three other figures) s eated in a room.

A courtly culture

The story takes place in the royal palace in Kyoto during the Heian period in Japan. We see Nakanokimi attended to by her lady-in-waiting who combs her hair while Ukon reads to her. Ukifune, seated opposite Nakanokimi, looks at illustrations accompanying the text being read. Nakanokimi's face is not visible, viewers are treated to her back profile instead. All the women wear their hair down in a fashion that adheres to the Heian beauty ideal for noble women, but only Nakanokimi's long flowing black hair is highlighted. This detail emphasizes her high status among the courtiers, and at the same time, heightens the suspense of this private scene.

Aristocratic women in Heian Japan were forbidden from publicly socializing and were confined to living sheltered lives within the palace. In this scene, several interior devices double as privacy shields within these palatial spaces. The standing curtain ( ) is erected strategically to obscure the activities of Nakanokimi and her company. The privacy of this setting is further enhanced by rolled curtains that can be lowered to separate the external world, in this case, the garden from the interiors. Just beside Ukifune, sliding doors ( ) further close in on the women in the room. The strategic placement of the the directional gaze of the women, and compositional lines demarcating space in this private room direct our attention to the bottom left of the composition where the three main characters sit.

A National Treasure

Although there are other surviving early he significance of this scroll lies in its designation as one of the National Treasures of Japan. Apart from it being the oldest depiction of the Tale of scrolls in different states of preservation, t Tale of Genji in existence, this scroll also stands out for a few notable reasons. The all-women scene serves as a poignant reminder of the role noble women authors had in the blossoming of literature during this period. It also provides an insight into the private lives, social norms, and beauty ideals prevalent in Heian Japan. For all the excitement and drama that the Tale of Genji offers, this particular scene is a testament to the literary contributions of ladies-in-waiting during the Heian period.

This particular scroll was once over 1 meter long. While the scroll has deteriorated, we can imagine the original vibrant colors and intricate details that once adorned it. Nature has always been an endearing and inspirational subject to Japanese artists and we see this from the patterns and motifs on the layered kimonos to the landscapes on the and . These artistic renderings bring the natural world closer into the secluded lives of the women living in these palatial residences.

Though they don't survive in this scroll, illustrations for the ) is presented numerous times throughout the tale, functioning as a precursor to a romantic relationship. This covert behavior adhered to social norms of the time which upheld expectations that women could only be seen by their fathers, husbands, and inner circles. However, this did not mean that intimate relationships did not form-monogamous and polygamous affairs are chronicled in the Tale of Genji often show men and women interacting or peeping from behind folding screens, partitions, or fences . The act of covertly peeping ( . Tale of

Style, composition, and script

Several stylistic characteristics observed here are consistent with the illustrations of the genre and era. Note how the facial features are similarly drawn with "dashes for eyes and a hook for the nose" in what is known as hikime kagibana . Although this stylization makes it harder to discern the individual traits of characters, readers can place characters with the help of calligraphic passages preceding the illustrations and rely on their familiarity with the text.

When portraying the interiors of palaces and residences, a compositional technique called fukinuki yatai is employed. This technique renders the building without its roof and ceiling so that an aerial perspective is possible.

One of the significant aspects of the wrote their literary masterpieces in Tale of Genji was that it was written mainly in hiragana. hiragana (a phonetic writing script based on the sounds of the Japanese language) and kanji (writing script using characters adopted from China) as opposed to it being strictly in the latter, which was predominantly reserved for use in official settings by highly-educated men well-versed in Chinese classics. Hiragana, on the other hand, was more accessible to women and common people. It was considered feminine, with a cursive script often thought to be more graceful than kanji. Women writers in the Heian period, including Murasaki (author of the Tale of Genji) and Sei Shōnagon (author of the

The . Tale of Genji comprises 54 chapters and includes around 800 Waka poems were written to convey multiple ideas on religious beliefs, beauty as expressed in nature, the changing seasons, and the transience and impermanence of life (a concept known as mono no aware). Waka was the primary mode of communication between lovers who exchanged them in courtship. The ability to compose waka proficiently enhanced a male courtier's success at court and in love. Some of these exchanges as imagined by Murasaki are written into the Tale of Genji alongside her compositions as commentary on various events and scenes.

Scrolls

Illustrated scrolls or were introduced to Japan from China during the . They usually depict historical events and religious teachings or provide social commentary such as that seen in the spread of Buddhism. Scrolls became popular during the Heian period due to the rise of Buddhism and an emerging aristocratic class. As Buddhism spread, religious leaders and patrons commissioned literature and art to impart Buddhist teachings. Tale of

As both text and image form an integral part of these emaki, a collaborative effort from several people was required. The scrolls unravel from right to left and narrate a story in a continuous sequence: a piece of text would generally precede an accompanying painting. A calligrapher was in charge of scribing and a lead artist with his team took charge of the illustrations. A lead artist known as the sumigaki (ink line artist) would be responsible for planning and drawing the outlines of the composition. He would then add further details and instruct his team of artists to fill in different areas with prescribed colors. The colors are applied in layers that are built up in a process described as tsukuri-e (opaque colors obscuring the drawing beneath). This scroll was likely part of a series taken out to be enjoyed and put away afterwards.

There are no fixed number of illustrations or volumes for the , commissions were often requested from some of the more famous and exciting chapters. This deliberate unravelling of the emaki as they are produced in accordance with patrons' requests. In the case of the emaki adds suspense and anticipation, much like the thrill felt stumbling onto this private scene of the ladies-in-waiting. Tale of
Additional resources
This painting at the Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya, Museum, Japan
The Tale of Genji. A Japanese classic illuminated at The Met Fifty-Four Scenes from the Tale of Genji at The Met
Haruo Shirane, The Bridge of Dreams: a poetics of The Tale of Genji (Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 1987).

Richard Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu: Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982).

Melissa McCormick, The Tale of Genji: a visual companion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018).

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Illustrated scroll from the Tale of Genji

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Illustrated scrolls of an 11th-century tale provide a fascinating look into Heian-period court life, particularly the lives of noble women.

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When you wonder if the Buddhist Pure Land exists or not, come to Byodoin Temple

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90min

Special Course:
Take time and enjoy everything Byodoin Temple has to offer

50min

Basic Course:
Start-off your exploration of
Byodoin Temple

Hosho-kan Museum

Devout and faithful - Experience an unforgettable moment
Byodoin Temple Museum, where the present moment and eternity meet

The museum of

1,000-year beauty, "Hosho-kan"

- Witness a number of National Treasures up-close

Byodoin Temple Tea Room "Tea Room Toka"

Experience authentic Uji Tea at an exclusive Japanese tea salon in the Byodoin Temple precinct. Savor a cup of tea with your five senses in the World Heritage.

Uji, the home of Japanese tea

Take a relaxing tea break

in the World Heritage

歳時記
Time of year

Four seasons of Byodoin Temple

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SCROLL 2023.9.22 Commemorative Exhibition of the 970th Anniversary of the Phoenix Hall: Night Special Visiting "Radiant Light and Autumn Brilliance" November 18 to December 3, Weekends Only (Limited to 1,000 visitors per day, advance reservation required). 2023.6.6 Commemorative Exhibition of the 970th Anniversary of the Phoenix Hall Splendid Solemnity 2019.7.22 Official Audio Guide 2016.7.25 Flying drones within or around temple precinct is prohibited.

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Nara Travel: Kasuga Taisha (Kasuga Grand Shrine)

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About Kasuga Taisha, Nara's most famous shrine.

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Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

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National Treasure

The National Treasure Genji monogatari emaki, or the Tale of Genji Illustrated Scrolls, is the earliest existing pictorial version of this novel dated to the first half of the 12th century, around the time of the retired emperors Goshirakawa (1053-1129) and Toba (1103-1156). Believed to have been produced primarily at court, about a century after Lady Murasaki wrote The Tale of Genji, this celebrated set of illustrated handscrolls beautifully conveys the ambience of court culture of the time. The embodiment of the perfection of court culture, this work among the many other pictorial representations of Genji represents an outstanding achievement with its exquisite illustrations and meticulously calligraphed text sections on sumptuously decorated paper. The expressive scenes filled with emotion powerfully capture the tale's lyricism and the inner feelings of the characters.
Today, the Gotoh Museum in Tokyo owns one volume, which previously belonged to the Hachisuka clan, whose leaders were the lords of Awa Province (modern Tokushima Prefecture), and the Tokugawa Art Museum owns three volumes, which were passed down in the Owari Tokugawa clan. These four volumes together make up nineteen pictorial scenes with textual sections, and only one section of explanation (for the Eawase (Painting Contest) chapter). Further, in addition to the various fragments of explanatory sections, only 20 of the 54 chapters of The Tale of Genji are known today, suggesting that the set originally had a considerable number of volumes.
For the purpose of protection, the original three volumes of the handscrolls were separated into forty-three sheets and each of the sheets was framed in 1932. However they were remounted again as handscroll format during 2016-2020, in view of long-term preservation.

Heian period, 12th c.

◀ Back to "Collection Highlights"

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Genji Monogatari Emaki(The Tale of Genji Illustrated Scrolls)

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The Tokugawa Art Museum (Nagoya, Aichi pref., Japan), opened in 1935, holds collection of more than 10,000 artworks passed down in the Owari Tokugawa household, including the bequests of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the founder of the Edo Shogunate). 9 National Treas

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Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (UNESCO/TBS)

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Welcoming Descent of Amida Buddha (Raigo-zu)

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Welcoming Descent of Amida Buddha (Raigo-zu)

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Welcoming Descent of Amitâbha Buddha (Amida Nyorai) flanked by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara (Kannon Bosatsu) and Mahâsthâmaprâpta (Seishi Bosatsu); Amida sanzon raigō zu | Harvard Art Museums

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This hanging scroll depicts a standing Buddha Amitabha (Jp. Amida Nyorai) at center with magnificent golden rays of light emanating from his halo, accompanied by two attendant bodhisattvas: Avalokitesvara (Jp. Kannon Bosatsu) at the viewer's right and Mahasthamaprapta (Jp. Seishi Bosatsu) at the left.

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Also known as "O-inari-san", Inari shrines are the most familiar shrines to Japanese people.

There are said to be some thirty thousand throughout the country, frequented by people of all ages.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine with which all the others are affiliated.

In the 1300 years since its establishment in 711AD, people have gathered here to pray for bountiful harvests, business prosperity, the safety of their home and family and the fulfillment of all kinds of other wishes.

In recent years, the shrine's Japanese worshippers have been joined by overseas visitors coming to pray or tour the shrine. Fushimi Inari Taisha is now known worldwide as one of the most iconic sights in Kyoto, and in Japan as a whole.

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Also known as "O-inari-san", Inari shrines are the most familiar shrines to Japanese people. There are said to be some thirty thousand throughout the country, frequented by people of all ages. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine with which all the others are affiliated.

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Whistler's Peacock Room reimagined, Filthy Lucre | V&A

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Whistler's Peacock Room reimagined, Filthy Lucre | V&A

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Unsettling and seductive: Whistler’s Peacock Room reimagined, Filthy Lucre | V&A

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Since
the Heian period, knowledge about court costumes was transmitted
along with the court ceremonies as the scholarly field known as
yūsoku,
while
the methods of donning the costumes were passed on in the academic
field known as emondō
("the
way of garments and patterns"). Even today, the imperial family
wears Heian-period style costumes such as the sokutai
and
jūnihitoe
for
weddings. For the marriage ceremony of the present Emperor (at that
time he was Crown Prince), the beautiful figure of the bridesmaid,
Michiko, wearing a jūnihitoe
became
the talk of the town.

