Silken Painting of Emperor Go-Daigo is a portrait and Buddhist painting of Emperor Go-Daigo from the Nanboku-chō period. The painting was supervised by the Buddhist priest and protector of Emperor Go-Daigo, Bunkanbo Koshin. After his death, Buddhābhiṣeka opened his eyes on September 20, October 23, 1339, the fourth year of Enen4/Ryakuō, during the 57th day Buddhist memorial service.Meiji 33rd year (1900), April 7, designated as Important Cultural Property. As Emperor of Japan rather than Cloistered Emperor, he was granted the highest Abhisheka (coronation ceremony) of Shingon Buddhism He was united with Vajrasattva, a Bodhisattva, as a secular emperor, and became a symbol of the unification of the royal law, Buddhism, and Shintoism under the Sanja-takusen, in which the three divine symbols were written. After the end of the Civil War of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was transferred to the head temple of the Tokishu sect, Shōjōkō-ji (Kanagawa Prefecture Fujisawa, Kanagawa), by the 12th Yūkyō Shōnin, a cousin of Go-Daigo and the founder of the Tokishu sect. During the Sengoku period, it became an object of worship for the Tokimune sect of the time, and copies were made. Because it is directly related to the theory of kingship in the Kenmu Restoration, it is important in Art history, History of religion, and Political history. It is said to show the legitimate kingship as the protector of Vajrayana succeeding his father, Emperor Go-Uda, as well as the harmonious political and religious kingship as in the reign of Prince Shōtoku.
Overview On October 26, 1330, the year before the Genkō War against the Kamakura shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo was given a ritual called the Yu-Gi-Kanjo at Jounei-Den in the palace by his Buddhist confidant and renowned painter, Bunkanbo Koshin. This was the most sacred ritual of the Shingon Buddhism of the time, as it was said to be the "ultimate perfumation" and "the highest attainment of esoteric Buddhism. The only thing higher than this is the attainment of Buddhahood. Although it is exceptional for a secular emperor to receive the Yu Gion Puja, it is believed that he followed in the footsteps of his father, Emperor Go-Uda, who was also a prominent practitioner of esoteric Buddhism, and that he had practiced enough to qualify for the Yu Gion Puja. This is not unusual. Godaigo, who was a loving wife, asked Bunkan to have the middle palace, Saionji Kishi, undergo the same ceremony on November 23 of the same year. This work was painted under the supervision (or actual production) of Fumikan Shonin himself, who led the perfuming ceremony, as a representation of the Yu-Gi perfuming scene. On September 20, Engen4/Ryakuō2 (October 23, 1339), thirty-five days after the fall of Go-Daigo, the Buddhist priest instructed Bunkan in the Buddhābhiṣeka and completed it.
The setting depicts a scene in which he was 43 years old, but since his portrait shows features of old age, it is thought that he actually modeled his face at the time of his death, when he was about 52 years old. The composition in the painting shows him uniting with Vajrasattva, the second founder of Shingon Buddhism, a Bodhisattva who acts as an intermediary between man and Buddha (Vairocana). Vajrasattva, a bodhisattva. It is also said to be related to Go-Daigo's belief in Rāgarāja, one of the incarnations of Vajrasattva. He is said to be wearing a Emperor Jimmu Benkan, Emperor Chūai Mianfu, National Treasure, and Buddhism, the Kūkai kesa of Kōbō Daishi, from the collection of Tō-ji. However, it seems that these treasures were not available for reference at the time of painting, and the kesa in particular is clearly different from the real thing. In addition, the crown (Emperor Jinmu's crown) and the ordinary crown are worn twice, which is thought to be an imitation of the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra of Prince Shotoku, who was regarded as a supreme being in both the sacred and secular realms. It is thought to be a copy of the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra The upper three oracles, Amaterasu, Kasuga Gongen, and Hachiman, respectively, preside over honesty, compassion, and purity, and are associated with the Imperial House of Japan, Kuge (Fujiwara clan), Buke (Seiwa Genji). This image shows that Emperor Go-Daigo, as Vajrasattva, identified with these three Shinto deities and became the center of royal law, Buddhism, and Shintoism.
However, it is unclear whether this work was created under the direction of Go-Daigo himself or his dying wish. However, it is not clear whether the deification of this work was directed by Go-Daigo himself or his dying wish. It is thought that the deification of this work was done hastily as a memorial to the emperor before the 57th day memorial service after his death, and the deification was done by projecting the impressions that Bunkan and other senior retainers of the Southern Court had of Go-Daigo.
On August 1, 1396, four years after the unification of the Northern and Southern dynasties, the temple passed from the hands of a former vassal of the Southern dynasty to the hands of the 12th head of the Toki sect, Youko Shonin, who was the founder of the Toki sect. He was the son of Prince Tsuneaki, the prince of Emperor Kameyama (the grandfather of Emperor Go-Daigo), and was also a cousin of Emperor Go-Daigo. Afterwards, it was kept in Shōjōkō-ji (Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujisawa City), the head temple of the Ji-shu sect. On March 21, Eishō (Muromachi period)14 (1517), a copy of the statue was made by a priest of the Ji-shu, Yaamida Buddha, and worship was conducted through the copy. In this case, according to the Honji suijaku theory, it is thought that the goddess Amaterasu was worshipped as Vairocana, the bodhisattva Hachiman as Amitābha, the main deity of the Tokishu, and Kasuga Daimyojin as Amida's assistant, the snare Kannon. It is also believed that Amitābha was worshipped as Amitābha.
