Letter by Shokado Shojo
- Person
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作者松花堂昭乗
- Date
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制作年 AD17
- Title
- ショウカドウショウジョウヒツショジョウ
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
- Ref. number
- AW-CEN-001821-0000
- License
- CC BY Images license
- Creditline
-
慶應義塾（センチュリー赤尾コレクション）
- URL
- Classification
- Art
- AI Tagging
- Handwriting Font Wood Tree Writing
Shokado Shojo (1584-1639) was a Buddhist priest of the Shingon Sect during the Edo Period. He also called himself Seisei-O. After becoming Takimoto-bo Jitsujo’s disciple, Shojo succeeded his master to become head priest of the Takimoto-bo sub-temple. Later, Shojo conceded his post to one of his disciples and retired to the newly-built Shokado sub-temple. His deep virtues and charismatic personality earned him numerous followers and friendships with Confucian scholars, Zen monks and other intellectuals of the age. Notable among them were Konoe Nobutada (1599-1649), Ishikawa Jozan (1583-1672), Kogetsu Sogan (1574-1643), and Takuan Soho (1573-1645). Shojo studied the Oieryu School (lit. “honorable family school,” also Oie School) of Japanese-style wayo calligraphy under Soncho Hosshinno (an imperial prince who resided at a Buddhist temple), but it was the great Kobo Daishi (Priest Kukai) who Shojo truly admired, favoring the Daishi Style. After mastering this style, Shojo perfected an elegant, free-flowing style of brushwork, which was later renowned as the Shokado School, or Takimoto School, of calligraphy. In this letter, Shokado Shojo writes that while he was visiting the residence of Ichijo Akiyoshi, Konoe Nobuhiro’s younger brother, he agreed to pay a future courtesy call on Tokugawa Yoshinao (appointed Major Counselor in 1626), with Nobuhiro and another member of the eminent Konoe family, Konoe Naotsugu. Yoshinao’s mother was Lady Okame, Shogun (Generalissimo) Tokugawa Ieyasu’s concubine, who was the daughter of Shimizu Munekiyo. Munekiyo was a priest at the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. It seems that Yoshinao had taken a liking to Shojo due to his ties to the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine, the home of his mother. Shojo took advantage of this family contact and asks in this letter if his own brother, Nakanuma Sakyo-no-suke, can join the party to visit Nijo Castle and be received in audience by Yoshinao. In July 1634, Yoshinao accompanied Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu on his trip to Kyoto, and this letter was likely written around the time of this important event, when Shojo was 52. The letter is addressed to To Shikibu, perhaps an aristocrat friend of Shojo’s who may have mediated business or social matters, but this person’s true identity is not known.
猶々拙子儀今日帰山仕候又やかて罷上致祗候御めみえ可申上候ハゝ御前可然様ニ昨日御めみえ仕忝存候御取成所仰候かしく昨日摂政様へ致伺公候へは早罷下申候間不及御報候かしく近衛様一門様被仰合来廿九日尾張大納言殿へ御見舞可被成之旨御意候昨日御意之おもむき者具大納言殿へ可申入候尚々御門跡様ニも御両御所と被仰合御成奉待候次ニいつも左京も尾張殿へ御礼申候間御ともに被召連被下候様ニ御取成奉頼候拙子も廿九日ニハ伏見へ罷出御奉公可仕候恐惶謹言七廿六日（花押）瀧本坊藤式部様貴却
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- Letter by Shokado Shojo
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