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Heian Period Costumes - Google Arts & Culture

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Google Arts & Culture features content from over 2000 leading museums and archives who have partnered with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the world's treasures online.

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Terracotta Army: The greatest archaeological find of the 20th century

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Terracotta Army: The greatest archaeological find of the 20th century

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Terracotta Army: The greatest archaeological find of the 20th century - BBC News

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White Path Between Two Rivers (Kamakura period)

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White Path Between Two Rivers (Kamakura period)

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The White Path Between Two Rivers | Cleveland Museum of Art

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This painting is a visual presentation of a parable ascribed to the seventh-century Chinese Buddhist monk Shandao. It describes the fraught journey to the west along a narrow path between a river of fire and a river of water. Along the way, the traveler is set upon by bandits and dangerous beasts, but is also guided by two friends.

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Empress Sadako and Emperor Hirohito visit Ise

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Empress Sadako and Emperor Hirohito visit Ise

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ISE, Mie Prefecture--Recently discovered film footage from the Taisho Era (1912-1926) shows Empress Sadako visiting Ise Jingu shrine to pray for her husband's recovery as well as a newlywed in Kyoto who later became Emperor Hirohito.

The black-and-white silent footage found at Kogakkan University, which has close ties to Ise Jingu shrine, also provides a glimpse of the customs and manners of the public toward the imperial family at that time.

The rare footage, comprising two recordings, is now being shown at the Museum of Shinto and Japanese Culture on the university's campus.

Empress Sadako (1884-1951), posthumously known as Empress Teimei, visited Ise Jingu shrine on Nov. 5, 1922, to pray for the recovery of her husband, Emperor Yoshihito (1879-1926), posthumously known as Emperor Taisho.

The footage shows the empress leaving the grounds of Ise Jingu's Naiku inner shrine and visiting the Jingu Kogakkan school, the predecessor of today's Kogakkan University.

She is also seen taking a ride on a horse-drawn carriage with ladies-in-waiting and Home Ministry bureaucrats.

Another part of the video shows children likely from a local girls' school and a higher elementary school marching while holding Hinomaru national flags as well as Rising Sun flags.

The footage, which runs for 3 minutes and 50 seconds, ends with the empress leaving on a train and seen off by citizens at Yamada Station of the Japanese National Railways Sangu Line, the predecessor of today's JR Ise-shi Station.

The other video piece shows Crown Prince Hirohito and Crown Princess Nagako (1903-2000) visiting the Fushimi-Momoyama mausoleum of Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) in Kyoto on Feb. 27, 1924, to report on their wedding that was held in January that year.

Hirohito (1901-1989), grandson of Emperor Meiji, is posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

The footage, which runs for 4 minutes and 15 seconds, also shows a procession of horse-drawn carriages and imperial guard soldiers on horseback, airplanes making a congratulatory flight and the entourage entering an automobile.

"Showa Tenno Jitsuroku," the official chronicle of Hirohito's life compiled by the Imperial Household Agency, contains a record saying the future emperor visited the Fushimi-Momoyama mausoleum with Nagako on that day.

Empress Sadako, far left, walks on the grounds of the Jingu Kogakkan school, accompanied by ladies-in-waiting in Western-style dress, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, in 1922. (Provided by Kogakkan University)

Officials said Betamax-format tapes were discovered last autumn during clean-up work in a ground-floor workroom at the Museum of Shinto and Japanese Culture.

One of the tapes contained the two pieces of footage, one following the other.

According to Rei Hasegawa, an assistant professor of modern Japanese history with Kogakkan University's Faculty of Letters, the footage was aired at a commemorative event in 1982 to celebrate the centenary of the university's foundation.

But word about the tape was not passed on, and its existence was forgotten, officials explained.

The footage was likely copied onto the tape from now-missing film.

Sadako's Kogakkan visit on the tape is chronicled in the university's in-house records under an entry titled "Visit by Her Majesty the Empress."

A commemorative album was also created for the occasion.

It is unclear why the footage of Hirohito was contained on the same tape.

The identity of whoever filmed the imperial family members remains unknown, and it is also a mystery how the clips ended up preserved at Kogakkan, the officials said.

"The footage is valuable because it is one of the very few available video records of imperial family members from the Taisho Era," Hasegawa said.

He noted that citizens in the footage "appear respectful, showing they felt themselves at a distance from the imperial family at the time."

The footage is on display at "140 years of Ise and Kogakkan," a special history exhibition that is running at the museum through Aug. 31. Admission is free.

Ise Jingu is dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu-omikami, a mythical ancestor of the Japanese imperial line.

Kogakkan University has its origins in Kogakkan, a school set up at the shrine's Hayashizaki Library in 1882.

It was later reorganized into Jingu Kogakkan, a school overseen by the Home Ministry, and to Jingu Kogakkan University under the jurisdiction of the former Education Ministry.

The university was closed in 1946 after the General Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, which occupied Japan after World War II, ordered the separation of state and Shinto shrines.

Kogakkan University was re-established in 1962 as a private institution.

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Empress Sadako, Hirohito appear in footage from Taisho Era | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

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ISE, Mie Prefecture--Recently discovered film footage from the Taisho Era (1912-1926) shows Empress Sadako visiting Ise Jingu shrine to pray for her husband's recovery as well as a newlywed in Kyoto who later became Emperor Hirohito.

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V&A · Filthy Lucre: Whistler's Peacock Room Reimagined - Installation at South Kensington

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An immersive installation by Darren Waterston presenting an interpretation of Whistler's Peacock Room. See it for free at V&A South Kensington.

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平安時代の11世紀、関白藤原道長の娘である中宮彰子に仕えた女房紫式部（生歿年未詳）は、『源氏物語』を著し、主人公光源氏の生涯を軸に平安時代の貴族の世界を描いた。 「源氏物語絵巻」は、この『源氏物語』を絵画化した絵巻で、物語が成立してから約150年後の12世紀に誕生した、現存する日本の絵巻の中で最も古い作品である。 『源氏物語』54帖の各帖より1～3場面を選び絵画化し、その絵に対応する物語本文を書写した「詞書」を各図の前に添え、「詞書」と「絵」を交互に繰り返す形式の、 当初は10巻程度の絵巻であったと推定（ 2 0 巻説もあり）。現在は5 4 帖全体の約4 分の1 、巻数にすると4巻分が現存する。江戸時代初期に、3巻が尾張徳川家に、1巻が阿波蜂須賀家に伝来していたことがわかっているが、それ以前の古い伝来は不明。 徳川家本は現在、愛知・徳川美術館が収蔵。蜂須賀家本は江戸時代末期に民間に流出、現在、五島美術館が収蔵する（「鈴虫」2場面、「夕霧」、「御法」の3帖分）。 両方とも昭和7年（1932）、保存上の配慮から詞書と絵を離し、巻物の状態から桐箱製の額装に改めた。「詞書」も「絵」も作者は不明。「詞書」の書風の違いから、五つのグループによる分担制作か。 「絵」の筆者を平安時代の優れた宮廷絵師であった藤原隆能（？～1126～74？）と伝えるところから、本絵巻を「隆能源氏」とも呼ぶ。（五島美術館収蔵「国宝　源氏物語絵巻」は、毎年春のゴールデンウィークの頃に1週間程度展示の予定）

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源氏物語絵巻 | 公益財団法人 五島美術館

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平安時代の11世紀、関白藤原道長の娘である中宮彰子に仕えた女房紫式部（生歿年未詳）は、『源氏物語』を著し、主人公光源氏の生涯を軸に平安時代の貴族の世界を描いた。 「源氏物語絵巻」は、この『源氏物語』を絵画化した絵巻で、物語が成立してから約150年後の12世紀に誕生した、現存する日本の絵巻の中で最も古い作品である。 ...

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Emperor's Ghost Army: Secrets of the Terracotta Soldiers (PBS)

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Emperor's Ghost Army: Secrets of the Terracotta Soldiers (PBS)

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Emperor's Ghost Army: Secrets of the Terracotta Soldiers | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS

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"Shikansuiyo -Beautiful Forest and Nature" Meiji Jingu Forest Festival of Art, Meiji Jingu Meseum, Tokyo
2019
"In-between Land", Mizuma, kips & Wada Art, New York

"Taro Okamoto: the Traditions of Japan", Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
2017
"Japan-Spirits of Nature", Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Sweden

"A Corridor of Art through the Mountains and Seas", Onomichi City Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan

"GLOBAL NEW ART - The Essence of Taguchi Art Collection", Woodone Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan

"SERPENTIForm", Art Science Museum, Singapore (traveled to Tokyo)

"COOL JAPAN - Worldwide Fascination in Focus", Museum Volkenkunde Leiden, Netherlands (traveled to Amsterdam, Antwerp)

"The Cosmos of the Takahashi Collection", Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Japan

"Twenty Year's of the TARO Award/ Twenty Enfants Terrible", Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum, Tokyo
2016
"TENGAI 3.0", hpgrp Gallery NY, New York (traveled to Tokyo)

"Impacts! HAZUMI", Gallery Orin, Ibaraki, Japan
2015
"Hisashi Tenmyouya × indieguerillas", Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo

"Masterpieces of Cray-Pas Works", Osaka Takashimaya Grand Hall / Osaka, Japan (traveled to Hyogo)

N COLLECTION: "Ship of Theseus" Art Base Momojima / Hiroshima, Japan

"HEY! modern art & pop culture/ ACTⅢ", the Halle Saint Pierre Museum, Paris
2014
"Attack on Titan Exhibition", The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo

"The Artists of the Taro AwardⅡ", Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan

"Hisashi Tenmyouya × indieguerillas Curated Exhibition", Mizuma Gallery, Singapore

"Garden of Unearthly Delights: Works by Ikeda, Tenmyouya & team Lab", Japan Society, New York

"Taguchi Art Collection Tag-Ten", Matsumoto City Museum of Art, Nagano, Japan
2013
"Ikeda Manabu and Tenmyouya Hisashi" Chazen Museum of Art /Madison, USA

"ZIPANGU" Takasaki Museum of Art/ Gunma (traveled to Aomori, Akita)

"Wonderful My Art -Artists of the Takahashi collection" Kawaguchiko Museum of Art/ Yamanashi, Japan
2012
"Look East! Japanese Contemporary Art" Mizuma Gallery /Singapore

TDW-ART "ITO JAKUCHU INSPIRED" TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2012, Meiji Jingu Gaien /Tokyo

"ZIPANGU" The Nigata Bandaijima Art Museum /Nigata, Japan
2011
"WABISABI" Oroshimachi ART FESTA 2011, Noh-BOX /Miyagi, Japan

"JALAPAGOS" Mitsubishi-Jisho ARTIUM /Fukuoka, Japan

"Taguchi Art Collection GLOBAL NEW ART" Sompo Japan Museum of Art /Tokyo

"ZIPANGU" Nihombashi Takashimaya /Tokyo (traveled to: Osaka, Kyoto)

"The Most Requested TOP 30 - 10 Years of Takahashi Collection" Takahashi Collection Hinode /Tokyo

"Bye Bye Kitty !!!" Japan Society /New York
2010
"SugiPOP!" Portsmouth Museum of Art /New Hampshire, USA

TDW-ART "JALAPAGOS "TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2010, Meiji Jingu Gaien /Tokyo

"BASARA" Spiral Garden /Tokyo

"17th Biennale of Sydney, THE BEAUTY OF DISTANCE: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age" Art Gallery of New South Wales /Sydney
2008
"NEOTENY JAPAN -Takahashi Collection" Kirishima Open-Air Museum /Kagoshima; traveled in Japan until

"Off The Rails" Mizuma &One Gallery, Beijing
2007
"Heroes in Warrior Paintings" Nagano Prefectural Art Museum /Nagano, Japan
2006
"Berlin-Tokyo/Tokyo-Berlin" Neue nationalgalerie /Berlin

