Kana Letter on Stamped Images of Amida Buddha

Japan

Not on view

This letter by the monk Jōgyō belongs to a cache of personal letters, sutras, and other religious documents and objects that were placed inside a sculptural triad of Amida with his attendant bodhisattvas at Gobōjakujō’in subtemple at Kōyasan, the headquarters of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism. The third son of the first Kamakura shogun, Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199), Jōgyō was born into the most powerful military family of the day. Yet he eschewed the political infighting between the palace in Kyoto and the shogunate in eastern Japan and took Buddhist vows at an early age. Jōgyō wrote this letter on the back of a sheet printed with small images of Amida Buddha that show through and interact with his elegant writing. Such sheets are commonly known as inbutsu, or “stamped buddhas.”

This work will be on view for rotation 3 only.

Kana Letter on Stamped Images of Amida Buddha, Hanging scroll; brush written letter, ink on paper (front); stamped images, ink on paper (reverse), Japan

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Kana Letter on Stamped Images of Amida Buddha, Hanging scroll; brush written letter, ink on paper (front); stamped images, ink on paper (reverse), Japan
Kana Letter on Stamped Images of Amida Buddha, Hanging scroll; brush written letter, ink on paper (front); stamped images, ink on paper (reverse), Japan

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