Page 85 - JAPAN THE SHAPING OFDAIMYO CULTURE 1185-1868

Buddhist nun, also known as Ringüji no
Miya. Two of the artist's seals can be seen
at the lower left. Genyô, who was named
Ake no Miya at her birth, was a daughter
of H5shunmon-in, the seventh daughter
of Go-Mizunoo. After the death of the em-
peror, she took the tonsure and became a
nun, changing her name to Gen'yô and
adopting the Buddhist title Shdzan. Like
her grandfather, she was a strong advocate
of Zen. She learned painting from Kano
Yasunobu (1613-1685), son of Kano Ta-
kanobu (cat. 18).
The two poems, written on shikishi
(square poetry sheets) and attached to the
scroll, were copied from the inscriptions
on the Hanjuin and Sennyúji portraits of
the emperor, one from each. Deep melan-
choly and world-weariness is expressed in
these poems:
Painful, this
withered tree fence hidden
in the deep mountain;
would that at least my heart's
flowers were fragrantly abloom.
My life being thus,
in this world that I will never revisit
the thought of leaving a trace
of my calligraphy for a moment-
even that is sad. WA

20 Takuan Sóhó
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
99.0x46.3(39x181/4)
Edo period, no later than 1644
Eisei Bunko, Tokyo
Takuan Sôhô (1573-1645) was a Zen priest
of Daitokuji during the early Edo period,
celebrated in his own time and after, as a
scholar, painter, calligraphier, and tea
adept. Through tea he came to be associ-
ated with the shogun and various daimyo,
and he taught Zen to Miyamoto Musashi 20
(1582-1645; cat. 128) and Yagyü Munenori
(1571-1646), two formidable swordsmen. In
1629, because he objected to the shogun- There is vacuity, concealing nothing. 21 Toyotomi Hideyoshi
ate's policy of control over Buddhist estab- Inside his eyes is no longer any shade, hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
lishments, he was banished to the north to Vacuity shows no illusory flowers; 109.0 x 51.0 (427/8 x 20)
Dewa province, but was pardoned in 1632. The bamboo staff still in his hand, Momoyama period, no later than 1600
During the 16305 he was friend and spiri- The hossu brush only seeks idiocy. Ah.
tual adviser not only to Emperor Go- Saikyoji, Shiga Prefecture
Mizunoo, but also to lemitsu (1604-1651), Sixteenth day, sixth month, the twenty-first Important Cultural Property
the third Tokugawa shogun, and in 1639 he yearofKan'ei [1644] Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) died at the
became the founding abbot of Tôkaiji in Takuan, formerly of Daitokuji, in mock age of sixty-one. In accordance with his
Shinagawa, whose patron was lemitsu. self-accusation. will, a mortuary shrine was built atop Ami-
This portrait, executed in the chinsd Sdhô [seal] Takuan [seal] damine in Higashiyama, Kyoto. The court
(Zen priest's portrait) mode, bears an in- Takuan studied poetry (waka) with bestowed the title Toyokuni Daimydjin
scription by Takuan himself dated to the Hosokawa Yüsai (1534-1610) around 1603. (Great Deity of the Rich Country) on Hi-
sixteenth day of the sixth month, 1644: Yüsai's son, Hosokawa Sansai (1563-1646), deyoshi as deity of this sanctuary and post-
This world of desire, form, and formlessness became daimyo of the Kumamoto do- humously granted him Senior First Rank.
is like a house on fire; main, Higo Province, and his grandson A memorial ceremony was held annually
Inside a bag is an old crow, Mitsunao became an ardent patron of Zen at the shrine on the anniversary of his
It tries to get out but can't. under Takuan's influence and tutelage. death.
A child, skinny, worries about his father; These circumstances explain why this por- Many portraits of the deified Hide-
To this stubborn fellow both right and trait was handed down in the Hosokawa yoshi were painted. The earliest known ex-
wrong are lost. family. SY

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