"MOT Annual 2006 No Border" Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
2005
"GUNDAM: Generation Futures " The Ueno Royal Museum /Tokyo; traveled in Japan
2003
"Japan:Rising" Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art /Florida, USA

"The American Effect: Global Perspectives on the United States, 1990-2003"

Whitney Museum of American Art /New York, curated by Lawrence Linder

"Sixth Taro Okamoto Memorial Award for Contemporary Art" Taro Okamoto Museum of Art /Kanagawa, Japan
2002
"Kyosai plus one, Kawanabe Kyosai and Tenmyouya Hisashi" Kawanabe Kyosai Memorial Museum

"One Planet Under a Groove: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art" Bronx Museum /New York (traveled to; Walker Art Center /Minneapolis, Spellman College Art Museum /Atlanta, Museum Villa Stuck /Munich
2001
"8th Lichtex Biennale" Aoyama Spiral Gallery /Tokyo
1998
"JACA'98" Fujita Museum /Tokyo(traveled to:Havana Asia Oceania Research Center/Havana, Cuba)
1997
"JACA'97" Fujita Museum /Tokyo(traveled to:Kiev Ukraine Art Academy /Ukraine and Bratislave Manicipal Museum /Bratislave, Slovakia
1993
"Urbanart #2" PARCO Shibuya /Tokyo(traveled to: Nagoya and Osaka)
1990
"JACA'90," Isetan Museum /Tokyo(travled to: San Paulo Museum /Brazil)

"11th Japan Graphic Exhibition" PARCO Shibuya /Tokyo(traveled to: Nagoya and Osaka)

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"Shikansuiyo -Beautiful Forest and Nature" Meiji Jingu Forest Festival of Art, Meiji Jingu Meseum, Tokyo 2019 "In-between Land", Mizuma, kips & Wada Art, New York "Taro Okamoto: the Traditions of Japan", Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan 2017 "Japan-Spirits of Nature", Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Sweden "A Corridor of Art

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True Portrait of His Majesty, the Commander-in-Chief (Daigenshi heika goshin'ei)

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Whistler's Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen

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Whistler's Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen

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Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen

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Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen is an object in the NMAA collection.

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ひぐらしの鳴き声と田舎の夏の夕日～夜の鈴虫の鳴き声 | 夕焼け【懐かしい田舎の自然環境音 + 528Hz = 癒し + 深い睡眠】

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Title: Burial Ensemble of Dou Wan

Period: Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE)

Medium: Suit: jade (nephrite) with gold wire; pillow: gilt bronze and jade (nephrite); orifice plugs: jade (nephrite)

Dimensions: H. 67 11/16 in. (171.9 cm); W. 30 7/8 in. (78.4 cm); D. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); Wt. 77.2 lb. (35 kg)

Credit Line: Lent by Hebei Provincial Museum and Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics

Accession Number: SL.1.2017.19.1a-r

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Burial Ensemble of Dou Wan | China | Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE) | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Title: Burial Ensemble of Dou Wan Period: Western Han dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE) Medium: Suit: jade (nephrite) with gold wire; pillow: gilt bronze and jade (nephrite); orifice plugs: jade (nephrite) Dimensions: H. 67 11/16 in. (171.9 cm); W. 30 7/8 in. (78.4 cm); D. 11 1/2 in. (29.2 cm); Wt.

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Heart Sutra x Ikkyu-ji Kyoto/Kanho Takushiji

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Heart Sutra x Ikkyu-ji Kyoto/Kanho Takushiji

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Heart Sutra × Ikkyu-ji Temple,Kyoto / Kanho Yakushiji【Japanese Buddhist Monk music】

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Koizumi ignores protests in final shrine visit (2006)

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Koizumi ignores protests in final shrine visit (2006)

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Van Gogh Collects: Japanese Prints - Van Gogh Museum

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Explore the hundreds of Japanese prints Vincent van Gogh collected

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Scenes from The Tale of Genji - Google Arts & Culture

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By Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539-1613) and Chōjirō (Important Cultural Property)

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How can the destruction of an artifact also be an act of preservation? by Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995) Ai Weiwei is a highly provocative work of art. This series of three black and white photographs portray the artist holding a 2,000-year-old Han dynasty urn that, frame by frame, he drops, it falls, and shatters. As much a work of photography as a work of performance art, in each still an unaffected Ai looks directly at the camera aware of his destructiveness. In fact, to capture the action on film (rather than digital photography, which lets you review the image immediately), the artist actually broke two ceramic vessels, just in case. This kind of blatant destruction of artifacts may seem highly irreverent, yet it also forces viewers to consider issues of transformation and destruction of the past.

Ai Weiwei

Born in Beijing, China, in 1957, Ai Weiwei is an activist, filmmaker, curator and one of the world's most famous artists. Ai began his artistic career in New York City, where he lived from 1981 to 1993. When he returned to China in the mid-90s, a time of rapid modernization for his home country, he was shocked to discover that certain objects of cultural patrimony were not highly valued. Ai explains that when he came across these Han dynasty ceramic objects, they were just a dime a dozen: "I still have a photo of when I was in Xi'an. There was a farmer sleeping on top of these two urns waiting for someone to pay him a few hundred yuan. For him that was a few months' salary, but even then nobody wanted them." [ 1] Ai realized that during that period, most of his fellow countrymen were not nearly as interested in their country's historic art objects as he was. For this reason, Ai began collecting antiquities, particularly ancient vessels and furniture, and eventually began converting these objects into contemporary artworks. Whether he reworks a discarded four-hundred-year-old wooden stool into a standing sculpture or creates an installation from hundreds of salvaged blue and white ceramic shards, Ai is interested in giving these historical found objects a second life as contemporary art.

Historical legacy

This kind of repurposing of the past also relates to Chinese aesthetics and culture. In China, there is a long and rarified tradition of collecting ancient material remains and transforming them into new art. For millennia before the advent of modern scientific archeology, rulers and elites collected ancient materials and acted to preserve them or emulate them in new works, whether it was preserving important documents by recording them on durable surfaces like stone steles or incorporating ancient designs into bronze or ceramics. For example, Fu Hao's tomb in Anyang, a Shang dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.E.) royal burial tomb excavated in the 1980s, enabled scholars to push the history of antique collecting in China back to the thirteenth century B.C.E. The 775 jade carvings found in this tomb of a powerful Shang queen included both a collection of prehistoric jades as well a collection made in her era but modeled on earlier Neolithic prototypes. [ 2] This is an important revelation because it suggests that more than three thousand years ago, antique collections were already providing references and inspirations for making new works of art. This tradition of collecting and revitalizing antiquity has encouraged generations of Chinese artists and craftsmen to look to the past in making contemporary art.

Act of revitalization?

Ai Weiwei has chosen an unusual way of continuing this legacy of transforming the material past while at the same time expressing dissent against a country that sometimes obliterates its own cultural heritage: through direct confrontation. On the one hand we can view his work as a destruction of another artist's work; on the other, Ai's act can also be thought of as a kind of collaboration with an ancient artist over thousands of years-a revitalization. Once an ancient receptacle, the urn in Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn takes on new meaning as contemporary art. In Ai's work, the object is less a vessel than an emblem of Chinese history. For this performance, it seems that the object selection is almost immaterial-it might as well have been any ancient object. However, in recognition of Ai's own celebrity, the artist has transformed this urn into something of great significance just by selecting it to become the subject of his art, by including its name in the title, and, of course, by destroying it. The sensationalism of breaking something so old and rare is what modern audiences find so compelling. Here the nostalgia for what once was serves as a mirror, reminding us that China's past remains important and relevant today.

Destruction as preservation

T he event that Ai Weiwei created and captured in these photographs is one of violence. Many feel that it is unethical to destroy an artifact under any circumstances-that such an act indicates a lack of value and respect. Indeed, law professor Joseph Sax calls such destruction a kind of "unqualified ownership" because it enables "the indulgence of private vice to obliterate public benefits." [ 3] Certainly, the destruction of art for ideological or egoistic reasons reflects badly on a collector of ancient objects. Yet was Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn a true obliteration? The Han dynasty urn still exists for the public but it has been transformed into the form of captured film stills. The loss of one object gives the new artwork its potency.

Ai himself says that he considers the act of dropping the urn one of creation rather than destruction: "People always ask me: how could you drop it? I say it's a kind of love. At least there is a kind of attention to that piece [because of the photograph]." [ 4] From the artist's point of view, his act was one of preservation through transformation. Indeed, this triptych (set of three photographs) and the shadow of the vessel captured within it now receive unprecedented attention. These photographs are displayed in museums and public institutions around the world. The work is widely available online, and even the focus of academic essays like this one. Given Ai's own celebrity status and the significance of this artwork, is also now far more valuable than the original ceramic object. In 2016, this limited edition work Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn 5] sold for nearly 1 million dollars at Sotheby's Auctions in London. [

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn is one of many works by Ai Weiwei that focuses on heritage loss and the importance of the past. According to the artist, "the power [of my artwork] comes not from the act but from the audience's attention, the challenge to their values. The act is easy-every day we can drop something, but it is when we are forced to come face to face with this action and make a judgment ... that is the interesting part." [ 6] Ultimately the work demands a judgment: was the provocation and the global attention Ai garnered for the urn worth the destruction of the urn itself? This set of photographs encourages its viewers to question value of antiquity in our modern world and whether it is worth preserving.
Notes:

1. Tiffany Wai-Ying Beres, "A Battlefield of Judgments: Ai Weiwei as Collector," Orientations 46, no. 7 (2015), pp. 87-92.

2. Wu Hung, ed., Reinventing the Past: Archaism and Antiquarianism in Chinese Art and Visual Culture (Chicago: Art Media Resources, 2010), pp. 16-39.

3. Joseph L Sax, "Collectors: Private Vices, Public Benefits," in Playing Darts with a Rembrandt: Public and Private Rights in Cultural Treasures (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011), p. 63.

4. Sotheby's Auction: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.42.html/2016/contemporary-art-evening-auction-l16020

Additional resources: Ai Weiwei's website The Art Assignment, "The Case for Ai Weiwei"

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How can the destruction of an artifact also be an act of preservation? by Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995) Ai Weiwei is a highly provocative work of art. This series of three black and white photographs portray the artist holding a 2,000-year-old Han dynasty urn that, frame by frame, he drops, it falls, and shatters.

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Shinzo Abe angers neighbours and US by visiting war dead shrine (2013)

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Shinzo Abe angers neighbours and US by visiting war dead shrine (2013)

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Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has made a visit to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, prompting a furious response from China and concern in the US.

Abe, who became prime minister for a second time exactly a year ago, is the first Japanese leader to have visited the Yasukuni shrine since Junichiro Koizumi just over seven years ago.

A conservative who has spoken of the need for Japan to end its "masochistic" feelings of guilt over its wartime conduct in Asia, Abe had voiced regret that he did not make the pilgrimage during his first, year-long term as prime minister from September 2006.

Thursday's visit sparked predictable outrage from China and South Korea, which view Yasukuni as a potent symbol of Japanese militarism, and visits by politicians as evidence that Japan has yet to atone for atrocities committed in parts of China and on the Korean peninsula in the first half of the 20th century.

"The Chinese government expresses strong indignation at the Japanese leader's trampling on the feelings of the people of China and the other war victim nations, and the open challenge to historical justice ... and expresses strong protest and serious condemnation to Japan," China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Qin Gang, a foreign ministry spokesman, added: "We strongly protest and seriously condemn the Japanese leader's acts. The essence of Japanese leaders' visits to Yasukuni shrine is to beautify Japan's history of militaristic aggression and colonial rule."

