Das Shigisan Engi Emaki. Ein japanisches Rollbild aus dem 12. Jahrhundert by GiselaArmbrusterReview by: Ludwig BachhoferJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 81, No. 4 (Sep. - Dec., 1961), p. 458Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/595710 .

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Joq4rnal of the American OrtentaZ Society} 81.4(1961) Joq4rnal of the American OrtentaZ Society} 81.4(1961) 458 458

vations, the specialist (for whom the work is dispensable (and handsome) addition to the specifically not intended) will certainly find much specialist's library. that is new and stimulating in this admirable and CHARLES D. SHELDON absorbing treatment of Japanese IIistory, and in- CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

vations, the specialist (for whom the work is dispensable (and handsome) addition to the specifically not intended) will certainly find much specialist's library. that is new and stimulating in this admirable and CHARLES D. SHELDON absorbing treatment of Japanese IIistory, and in- CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

copied it faithfully, adding lantern and figures later. This, of course, lessens the value of this scene as chronological evidence considerably. There remains only the stylistic evidence, and all that can be safely said is that the scrolls must be earlier than the Ban Dainagon scrolls. These scrolls-by the way vastly superior in quality to the Shigisan Engi-are unsigned and undated, ascribed to Mitsunaga (his only recorded date: 1173) and were certainly painted during the last third of the twelfth century.

Miss Armbruster, like everybody else, dismisses the tradition which names Toba Sojo (1053-1140) as the author of the Shigisan Engi, the main reason being that Toba Sojo lived too early- But I am not sure that this argument holds. There are the copies of the Nenjugyoji emaki, 19 scrolls done in 1626 by Sumiyoshi Jokei (1599-1670) after originals of the years 1156-1159. Even with the most generous allowance for the inearitable changes made by Jokei, tenor and style place this work much closer to the Ban Dainagon than the Shigisan scrolls. Which means that the Shigisan Engi is certainly older than the fifties of the twelfth century, and Toba Sojo should not have been so easily discounted.

I£ not, then only as the painter of the first scroll, the one with the miracle of the alms bowl that made the barn and the rice bales fly through the air. There is such a striking difference in quality between this and the other two paintings that one has to assume either a lamentable de- crease in the craft of drawing, or, much more likely, another artist.

What one learns from this book is that Miss Armbruster is a promising scholar who has been put through her academic paces, and rather rigor- ously at that. What she needs is the opportunity to inspect as many originals of Yamato-e as possi- ble and the chance to write about her researches. One looks forward to seeing them published, and hopes that she will then be better served than with this paper-bound whose print and illustra- tions do not come up to an even modest standard.

LUDWIS BACHHOFER CARMED, CALIFORNIA

copied it faithfully, adding lantern and figures later. This, of course, lessens the value of this scene as chronological evidence considerably. There remains only the stylistic evidence, and all that can be safely said is that the scrolls must be earlier than the Ban Dainagon scrolls. These scrolls-by the way vastly superior in quality to the Shigisan Engi-are unsigned and undated, ascribed to Mitsunaga (his only recorded date: 1173) and were certainly painted during the last third of the twelfth century.

Miss Armbruster, like everybody else, dismisses the tradition which names Toba Sojo (1053-1140) as the author of the Shigisan Engi, the main reason being that Toba Sojo lived too early- But I am not sure that this argument holds. There are the copies of the Nenjugyoji emaki, 19 scrolls done in 1626 by Sumiyoshi Jokei (1599-1670) after originals of the years 1156-1159. Even with the most generous allowance for the inearitable changes made by Jokei, tenor and style place this work much closer to the Ban Dainagon than the Shigisan scrolls. Which means that the Shigisan Engi is certainly older than the fifties of the twelfth century, and Toba Sojo should not have been so easily discounted.

I£ not, then only as the painter of the first scroll, the one with the miracle of the alms bowl that made the barn and the rice bales fly through the air. There is such a striking difference in quality between this and the other two paintings that one has to assume either a lamentable de- crease in the craft of drawing, or, much more likely, another artist.

