The way in which a narrative is illustrated responds acutely to the format through which it is told. For instance, this handscroll version of The Great Woven Cap permits a more complete telling of the tale, with illustrations spaced evenly across the long roll of paper. By contrast, when the story is told in the smaller book format, key motifs are singled out and depicted at the center of the picture plane. On a pair of folding screens, fidelity to the narrative has been subordinated to visual splendor, no doubt to underscore the magnificence of the occasion for which the screens were commissioned.The Great Woven CapScrolls a and b Fujiwara no Kamatari, the founder of the powerful Fujiwara clan, was given the illustrious title of Great Woven Cap (Taishokan) by the Emperor Tenchi. Emperor Taizong of China sent an imperial envoy to Japan to seek the hand of Kamatari’s daughter Kōhakunyo, who was known for her great beauty. Kamatari accepted the proposal and sent his daughter to China accompanied by a flotilla of magnificent ships. Kamatari built a Golden Hall at Kōfukuji Temple, in Nara. Kōhakunyo, now empress, wished to send her father a jewel to place in the Buddha’s whorl of white hair, so as to illuminate the universe that emanated from his being. Led by the general Wanhu, Chinese soldiers sailed to Japan with the jewel, but the Eight Great Dragon Kings were lying in wait, plotting to steal it. The dragons sent Asura fighters to attack the soldiers, who bravely persevered through several fierce sea battles. Determined to steal the jewel, the kings sent the Dragon Princess Koisainyō to seduce Wanhu. Her boat approached the soldiers’ ship near Sanuki, in Shikoku. The Chinese general was distracted by Koisainyō’s beauty, and she cunningly escaped with the jewel, taking it with her into the depths of the sea to hide in the Dragon Palace.