China later stepped up its response by summoning Japan's ambassador in Beijing, Masato Kitera, to lodge a "strong protest".

South Korea's culture minister, Yoo Jin-ryong, said Abe's visit was "an anachronistic act" that "hurts not only the ties between South Korea and Japan, but also fundamentally damages the stability and co-operation in north-east Asia."

"We can't help deploring and expressing anger at the prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni shrine ... despite concerns and warnings by neighbouring countries," Yoo said.

Yasukuni honours about 2.5 million Japanese who have died in wars since the late 19th century, including several wartime leaders convicted as class-A war criminals by the allied tribunal.

Abe insisted he had "no intention" of hurting the feelings of the Chinese or South Korean people.

"There is criticism based on the misconception that this is an act to worship war criminals, but I visited Yasukuni shrine to report to the souls of the war dead on the progress made this year and to convey my resolve that people never again suffer the horrors of war," he told reporters.

"I prayed to pay respect for the war dead who sacrificed their precious lives and hoped that they rest in peace. Unfortunately, a Yasukuni visit has largely turned into a political and diplomatic issue. I have no intention to neglect the feelings of the people in China and South Korea."

He attempted to strike a conciliatory note, saying his pilgrimage had been made in light of his "severe remorse" over the past, although he did not make specific mention of Japan's brutal occupation of parts of China and the Korean peninsula.

"Japan must never wage war again," he said. "This is my conviction based on severe remorse for the past."

Abe would have expected strong words from Beijing and Seoul, but not the US's rare public expression of concern.

In a statement carried on the website of the US embassy in Tokyo, the state department said: "Japan is a valued ally and friend. Nevertheless, the United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbours.

"The United States hopes that both Japan and its neighbours will find constructive ways to deal with sensitive issues from the past, to improve their relations, and to promote co-operation in advancing our shared goals of regional peace and stability. We take note of [Abe's] expression of remorse for the past and his reaffirmation of Japan's commitment to peace."

Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, later explained Abe's reasoning for the visit in a telephone conversation with Washington's new ambassador to Tokyo, Caroline Kennedy.

The visit is expected to inflict more damage on Japan's ties with its neighbours. Japan is embroiled in a long-running standoff with China over a group of islands in a strategically important area of the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, and with South Korea over sovereignty of the Takeshima islands, known as Dokdo by South Koreans.

Some analysts believe Abe's visit will add to concern overseas that he is a nationalist with revisionist views of history. "[Abe] probably thinks that it's OK, that he's relatively popular and it's a matter of conviction," said Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo. "But everyone knew with Koizumi ... he wasn't a revisionist nationalist. But with Abe, that is precisely the question some people were asking. Now we know the answer."

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Japan's Shinzo Abe angers neighbours and US by visiting war dead shrine

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Prime minister visits controversial Yasukuni shrine in reversal of his policy during previous term of office

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The Impact of Buddhist Teachings on Western Art and Literature

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The Impact of Buddhist Teachings on Western Art and Literature

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The Impact of Buddhist Teachings on Western Art and Literature

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Buddhist teachings have had a profound impact on Western art and literature throughout history. From the earliest contact between the East…

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Facsimile Finder - Manuscript Facsimile Editions

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Choju-jinbutsu-giga - Facsimile Editions and Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts

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From the late fourth through the early sixth century, Silla royalty and elites were interred in aboveground wooden chambers covered with impenetrable mounds made of layers of stone and earth. Treasures from these sites, located within the kingdom's capital city (modern-day Gyeongju), have shaped our understanding of Silla culture of this period, especially with regard to beliefs and practices related to the afterlife. Moreover, they illustrate Silla's complicated ties to the nomadic-pastoralist traditions of Eurasia.

Hwangnam Daechong (Great Tomb of Hwangnam), the largest Silla tomb, contained a double burial of a king and his queen together with all the essentials and luxuries needed for their immortal life: stunning gold regalia, including a crown-and-belt set; gold and glass-bead jewelry; vessels of clay and precious metals; weapons; and horse trappings and fittings for riding. Many other fifth- and sixth-century tombs have yielded similarly exquisite accessories and robust pottery.
The Construction of Hwangnam Daechong Tomb: 3D Animation
Highlights

This magnificent crown and belt were found in the queen's tomb at the double-burial of Hwangnam Daechong. The king, who had been the reigning monarch, had crowns made of silver and gilt bronze only. The crown comprises a headband with five vertical elements-three shaped like trees and two like antlers-and six dangling pendants. Embellishments of tiny gold disks and comma-shaped jade ornaments, or gogok, are attached to the surface with wires. The belt, which originally would have had a leather or silk backing under the reticulated square plaques, is decorated with such ornamental implements as a whetstone and a knife, alongside a fish and gold and jade gogok.

The general structure and imagery of this set echo the regalia used by rulers of the many nomadic confederations that roamed the Eurasian steppes for millennia, and, to a lesser extent, pieces found in China. However, Silla tombs such as Hwangnam Daechong have yielded larger quantities and more spectacular gold adornments.

The most dramatic of Silla earrings, this pair is especially notable for its surface decoration of tiny gold balls, a technique known as granulation. Thought to have developed in ancient Iraq in the third millennium B.C., granulation most likely reached Silla either from the northern kingdom of Goguryeo or via China. Here, the technique also has been used to decorate the middle ring of the pair as well as the edges of the gold spangles in their attached pendants.

Placed across the chest and, sometimes, the shoulders of the deceased, adornments of this type are often described as "chestlaces" to distinguish them from necklaces, which are tied around the neck. Unique to the Silla kingdom, chestlaces functioned as regalia-symbols of the importance and authority of the deceased. This example consists of seven strings of dark blue glass beads interspersed with gold bands and connected to the jade ornament ( gogok) at the center.

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From the late fourth through the early sixth century, Silla royalty and elites were interred in aboveground wooden chambers covered with impenetrable mounds made of layers of stone and earth. Treasures from these sites, located within the kingdom's capital city Hwangnam The Highlights Crown This The Pair The Chestlace, Placed

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The official website of Daihonzan EIHEIJI: one of the two head temples of Soto Zen in Japan. It was founded by Zen Master Dōgen in 1244.

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Yasukuni Shrine: Japan's ex-PM Abe visits (2020)

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Yasukuni Shrine: Japan's ex-PM Abe visits (2020)

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Yasukuni Shrine: Japan's ex-PM Abe visits controversial memorial

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Shinzo Abe, who last visited the Yasukuni Shrine in 2013, made the trip days after stepping down.

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Toulouse-Lautrec and His Japanese Influences

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Toulouse-Lautrec and His Japanese Influences

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ギャラリーをスキップする

*Click or tap image to enlarge.

Illustrated Handscrolls (Emaki)

基本情報

Japan, Heian period, late 12th century

Handscroll; ink and colors on paper

H. 26.8 cm, W. 138.4 cm

Kyoto National Museum (AK229)

This narrative scroll depicts the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts ( gaki), one of the Six Realms of Transmigration ( rokudō) in Buddhist thought. It was produced in the late Heian period (794-1185), a time of increasing interest in the Six Paths through the dissemination of ideas concerning the "latter days of the law" ( mappō). According to this widely accepted concept, Buddhist teachings and practices became gradually more difficult after the death of the Historical Buddha. The culmination of this process, the final "latter period," was believed in Japan to have begun in 1052.

The Kyoto National Museum's Tales of Hungry Ghosts scroll contains stories of salvation of the hungry ghosts. The first and second sections relate tales of one of the thirty-six types of hungry ghosts, those who are tormented by thirst and constantly seek water to drink. The first section depicts the suffering of these wretched creatures. The second explains how those who have been born as hungry ghosts are saved by offerings ( kuyō) made by the living. The central scene of the second section shows people pouring water on a funerary marker ( sotoba) for the Ullambana (J: Urabon) festival for the dead. The lively depiction of the area outside the temple gate makes this work also notable as a genre painting.

The third and fourth sections are based on the Ullambana Sutra (J: Urabonky ō), which tells the story of the monk Maudgalyayana (J: Mokuren), one of the ten great disciples of Shakyamuni, learning from Shakyamuni how to save his mother from the realm of hungry ghosts.

The textual source of the fifth section is unknown. However, it is recognized as a scene of hungry ghosts suffering from their inability to drink water. Because of the compassion of the Buddha, they are able to cast off their ghoulish bodies and drink water, and then they are born into the land of the Buddha. The story is drawn following an arc rising towards the right, and the picture employs a narrative technique in which the same figures appear at different times within a single scene (J., iji d ō zu).

The sixth section tells how Ananda (J: Anan), another of Shakyamuni's ten great disciples, heard about the suffering of a hungry ghost who continuously belched flame ( engu gaki) and taught the ghost an incantation from Shakyamuni to achieve salvation. The seventh section recounts how Ananda passed on this method of salvation to the monks, who then began the ceremony of offering food and drink to the spirits of the dead ( segaki).

In this manner, the various sections of the scroll bring together tales from different textual sources. There are also distinct variations in the style and composition of the paintings. Certain sections depict scenes close up, focusing on the human figures, while others convey a sense of space. The depiction of landscape also varies: in contrast with the lively expression of human figures in section two, for example, sections three and four are rendered with a less expressive brush. The thick lines of section one are unlike the very fine lines used in section six. For these reasons, it is thought likely that several groups of artists were involved with the production of this scroll.

From medieval sources we know that a set of Paintings of the Six Realms of Transmigration ( rokudō-e) was kept at Rengeō-in (commonly known as Sanjūsangend ō), a temple built by the cloistered emperor Goshirakawa (1127-1192, r. 1155-1158). It is highly possible that the Kyoto National Museum Hungry Ghosts Scroll was part of this set.

ページトップへ

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Welcome to the official website of the Kyoto National Museum. In addition to information about exhibitions, events, and access, the website features a wide range of fun and educational materials to enjoy from home.

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Kofun period (c. 3rd century-538 C.E.): influential importations from the Asian continent

The Kofun 古墳 period in Japan is so named after the burial mounds of the ruling class. The practice of building tomb mounds of monumental proportions and burying treasures with the deceased arrived from the Asian continent during the 3rd century. Originally unadorned, these tombs became increasingly ornate; by the 6th century, burial chambers had painted decorations. The burial mounds were encircled with stones; hollow clay earthenware, known in Japanese as 埴輪, were scattered for protection on the land surrounding the mounds. Kofun were typically keyhole-shaped, had several tiers, and were surrounded by moats. The resulting structure amounted to an impressive display of power, advertising the control of the ruling families. The largest kofun is the Nintoku mausoleum, measuring 486 meters!

The hollow clay objects, haniwa, that were scattered around burial mounds in the Kofun period, have a fascinating history in their own right. Initially simple cylinders, haniwa became representational over the centuries, first modeled as houses and animals and ultimately as human figures, typically warriors. The later pieces have been of great help to anthropologists and historians as tokens of the material culture of the Kofun period, offering a glimpse into that society. Whether offerings for the dead or protective barriers meant to guard the tombs, haniwa have a strong aesthetic identity that continues to be a source of inspiration for Japanese ceramists.

Through gradual consolidation of political power, the Kofun-period Yamato clan became a kingdom with seemingly remarkable control over the population. In the 5th century, its center moved to the historical Kawachi and Izumi provinces (on the territory of present-day Osaka prefecture). It is there that the largest of the kofun burial mounds testify to a thriving Yamato society, one that was increasingly more secular and military.

Simultaneously, the potter's wheel was used for the first time in Japan, likely transmitted from Korea, where it had been adopted from China. This new technology was used to produce what is known as Sue ware-typically bluish-gray or charcoal-white footed jars and pitchers that had been fired in sloped-tunnel, single-chamber kilns ( anagama 穴窯) at temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees celsius. Like other types of ancient Japanese pottery, Sue ware continues to be a source of inspiration for ceramists, in Japan and beyond.

