Hekija

late 12th century; five hanging scrolls: ink and color on paper; Pictured here: Tenkeisei, 26 x 39.2 cm

others: Sendan Kendatsuba, 25.8 x 77.2 cm; Shinchu, 25.8 x 70 cm; Shoki, 25.8 x 45.2 cm; Bishamonten, 25.9 x 76.4 cm. National Treasure

These five fragments were originally part of a handscroll that was cut into individual hanging scrolls. The subject centers on the benevolent but awesome deities who protect ardent followers of Buddha's teachings by vanquishing the sundry and myriad malevolent spirits in the world who prey upon them.

A rich tradition of rendering depictions of hell based on literary descriptions in the Lotus Sutra exists in early Japanese art. Engraved scenes on the bronze halo of the principal icon in the Nigatsu-do at Todai-ji provided an eighth-century reference for artists, as did the eleventh- and twelfth-century portrayals in sutra frontispieces from the so-called Chuson-ji set and mandala compositions such as that at the Kojima-dera.

The situation is less clear with the Hekija paintings because clear visual prototypes have not been identified for their compositions. Consequently they are thought to represent essentially Japanese interpretations of Chinese texts, mixed with Japanese folklore and imagination. This commingling may be apparent in the first illustration identified in the preceding four-line text as the deity Tenkeisei, one who metes out punishment to evil spirits responsible for promoting pestilence and disease. This monumental multi-armed figure sits comfortably on a low rock plateau devouring demons. He holds one firmly in each arm as he prepares to dip them in a vinegary sauce before biting off their heads. Beneath him, squashed, lie the next round of victims, each portrayed in a distinct posture with detailed hair and skin tones like the demons above.

Tenkeisei resembles the Mikkyo deities known as myoo, the fearsome wisdom kings. Both Shingon and Tendai sects embraced these destroyers of those who controvert Buddhist law. Standing in dynamic poses, the multi-armed myoo are frequently depicted with raised hair and fluttering robes, infidels beneath their feet. The colors of Tenkeisei's robe are particularly vibrant. He has orange skin, like that of Sendan Kendatsuba in the second section and Shoki (Chinese: Chung Kuei) in the fourth section, which helps identify them as foreigners.

Sendan hoists the severed heads of animals and demons in human guise, impaled on a trident, with their grisly remains at his feet. The coordination of body shapes and identities together with the puddles of red blood lead the viewer smoothly across the painting to the focus of the next illustration, a large winged and speckled insect with bloodshot golden eyes. Shinchu too grasps a multitude of evil spirits, each of which vainly attempts to avoid its gaping mouth lined with pointed teeth and awash in blood. This gruesome
yet mesmerizing scene is set in a sketchily outlined landscape done in typical yamato-e brushwork and pigments of rich green and light brown. Shoki, the most famous demon queller in traditional Chinese art and literature, stands on a brown and gold ground in the following illustration. In keeping with his non-Japanese identity his skin color is highlighted and his facial features and gestures are exaggerated.

But the skills of the landscape painter responsible for these paintings can be best appreciated in the last scene. In the left-hand margin of the composition he portrays a remote mountain setting in autumn using just a few brushstrokes. Tucked into this setting is a simple thatched hut, the abode for a monk who sits in front of it, lost in thought as he reads a religious sutra in handscroll format. Next to it is a black lacquer box, a container for protecting the entire set of sacred scrolls.

The monk wears a simple gray robe, a color at variance with that of his much larger protector, Bishamonten. The leader of the four guardian kings, Bishamonten wears an elaborate suit of armor. Here he has descended from the heavens on a cloud, unknown to the studious monk, and fires off one arrow after another to drive away or kill several creatures with spiked wings and clawed feet. Using a quivering brush stroke, the artist uniformly exaggerated the features of these scabby demons.

The masterful use of space and density of forms, strident color and muted tonalities, repose and movement help lend a grandeur to the picture well beyond its physical size. Related compositions occur in Lotus Sutra frontispiece illustrations painted in gold on indigo-dyed paper (ninth to twelfth centuries) and in those of the Heike Nokyo executed in exquisite yamato-e style on specially prepared papers containing pieces of gold and silver foil. This sumptuous set of Lotus Sutra scrolls was donated to the Itsukushima Shrine by the Heike family in 1164.

The visual rhythm of this Hekija group moves apace from violent beauty to the muted silence of autumn, from monumental figurative scale to one comfortably placed in its natural surroundings, and from barren earth to verdant mountain terrain. The tales point once again to the rich fabric of the Lotus Sutra, the source for seemingly countless depictions of the life of Buddha and embellishments upon that story. In the later Heian period its popularity among the nobility took many forms, including wall paintings, folding screens, sets of hanging scrolls, and handscrolls, all produced to illustrate its teachings.

Although slightly later in date than the hell scenes, these paintings surely issued from the same studios, thanks also to Kyoto's aristocratic patronage. Nobility had become increasingly sensitive to the precariousness of its status and well-being in light of recent plagues and fractious political events and so turned increasingly toward incorporating edifying religious imagery into its literature and into support of Buddhist-related imagery. The Hekija narratives are but one manifestation of that anxious world, but unique in their preservation to this time.

The preceding entry, written by the Cleveland Museum of Art's Curator of Japanese and Korean Art Michael R. Cunningham and edited for use on this web site, is excerpted from the 268-page color-illustrated catalogue, Buddhist Treasures from Nara, available in hard or softcover at the museum stores.