Constructing the ``Self-image'' of the Early Period Hongwanji through the Illustrated Biography of Priest Kakunyo (Bokie)

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20H01207
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 01060:History of arts-related
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Shinobu 千葉大学, 大学院人文科学研究院, 教授 (90272286)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小沢 朝江 東海大学, 建築都市学部, 教授 (70212587) ; 赤澤 真理 大妻女子大学, 家政学部, 講師 (60509032) ; 大田 壮一郎 立命館大学, 文学部, 教授 (00613978) ; 亀井 若菜 滋賀県立大学, 人間文化学部, 教授 (30276050) ; 村松 加奈子 龍谷大学, 公私立大学の部局等, 准教授 (40707973)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 絵巻 / 宗教史 / 都市史 / 建築史 / 『慕帰絵』

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focuses on Boki-e, a mid-14th century pictorial biography of the monk Kakunyo, the third abbot of Nishi Honganji. Through an analysis of how the people and places in Kakunyo’s life were depicted, the goal was to elucidate why the scrolls were made. First, we did a close comparative analysis of the Boki-e text with Saishu kyojyu ekotoba, a contemporary biography of Kakunyo composed by his disciple. Second, we examined the portrayal in Boki-e of key architectural spaces associated with Kakunyo, such as the settings for the poetry gatherings he hosted, his private retreats, or Otani Mausoleum in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district. We found that the Boki-e scrolls made use of textual and visual images that would have been familiar to Honganji adherents and other Kyoto residents of the day, creating a persuasive reality of sacred space that would foster their acceptance of Kakunyo and his successors as legitimate spiritual leaders in the Kyoto cultural milieu.

Free Research Field

美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、中世絵画の基準作で、建築・生活を詳細に描くことから絵画史料として重用されながらも、史料批判が尽くされていない『慕帰絵』を中心に、各地の真宗門流の求めに応じながら初期本願寺が関与した各種の親鸞伝絵（絵巻）および親鸞絵伝（掛幅）他、各宗派・諸寺院で制作された諸作品との比較を通じて、中世高僧伝絵の表現の特徴と意図の解明を試みた。美術史・建築史・歴史学の研究者の共働を通じて、絵画表現と同時代の都市空間や建築の実態、史実とを照合し、注文主の意図に基づく作為を抽出する分析方法を吟味・追求した本研究は、同時代における絵巻の社会的機能に関する考察に寄与するという点からも汎用性の高い議論を提示した。