Additional resources

For information on other periods in the arts of Japan, see the longer introductory essays here:

JAANUS, an online dictionary of terms of Japanese arts and architecture

e-Museum, database of artifacts designated in Japan as national treasures and important cultural properties

Richard Bowring, Peter Kornicki, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Japan (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993)

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Kofun period, an introduction (article) | Khan Academy

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Kofun period (c. 3rd century-538 C.E.): influential importations from the Asian continent The Kofun 古墳 period in Japan is so named after the burial mounds of the ruling class. The practice of building tomb mounds of monumental proportions and burying treasures with the deceased arrived from the Asian continent during the 3rd century.

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Kūkai in China, What He Studied and Brought Back to Japan

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Kūkai in China, What He Studied and Brought Back to Japan

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Kūkai in China, What He Studied and Brought Back to Japan - Association for Asian Studies

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The Japanese Buddhist priest Kūkai (774–835 CE) continues to be one of the most popular historical figures to persist in imagination and images around Japan. For introducing Shingon esoteric Buddhism into his country in the early Heian period (794–1184), the emperor awarded him the posthumous title Kōbō Daishi, literally “Great Master Who Propagated the Dharma.” […]

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Kishida sends spring offering to war-related Yasukuni shrine (2024)

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Kishida sends spring offering to war-related Yasukuni shrine (2024)

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a ritual spring offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, viewed by Chinese and Koreans as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, but didn't visit himself to avoid creating a diplomatic row.

He donated "masakaki" evergreen twigs to the shrine in the capital's Chiyoda Ward in his capacity as prime minister on April 21, the first day of its spring festival.

Since he became prime minister in 2021, Kishida has offered masakaki to the shrine during spring and autumn festivals but has refrained from visiting the facility.

Lower House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga and Upper House President Hidehisa Otsuji also offered masakaki.

Yoshitaka Shindo, minister in charge of economic revitalization, visited the shrine on April 21.

"I paid a visit out of reverence and respect for the souls of those who worked for the country with all their might in the past," he said.

Kishida also sent a representative to make a "tamagushi-ryo" cash offering out of his own pocket as presdent of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, in 2022 and again last year.

Yasukuni is highly controversial in part because it memorializes 14 Class-A war criminals, such as wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, and others who were executed after the war.

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Kishida sends spring offering to war-related Yasukuni shrine | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a ritual spring offering to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, viewed by Chinese and Koreans as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, but didn't visit himself to avoid creating a diplomatic row.

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Claude Debussy - La Mer (dust jacket of album inspired by Hokusai's Great Wave)

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Claude Debussy - La Mer (dust jacket of album inspired by Hokusai's Great Wave)

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It is hard to imagine an image of war that matches the visceral and psychological power of the Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace. This thirteenth-century portrayal of a notorious incident from a century earlier appears on a hand scroll, a common East Asian painting format in Japan called an emaki. It also is a prime example of the action‐packed otoko‐e, "men's paintings," created in the Kamakura period .

Designed to be unrolled in sections for close‐up viewing, it shows the basic features of this pictorial form: a bird's eye view of action moves right‐to‐left (between a written introduction and conclusion). In vibrant outline and washes of color, the story (one event in an insurrection-more on this below) unfolds sequentially, so the main characters appear multiple times. The attention to detail is so exact that historians consider it a uniquely valuable reference for this period: from the royal mansion's walled gateways, unpainted wooden buildings linked by corridors, bark roofs, large shutters and bamboo blinds that open to verandas, to the scores of foot soldiers, cavalry, courtiers, priests, imperial police, and even the occasional lady-each individualized by gesture and facial expression from horror to morbid humor, robes, armor, and weaponry easily identifiable according to rank, design, and type.

Unfurled this work stands apart. Its now‐forgotten artist used the expressive potential of the long, narrow emaki format with such interpretive brilliance that he perhaps considered that on occasion it might be fully open. He organized a jumble of minutiae into a cohesive narrative arc.

Beginning from a point of ominous calm, a single ox carriage transports the eye to a tangle of shoving and colliding carts and warriors. With escalating violence, the energy pulses, swells, and then rushes to a crescendo of graphic hand‐to‐hand mayhem-decapitations, stabbings and hacking, the battle's apex marked at the center by the palace rooflines slashing through the havoc like a bolt of lightening followed by an explosion of billowing flame and women fleeing for their lives amid the din.

The chaos ebbs as victors and dazed survivors stream through the rear gate, and ends in grisly, surreal calm with the dressed and tagged heads of vanquished nobles on pikes, a disorderly cluster of foot soldiers and cavalry surrounding the ox carriage, their general trotting before them in victorious satisfaction over the smoking wreckage and bloody atrocity left behind.

The Night Attack at Sanjô Palace arrests even the casual viewer with its sheer comprehensibility. Although the artist would likely not have imagined an audience beyond the world he knew, his vision has enthralled viewers across centuries and cultures, making this painting not only among the very finest picture scrolls ever conceived, but also among the most gripping depictions of warfare-creating an irresistible urge to examine the work closely. But in depicting an event that really happened, it comes fully to life only when we know something of what it so vividly portrays.

This begins in a brief introduction to a complicated yet fascinating chapter in Japanese history. Incredibly, the appalling incident at Sanjô Palace depicted on the scroll was but one chapter in the vicious Heiji Insurrection of 1159‐60. This short war, with two other famous conflicts before and after, punctuated a brutal epoch that came to a close in 1192 with the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate. The stories of these flashpoints of blood thirst, collectively called gunki monogatari, or "war tales," have inspired a huge body of art over the centuries. The Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace, once part of a larger set that pictorialized the entire Heiji incident, survives with two other scrolls, one of them only in remnants.

Stories of romanticized martial derring‐do, gunki monogatari are history recounted by the victors. They celebrate Japan's change from a realm controlled by a royal court to one ruled by samurai. But the events originated in the unusual, even unique, nature of Japan's imperial world. Centered in the city of Kyôto, in some ways it resembled many ancient kingdoms. It was prey to shifting loyalties, betrayals, and factional divisions among ambitious families who would stop at nothing in the quest for power. As elsewhere, emperors had several consorts, and noble daughters served as tools in political marriages to elevate the power of their families, and above all their clan head.

Unusually, a few patriarchs managed over time to displace imperial authority, relegating emperors to stultifying ceremonial functions. And possibly uniquely, Japanese emperors found a way to reclaim some of that lost power: by abdicating in favor of a successor. Freed from onerous rituals, a "retired" emperor could assert himself. Which prince from which wife of which current or previous emperor would succeed to the throne stood highest among the disputes. By the twelfth century, nobles as well as current and retired emperors had all turned to samurai clans to resolve their bitter rivalries.

The cast of characters in the Night Attack at the Sanjô Palace came from this treacherous world. Sanjô Palace was the home of former Emperor Go‐Shirakawa, known for a career as the wiliest and longest‐lived of retired royals. He had recently abdicated in favor of his son Emperor Nijô. The two emperors backed vying sides of the Fujiwara clan, a conspiratorial family unsurpassed in subjugating and sometimes choosing a succession of emperors. One member of this clan, Fujiwara no Nobuyori,[1] plotted against everyone. The Taira and the Minamoto clans served powerful interests in all of these disputes, while also pursuing their own ambitions as bitter rivals of the other.

Who were the Minamoto and the Taira samurai clans?.

Simply put the Night Attack was part of Fujiwara no Nobuyori's bid to seize power by abducting both the emperor and the retired emperor. Backed by Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of that clan, Nobuyori saw an opportunity when the head of the Taira clan, who supported Emperor Nijō, left Kyōto on a pilgrimage. The emaki depicts the seizing of the retired emperor Go‐Shirakawa. Three key elements appear multiple times, orienting the eye and organizing the sweep of events: guided by a groom inside, the elegant ox carriage that will carry off Go‐Shirakawa opens the action.

We see it knocked about with others in the crush of fighting at the palace wall, on the veranda where Nobuyori in colorful armor orders Go‐Shirakawa into it, and finally in the surge of departing victors where two soldiers lolling on top lending an air of indignity and insult to the monarch. Nobuyori, now in court robes and on horseback, appears in front, glancing back at the carriage. A mounted Minamoto Yoshitomo, distinguished by red armor and a distinctive horned helmet, appears twice-behind the carriage as it crashes onto the veranda, and brandishing a bow and arrow, cantering behind it in the departing crowd.

The remainder of the Heiji Rebellion story appeared on other emaki in the set, now mostly lost: the kidnapping of Emperor Nijô, the slaughter of another noble household, Nobuyori forcing Nijô to appoint him chancellor, Taira Kiyomori's return to decimate the schemers, and finally Kiyomori's mistake-banishing rather than executing several of Minamoto sons. Minamoto no Yoritomo and his brother Yoshitsune would return years later to destroy the Taira clan in the Gempei War and found the first of four military governments of the Shōgunate that ruled Japan from 1192 until 1867. Emperors and nobles remained in Kyoto, but were politically powerless. Feudal culture came to a violent end in 1868 at the hands of other samurai clans. They brought the young emperor Meiji into a new role as the monarch (really a figurehead) of a modern nation. Over the Meiji era's early tumultuous decades many spectacular works of art left Japan to join important collections in the West. The Night Attack at Sanjô Palace, once owned by a powerful samurai family, came into the possession of an influential American who brought it home to Boston. It has been a highlight of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston since 1889.

[1] Japanese surnames come first and given names come second. Fujiwara and Taira are surnames. The Chinese characters used have different pronunciations that can appear at different times. "Minamoto" can be "Genji;" "Taira" can be "Heike."
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At about the hour of the ox (2 am) on the ninth day, Lord Nobuyori proceeded with several hundred mounted soldiers to the Sanjō Palace, the residence of the Retired Emperor, and said, "Since I have heard that I am to be struck down, I intend to go to the east. I have served you close at hand for years and have been favored more than others by Your Majesty, and so it is indeed sad for me to part from my lord and abruptly leave the capital."

Then the Retired Emperor said, "What sort of an affair is this? Who would strike you?" But without hearing him out, soldiers hastily brought up the Imperial carriage. "You must hasten into the Imperial carriage. Now, set fire to the Palace," ordered Nobuyori, and His Majesty unwillingly got into the Imperial carriage. Jōsaimon'in had already gotten in. It was Lord Moronaka who had brought up the Imperial carriage. Nobuyori, Yoshitomo, Shigenari, the Sado Vice-Minister of Ceremonial, Minamoto Mitsumoto, the Commisioner of the Police, Suezane, the former Commisioner of Police, and the others surrounded the Imperial carriage and took it to the Imperial Palace. They shoved him into the Palace Single-Copy Library, where Shigenari and Mitsumoto guarded him.

Soldiers blockaded the Palace on all four sides and set fire to it. Those who fled out they shot or hacked to death. Many jumped into the wells, hoping that they might save themselves. The ladies-in-waiting of high and low rank and the girls of the women's quarters, running out screaming and shouting, fell and lay prostrate, stepped on by the horses and trampled by the men. It was more than terrible. No one knows the number of persons who lost their lives.

Some said that Yoshitomo had raised a rebellion and had broken into the Sanjō Palace in a night attack and set it on fire and that even the Retired Emperor had not escaped the flames. Some also shouted that His Imperial Highness had gone to the Imperial Palace. Consequently, the "Great Lord" the Lord Chancellor, and all the other nobles and courtiers came in a crowd. the noise of their horses and carriages rushing back and forth was like thunder, and greatly did it resound both in heaven and on earth.

