Stand-in Fugen

Stand-in Fugen

Kitao Masayoshi, late 1700s–early 1800s

Download1703 × 3400 px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Kitao Masayoshi (Japanese, 1761–1824)
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Size: Painting only: 114.3 x 56.2 cm (45 x 22 1/8 in.); Including mounting: 186.7 x 76.2 cm (73 1/2 x 30 in.)
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Here, a woman dressed as a man replaces Fugen, a bodhisattva—a being among those considered enlightened in Buddhism—who symbolizes learning as a path to awakening and typically rides an elephant. The painting teaches the lesson of impermanence through the petals falling from the lotus flower the woman holds. It also alludes to the legend of Eguchi, a 12th-century courtesan who, following an encounter with a Buddhist monk-poet called Saigyō, revealed herself to be a manifestation of Fugen.

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