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拍品專文
The Tale of Bunsho is one of a group of twenty-three otogi zoshi, short stories written during the Muromachi period and published in printed form with illustrations in the seventeenth century. Many, including the present example, were illustrated by anonymous painters and are known as Nara-e or Nara pictures. Produced in Kyoto from roughly the fifteenth through the mid-eighteenth centuries, they were commissioned for special occasions and often given as dowry and New Years' gifts. Pigments are typically high-quality expensive products and the paper is embellished with cloud patterns in gold foil. The present example is painted in the indigenous yamato-e technique of narrative painting built up with conventional bright colors preferred by the clientele of Kyoto. The text paper is decorated with drawings of clouds and grasses in gold pigment.
Most of the extant illustrated manuscripts of the Tale of Bunsho date from the early Edo period. There are four versions, in both handscroll and book form, in the Spencer Collection (see Miyeko Murase, Tales of Japan: Scrolls and Prints from the New York Public Library [Oxford University Press, 1986], no. 24). The tale was the ultimate success story of a man named Bunsho, who, thanks to his sincere veneration of the local Shinto deity, rose from being an impoverished menial laborer to a wealthy Minister of State. He owed his good fortune to the deity of Kashima Shrine, whose magical powers brought prosperity to the salt-making industry along the coast in the province of Hitachi (present-day Ibaragi prefecture).
The opening scene of Volume I shows the lowly servant Bunda (later known as Bunsho) kneeling in front of the mansion of the Grand Priest of Kashima Shrine. The priest, seated inside, has decided to put Bunda's character to the test. He orders him to leave the shrine and seek a career on his own. The next scene is the image for which this tale is best known: along the coast, where salt was manufactured, Bunsho offered his service to the household of a saltmaker and was put to work fetching firewood for the salt kilns. The saltmaker rewarded Bunda with kilns of his own, which were so productive that Bunda became fabulously rich, and adopted the grander name of Bunsho. We see Bunsho and his wife, who are childless, praying for offspring at Kashima Shrine. Soon he has two daughters of radiant beauty, and they are courted by the daimyo of the eight provinces.
In the second volume we are introduced to the handsome son of the Prime Minister, a young Captain in the capital who has fallen in love with the two girls just by hearing about them. Disguised as merchants with shoulder packs carrying wares to peddle, he and three companions leave for the provinces. On the way they meet an old soothsayer who predicts the Captain will meet the woman he loves. The old man is rewarded with a gift of a silk robe, as shown in the charming illustration of this scene. The young Captain and his companions are formally greeted by Bunsho at his home. The young Captain delivers boxes filled with many splendid textiles to the elder sister. When they are served food, however, the Captain eats from a tray, while his companions humbly place their dishes directly on the floor. Not realizing the difference in status amongst the four travelers, the people of Bunsho's household are amazed at what to them is a comical sight.
The third volume opens with a concert given by the Captain and his men. A gust of wind lifts the bamboo blind behind which the sisters are concealed so that the Captain and the elder daughter are able to catch sight of each other. The persistent Captain manages to creep into the quarters of the elder daughter and the lovers spend the night together. When the Grand Priest of Kashima Shrine arrives to hear the supposed merchants perform a concert, the Captain realizes he can no longer sustain his disguise, and now appears seated at his koto in full court dress. Subsequently the Captain escorts his bride back to the capital in a grand procession. He calls on the emperor, who is smitten by the Captain's description of the younger daughter. Bunsho is summoned to the capital with his daughter, who is made an imperial consort. Bunsho himself is appointed to high court office. All in all, a didactic tale with a happy ending.
Most of the extant illustrated manuscripts of the Tale of Bunsho date from the early Edo period. There are four versions, in both handscroll and book form, in the Spencer Collection (see Miyeko Murase, Tales of Japan: Scrolls and Prints from the New York Public Library [Oxford University Press, 1986], no. 24). The tale was the ultimate success story of a man named Bunsho, who, thanks to his sincere veneration of the local Shinto deity, rose from being an impoverished menial laborer to a wealthy Minister of State. He owed his good fortune to the deity of Kashima Shrine, whose magical powers brought prosperity to the salt-making industry along the coast in the province of Hitachi (present-day Ibaragi prefecture).
The opening scene of Volume I shows the lowly servant Bunda (later known as Bunsho) kneeling in front of the mansion of the Grand Priest of Kashima Shrine. The priest, seated inside, has decided to put Bunda's character to the test. He orders him to leave the shrine and seek a career on his own. The next scene is the image for which this tale is best known: along the coast, where salt was manufactured, Bunsho offered his service to the household of a saltmaker and was put to work fetching firewood for the salt kilns. The saltmaker rewarded Bunda with kilns of his own, which were so productive that Bunda became fabulously rich, and adopted the grander name of Bunsho. We see Bunsho and his wife, who are childless, praying for offspring at Kashima Shrine. Soon he has two daughters of radiant beauty, and they are courted by the daimyo of the eight provinces.
In the second volume we are introduced to the handsome son of the Prime Minister, a young Captain in the capital who has fallen in love with the two girls just by hearing about them. Disguised as merchants with shoulder packs carrying wares to peddle, he and three companions leave for the provinces. On the way they meet an old soothsayer who predicts the Captain will meet the woman he loves. The old man is rewarded with a gift of a silk robe, as shown in the charming illustration of this scene. The young Captain and his companions are formally greeted by Bunsho at his home. The young Captain delivers boxes filled with many splendid textiles to the elder sister. When they are served food, however, the Captain eats from a tray, while his companions humbly place their dishes directly on the floor. Not realizing the difference in status amongst the four travelers, the people of Bunsho's household are amazed at what to them is a comical sight.
The third volume opens with a concert given by the Captain and his men. A gust of wind lifts the bamboo blind behind which the sisters are concealed so that the Captain and the elder daughter are able to catch sight of each other. The persistent Captain manages to creep into the quarters of the elder daughter and the lovers spend the night together. When the Grand Priest of Kashima Shrine arrives to hear the supposed merchants perform a concert, the Captain realizes he can no longer sustain his disguise, and now appears seated at his koto in full court dress. Subsequently the Captain escorts his bride back to the capital in a grand procession. He calls on the emperor, who is smitten by the Captain's description of the younger daughter. Bunsho is summoned to the capital with his daughter, who is made an imperial consort. Bunsho himself is appointed to high court office. All in all, a didactic tale with a happy ending.