At the hour of the tiger (4 am) the same night, they seized the dwelling of the Shinzei at Anegakoji Nishinotoin and set fire to it. For the past three or four years arms had been banned, and the Empire had been at peace, but now suddenly this disturbance had broken out, and both the Imperial Palace and the capital were filled with soldiers. The noble and lowly lamented together, wondering what had happened.

Translation from Reischauer & Yamagiwa, Early Japanese Literature, Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1951, p. 451-453

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It is hard to imagine an image of war that matches the visceral and psychological power of the Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace. This thirteenth-century portrayal of a notorious incident from a century earlier appears on a hand scroll, a common East Asian painting format in Japan called an emaki.

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Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo, Izumo city, Japan - Google Arts & Culture

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The Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo was established to introduce unique history and culture of Shimane to people both at home and abroad through exhibitio…

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Extraordinary final test to become a Shaolin Master

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Extraordinary final test to become a Shaolin Master

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The extraordinary final test to become a Shaolin Master | Sacred Wonders - BBC

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South Korea Protests Japanese leaders' offering at Yasukuni (2024)

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South Korea Protests Japanese leaders' offering at Yasukuni (2024)

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South Korea on Sunday protested Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's offering to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine with "deep disappointment" and urged Japanese leaders to show repentance for the country's wartime past.

The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan's past military aggression because it includes 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal among the 2.5 million war dead honored there.

Past offerings there by Japanese leaders have led to protests from the two countries.

Kishida and some Cabinet members sent ritual offerings to the shrine on Sunday, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing Japanese media.

"The government expresses deep disappointment and regret that Japanese leaders again sent offerings to or visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's war of aggression and enshrines war criminals," South Korea's Foreign Ministry said.

South Korea urges Japanese leaders to "face history squarely and demonstrate humble reflection and sincere repentance," which would be an important foundation for improved ties between the two countries, it said in a statement.

It did not mention Kishida by name.

Japanese Foreign Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The two countries have moved closer in ties after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol made it a foreign policy priority to improve security cooperation with Tokyo and Washington since taking office in 2022.

Last week, the finance ministers of the two countries also joined U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the first trilateral meeting by top financial officials.

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South Korea protests Japanese leaders' offerings to Yasukuni Shrine

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The government in Seoul said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's offering had prompted a feeling of 'deep disappointment.'

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The First Monday in May - Official Trailer

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Sei Shōnagon was a Japanese poet, diarist, and courtier to Empress Consort Teishi of the Heian period (794–1185). Shōnagon wrote The Pillow Book (枕草子, Makura no sōshi), the earliest known text written in the zuihitsu genre. The Pillow Book is a collection of Shōnagon’s reminiscences, observations,…

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Funerary objects meant to be seen

Haniwa ("clay cylinder" or "circle of clay" in Japanese) are large hollow, earthenware funerary objects found in Japan. Massive quantities of haniwa-many nearly life sized-were carefully placed on top of colossal, mounded tombs, known as kofun ("old tomb" in Japanese). During the Kofun Period (c. 250 to c. 600 C.E.), haniwa evolved in many ways-their shape, the way they were placed on the mounded tombs and, presumably, their specific function or ritual use.

We don't know much about haniwa or the Kofun Period because there was no writing system in Japan at the time. However, there is general agreement that haniwa were meant to be seen. That is, instead of being buried deep underground with the deceased, haniwa occupied and marked the open surfaces of the colossal tombs. However, it is unlikely that they were readily visible to any person who happened to pass by since the tombs were sacred, ritualized spaces that were usually surrounded by one or more moats. As a result, close visual contact with haniwa would not have been easy for unauthorized visitors. So who was the intended audience of haniwa? Let's explore further.

Monumental tombs and early Japan

Unlike many other ancient civilizations, we cannot rely on written records to inform us about the names or locations of the earliest kingdoms in Japan. Yet study of kofun indicate that a powerful state had emerged by around 250 C.E. This state is identified by various names (such as the Yamato polity), and was generally centered in what is now Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka prefectures.

We know that a powerful state emerged since vast resources were needed to construct these monumental tombs-starting with the economic means to sacrifice valuable flat land that could otherwise be used for farming and growing rice. Hundreds of workers were also necessary, and archaeologists excavating kofun have recovered pottery from neighboring locations such as present day Nagoya-suggesting that people came from elsewhere to Yamato to serve the needs of this early state.

Most of the earliest surviving keyhole-shaped colossal tombs dating to the 3rd century are found in Nara prefecture. One of these is the famous Hashihaka kofun in Sakurai city-measuring about 280 meters in length and 30 meters in height (image above). As a point of comparison, the pyramid of Khufu in Giza measures about 230m in length and 146m in height.

Three periods in tomb-building practices

Early Kofun period: c. 250 C.E. - c. 400 C.E.

Middle Kofun period: c. 400 - c. 500 C.E.

Late Kofun period: c. 500 - c. 600 C.E.

This trend towards building kofun that were increasingly larger seems to reflect the increasingly powerful rulers of this kingdom; however, by the Late Kofun period the size of the tombs begin to shrink in size. This may have resulted from the unsustainable practice of using up valuable farming land for tombs. Another factor may have been the arrival of new immigrant groups, primarily via the Korean peninsula, who could effectively challenge the authority and dominance of the Yamato monarchs.

Evolution and placement of haniwa

When kofun were newly completed, the surfaces of the mounds were bare of vegetation-the forests that now cover these tombs are the natural consequence of centuries of neglect. Instead, gravel (or other hard stones), or haniwa, were elaborately arranged on the surfaces. Each haniwa was hand-created.

While the arrangement of haniwa varied from one tomb to another, consecutive haniwa were often lined up along the outermost perimeter of the tomb surface, as if to mark boundaries. In addition to this chain of haniwa on the outer perimeter, inner sections located near the center of the tomb have also been outlined by haniwa as if to designate a special or main staging area.

Haniwa in the form of animals, people and buildings

Haniwa modeled after residential or other kinds of buildings were also made and these were often located above the burial chamber in the rounded section of the tomb. While the outer perimeter might still be predominated by cylindrical haniwa, a few house-shaped haniwa in the center might resemble a miniature village.

Archaeologists have also unearthed haniwa in the form of ritual specialists and warriors standing in parade-like fashion in front of the houses, as if to stand guard and conduct special ceremonies for the benefit of the deceased.

What role did haniwa play?

With the development of haniwa modeled after humans, the ritual specialists were probably arranged on the tomb to re-enact funerary ceremonies seeking to protect the deceased from harm in the supernatural world, while warriors likely stood guard against enemies-whether human or not. In this sense, haniwa may have been intended to be seen by the un-living, perhaps demons or vengeful ghosts. At the same time, some scholars believe haniwa were also intended to be seen by the living (even if only a highly selective few). The range and kinds of haniwa representing aspects from the life of the deceased may have served to indicate the high status and wealth of the tomb's occupants. Inclusion of animal-shaped haniwa could be explained as an attempt to replicate a kind of exotic zoo or pleasure garden stocked with animals acquired by the deceased, but this is highly speculative.

Among the haniwa, it could be said that the most precise, careful attention to detail was reserved for warriors and their horses, reminding us of the critical role played by the military during the Kofun period-a time of massive armed conflict. We now turn to the only haniwa that has received designation as a National Treasure in Japan-the Haniwa Warrior from Gunma prefecture currently housed at Tokyo National Museum.

Closeup of the Warrior Haniwa

This national treasure (TNM J-36697) is one of several haniwa unearthed from the vicinity of Ōta city in Gunma prefecture, which tells us that this was an advanced, regional center for haniwa manufacture (Gunma is located to the north of Tokyo, quite far from Nara). This haniwa offers viewers a rare opportunity to see the detailed armor and weaponry (sword, bow, and quiver) of an ancient clay warrior from this region during the late Kofun period.

Starting with the visorless helmet, especially fascinating is the series of small, evenly spaced half-spherical rivets that appear on a raised section on top of the helmet, in addition to raised strips that connect the sides and front to a narrow band that circles around the forehead and continues behind the head. These rivets are believed to represent metal rivets, suggesting that the warrior's head was protected by a metal helmet. Attached to the helmet are thick protective ear flaps, seemingly made of padded fabric or leather, while a sheet of thinner material wraps around the rest of the head and neck. Rivets also appear on the narrow quiver, containing four or more arrows, strapped to the warrior's back.

The short-sleeved body armor that flares outward near the hips does not have rivets, but is covered by thin, vertically incised markings. Two large looped ties found on the chest suggest that this armor was laced together; whether the armor was made by stringing together thin iron plates is unclear based on the visual evidence, but remains as a possibility.

On both forearms, the clay warrior wears padded, protective guards. A wide, sheathed sword falls diagonally across the front of the body, apparently hanging from the waist: the warrior has his right hand on the hilt, ready to the draw the sword at a moment's notice. The fingers of the left hand gently clasp a thin, vertical object that seems to be a bow; fastened just above the wrist on this hand is a thick, sausage-like object that may be a device to protect his hand from the bowstring.

Standing upright with a mask-like, emotionless face (two narrow slits for eyes, an even more narrow slit for the mouth, and a protruding nose), you might not feel immediately threatened by this warrior. Yet, after observing how this haniwa warrior is, in fact, extremely well-armed with his formidable armor, a weapon in each hand, and supply of arrows on his back-clearly prepared to quickly strike down any enemy that comes his way-you might become a bit more apprehensive.

The intended function of this particular haniwa is not ambiguous, but the question of whether all haniwa-both figurative and non-figurative-were believed to protect the tomb's occupants in similar fashion is one that is difficult to answer, inviting us to keep pondering the secrets that were buried both inside and outside kofun in ancient Japan.

Essay by Dr. Yoko Hsueh Shirai

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Haniwa Warrior (article) | Japan | Khan Academy

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Funerary objects meant to be seen Haniwa ("clay cylinder" or "circle of clay" in Japanese) are large hollow, earthenware funerary objects found in Japan. Massive quantities of haniwa-many nearly life sized-were carefully placed on top of colossal, mounded tombs, known as kofun ("old tomb" in Japanese). During the Kofun Period (c.

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Zen Buddhism: Satori (sudden enlightenment)

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Zen Buddhism: Satori (sudden enlightenment)

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Zen Buddhism | SIMPLE WISDOM FOR HAPPY LIVING

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Satori or Awakening, is a profound realization of our true nature and the nature of reality.

I have always been intrigued by the concept of spiritual awakening, particularly the idea of Satori in Zen Buddhism. Satori refers to a moment of sudden insight or understanding that profoundly impact our spiritual and daily lives.

It's a concept that speaks to the possibility of deep transformation and liberation from suffering. As I have delved deeper into the study of Satori, I've come to value more and more the many different paths and practices that can lead to this state of awareness.

In this article, I will be exploring the meaning, origins, and different types of experiences associated with Satori and discussing some of the key practices and misconceptions related to this concept. Whether you're new to Zen Buddhism or simply curious about the power of spiritual awakening, this article will provide you with some valuable insights and inspiration.

Satori is a key concept in Zen Buddhism that refers to a sudden, profound realization of our true nature and the nature of reality that transcends intellectual understanding. It is often described as an experience of awakening, enlightenment, or spiritual insight that transforms one's perception of oneself and the world.

The concept of Satori in Zen Buddhism finds its roots in the Buddhist notion of Nirvana, characterized by the extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion. Both Nirvana and Satori share a fundamental aim of liberation from suffering and attaining ultimate peace and enlightenment.

While traditionally associated with the Theravada Tradition, Nirvana in Buddhism aims to end the cycle of rebirth. Satori in Zen Buddhism emphasizes the present moment and the direct experience of reality without the distortions of ego and attachment, beyond mental categories.