On April 7, 1900, the statue was designated as a National Treasure at the time and later as an Important Cultural Property as a "silken copy of the statue of Emperor Godaigo.
Because of its striking features, this work has often been discussed in connection with the theory of kingship of the Kemmu regime, and because until the 20th century, research on the imperial court during the Kamakura period lagged behind and Emperor Go-Daigo's political skills were not highly regarded, it was used as a symbolic image in Yoshihiko Amino's theory of "deformed kingship" in the 1980s. However, since around 2000, it has been used as a symbolic image of Godaigo. However, a reevaluation of Godaigo's political skills began around 2000, and as of the 2010s, although the Kemmu regime collapsed with complicated twists and turns, its policies themselves were realistic and excellent, and the smooth continuity between the Kamakura period, the Kemmu regime, and the Muromachi shogunate has come to be evaluated. As for the interpretation of this work as of the beginning of the 21st century, the first is that it is an interpretation of the kingship theory of this work. The first is that the figure is the successor of his father, Go-Uta. The first is that he is the successor of his father, Go-Uta. Go-Uta was also famous as an esoteric Buddhist monk, and he is the patron of Shingon esoteric Buddhism, which can be interpreted as the legitimate royal authority to succeed the Daigakuji lineage (the imperial lineage to which Go-Daigo belongs). Secondly, it can be inferred that it represents Go-Daigo's faith in Taishi. Unlike his father, Go-Daigo, who was more devoted to religion than to politics in his later years, Shotoku-Taishi, who had an excellent sense of balance between politics and religion and made outstanding achievements in both, may have been considered the ideal king, and he himself may have been regarded as such by those around him.
The creator The production was supervised and Kaigen was done by Monkanbo Koshin . Monkan was a Buddhist priest of the Shingon Ritsushu and Daigo schools of Shingon Buddhism, and served as the head of Daigo-ji, Shitennō-ji, Bettō, and the first chief priest of Toji in the Go-Daigo dynasty, as well as the head of all Buddhist affairs in the Sōkan of the Ritsuryo system. He was one of the most important figures in Emperor Go-Daigo's Buddhist policy and beliefs.
In addition, Bunkan was one of the most famous painters of the Middle Ages, described as "extraordinary" (不凡) in Kano Eienō's Honcho-ga-shi in Enpō 6 (1679). who was one of the most famous painters of the Middle Ages, and painted the Important Cultural Property "Monju (Manjusri) with Five Characters in Chinese Characters on Silk" on June 9, Kenmu June 9 (1334). For this reason, it has been said that he may have been involved in the actual production of this work as well as the supervision and Buddhābhiseka.
Creation date The "Emperor Go-Daigo's Reflections" in the "Genealogy of the Twelfth Sonkan Shonin" says
In other words, Emperor Go-Daigo died on August 16, Engen4/Ryakuō2 (September 19, 1339), and Emperor Go-Daigo abdicated On the 35th day of the festival, a mandala service is held. was conducted by Hiroshimaru Bunkanbo. Bunkan described this work as Buddhābhiseka. The idea was that Emperor Go-Daigo would appear as a "Kagemukai," or a god and a Buddha. However, the strangeness was not visible to anyone other than the author of this document.
Since it was not completed until after his death, it is unclear whether the composition and production of this work are the result of Godaigo's will or dying wish.According to Keiichi Uchida's conjecture, the creation of this work was not the will of the artist himself, but rather the idealized image of Go-Daigo in the eyes of those who admired the previous emperor who was left behind in the Southern Court after the collapse of Go-Daigo, and such idealized image from those around him may have been projected onto this work.According to the speculation of Motohiro Toyama, this work was originally painted as a normal portrait under the direction of Bunkan during the lifetime of Go-Daigo, but Bunkan regretted that he died before it was completed and hastily changed it to a deified image as an object of worship as a memorial to him.
Content Basic Information Painted on silk with colors. The size is 94.0 cm long and 49.8 cm wide.
Scenes and Basic Historical Documents
The head temple of the Tokishu sect, Shōjōkō-ji, which holds this work, has a historical document called "The Genealogy of the Twelfth Sonkan Shonin," of which three documents record the history of this work. It is sometimes referred to as the Shōjōkō-ji Record, as if the three documents were separate, but in fact they are three sections of the same document. In 2014, a paper by Motohiro Toyama, director of the Shōjōkō-ji Treasure Museum, published a photograph and reprinted the entire genealogical tree for the first time.
The following is a record of the contents of the "Yu-Gi-Go-Kan-To" section of the "Genealogy of the Twelfth Sonkan Shonin" (punctuation marks are by Keiichi Uchida).
In addition, as a related source, the following is recorded in the Yūkya Dendōshō (Shōhei20/Jōji4 (1365)), written by Bōren, a high brother of Bunkan, (the reading is from this article).
Overall, it is a drawing of the time when Bunkan gave the emperor Go-Daigo the Yu-Gi Kanjo (Yu-Gi Kanjo) on October 26, Gentoku 2 (1330) at a place called Gosetsuden in the palace However, according to Hideo Kuroda, since the eyebrows are drooping and other characteristics of old age can be seen, the painting itself may have been drawn not at the age of 43, but at the age of 52 at the time of his death .
The location of the Gosetsuden is unknown, but Keiichi Uchida suggests that it may be Jounei-den, one of the seven halls of the Inner Palace in Interior . The reason for this is that Jounei-jeon was also called Gosetsuden or Gosetsokoro, since the Five Section Dance was performed there .