Kitano Tenjin Engi: Founding of the Kitano Shrine

17th century

Japanese

The life story and subsequent deification of the courtier Sugawara no Michizane (895-903) became the subject of several famous handscrolls during the Kamakura period (1185-1333). Michizane, a courtier and poet of the Heian period (794-1185) was slandered by a rival at court. In spite of efforts by supporters, Michizane was exiled to Kyushu (considered the Siberia of ancient Japan) where many said he died of a broken heart; a series of calamities struck following his death, and fearing it was the work of Michizane's vengeful ghost, the emperor ordered Michizane deified as the god of literature and a major shrine erected in his honor.

A widely revered Shinto deity, hundreds of shrines throughout Japan are dedicated to the deified Michizane. His shrines are thronged at various times in the year, particularly by students at examination time. The main shrine in Kyoto, Kitano Tenmangu, popularly known as Tenjin-san, is the site of a monthly sale that attracts a large number of vendors hawking second-hand household goods and decorative items and a horde of bargain seekers who frequently include foreign visitors.

Part of a later set of scrolls recounting the story, this is not an ukiyo-e painting, but telling the story of the shrine's beginnings is called engi. Faithfully depicting construction of the original shrine in more-or-less naturalistic terms, it employs elements of a type of painting termed fuzoku-ga or genre painting.

Color and gold on paper

12 1/2 x 60 5/8 in. (31.75 x 153.99 cm)

Overall h.: 13 in.

Overall w.: 72 1/4 in.

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

49.145

Not currently on view

Resources

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

Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, "Gift to a City: Masterworks from the Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum", cat. # 131

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. 137a and b

"Gift to a City" exhibition catalogue. Portland, OR: Portland Art Museum, 1965, cat. no. 131

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