Picture Scroll Depicting the Deeds of Prince Shotoku
- Date
-
制作年 AD15
- Title
- ショウトクタイシエデンダンカン
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
Prince Shotoku (574-622) is one of the most famous figures in Japan’s history. He greatly contributed to the politics and civilization in ancient Japan. As the Senior Regent to Empress Suiko (554-628), Prince Shotoku carried out administrative reforms, e.g., codification of the Twelve Court Ranks and the Constitution of Seventeen Articles, thus building the foundation of a new nation based on the rule of law. He sent students to Sui Dynasty China in an effort to bring back the advanced continental civilization and erected the Shitenno-ji Temple and Horyuji Temple in his quest to propagate Buddhism throughout Japan after he became a devout follower. Soon after his death, he was deified in an idealized form and revered across centuries by different religious sects as the founder of Buddhism in Japan. Early tributes to the Prince include the 2-volume Biography of Prince Shotoku (Jp. Shotoku Taishi Denryaku) compiled by the Middle Counselor Fujiwara-no-Kanesuke (877-933) in 917. This book listed the Prince’s outstanding achievements in chronological order. It describes the legends associated with the Prince’s extraordinary birth, the political reforms in the Taika years (Taika Reforms, Jp. Taika-no-Kaishin; 645), the stories of his clan members and the fall of the then powerful Soga Clan. In 1069, Painter Hatano Munesada created shoji paintings in picture-scroll format based on the accounts in the Biography of Prince Shotoku. It was quickly followed by the production of sculptures, pictorial images, historical accounts, etc. The Prince’s portraits were produced in large numbers to decorate the walls of the Shitenno-ji Temple and shoji doors at the Horyuji Temple, while picture scrolls and hanging scrolls and various other artistic forms were created profusely. The exhibited segment is a part of an emaki depicting the Prince and courtiers mourning the demise of Emperor Yomei (?-587; Prince Shotoku’s father) in July 587 and his burial in the imperial mound. The Chinese writing at the top right corner is a transcript from the Biography of Prince Shotoku, instead of a description of the scene. The original emaki was very small with a height of only 18 cm. The original is assumed to have been created in the tradition of the 10-volume Prince Shotoku Pictorial Biographies, formerly owned by the Domoto family in Kyoto. This original work was also small, with a height of only 15.9 cm. Although it is a small piece, the painting was rendered by an experienced painter with smoothly flowing lines.
The picture of Emperor Yomei's burial in the imperial mound on July 587.
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- Title (EN)
- Picture Scroll Depicting the Deeds of Prince Shotoku
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1幅
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