Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the Buddhist Clergy

釈教三十六歌仙絵巻断簡

late 1300s–1400s

Japan, Muromachi period

(1392–1573)

Medium

Fragment of a handscroll remounted as a hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper

Measurements

Painting: 29.1 x 44.5 cm (11 7/16 x 17 1/2 in.); Mounted: 113.2 x 56.6 cm (44 9/16 x 22 5/16 in.); with knobs: 113.2 x 61.2 cm (44 9/16 x 24 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1985.88

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The monk Myōe kept a diary of his dreams that survives in fragments today.

Description

Handscrolls depicting eminent poets and their poems is a classic Japanese painting genre. This fragment is the end of a scroll, the beginning of which survives in the Tokyo National Museum. It has a preface stating it is based on a selection of 36 monks paired with their waka (31-syllable poems) made by Eikai (1278–1347) from Kashūji temple in the year of his death. These two portraits are of Jōkei (1155–1212) and Myōe (1173–1232), to the right and left, respectively.