#sumiyoshi gukei

[crazyfox-archives]

The sacred grounds of Kan’eiji Temple (寛永寺) in present-day Tokyo as seen in “The Illustrated Legends of Jigen Daishi” (慈眼大師縁起絵巻 “Jigen Daishi Engi Emaki”) of 1680, a handscroll narrating the biography of the Tendai monk Tenkai (天海) (1536-1643) by his disciple Inkai (胤海) and the artist Sumiyoshi Gukei (住吉具慶)

From the temple’s collection; image from the webpage for a special exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in late 2021

[fujiwara57]

emaki 絵巻 -   “ Activities of the Twelve Months” part 1 - encre, couleur et or sur papier - Dimensions (image) :  33 x 92 cm - attribué à

Sumiyoshi Gukei 住吉具慶 (1631 - 1705).

[fujiwara57]

emaki 絵巻 -   “ Activities of the Twelve Months” part 2 - encre, couleur et or sur papier - Dimensions (image) :  33 x 92 cm - attribué à

Sumiyoshi Gukei 住吉具慶 (1631 - 1705).

[artemisdreaming]

This is not the moon, Nor is this the spring, Of other springs, And I alone Am still the same. 

Ariwara no Narihira, 825-880 

trans: Rexroth, 1956 

Introduction for the poem from Steven D. Carter, Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology    

“Once, quite without premeditation, Narihira began to make love to a lady who lived in the western wing of a palace belonging to the Gojo Empress. Shortly after the tenth of the First Month, the lady moved away with no word to him. He learned where she had gone, but it was impossible to communicate with her. In the spring of the following year, when the plum blossoms were at their finest, memories of the preceding year drew him back to the western wing on a beautiful moonlit night. He lay on the floor of the bare room until the moon sank low in the sky.” (trans:  Steven J. Carter)

Image:  Ariwara no Narihira by Sumiyoshi Gukei, Late 17th-early 18th century, Freer Gallery (via: smithsonianmag.com) 

[artemisdreaming]

Ariwara no Narihira Late 17th-early 18th century Sumiyoshi Gukei, (Japanese, 1631-1705) Edo period Japan Ink and color on silk, ivory jiku. H: 0.0 W: 52.0 cm Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Willard Clark Freer Gallery of Art F1997.9

  Is not the moon the same? The spring The spring of old? Only this body of mine Is the same body. . . .

Image and description via The Freer Gallery: "The poem written in the elegant style of Japanese imperial court calligraphers expresses the sentiments of the courtier who gazes longingly from the veranda. This painting illustrates section four of Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari), in which an unnamed courtier traditionally identified with the poet and romantic hero Ariwara no Narihira (825–880) returns to the site of a love affair that had ended abruptly the previous year when the lady had moved away without a word. Transience and melancholy are eloquently expressed through the setting: a chilly night just at the transition from winter to spring, when the plum trees are in bloom. Sumiyoshi Gukei belonged to a family of painters who had served the imperial court. His father, Sumiyoshi Hiromichi (Jokei), whose handscroll painting, The Tale of the Uji Bridge Lady, had moved from the imperial capital of Kyoto to Edo to serve the Tokugawa shoguns.  Translation from Helen Craig McCullough, Tales of Ise (Stanford University Press, 1968)  via: Freer Gallery

.

Queue Tuesday am