Chigo Daishi　稚児大師

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

The Buddhist acolyte form of the name *Kuukai 空海 (774-835; see *Koubou Daishi 弘法大師), the founder of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教. Chigo 稚児 refers to a young boy or Buddhist novice, and Daishi (Great Master) refers to Kuukai's posthumous name Koubou Daishi. Paintings of Kuukai as an acolyte typically show the young boy within a circle, kneeling in prayer on a lotus pedestal. He is dressed in court garb, a split-skirt hakama 袴 and *kosode 小袖 robe. His hair is long and parted in the center, and his girl-like face is marked by full lips. The image is thought to derive from Kuukai's account of a recurring dream during his childhood, recounted in his GOYUIGOU 御遺告, Kuukai's memories as recounted by a disciple, and in later narratives concerning his childhood in KONJAKU MONOGATARI 今昔物語 (late 11c). The earliest extant paintings date from the 13c (Kousetsu 香雪 Museum, Hyougo prefecture and Daigoji 醍醐寺, Kyoto), and the many later paintings of the subject follow the style of one of these two works. Because Kuukai was viewed as the first practitioner of homosexual behaviour in Japan and chigo often were idolized as homosexual lovers, the Chigo Daishi theme may carry homosexual implications .

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