Kegon Engi Emaki

• Title — Kegon Engi Emaki • Other Language 1 — ja • Other Title 1 — 華厳縁起 • Other Language 2 — ja • Other Title 2 — 華厳宗祖師絵伝 • Artist — Uncertain • Completion Date — 13th century • Medium — * Emakimono • Paint and ink on paper handscroll • Movement — Yamato-e • Subject — Kegon school • Height Metric — 31 • Length Metric — 8195 • Metric Unit — cm • Designation — National Treasure • Museum — * Kyoto National Museum • Tokyo National Museum

• Illustration — A spirit appears to Gengyō in a dream at the start of the journey (Gishō scroll 1) An emakimono consists of one or more long rolls of paper narrating a story through yamato-e texts and paintings. The reader discovers the story by progressively unrolling the scroll with one hand while rewinding it with the other hand, from right to left (according to the then horizontal writing direction of Japanese script), so that only a portion of text or image of about is visible. Originating in Japan in the sixth or seventh century through trade with the Chinese Empire, emakimono art spread widely among the aristocracy in the Heian period. Later, the advent of the Kamakura period was marked by internal strife and civil wars, which spread and favoured the rise of the warrior class (the samurai); the latter put into the spotlight a realistic, less mannered and esoteric, aristocratic culture (the Zen school also appeared at that time). In addition, from these social disturbances a fertile ground for Buddhist proselytism was born, as several new schools, mainly from the Pure Land tradition, appeared in Japan. Plastic iconography remained important for transmitting religious doctrines, so much so that painting played a big role, in particular the emakimono with accounts of the foundation of temples or the lives of famous monks. The old schools in vogue during the Nara period, including the Kegon school (Kegon-shū), also experienced a resurgence of interest. The Kegon Engi Emaki was created, during the golden age of emakimono (the 12th and 13th centuries), in that context. The term "engi" (as in Kegon Engi Emaki) designates a Japanese narrative style that transcribes chronicles and legends about the founding of Buddhist temples; as for the term "eden" (part of Kegon-shū Sōshi Eden), it designates the biographies of famous monks. Several other works, the best known of which are the Ippen Shōnin Eden (on the life of the monk Ippen, founder of the Ji-shū branch of Pure Land Buddhism) or the Hōnen Shōnin Eden (on, the founder of Pure Land in Japan), tackle a similar theme. However, the genre of romance, important in the first part of the Kegon Engi Emaki, can also be emphasized.

• Illustration — Messenger of the Kingdom of Silla in search of the King of the Seas (Gengyō scroll 2) The paintings in the Kegon Engi Emaki were done at the temple not far from Kyoto, supposedly under the aegis of (also known as), a monk who had long studied Kegon Buddhism (at the of Nara, centre of the school in Japan) before rehabilitating the temple. If that hypothesis as to patronage is accurate, would also have been the author of the calligraphy texts in the emakimono, drawing inspiration from older Chinese stories. KL Brock suggests, however, that the Gishō scrolls may have been commissioned by Lady Sanmi, a noblewoman then close to the, and the Gengyō scrolls by her friends (but with as the main supervisor). Although the date of creation and the author remain subject to interpretation, it seems clear that the scrolls approach a pictorial style characteristic of Kamakura art, marked by a certain realism and a proximity to humanity. While legend may have attributed the work in the past to Fujiwara no Nobuzane, it is much more likely that the author, or one of the authors, was 's favorite painter, Enichibō Jōnin, also known for his murals; for Mason and Dinwiddie, 's style is especially evident in the Gengyō portion. Comparative and historical studies have enabled KL Brock to put forward two possible dates of creation of the work: between 1218 and 1223 for the Gishō scrolls, and in the 1220s or 1230 for the Gengyō scrolls.

• Illustration — Popular life scene in Korea, in a more naive style (Gengyō scroll 2) As an everyday narrative art, emakimono usually provide a great deal of information on the life and history of medieval Japan. Eleven red seals were affixed at various points on the scrolls to guard against loss or vandalism, and the work is known to have undergone at least three restorations between 1570 and the early modern era. However, this work differs from others in that it is set in Korea and China, and instead depicts the clothing and architecture of the Tang dynasty. Through its treatment of its religious message and its style, it also offers a special insight into the society and culture of the Kamakura period. Some historians also the link the work with the Jōkyū War (1221), during which protected ladies of the court; the legend of Zenmyō could have been a springboard to convert them to Kegon Buddhism by providing them with a model of a virtuous woman. In 1223, erected Zenmyō-ji, a temple in her honour near Kyoto.

Nowadays, the emakimono is listed in the Register of National Treasures of Japan and is exhibited at the National Museums in Kyoto (the Gishō portion) and Tokyo (the Gengyō portion), after being stored for a long time by the Kōzan-ji; several scenes remain among the most representative of this art. However, the work has survived in a fragmentary way and some sections are missing; the reconstruction of the original scrolls has given rise to numerous studies, the most important of which is that of KL Brock in 1984.