While both concepts share a common goal of transcending the limitations of ordinary perception, Satori is more focused on the direct experience of the present moment rather than the long-term goal of escaping the cycle of rebirth.

Origin of the term Satori

The term "Satori" originated in Japan in the 13th century. It was used to describe the experience of sudden enlightenment in Zen practice. The word itself is composed of two Chinese characters, "sa" and "tori," which together mean "understanding" or "comprehension."

Different types of Satori experiences

There are many different types of Satori experiences, ranging from subtle insights to profound, life-changing realizations. Some common types of Satori experiences include:

Kensho: A brief, fleeting glimpse of enlightenment that may last only a few seconds but has a transformative impact on the individual's understanding of reality.

Dai-Satori: A more profound and sustained experience of enlightenment that may last for days or weeks and fundamentally transform the individual's perception of themselves and the world.

Jiriki-Satori: A self-realization experience attained through one's efforts and practice.

Tariki-Satori: An experience of enlightenment attained through the grace or assistance of a teacher, mentor, or spiritual guide.

Importance of Satori in Zen Buddhism

Satori is considered a central goal of Zen practice, as it represents the ultimate realization of one's true nature and the nature of reality. It is a path to freedom from suffering and attaining inner peace, wisdom, and compassion. Through the practice of meditation, mindfulness, and self-inquiry, Zen practitioners cultivate the conditions that may lead to a Satori experience and integrate its insights into their daily lives.

While Satori experiences can occur spontaneously, they are often cultivated by dedicated practice and preparation. In this section, we will explore some of the key practices and techniques that can help individuals achieve Satori.

Zen meditation or Zazen: Zen meditation is a core practice in Zen Buddhism that helps cultivate awareness and insight into the nature of reality. Through focused attention and sustained practice, meditation helps quiet the mind, dissolve the distractions of the ego, and reveal deeper insights into the true nature of the self and the world. Through regular meditation practice, individuals inherently cultivate the inner conditions necessary for Satori experiences to arise.

Mindfulness and being present: In addition to formal meditation practice, cultivating mindfulness and present-moment awareness is essential for achieving Satori. We can develop a deeper sense of presence and connection to the world around us by paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations in each moment. This heightened awareness can dissolve the ego's illusions and provide a clearer view of the true nature of reality.

Letting go of the self: Letting go of the self is a key practice in Zen Buddhism that involves recognizing the illusory nature of the ego and cultivating a sense of detachment from it. By letting go of attachment to the self and embracing the emptiness at the heart of reality, practitioners can dissolve the illusion of separation and gain a direct experience of the interconnectedness of all things. In Zen, the concept of Mu or emptiness is often used to describe the ultimate nature of reality beyond the limitations of the self and all forms of conceptual thinking.

Interconnectedness: Finally, achieving a sense of oneness with everything is a crucial aspect of Satori. By recognizing the interdependence and interconnectedness of all things, we can transcend the dualistic thinking that creates separation and division. This sense of interconnectedness leads to a deep sense of peace, compassion, and understanding, which are central to the experience of Satori.

The experience of Satori is a profound and often indescribable realization of the nature of reality beyond the limitations of ordinary perception. While the exact nature of Satori experiences can vary between individuals, some common characteristics are often reported:

A sense of profound insight and clarity into the nature of reality.

A feeling of transcendence beyond the limitations of the self or ego.

A sense of oneness with all things and a deep understanding of their interconnectedness.

A feeling of deep peace, contentment, and liberation from suffering.

A profound shift in one's perspective on the world and their place within it.

An overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude for the present moment.

Of course, these descriptions are only a rough approximation of the experience of Satori, which is ultimately beyond words and concepts. Nonetheless, they can give us a glimpse into the transformative power of this profound realization and inspire us to pursue it through dedicated practice and preparation.

Despite its importance in Zen Buddhism, many things need to be clarified about the nature of Satori that can lead to confusion or misunderstanding. Here are some common misconceptions about Satori:

Satori is a mystical or supernatural experience that is only accessible to a select few.

Satori is a permanent state of enlightenment that, once attained, one never falls from.

Satori is a one-time experience that leads to complete liberation from suffering.

Satori is an otherworldly or transcendent state that is disconnected from ordinary reality

Satori is a goal to be achieved or a reward for dedicated practice

In reality, Satori is a natural and inherent potential within all of us that can be realized through dedicated practice and preparation. It is not a supernatural or mystical experience but a direct realization of our true nature available to anyone willing to do the work. Furthermore, Satori is not a permanent state of awakening but rather a momentary glimpse into the nature of reality that requires ongoing practice to cultivate and maintain.

Satori is not an otherworldly or transcendent state disconnected from ordinary reality but rather a profound realization of the interconnectedness of all things that can enrich and transform our experience of everyday life. We can approach this profound realization with a clearer and more open-minded perspective by dispelling these common misconceptions about Satori.

In Zen Buddhism, the potential to achieve Satori or Spiritual Awakening is inherent in all human beings, regardless of their background, gender, or social status. Therefore, anyone willing to engage in the right practices and cultivate the right mindset can potentially achieve Satori. However, attaining Satori requires dedicated practice and preparation and a willingness to let go of preconceived notions and ideas about the nature of reality and the self. The key is approaching the practice with humility, patience, and an open mind and persevering even in the face of difficulties or setbacks.

While Satori is often associated with intense spiritual experiences or moments of insight, it can also transform our everyday lives. Here are some ways in which the insights gained through Satori can be integrated into daily life:

Mindfulness and awareness: Satori involves deepening awareness and a heightened sensitivity to the present moment. By cultivating this mindful awareness in our daily lives, we can better appreciate the beauty and richness of the world around us and have a deeper sense of connection to others.

Letting go of attachments: One of the key insights of Satori is the realization that all things are impermanent and interconnected. By letting go of our attachments to material possessions, status, or outcomes, we can develop a greater sense of freedom and peace in our daily lives.

Compassion and service: Satori involves deepening our sense of interconnectedness with all beings. By cultivating compassion and a desire to serve others, we can contribute to the well-being of those around us and cultivate a deeper sense of purpose in our lives.

Creative expression: Satori can involve a release of creative energy and a renewed sense of vitality. By engaging in creative expression, whether through art, music, writing, or other means, we can tap into this energy and bring greater beauty and meaning into our lives.

By integrating the insights gained through Satori into our daily lives, we can transform our relationship with the world around us and develop a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment.

In this article, we have explored the meaning and origins of Satori and the different types of experiences that can lead to it. We have also discussed the role of meditation, mindfulness, and letting go of the self in achieving Satori and addressed some common misconceptions about this concept.

Furthermore, we have examined how the insights gained through Satori can be integrated into our daily lives, including the importance of mindfulness, letting go of attachments, compassion and service, and creative expression.

Remember that in Zen Buddhism, Satori is a way of realizing our true nature, not a mystical state of mind. By cultivating the right mindset and engaging in the right practices, anyone can achieve Satori and transform their relationship with the world around them.

Overall, the concept of Satori serves as a reminder of the power of spiritual awakening to transform our lives and the world around us. By continuing to explore and practice this concept, we can deepen our understanding of ourselves and the nature of reality and cultivate a greater sense of peace, wisdom, and compassion in our daily lives.

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Satori or Enlightenment in Zen Buddhism is simply a return to the original, natural condition of the human mind.

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Sumo wrestlers perform New Year's ceremony

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Sumo wrestlers perform New Year's ceremony

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Ai Weiwei - Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern

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Ai Weiwei - Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern

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Ai Weiwei – Sunflower Seeds | Artist Interview | Tate

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Heike nokyo (Sutras of the Taira family) dedicated to Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima

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Heike nokyo (Sutras of the Taira family) dedicated to Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima

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Reproduction of Heike Nokyo Sutra, Reproduced by Tanaka Shinbi, Taisho Period, 20th century (Original: Owned by Itsukushima Shrine, Heian period, dated 1164, National Treasure)

Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 16
October 19, 2010 (Tue) - November 28, 2010 (Sun)

Since the Tokyo National Museum was established in 1872, it has produced and collected a variety of illustrative and other reproductions to broaden its range of exhibits and further academic research. This exhibition focuses on one example of these reproductions: the Heike Nokyo sutra scrolls.

The original Heike Nokyo sutras (National Treasure, preserved by Itsukushima Shrine) were donated to Itsukushima Shrine in 1164 by the warlord Taira no Kiyomori (1118-81). The frontispieces, endpapers and both sides of the scroll are abundantly decorated with pictorial script and illustrations in gold and silver. The sutra texts themselves are inscribed in a combination of gold, silver, verdigris and indigo, and even the scroll fittings and label exhibit great attention to detail. These decorated sutras are peerless in their luxury.

The embellishments on the Heike Nokyo sutra scrolls were featured in the Illustrated Catalogue of Itsukushima Shrine Treasures, published in 1842. In 1882, the sutras were displayed in Tokyo at a national painting exposition, providing the opportunity for their official reproduction at the museum. Works from this time comprise the museum's earliest collection of Heike Nokyo reproductions (A-6917). Additional reproductions by Tanaka Shinbi (B-2406), commissioned by Itsukushima Shrine with the assistance of Masuda Donno (1848-1938) and others, faithfully communicate the beauty of the original works. These reproductions provide a glimpse into the exquisitely ornate world of the Heike Nokyo sutras.

Major works in this exhibition

* Works listed below are in the TNM Collection unless otherwise indicated.
Reproduction of Heike Nokyo Sutra , Reproduced by Tanaka Shinbi, Taisho Period, 20th century (Original: Owned by Itsukushima Shrine, Heian period, dated 1164, National Treasure)
, Reproduced by Chomei Anshun and others, 1882-84 (Original: Owned by Itsukushima Shrine, Heian period, dated 1164, National Treasure) Reproduction of Heike Nokyo Sutra
, Reproduced supervised by Tanaka Shinbi, Taisho period, 20th century (Original: Owned by Itsukushima Shrine, Heian period, dated 1164, National Treasure)
Box for Heike Nokyo Sutra (Reproduction)

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東京国立博物館 -トーハク-

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Historical Collection: Speaking to the Future Series Reproductions in the Tokyo National Museum Collection: The Heike Nokyo Sutras

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This is the Official Website for Tokyo National Museum. As well as providing information related to Exhibitions, Events and Access, this website is also home to the TNM Collection (the Museum's digital image gallery

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"Objects of Fascination: Encountering Six Dynasties China through Material Culture"

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"Objects of Fascination: Encountering Six Dynasties China through Material Culture"

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Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (c. 1413)

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Catching a Catfish with a Gourd (c. 1413)

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Learn about masterpieces from the museum's collections of painting, calligraphy, metalwork, lacquerware, textiles and costumes, ceramics, archaeological and historical materials, as well as the museum's architecture. Museum curators introduce some of the most interesting works in the museum through short essays written for children and adults alike.

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Ai Weiwei Directs Alcatraz Exhibit from Afar

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Ai Weiwei Directs Alcatraz Exhibit from Afar

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The old federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay is one of the city's top tourist attractions. Beginning Saturday, it's also the site of an installation by one of China's most famous dissident artists, Ai Weiwei.

The work, "@Large" explores themes of freedom and confinement. Finding freedom under restriction is a worthy challenge, Ai says. Confined to China himself, the artist had to pull it all off without setting foot in the U.S.

"For an artist to not be able to see the venue, and afterwards to not be able to interact with the audience - if I had to imagine the toughest restriction about an exhibition, that would be it," Ai says.

