Ippen　一遍

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Commonly known as Ippen Shounin 一遍上人 or St. Ippen (1234-89). The founder of the Ji 時 sect. From Iyo 伊予 province (modern Ehime prefecture) in Shikoku 四国, his original name was Chishin 智真. Ippen first studied Tendai 天台 Buddhism on Mt. Hiei 比叡 in Shiga prefecture, and then Pure land Joudo 浄土 Buddhism at Dazaifu 太宰府 in Kyuushuu 九州. During a pilgrimmage to Kumano 熊野, the deity revealed to Ippen that enlightenment was determined by *Amida 阿弥陀 and that Ippen should devote himself to preaching the importance of reciting the name of Amida, nenbutsu 念仏. Ippen and a band of followers travelled throughout the country proselytizing with their ecstatic nenbutsu dance, nenbutsu-odori 念仏踊り, and won a wide following among common people. Ippen's insistence on constant travelling and giving up of family and possessions led to his nicknames: Yugyou Shounin 遊行上人 (Traveling Saint) and Sutehijiri 捨聖 (Holy Man of Renunciation). After his death, Ippen's portrait was made in paintings (Shoujoukouji 清浄光寺, Kanagawa prefecture); in sculpted images (Chourakuji 長楽寺, Kyoto); and, most notably, in illustrated narrative scrolls *emaki 絵巻. The Ippen hijiri-e 一遍聖絵 (Painting of St. Ippen) was edited by Ippen's disciple Shoukai 聖戒, and, according to an inscription dated 1299, was painted by the artist En-i 円伊 (Kankikouji 歓喜光寺, Kyoto, and Tokyo National Museum). The twelve handscrolls on silk show Ippen's trip around Japan, and are well-known for their naturalistic depiction of famous places *meisho-e 名所絵, including Mt. Fuji 富士, Kumano, Shitennouji 四天王寺, Zenkouji 善光寺, Enoshima 江ノ島, *Yoshino 吉野, Itsukushima 厳島, and Naruto 鳴門. The treatment of space shows the influence of Chinese Song and Yuan period landscape painting (see *sougenga 宋元画). A second type of biographical handscroll Ippen Shounin Engi-e 一遍上人縁起絵, edited by Ippen's other disciple, Soushun 宗俊, was painted sometime between 1304 and 1307. The original scrolls no longer exist but　were copied in many other versions including those at Shinkouji 真光寺 in Hyougo prefecture (Ten scrolls, dated 1323) and Kindaiji 金台寺 in Nagano prefecture (One scroll). These versions are characterized by the addition of the biography of Ippen's most important disciple Taa 他阿 (1237-1319). In the Shinkouji version, the first four scrolls depict Ippen's life, while the last six concern the life of Taa and the spread of Ji sect teaching. Kinrenji 金蓮寺 in Kyoto has a Muromachi copy (Twenty scrolls) of the now-lost work, dated 1307, which could be (or, at least was very close to) the original of this group.

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Ippen Shouninden Emaki 一遍上人伝絵巻 (巻第七) at Tokyo National Museum

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