 |
Fumonin Temple: Gonso Sojo
|
| |
 |
Fumonin Temple: Gonso Sojo
|
| |
|
Fumonin Temple: Gonso Sojo
JAPAN, Wakayama, Ito; Heian period (794-1185); Ink and color on silk; 166.4 x 136.4 cm
This figurative painting of Gonso Sojo is said to date from 810. Gonso is an eminent monk of the Sanron (Three Treatises) school. Folklore relates that in 793 of the Nara period, Gonso told the monk Kukai about the Gumonjiho ritual, a means of acquiring phenomenal powers of memory by repeating Akasagarbha Bodhisattva's mantra one million times. Kukai completed the ritual, and went on to found the Shingon school in Japan. There is an inscription by Kukai on the top register of the painting that reads compliments to the eminent monk Gonso." The postscript in the bottom right corner states that the painting was given to Gumonji Hall in Tenkawa |
