Joudo Goso　浄土五祖

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

The Five Chinese Patriarchs of the Pure Land Joudo 浄土 sect. The sect was organized in Japan by *Hounen 法然 (1133-1212), but it already had a long history in China. The teaching stressed that faith in and reverence for the compassionate Buddha *Amida 阿弥陀, and would ensure rebirth in his Western Paradise or Pure Land. Five Chinese patriarchs are recognized: Tanluan (Jp: Donran 曇鸞, 476-542); Daochuo (Jp: Doushaku 道綽, 562-645); Shandao (Jp: *Zendou 善導, 613-81); Huikan (Jp: Ekan 懐感, ca.7c); and, Shaokang (Jp: Shoukou 少康, d.805). Japanese versions of imaginary portraits of the Five Patriarchs flourished with the spread of Pure Land beliefs throughout all levels of society during the Kamakura period. The earliest extant examples are derived from Chinese models of the Southern Song period. Typically the patriarchs are represented each on one of five hanging scrolls, as in the set at Mandaradera 曼荼羅寺, Aichi prefecture. However, all five figures may be depicted in a single composition at Nison-in 二尊院, Kyoto. The subject was also painted in handscrolls *emaki 絵巻, notably Joudo Goso emaki 浄土五祖絵巻 (1305) in Koumyouji 光明寺, Kanagawa prefecture, which includes sections of text and corresponds to the format of illustrated biographies of famous priests *kousouden-e 高僧伝絵 popular from the 13c. By the late 14c, a portrait of Hounen was nearly always added to that of the Five Patriarchs.

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