伊藤若冲は錦市場の青物商の息子だったが、40歳ころに弟に家督を譲って早期退職、好きなときに好きなものを描くアマチュア画家となったそう。結婚もせず、遊びもせず、ただひたすらに絵を描く生活。（ただ、錦市場のいざこざがあったときは解決すべく奔走したという話もある。）そして相国寺の高僧、梅荘顕常（ばいしょうけんじょう）と人生を変える出会いをする。というのも、梅荘顕常は若冲の才能を見抜き、金閣寺の50枚に渡る襖絵の作成を依頼したから。また相国寺に出入りしていたことで、鎖国中の日本ではあまり見ることのできなかった所蔵の中国の絵画などを見ることができて、絵の手本とすることができたため。
仏教に深く帰依していた若冲。居士（こじ、在野にいる修行僧のこと）と名乗っていた。仏教の教えのひとつに、「山川草木 悉皆成仏」とあり、山河や植物など、心を持たないものも、仏性があるので、仏になりうる。という意味だそう。まさに、自然の万物を見つめて、微に入り細を穿って描いた若冲にぴったり。
全３０幅に渡る「動植彩絵」は、原本が宮内庁に寄進されており（明治時代）、複製が展示してあった。本物ではなくて残念だけれど、これを寄贈したことで宮内庁から礼金がもらえて、そのお金で相国寺は、かつて境内であった土地を買い戻すことができ、巨大な面積を誇る大寺院になる。敷地内に法堂、方丈、その他いろいろな小さな寺がある。法堂には天井に大きな龍が！また龍を見れてラッキー。手を叩くと、その音が反射して返ってくる場所があり、そのため鳴き龍とも呼ばれる。龍はまさに天に登らんとすという感じで、力強い絵でした。
金閣寺の襖絵・障壁画は、本物が展示してあった。芭蕉が夜風に揺れる様を描いた大きな「月夜芭蕉図」、素晴らしかった。面白かったのは、植物がその時代どうとらえられていたか。芭蕉は、風にあおられる様子が哀愁を誘うので、一般家庭の庭には植えられず、寺院のみだった。「庭忌草」と呼ばれていた。一方で、もっとも格式の高い一ノ間の襖絵には葡萄が描かれている。葡萄は旺盛な繁殖力と蔓を伸ばす力、加えて実が多く房なりになるので、多産、豊穣の象徴として好まれたそう。植物によって、いろんな解釈の仕方がある…。芭蕉だって、生命力は強いし葉も丈も大きくなるので、十分豊穣の象徴と言えそうだけどな。
月曜日なのに人が多かったなー団体さんとか。さすが、若冲人気と、辰年１月、というべきか…。京都の四季、ほんとに面白い！！
Jakuchu Ito was the son of a greengrocer in Nishiki Market and succeeded his father's business, but when he was around 40 years old, he gave it to his younger brother and retired early to become an amateur painter, painting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He never married, never indulged in other leisure activities, but simply painted. (But it is also said that when there was a dispute in Nishiki Market, he worked hard to resolve it.) Then, he had a life-changing encounter with Baishou Kenjo, a high priest of Shokokuji Temple. He was the one who saw Jakuchu's talent and commissioned him to create 50 sliding door paintings for the Kinkakuji (golden) temple. Also, because he had been frequently visiting Shokokuji Temple, he was able to see Chinese paintings in the temple's collection, which were rarely seen in Japan during the period of national isolation, and used them as models for his paintings.
Jakuchu was deeply devoted to Buddhism. He called himself a koji (a monk in the ordinary/secular world). One of the Buddhist teachings says "Mountains, rivers, plants, and trees could all become Buddhas", which means that even things that do not have a heart, such as mountains, rivers, and plants, have a Buddha-like nature and have a potential to become Buddhas. This is exactly what Jakuchu, a painter who looked at all things in nature and painted with a meticulous attention to detail, would have wanted.
The original of the 30 paintings of the "animals and plants in vivid colors" series were donated to the Imperial Household Agency in the Meiji period (1868-1912). So, a reproduction of them were on display. It is a pity that it is not the original, but the donation of these paintings earned the temple a reward from the Imperial Household Agency, which enabled Shokokuji to buy back the land that used to be within its precincts, and then it became a large temple once again with a huge area. Within the premises are the lecture hall, Hojo with a garden, and various other smaller temples. The lecture hall has a large dragon on the ceiling! I was lucky to see the dragon second time this January. There is a certain spot inside where you clap your hands, and the sound is reflected back to you; thus it is also called a "cry dragon. The dragon was a gigantic powerful picture, as if it was trying to climb up to the sky.
The sliding door and wall paintings of Kinkakuji Temple were on display, the real thing. The large "Moonlit Basho" depicting a Basho (banana tree) swaying in the night wind was wonderful. However, the basho was rarely planted in private gardens but only in temples, because its wind-swept appearance was thought to be melancholy. In fact, it was called "garden abhorrence". On the other hand, grapes are depicted on the sliding doors of the most prestigious room, the Ichinoma. Grapes were favored as a symbol of fertility and abundance because of their vigorous reproductive capacity and ability to spread on the vine, as well as their abundant fruit that forms clusters. There could be many ways of interpreting plants though.... Basho could also be a symbol of fertility because of its strong vigor and large leaves and height. But anyway.
There were a lot of people there - groups and so on even though it was a Monday! As one would expect from Jakuchu's popularity and the January of the Year of Dragon.... Kyoto's four seasons never cease to fascinate me!
方丈のお庭。
