Page 240 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

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Jiun Onkó (1718-1804) Enkü (1628-1695) Enkü (1628-1695)
Aphorism beginning with the character TIÜO Kongóshin figures Pudó Myôô and Attendants
for "person"
Cedar Cypress
3
Hanging scroll; ink on paper Height 220 (86 Vs) Height of Pudó 88.5 (34 A)
3
34.9 x 54.7 (13 /4 x 2i Va) lisanji, Gifu Kiyotakiji, Tochigi
Private Collection, Hyôgo
Illustrated page 218
• In this triad made from Japanese
• The large character that dominates • A monk first and then an artist, cypress, Pudó is flanked by his two
this calligraphic work means "person" Enkü was a mountain-dwelling priest principal attendants, Seitaka and
(hito). In its form, suggesting a walk- (yamabushi) of the Shugendo school. Kongara. Pudó (literally "the Immov-
ing figure, it is close to the original able") belongs to a group of wrathful
pictograph. Jiun used a large stiff brush, Known for his devotion to a severe deities known in Japanese as myoo 239
of Buddhist asceticism, he trav-
form
creating uneven streaks on the upper (bright kings; Sanskrit: uidyaraja),
eled extensively, leaving behind thou-
edge of each of the two strokes. The sands of sculptures. Enku's method of who persuade the reluctant along the
work abounds with energy, making it working rapidly with simple tools was Buddhist path to salvation. With
instantly recognizable as Jiun's. The well suited to his vow to carve 120,000 sword in hand to cut through delu-
power of the large character is only sion, Pudó is rocklike in his resolve,
strengthened by the relatively sub- Buddhist images during his lifetime. literally standing on an outcropping.
In his
use
of a single block of wood he
dued and austere style of the rest of harked back to the earliest stage of Enkü left part of the original wood
the verse: "Each of us must become a roughly cut to represent the flames
Japanese Buddhist wood sculpture.
true person / once we have become surrounding Pudo. Simple, seemingly
this person / we become feami, we Each of these two giant images of haphazard cuts in the wood's sur-
become Buddha." RTS Kongóshin was carved from a single face effectively evoke the rhythmical
block of Japanese cedar in Enku's dis- folds of his garment. Standing at
tinctive style. The powerfully carved either side of the powerful Pudó are
129 heads are marked with radiating two child acolytes (dóji) capable of
Jiun Onkó (1718-1804) notches that intensify the expressions working miracles. Kongara, often
Poem titled "Perseverance" on the faces. The relatively detailed depicted with hands clasped in
heads surmount severely abstracted a gesture of prayer, is here shown
Hanging scroll; ink on paper bodies: there is only the barest unconventionally with an upraised
3
1
61.9 x 105.5 (24 /s x 41 / 2 ) suggestion of the figures' grasping a hand. Seitaka is usually shown
Private Collection, Hyôgo
tabletlike object in their hands, held holding a staff in his right hand that
at chest height. The finlike projec- is rendered here as an abstracted
• Compositionally similar to the
tions running down both sides of the notched vertical and functions as
above calligraphy by the same artist, garment on each figure are remark- a support. The bodies of both are
this work displays greater balance
between the large character nin (per- ably reminiscent of bronze images of rough blocks with only parallel verti-
severance) and the rest of the poem: the Asuka-Hakuhó period (mid-sixth cal slashes to suggest articulated
710), suggesting that Enkü
century to
forms. RTS
"The moon is bright, the wind is blow- may have been knowledgeable about
ing — / once you settle in, eternity in ancient Buddhist sculpture. Although
this hut / is filled with sorrows."
unsigned, these massive seven-foot
In his scholarly pursuits Jiun devoted images possess a totemic power that
a great deal of time to the history unmistakably associates them with
of Sanskrit studies in China and Japan. Enkü. RTS
In the powerful centripetal force of
the nin one can discern a relationship
to the written forms of Sanskrit. RTS