What one learns from this book is that Miss Armbruster is a promising scholar who has been put through her academic paces, and rather rigor- ously at that. What she needs is the opportunity to inspect as many originals of Yamato-e as possi- ble and the chance to write about her researches. One looks forward to seeing them published, and hopes that she will then be better served than with this paper-bound whose print and illustra- tions do not come up to an even modest standard.

LUDWIS BACHHOFER CARMED, CALIFORNIA

Das Shigtsan Engi Emaki. Ein japanisches Boll- bild aus demJ 12. Jahrhundert. By GISELA ARMBRUSTER. PP. 324; 75 pages of illustra- tions. Gesellschaft fur Natur- und Volker- kunde Ostasiens, e. V., Hamburg; Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Natur- und Velkerkunde Ostasiens, e. V., Tokyo, IIsmburg: EOMMIS- SIONS\TERLAG OTTO HARESSOWITZ, 1959.

The Shigisan Engi is a set of three picture- scrolls, illustrating in continuing manner three miraculous incidents in the life of Myoren (Srst half of the tenth century), a Buddhist recluse living on Mt. Shigi in central Japan. They are owned by the Chogosonshi-ji, a temple on that mountain.

Miss Armbruster's monograph is based on the complete reproduction in heliotype of the three scrolls, published in 1921 by the Society of :Friends of the Yamato-e, Tokyo; it is a comprehensive study and discussion of what has been written about the scrolls in a Western and the Japanese language, and a detailed description of content and style. For a fair appraisal it must be under- stood that it is a doctor's thesis; this accoalnts for its excessive length, its repetitiousness, lack of proportion and pedantic treatment of anything that could possibly be connected with the scrolls; and since Japanese scholars haare discussed prac- tically every question raised by these paintings, no discoveries were expected, and none were made.

XIiss Armbruster dates the scrolls " into the years around 1170," " not much later than the Itsukushima sutra pictures,>' which were done between 1164 and 1167. A date before 1180 was generally given to the set because the third scroll depicts the Great Buddha Hall of the Todai-ji and its statue as they looked before their destruction in that year. Considering its importance, it seems that too little attention has been paid to this section: the pure frontal view, above all the stairs with converging orthogonals, the absence of ground upon which the building rests make it pretty certain that the painter had before him a drawing of the hall done in the manner developed by the Chinese in the T'ang dynasty for the representation of religious buildings; and that he

Das Shigtsan Engi Emaki. Ein japanisches Boll- bild aus demJ 12. Jahrhundert. By GISELA ARMBRUSTER. PP. 324; 75 pages of illustra- tions. Gesellschaft fur Natur- und Volker- kunde Ostasiens, e. V., Hamburg; Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Natur- und Velkerkunde Ostasiens, e. V., Tokyo, IIsmburg: EOMMIS- SIONS\TERLAG OTTO HARESSOWITZ, 1959.

The Shigisan Engi is a set of three picture- scrolls, illustrating in continuing manner three miraculous incidents in the life of Myoren (Srst half of the tenth century), a Buddhist recluse living on Mt. Shigi in central Japan. They are owned by the Chogosonshi-ji, a temple on that mountain.

Miss Armbruster's monograph is based on the complete reproduction in heliotype of the three scrolls, published in 1921 by the Society of :Friends of the Yamato-e, Tokyo; it is a comprehensive study and discussion of what has been written about the scrolls in a Western and the Japanese language, and a detailed description of content and style. For a fair appraisal it must be under- stood that it is a doctor's thesis; this accoalnts for its excessive length, its repetitiousness, lack of proportion and pedantic treatment of anything that could possibly be connected with the scrolls; and since Japanese scholars haare discussed prac- tically every question raised by these paintings, no discoveries were expected, and none were made.

XIiss Armbruster dates the scrolls " into the years around 1170," " not much later than the Itsukushima sutra pictures,>' which were done between 1164 and 1167. A date before 1180 was generally given to the set because the third scroll depicts the Great Buddha Hall of the Todai-ji and its statue as they looked before their destruction in that year. Considering its importance, it seems that too little attention has been paid to this section: the pure frontal view, above all the stairs with converging orthogonals, the absence of ground upon which the building rests make it pretty certain that the painter had before him a drawing of the hall done in the manner developed by the Chinese in the T'ang dynasty for the representation of religious buildings; and that he

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