Historical Research on the Zen Monk Painter Sesshu Toyo: Mainly on the Literal Data Concerned Literal Data Concerned

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03055
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Hashimoto Yu 北海道大学, 文学研究院, 教授 (50416559)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 雪舟等楊 / 五山文学 / 禅宗史 / 対外関係史 / 和・漢・梵 / 破墨山水 / 王維 / 遣明船

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The task of this study is to capture the reality of the most famous Zen monk painter, Sesshu. Since the modern era, Sesshu has been considered sacred, but art historians have begun a full-scale review of his work since the end of the 20th century. However, as long as the framework of art history was adhered to, there was a limit to what could be done. Therefore, I approached Sesshu's movements from the perspective of the history of foreign relations, the history of Zen Buddhism, and Zen studies. As a result of my research, I found out that Sesshu did not study under any Ming court painter, and that his job at the time of his travel in Ming China was to select goods for trade, that he positioned himself as the successor of Wang Wei, a master of broken ink and landscape painting. In addition, other related parties (Shosetsuken Zenko, Tenryuji Shohon, medical priest Baifu Ryoshin, etc.) involved in the Onin-era envoy ship in which Sesshu participated were examined in detail.

Free Research Field

中世日本国際交流史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

雪舟は、小学校でも習うほど有名な存在だが、彼の行状については分かっていないことの方が多い。明治以来、雪舟は海外留学による成功者として祭り上げられてきた。いわば、明治新政府の国策に沿った存在と位置づけられ、そのヴェクトルで雪舟関連史料が読まれてきたといえるだろう。
しかし、近年いちじるしく進展した対外関係史（とくに日明関係史）や禅宗史、ようやく本格的検討の始まった禅学の成果に照らせば、史料の誤読や誤解が少なくなかったことが判明する。本研究の成果は、美術史学に文献史学などを架橋する役割を果たすとともに、著名な雪舟の姿を実証的に解明する点にある。学界のみならず、教育界にも広く貢献するだろう。