The or ("Illuminated scrolls from the founders of the Kegon Sect"; also translated as "Illustrated Legends of the Kegon Patriarchs", "Legends of the Kegon Sect" or "Scrolls of the Founding of the Kegon Sect") is an or (painted narrative handscroll) from the beginning of the 13th century, in the Kamakura period of Japanese history (1185–1333). An illuminated manuscript, it narrates in six paper scrolls the Buddhist legend of the founding of the Kegon school in Korea, and the lives of its two founding monks Gishō and Gengyō.
Background
An consists of one or more long rolls of paper narrating a story through texts and paintings. The reader discovers the story by progressively unrolling the scroll with one hand while rewinding it with the other hand, from right to left (according to the then horizontal writing direction of Japanese script), so that only a portion of text or image of about is visible. Originating in Japan in the sixth or seventh century through trade with the Chinese Empire, art spread widely among the aristocracy in the Heian period.
Later, the advent of the Kamakura period was marked by internal strife and civil wars, which spread and favoured the rise of the warrior class (the ); the latter put into the spotlight a realistic, less mannered and esoteric, aristocratic culture (the Zen school also appeared at that time). In addition, from these social disturbances a fertile ground for Buddhist proselytism was born, as several new schools, mainly from the Pure Land () tradition, appeared in Japan. Plastic iconography remained important for transmitting religious doctrines, so much so that painting played a big role, in particular the with accounts of the foundation of temples or the lives of famous monks. The old schools in vogue during the Nara period, including the Kegon school (), also experienced a resurgence of interest. The was created, during the golden age of (the 12th and 13th centuries), in that context.
The term "engi" (as in ) designates a Japanese narrative style that transcribes chronicles and legends about the founding of Buddhist temples; as for the term "eden" (part of ), it designates the biographies of famous monks.
Several other works, the best known of which are the (on the life of the monk , founder of the branch of Pure Land Buddhism) or the (on , the founder of Pure Land in Japan), tackle a similar theme. However, the genre of romance, important in the first part of the , can also be emphasized.
Description
The , divided into two parts, narrates the legend of the lives of two Korean Buddhist monks who established the Kegon sect in the 7th century in their country (then the kingdom of Silla, or in Japanese) after several pilgrimages to China: Gishō (Uisang) and Gengyō (Wonhyo). Today, the work consists of six paper scrolls, approximately high and about in total length. Four are dedicated to Gishō and two to Gengyō.
Gishō and Gengyō are two humble monks who plan to go to China to complete their learning of Buddhism. However, and as depicted in the first scroll, Gengyō gives up from the start, convinced in a dream that he must seek salvation in himself, and the two friends separate. The following three scrolls are dedicated to the legend of Gishō and Zenmyō (Shan-miao), a young Chinese girl who falls in love with him while he is on his pilgrimage to China. Gishō converts Zenmyō to Buddhism, then begins his return to his own country, to the great despair of the young girl. Zenmyō, rushing to the port, arrives too late to offer him a farewell gift, and his boat disappears over the horizon; in despair, she throws the offering into the water which then follows the boat carrying her beloved. Struck by this miracle, she throws herself into the water, swearing to protect her beloved forever, and transforms into a dragon to carry Gishō's boat on her back for the rest of the journey to Korea. There the boat turns into a mountain on which a temple is erected and Zenmyō has since been revered as the patron goddess of the Kegon sect. This dramatic story is famous in Japan and several collections of legends relate it.
The other scrolls are dedicated to Gengyō and therefore take place in Korea (the kingdom of Silla), although the separation of Gishō and Gengyō from each other is also related at the beginning. The artist tells in particular how Gengyō obtains the Vajrasamddhi () sutra from the king of the seas in order to save the seriously ill queen.