信貴山縁起

The tradition & historical record

The Shigisan Engi Emaki (信貴山縁起絵巻; lit. "Legend of Mount Shigi Emaki") is an emakimono or emaki (painted narrative handscroll) made in the second half of the 12th century CE, during the Heian period of Japanese history (794–1185). It is an illuminated manuscript detailing miracles attributed to the monk Myōren, who lived on Mount Shigi near Nara in Japan in the latter part of the 9th century. The tales are composed in the genre of engi, a narrative that chronicles the founding of a Buddhist or Shinto establishment. In the case of the Shigisan Engi Emaki, the establishment is Chōgosonshi-ji, where Myōren used to live. The pictorial style of the work, known as otoko-e, or "men's pictures", is characterized by active movement, outdoor scenes and a certain feeling of lack of restraint. Otoko-e is part of a broader style of Japanese painting called Yamato-e. The work is a prime example of both Heian period scroll painting and Yamato-e, as most of the early scroll and Yamato-e paintings are now lost. ¹

Originating in Japan in the sixth or seventh century through trade with the Chinese Empire, emakimono art spread widely among the aristocracy in the Heian period. An emakimono consists of one or more long scrolls of paper narrating a story through Yamato-e texts and paintings. The reader discovers the story by progressively unrolling the scroll with one hand while rewinding it with the other hand, from right to left (according to the then horizontal writing direction of Japanese script), so that only a portion of text or image of about 60 cm (24 in) is visible. The narrative assumes a series of scenes, the rhythm, composition and transitions of which are entirely the artist's sensitivity and technique. The themes of the stories were very varied: illustrations of novels, historical chronicles, religious texts, biographies of famous people, humorous or fantastic anecdotes, etc. ¹

The scrolls of the Shigisan Engi Emaki, three in number, each narrate a miraculous story about the life of Myōren, a Buddhist monk who lived at the end of the 9th century in the Chōgosonshi-ji temple on Mount Shigi (Shigi-san) in the province of Yamato, and was dedicated to the deity Bishamon-ten (Vaiśravaṇa). ¹

The term "engi" in the title designates a Japanese literary style that transcribes chronicles and legends on the foundation of Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines, as well as, by extension, the miracles associated with them. Along with the biographies of high-ranking monks (kōsō-den or eden), this is the main genre of emakimono with a religious subject; the genre was produced in large numbers during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), mainly for proselytizing or didactic purposes. The Shigisan Engi Emaki is nowadays the oldest example of emakimono with religious themes that devote a large part of their content to the representation of everyday life and folklore, testifying to an unprecedented interest in painting for children and popular legends. Such interest, however, already existed among the Japanese nobility from at least the end of the 11th century, as evidenced by the literature of the Imperial Court. Indeed, several ancient collections of popular tales, including the Konjaku Monogatarishū, the Kohon Setsuwa Shū and the Uji Shūi Monogatari, tell three anecdotes, reminiscent of the subject of the Shigisan Engi Emaki, about a hermit-monk from the Nara period. The surviving texts of the second and third scrolls are very similar to the Kohon Setsuwa Shū, suggesting that the author relied mainly on that collection. ¹

The Shigisan Engi Emaki is made up of three paper scrolls in a horizontal format. On each scroll, calligraphic texts accompany illustrations that have been painted, by hand, using watercolour-like techniques associated with the application of strokes in India ink. The scrolls measure respectively: 31.7 cm (12.5 in) high by 878.27 cm (345.78 in) long; 31.82 cm (12.53 in) high by 1,275.85 cm (502.30 in) long; and 31.7 cm (12.5 in) high by 1,417.43 cm (558.04 in) long. Each scroll is assembled from several sheets of paper of similar lengths - approximately 60 cm (24 in) long - glued one after the other: 16 sheets for the first scroll, 24 for the second and 26 for the third. ¹

The first scroll, commonly titled "The Flying Granary", consists of a single long painted section, the calligraphic text having disappeared. It narrates the anecdote known as the "flying granary". Myōren used to send his bowl by air every day to the nearby village, where a wealthy farmer filled it with rice. One day, however, the farmer refused to take on this task and Myōren punished him by causing his entire rice barn to fly away. The scroll thus opens with a scene showing the amazement and dismay of the villagers running after the flying granary. Several landscape scenes follow, in which travellers are astonished at this flying granary while the rich farmer on horseback and four of his people pursue their property. Myōren's home then suddenly appears in a mountain landscape. The monk is seated on his terrace, facing his visitors who then appear. The farmer bows to the monk and it is understood that he begs Myōren to give him back his rice. After a new short mountain landscape, we discover Myōren and his visitors in front of the rice granary. A servant places a bag of rice in Myōren's bowl, obviously on the order of the latter who explicitly points a finger at the bowl. The rest of the bags then begin to fly away. There follows, as for the flying granary, a long scene of landscapes flown over by sacks of rice, to the village where the little people are busy with their daily occupations - the women cook or collect fruit, a child and an old man are reading. Finally, a short landscape concludes the painting and the first scroll. ¹

The anecdote narrated in the second scroll, "The Exorcism of the Emperor of the Engi Era", relates to the miraculous healing of the reigning Emperor Daigo by the prayers of Myōren. The scroll consists of two portions of calligraphic text and two long painted sections. After the introductory text, the first painting opens at the great door of the original imperial palace of Heian-kyō (present-day Kyoto) in front of which an imperial delegation is preparing to leave, while priests arrive to pray for the ailing Emperor. Several sequences illustrate the delegation's journey through various landscapes, a village and mist. After finally arriving at Mount Shigi, the messenger of the delegation and Myōren are conversing, seated on a veranda, while the other travellers wait below. Following a scene of a new mountain landscape, the delegation is depicted returning to Seiryō-den, the Emperor's private quarters, apparently bringing back a message from Myōren. The palace wall completes the first painting. The second calligraphed section reveals that Myōren, despite insistent requests of His Imperial Majesty, has refused to go in person to the palace, and has promised to heal the Emperor from his home. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Shigisan Engi Emaki”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Shigisan Engi Emaki is emakimono painted in the second half of the 12th century, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²