Lot Essay
This handscroll is one of the earliest surviving illustrations of the Taiheki (Chronicle of Great Peace), a famous medieval battle chronicle. The set to which this scroll belongs is thought to have comprised twelve volumes, or scrolls. Only four other scrolls from this rare and valuable set are known to be extant -- two in the Saitama Prefectural Museum and two in the Spencer Collection in the New York Public Library. The scroll offered here is Volume 2, or Chapter 4 to the middle of Chapter 7 of the Taiheiki. (Volumes 1 and 3 are in the Saitama and Spencer collections, respectively). There are also four ink-monochrome copies of scrolls from this set, probably dating from the late Edo period. Two are in the Tokyo National Museum and two in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (See Miyeko Murase, "The Taiheiki Emaki: The Use of the Past," Artibus Asiae, vol. 53 [1993], pp. 262-89; Miya Tsugio and Sato Kazuhiko, eds. Taiheiki Emaki [Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1992]).
The Taiheiki is a monumental forty-volume war tale completed sometime around 1372 and compiled by several people. It is the single most important historical record of the 14th century, covering the turbulent, violent half-century from roughly 1318 to 1368; the events illustrated in the scroll offered here occurred in 1332. According to historian Paul Varley, the Taiheki is more than simply a battle epic; it has become a kind of sourcebook for modern imperial loyalism. (See Paul Varley, "Taiheiki: Chronicle of Great Peace", Ch. 5 in Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994). During this period there was a schism between a northern and southern court. The military government had already stripped the imperial family of all real political power, but Emperor GoDaigo (1288-1339) made a vain attempt to restore the throne to power. He and his loyalist supporters were soon driven south of Kyoto to the mountains of Yoshino, where they ruled in opposition to the branch of the imperial family enthroned in the capital as a puppet regime by the warlord Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), chieftain of the mightly Minamoto clan. The Ashikaga dominated the northern court (in Kyoto), the line from which all subsequent emperors have descended. The Taiheiki abounds with stories of incredible villainy, treachery and heroism as two rival factions vied for power.
The scroll shown here has been housed in a private collection in France for over a century, stored in a lacquer box, its whereabouts virtually unknown until now. It has over thirty richly detailed scenes interspersed with text and is by far the longest of the five surviving scrolls. The text is written above or around the painted scenes, which is rather unusual. The text is actually quite minimal, containing nothing more than the bare bones of names, dates, places, and a few words of description. The illustrations themselves, on the other hand, tend to be much more vivid and entertaining than the rather cursory description in the text of the book itself. This, of course, is the genius of the Japanese narrative painter. The lavish use of gold and silver pigments and the large size of the original set suggests that this work was specially commissioned by a wealthy patron. The names of the artist, calligrapher and patron are not known as yet.
The first illustration shown here (top right; Chapter 4) shows the grief of the Inner Princess when she learns that GoDaigo will be sent into exile. At the far right an ox-drawn cart has pulled up to the veranda of the place in the Rokuhara section of Kyoto where the former emperor is staying. The Inner Princess has come from the palace to bid him a sad farewell; she and the emperor are shown seated together. The scene unfolds to the left as GoDaigo is carried off into exile in a palanquin with mounted warriors in attendance. Townspeople, astonished by this sight, line the road.
The illustration at the center (Chapter 5) shows two of the strange events that occurred after a new emperor was installed in Kyoto, initiating the era of northern and southern courts. The first scene is the extinction of the perpetual lamp in the image chamber of the Central Hall at the Mountain Gate. Two turtledoves flew into the image chamber, beat their wings in the oil cup of the perpetual lamp, and put out the flame. From a heavy beam a weasel came running out, bit them to death, and disappeared. To the left is the scene in which the drunken old Sagami lay monk in Kamakura amuses himself with field music, dancing all night long. A lady in waiting spying on him through a crack in the sliding door can see that the dancers are in reality goblins.
The illustration at the bottom (Chapter 7) shows scenes from two battles between warriors of the northern and southern factions. At the far right is the finale of the Battle of Yoshino Castle: the warrior Hyoe Kurando Yoshitaka escapes down a mountain path, taking with him the young Prince of the Great Pagoda, GoDaigo's second son. Then follows the dramatic Battle of Chihaya Castle, which is defended by GoDaigo's valiant supporter, the famous warrior Kusunoki Masashige. First the defenders throw down huge rocks from the tower tops to smash the enemy's shields to pieces. The next day they hang out the banner and curtain with the three-umbrella crest which they have stolen from their opponent, Nagoya of Echizen. (Nagoya's mounted warriors look up in helpless anger, unable to climb the steep sides of the ditch protecting the castle.) The defenders then let fall ten great trees, which killed hundreds of men below.
