Currently indexing

Koya myojin (Tutelary Deity of Mt. Koya)

16th century

Japanese

Besides human-built temples, mountains and other natural elements also serve as powerful foci for religious beliefs. Mount Koya was thought home to Koya Myojin, a Shinto deity. Kukai (774–835), the famed monk who traveled to China to study Buddhism, is said to have met Koya Myojin when searching for a place to establish a monastery for Shingon Esoteric Buddhism in Japan. Koya Myojin, appearing as a hunter with two dogs, guided Kukai to Mount Koya. This image is based on an account in the biography of Dohan (1178–1252), who devoted himself to developing Kukai’s Shingon lineage. The biography describes how Koya Myojin manifested as a white-robed courtier on a large rock to dialogue with Dohan. That rock in the back garden of the Shochi’in sub-temple remains a significant place today.

Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk

40 3/4 x 15 3/4 in. (103.51 x 40.01 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

50.126

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryTokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010).

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Legends, Tales, Poetry: Visual Narrative in Japanese Art, Dec. 22, 2012 - July 21, 2013.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Noble Splendor: Art of Japanese Aristocrats, July 28, 2018 - Mar. 3, 2019.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing [on view beginning Jan. 13, 2023].

Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 86

Kawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, Yukiko Sirahara, editors, "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, catalogue number 30

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