The Album of Exemplary Calligraphy Musashino
- Person
-
筆Attributed to Emperor Shomu
- Date
-
制作年 Nara−Kamakura period（8−13th century)
- Title
- コヒツテカガミムサシノ
- Measurements
- 39.4×29.0
- Materials, techniques and shape
- Ink on paper and silk
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
The exhibited segment is a segment of sutra manuscript pasted in an album of exemplary calligraphy named Musashino.Dried bulbs of cloves were used in ancient times to scent and dye paper. The plant’s strong pungent odor was an effective insect repellent, and in shakyo production, rendering the paper insect-resistant was an important concern as sutras were meant to be preserved eternally. The exhibited segment shows traces of clove juice sprayed on Japanese washi paper, which was then ruled with gold mud. This was followed by decorations of plants, birds and butterflies, also drawn in gold mud, resulting in one of the most gorgeously decorated papers. Over this, the text from Lotus Sutra Volume 5 Chapter 13 “Exhortation to Hold Firm” was copied. Originally, this segment was a part of a ten-scroll manuscript including the eight-volume Lotus Sutra, an opening sutra (Sutra of Innumerable Meanings) and a closing sutra (Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue). Later, the elegant and exquisite brushwork was attributed to Empress Komyo (700-760) of the Nara Dynasty. The calligraphic style and decorative techniques closely resemble those seen in the Imperial Katsurano-Miya Family Manuscript of Manyoshu produced during the mid-Heian Period. Therefore, one can conclude that this segment was actually transcribed and decorated during the mid-11th century.
Since the Edo period (1603–1868), countless albums of exemplary calligraphy have been produced by pasting fragments of ancient and medieval calligraphy into them. In the modern era, such albums were compiled only from the finest examples, such as Green Fields (Nobe no midori) by the Kaga Maeda family. Musashino is also one such album, and the calligraphy of the title and box of this copy are by the renowned calligrapher and collector Shunkei Iijima (1906–1966). The twenty-six leaves pasted onto this album with a cover of phoenixes and peony roundels and ornamental metal fittings (kanagu) also include Tenpyō era (729–749) sutras and part of the Collection of Buddhist Iconography (Zuzōshō) from the Kamakura period (1185–1333), but are almost entirely composed of waka poems from the Heian period (794–1185). The album includes the following fragments: Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Hon’ami Fragment) attributed to ONO no Michikaze (894–966), Collected Poems of Fujiwara no Okikaze (Collection of Famous Calligraphers Fragment) attributed to KI no Tsurayuki (died 945), Collection of Chinese and Japanese Poems to Sing (Hōrinji Temple Fragment) and the Collected Poems of Izumi Shikibu (Collected Poems of Izumi Shikibu Fragment) attributed to FUJIWARA no Yukinari (972–1027), Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Ōe Fragment) attributed to FUJIWARA no Sadayori (995–1045), Collection of Chinese and Japanese Poems to Sing (Taga Fragment) by FUJIWARA no Mototoshi (1060–1142), Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Ryōsa Fragment) attributed to FUJIWARA no Toshinari (1114–1204), Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Imaki Fragment) attributed FUJIWARA no Masatsune (1170–1221) but actually by FUJIWARA no Norinaga (born 1109), Collected Poems of Ki no Tsurayuki (Murakumo Fragment) by Jakuzen (dates unknown), and others. Musashino is not only precious for its artistic value, but also an important source for the study of paper and calligraphy.
Description from the exhibition Catalogue "Letter-scape: Century Akao Collection, A World of Letters and Figures", Keio Museum Commons, April 2021
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Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- The Album of Exemplary Calligraphy Musashino
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1帖
- Attachments
- 思文閣封筒、書芸文化院鑑定証、東博書類2通、紙札（大）4枚、紙札（小）1枚、五島美術館の札1枚
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