The illustration on the overleaf, an earlier scene from Chapter 7, shows the loyal warrior Murakami Yoshiteru on the ramparts of Yoshino Castle cutting open his belly with a dagger. He has disguised himself in the armor of his master, the Prince of the Great Pagoda, to deceive the enemy gathered below and to allow his master time to flee. Stripping away his armor he cast it down from the tower, pierced his fair white skin with a dagger and cut in a straight line from left to right.
The Taiheiki is a monumental forty-volume war tale completed sometime around 1372 and compiled by several people. It is the single most important historical record of the 14th century, covering the turbulent, violent half-century from roughly 1318 to 1368; the events illustrated in the scroll offered here occurred in 1332. According to historian Paul Varley, the Taiheki is more than simply a battle epic; it has become a kind of sourcebook for modern imperial loyalism. (See Paul Varley, "Taiheiki: Chronicle of Great Peace", Ch. 5 in Warriors of Japan as Portrayed in the War Tales, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994). During this period there was a schism between a northern and southern court. The military government had already stripped the imperial family of all real political power, but Emperor GoDaigo (1288-1339) made a vain attempt to restore the throne to power. He and his loyalist supporters were soon driven south of Kyoto to the mountains of Yoshino, where they ruled in opposition to the branch of the imperial family enthroned in the capital as a puppet regime by the warlord Ashikaga Takauji (1305-1358), chieftain of the mightly Minamoto clan. The Ashikaga dominated the northern court (in Kyoto), the line from which all subsequent emperors have descended. The Taiheiki abounds with stories of incredible villainy, treachery and heroism as two rival factions vied for power.
The scroll shown here has been housed in a private collection in France for over a century, stored in a lacquer box, its whereabouts virtually unknown until now. It has over thirty richly detailed scenes interspersed with text and is by far the longest of the five surviving scrolls. The text is written above or around the painted scenes, which is rather unusual. The text is actually quite minimal, containing nothing more than the bare bones of names, dates, places, and a few words of description. The illustrations themselves, on the other hand, tend to be much more vivid and entertaining than the rather cursory description in the text of the book itself. This, of course, is the genius of the Japanese narrative painter. The lavish use of gold and silver pigments and the large size of the original set suggests that this work was specially commissioned by a wealthy patron. The names of the artist, calligrapher and patron are not known as yet.
The first illustration shown here (top right; Chapter 4) shows the grief of the Inner Princess when she learns that GoDaigo will be sent into exile. At the far right an ox-drawn cart has pulled up to the veranda of the place in the Rokuhara section of Kyoto where the former emperor is staying. The Inner Princess has come from the palace to bid him a sad farewell; she and the emperor are shown seated together. The scene unfolds to the left as GoDaigo is carried off into exile in a palanquin with mounted warriors in attendance. Townspeople, astonished by this sight, line the road.
The illustration at the center (Chapter 5) shows two of the strange events that occurred after a new emperor was installed in Kyoto, initiating the era of northern and southern courts. The first scene is the extinction of the perpetual lamp in the image chamber of the Central Hall at the Mountain Gate. Two turtledoves flew into the image chamber, beat their wings in the oil cup of the perpetual lamp, and put out the flame. From a heavy beam a weasel came running out, bit them to death, and disappeared. To the left is the scene in which the drunken old Sagami lay monk in Kamakura amuses himself with field music, dancing all night long. A lady in waiting spying on him through a crack in the sliding door can see that the dancers are in reality goblins.
The illustration at the bottom (Chapter 7) shows scenes from two battles between warriors of the northern and southern factions. At the far right is the finale of the Battle of Yoshino Castle: the warrior Hyoe Kurando Yoshitaka escapes down a mountain path, taking with him the young Prince of the Great Pagoda, GoDaigo's second son. Then follows the dramatic Battle of Chihaya Castle, which is defended by GoDaigo's valiant supporter, the famous warrior Kusunoki Masashige. First the defenders throw down huge rocks from the tower tops to smash the enemy's shields to pieces. The next day they hang out the banner and curtain with the three-umbrella crest which they have stolen from their opponent, Nagoya of Echizen. (Nagoya's mounted warriors look up in helpless anger, unable to climb the steep sides of the ditch protecting the castle.) The defenders then let fall ten great trees, which killed hundreds of men below.
The illustration on the overleaf, an earlier scene from Chapter 7, shows the loyal warrior Murakami Yoshiteru on the ramparts of Yoshino Castle cutting open his belly with a dagger. He has disguised himself in the armor of his master, the Prince of the Great Pagoda, to deceive the enemy gathered below and to allow his master time to flee. Stripping away his armor he cast it down from the tower, pierced his fair white skin with a dagger and cut in a straight line from left to right.