That wasn't the only hurdle the exhibit had to clear. Alcatraz is still federal land, and to host the art of one of China's most vocal critics, the project had to get clearance from the U.S. State Department. They also were told that none of the site's historic walls could be harmed.

Ai said the limitations added extra meaning to the show.

"We cannot touch anything, add anything; it's a hanging installation," he says. "Like prisoners themselves, who are only there for a period of time."

No doubt, Ai's limitations also will bring more attention to this show, which runs through April 26, and to his work in general - visibility that could be a big help for Ai, says Chad Coerver, chief content officer at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

"The more recognized he is - even though he's incarcerated at home - the safer he is from eventually being shut off completely or disappeared again, as he was in 2011," Coerver says. "So it's a very dicey gamble that he's playing, because we know that the West's attention doesn't always guarantee political freedom in China. But it seems to be the path that he's chosen."

Viewers travel by ferry to the island, where signs lead them to a building marked "Penitentiary Laundry." Just beyond the door, the head of a dragon kite marks the beginning of the $3.5 million, mostly privately funded art exhibit.

Exhibit curator Cheryl Haines says this first work, called With Wind, is "the pièce de résistance." The dragon's body, made from bamboo and rainbow-colored fabrics, snakes around columns covered in peeling, institutional green paint.

"It's suspended above the viewer - it will be flying, it will be free - but it's also restricted within the building, so there's this really interesting conversation between control and freedom," she says.

Haines dreamed up the idea of bringing Ai Weiwei's art to Alcatraz three years ago, when the artist had just been released from an 81-day detention by Chinese authorities on charges of tax evasion. Chinese authorities later confiscated his passport, so Ai Weiwei had to envision Alcatraz using blueprints and films, and relied on a team of volunteers here in the U.S. to install the work.

The second part of the exhibit is a sound installation, in which the voices of people imprisoned for expressing their views are piped into a bleak row of prison cells.

In the first cell, music by the dissident Russian punk group Pussy Riot plays from decaying air vents. In a cell used for psychiatric evaluations at the prison, Hopi Indian chants play. Nineteen members of the Hopi tribe were jailed at Alcatraz in 1895 for opposing the forced education of their children in government boarding schools.

The fight to stay visible permeates Trace, the next part of the exhibit, where a football-field-sized floor is covered with more than 175 portraits of so-called "prisoners of conscience" made from colorful plastic Legos. Many of the faces are likely unknown, but controversial figures like NSA contractor Edward Snowden are also there.

Celebrated Oakland painter Hung Liu is close friends with Ai. Liu grew up during China's Cultural Revolution under Mao Tse-Tung, and like Ai, China's politics and culture infuse her work. She is wary of political art becoming too didactic.

"When you have a strong political agenda, a strong message, you have to be careful if you want to use art form," the painter says.

Liu says she plans to take a serious look at Ai's Alcatraz work, and hopes others will get past his superstar status and do the same.

"Ai Weiwei's super-famous. Some people call him God Ai - Ai shen," Liu says. "I think it's little too far."

It's important for people to continue to think critically about Ai's work, Liu says - after all, people tried to make Mao a god, too.

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Confined In China, Ai Weiwei Directs Alcatraz Exhibit From Afar

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The dissident Chinese artist uses San Francisco's former island prison to contrast themes of freedom and restriction.

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ギャラリーをスキップする

*Click or tap image to enlarge.

Illustrated Handscrolls (Emaki)

基本情報

Japan, Heian period, late 12th century

Handscroll; ink and colors on paper

H. 26.8 cm, W. 138.4 cm

Kyoto National Museum (AK229)

This narrative scroll depicts the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts ( gaki), one of the Six Realms of Transmigration ( rokudō) in Buddhist thought. It was produced in the late Heian period (794-1185), a time of increasing interest in the Six Paths through the dissemination of ideas concerning the "latter days of the law" ( mappō). According to this widely accepted concept, Buddhist teachings and practices became gradually more difficult after the death of the Historical Buddha. The culmination of this process, the final "latter period," was believed in Japan to have begun in 1052.

The Kyoto National Museum's Tales of Hungry Ghosts scroll contains stories of salvation of the hungry ghosts. The first and second sections relate tales of one of the thirty-six types of hungry ghosts, those who are tormented by thirst and constantly seek water to drink. The first section depicts the suffering of these wretched creatures. The second explains how those who have been born as hungry ghosts are saved by offerings ( kuyō) made by the living. The central scene of the second section shows people pouring water on a funerary marker ( sotoba) for the Ullambana (J: Urabon) festival for the dead. The lively depiction of the area outside the temple gate makes this work also notable as a genre painting.

The third and fourth sections are based on the Ullambana Sutra (J: Urabonky ō), which tells the story of the monk Maudgalyayana (J: Mokuren), one of the ten great disciples of Shakyamuni, learning from Shakyamuni how to save his mother from the realm of hungry ghosts.

The textual source of the fifth section is unknown. However, it is recognized as a scene of hungry ghosts suffering from their inability to drink water. Because of the compassion of the Buddha, they are able to cast off their ghoulish bodies and drink water, and then they are born into the land of the Buddha. The story is drawn following an arc rising towards the right, and the picture employs a narrative technique in which the same figures appear at different times within a single scene (J., iji d ō zu).

The sixth section tells how Ananda (J: Anan), another of Shakyamuni's ten great disciples, heard about the suffering of a hungry ghost who continuously belched flame ( engu gaki) and taught the ghost an incantation from Shakyamuni to achieve salvation. The seventh section recounts how Ananda passed on this method of salvation to the monks, who then began the ceremony of offering food and drink to the spirits of the dead ( segaki).

In this manner, the various sections of the scroll bring together tales from different textual sources. There are also distinct variations in the style and composition of the paintings. Certain sections depict scenes close up, focusing on the human figures, while others convey a sense of space. The depiction of landscape also varies: in contrast with the lively expression of human figures in section two, for example, sections three and four are rendered with a less expressive brush. The thick lines of section one are unlike the very fine lines used in section six. For these reasons, it is thought likely that several groups of artists were involved with the production of this scroll.

From medieval sources we know that a set of Paintings of the Six Realms of Transmigration ( rokudō-e) was kept at Rengeō-in (commonly known as Sanjūsangend ō), a temple built by the cloistered emperor Goshirakawa (1127-1192, r. 1155-1158). It is highly possible that the Kyoto National Museum Hungry Ghosts Scroll was part of this set.

ページトップへ

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Welcome to the official website of the Kyoto National Museum. In addition to information about exhibitions, events, and access, the website features a wide range of fun and educational materials to enjoy from home.

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Article: Unearthing New Lessons from Ancient China

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Article: Unearthing New Lessons from Ancient China

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Sesshū, monochrome painter (haboku 'broken ink' and hatsuboku 'flung ink' styles)

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Sesshū, monochrome painter (haboku 'broken ink' and hatsuboku 'flung ink' styles)

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An early work by the great ink painter Sesshū?

For the haboku ('broken ink') style, the artist uses no outlines, but instead relies on areas of splashed ink wash and layers of ink shading to create the three-dimensional impression of mountains, trees, and rocks in a landscape. The technique involves a remarkable economy of brushwork, and it is because of this shorthand nature that it is described as haboku (broken ink) or hatsuboku (flung ink).

This work has affinities in its composition and technique with a landscape by Shūbun (flourished 1414-63), with an inscription by Kōsai Ryūha (1375-1446) (Private Collection, Tokyo). However, that work has a larger and more confident scale, a more coherent relationship of foreground to middle-ground and is stylistically more advanced.

There are stronger resemblances to a painting with a square seal reading 'Sessō' in the Masaki Art Gallery, Osaka Prefecture-in the shape of the trees and mountains, the very dark ink tones, and even the paper. The similarities are such that the two works appear to have been painted by the same artist. 'Sessō Tōyō' is now generally held to have been the name used by the greatest ink painter of the Muromachi period (1333-1568), Sesshū Tōyō (1420-1506), during the first half of his career. before he went to China.

Although the seal here reads 'Shūbun', the surrounding paper is very rough and scratched, suggesting it has perhaps been tampered with. If this is indeed a painting by Sesshū, it represents a very significant example of this master's early work.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

I. Hirayama and T. Kobayashi (eds.), Hizō Nihon bijutsu taikan-2, vol. 3 (Tokyo, Kodansha, 1993)

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Sessō Tōyō, Haboku-style landscape (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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Visual Artist based in Vancouver Canada. Tang practice includes new media, drawing, painting, and ceramic sculpture.

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文化財高精細画像公開システム(「e国宝」)

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The official home page of Tenryu-ji, a UNESCO World Heritage site

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This is the official home page of Tenryu-ji, the head temple of the Tenryu-ji branch of Zen Buddhism. Here you can find information on the temple's history, activities, sights, and special events, as well as directions on how to get here. Tenryu-ji is a major Rinzai Zen temple complex located in the scenic Saga Arashiyama area of Kyoto.

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Janet Wang, Vancouver Art Gallery installation

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Janet Wang, Vancouver Art Gallery installation

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Janet Wang, in/visible, 2018/2024 (detail), for SPOTLIGHT, window installation

SPOTLIGHT presented by RBC is a collaboration between the Art Rental & Sales Program (AR&S) and the Curatorial Department of the Vancouver Art Gallery. AR&S is a not-for-profit program operated by the Gallery with a mandate of supporting emerging artists based in British Columbia.

In this collaboration, the Curatorial Department at the Gallery invites an artist represented by AR&S to create an artwork in one of the Gallery's public spaces. This initiative aims to provide new opportunities for emerging artists, as well as to activate the Gallery's public spaces for thousands of visitors each year.

This current iteration of SPOTLIGHT features Vancouver-based artist Janet Wang, who works across a range of media, from illustration, painting and installation to digital media, such as augmented reality and animation. In her art, Wang reimagines traditional patterns often used in drapery and wallpaper-such as Toile de Jouy (an ornate French textile pattern featuring images of rural life) and Chinoiserie (a European artistic interpretation of Asian decorative arts). She also refashions art historical references to tell contemporary, everyday stories . In her wallpaper pieces , Wang centres stories of Chinese Canadians, drawing on her lived experience as a second-generation settler of Chinese heritage. She frequently transforms her designs into installations that occupy underutilized windows or built spaces.

For her SPOTLIGHT project, Wang is presenting in/visible -a pattern she created based on a decorative toile motif by French artist Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet titled Le Ballon de Gonesse (1784). Huet's 18th century pattern renders scenes of villagers as a hot air balloon from the nearby city of Paris lands in their fields. Mistaking the unusual flying balloon for a monster, they attack it with pitchforks upon its descent. Wang reworks the narrative to reflect the cultural erasure experienced by many Chinatowns across North America. Her toile pattern is composed of several repeated scenes and references to well-known paintings. One vignette alludes to É douard Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863), where Wang's lounging figure is pictured with a disposable coffee cup rather than the picnic lunch in Manet's original. Wang playfully inserts familiar imagery in her work as an entry point for telling everyday stories.
The installation will run through April 2025 on the Gallery's Hornby Street windows and door.
RBC EMERGING ARTIST PROGRAM

Presented by RBC and organized by Andrea Valentine-Lewis, Curatorial Assistant, on behalf of the Vancouver Art Gallery's Art Rental & Sales Program

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The Vancouver Art Gallery is recognized as one of North America's most respected and innovative visual arts institutions.

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Japan Emperor Naruhito's enthronement ceremony

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Heart Sutra x Dance at Tenryu-ji, Kyoto/Kanho Yakushiji

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Heart Sutra x Dance at Tenryu-ji, Kyoto/Kanho Yakushiji

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Heart Sutra × Dance at Tenryu-ji Temple,Kyoto / Kanho Yakushiji【Japanese Buddhist Monk music】【MV】