『夢記』　断簡|Section of the Dream Diary (Yume no ki)

Myōe Kōben 明恵高弁

1225 · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

The monk Myōe, founder of the Kyoto temple Kōzanji, recorded his dreams in a diary, the Yume no ki. On the day in 1225 to which this fragment dates there was to be a ceremony at Kōzanji to dedicate three shrines to three deities—Byakkō (a deity associated with the Himalayas), the Great Illuminating Deity of Kasuga Shrine (central deity of Kasuga Shrine in Nara), and Zenmyō (a protective female divinity). Myōe relates that the ceremony had to be postponed due to a typhoon and then describes two dreams in which he met several individuals who he interpreted as the incarnations of the three deities.

Artist

Myōe Kōben 明恵高弁

Date

1225

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, in honor of Saretta and Howard Barnet, 2014