The story tells of a monk who went to China to visit the grave of Monju Bosatsu, a disciple of the Buddha. A stone bridge over a deep precipice confronts the monk. As he is about to enter the realm of the deity, a child appears and warns him that only priests who have undergone years of rigorous religious training may cross the bridge. The child then departs, hinting that the priest should wait for something remarkable to happen. With that a lion, the vehicle of Monju Bosatsu, appears and dances amid peonies and butterflies. This scene is also depicted on the netsuke EA2001.38.
Details
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Artist/maker
Matsushima Fusajirō (active mid-19th century) (block cutter)Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861) (designer)Juntoku, Emperor of Japan (ruled 1210 - 1221) (author) -
Associated people
Muramatsu Genroku (active c. 1843 - c. 1852) (censor)Yoshimura Gentarō (active c. 1843 - 1859) (censor)Juntoku, Emperor of Japan (ruled 1210 - 1221) (subject)Ibaya Senzaburō (active c. 1820s - c. 1870s) (publisher) -
Object type
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No. of items
1
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Museum location
Museum department
Eastern Art
Accession no.
EA1971.130
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Glossary of terms
netsuke
Further reading
Seaman, Joyce, Manjū: Netsuke from the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2013), illus. p. 156 fig. 48
Reference URL
