Artist unknown
Japanese
Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi)
INV-1114
Artist unknown
Japanese15th century
Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi)
Artist unknown Japanese
Japanese (culture or style)pen and ink drawingsdrawings (visual works)
Date
15th century
Medium
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions
86.7 × 48.9 cm (34 1/8 × 19 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of the Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation
Kukai (774–835) was an influential religious leader responsible for introducing Shingon Buddhism, a form of Esoteric Buddhism, to Japan in the ninth century. After his death, Kûkai received the name Kôbô Daishi (Great Teacher of the Divine Law) and was revered as a saint.
The inscription at the top of this painting is a quotation from the Goyuigo, a set of instructions believed to have been prepared by Kukai for his disciples. In the passage, Kukai describes a dream he had as a child in which he was carried aloft on an eight-petaled lotus flower to a heavenly realm where he conversed with various Buddhas. The practice of depicting religious leaders as children during miraculous moments in their lives would have been keenly reassuring to Buddhist devotees.
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