Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue
- Person
-
作者TAIRA no Motochika
- Date
-
制作年 治承四年（1180）
- Title
- コンシキンジカンフゲンキョウ（タイラノモトチカガンキョウ）
- Measurements
- 25.9×792.0
- Materials, techniques and shape
- Gold and colour on dark-blue paper
- Collections
- Century Akao Collection
- Depository
- Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko) Campus Mita
The exhibited handscroll was originally part of a ten-scroll transcription including the eight volumes of the Lotus Sutra, the opening sutra (Sutra of Innumerable Meanings) and the closing sutra (Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue; Jp. Kanfugen-Kyo). The set has dissipated, and currently, one handscroll each is preserved at the Tokyo National Museum, the MOA Museum of Art (Atami), and the Freer Gallery of Art (Washington DC, United States). All the other scrolls in the original full set were copied by professional sutra artists, but the exhibited copy was genuinely rendered by Taira-no-Motochika, the Minister of Military Affairs, who held the high title of Junior Third Rank. From the postscript, one can learn the details that led to the completion of this text on July 28, 1180, namely that Motochika had developed a deep faith in Jodo (Pure Land) Sect Buddhism in his latter years. Sometime earlier, Taira-no-Kiyomori, the powerful leader of the Taira Clan (also “Heike”, meaning Taira Family), initiated a coup d’etat by decommissioning 39 high-ranking officers in the government led by Retired Emperor GoShirakawa, an incident known as the “Jisho Era Coup d’Etat”.Motochika was among those 39 fired officers. Deprived of aristocratic title and administrative post, he was forced to idle away his life, and in his remorse and boredom, he was attracted to religion and, ultimately, the practice of sutra copying. In the postscript of theKanfugen-Kyo Sutra(Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue), Motochika signed his name “Taira-no-Motochika, the disciple in pure white attire”. Naturally, he could no longer attach his former title of rank to his name. He therefore used the “disciple in pure white attire”, meaning a non-titled layperson clothed in white and cleansed of soul.The picture on the flyleaf of this tenth volume of the full manuscript depicts two boys enacting the ten forms of dedication. The two Bodhisattva figures, namely Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, and Seishi (Sk. Mahasthamaprapta), are clothed in beautiful heavenly robes of brilliant colors. Transcending the ages since the ancient Heian Dynasty, this picture is as valuable a legacy as the sutra itself.
［奥書］治承四年庚子七月甲申廿八日戊寅奉書写了／白衣弟子基親
［読み下し文］治承（じしょう）四年庚子（かのえね）七月甲申（きのえさる）二十八日戊寅（つちのえとら）書写し奉り了（おわ）んぬ。白衣弟子（びゃくえのていし）平基親。
Overview
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Depository and ID
Components
OPEN DATADESIGN
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Details
Identifiers
- Title (EN)
- Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue
Physical description
- Weights and quantities
-
Quantity 1巻
- Materials, techniques and shape
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Materials 紺紙金泥着色／軸頭水晶（後補か）Shape 紙帖
- Attachments
- 白包裂／題箋／付属品1箱（①旧見返し、表紙）／②昭和26年刊行のカタログ（藝苑巡禮社発行）／③宝暦時の旧巻紐、平基親朝臣記、文書3点／④昭和28年2月2日の新聞、美術史学会案内ハガキ／⑤金紙／⑥旧箱墨書／⑦明治24年鑑査状／⑧明治38年選擇序文／⑨裂地
Provenance
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