Odd writing on scroll painting

[Ed]

I was looking at this scroll today and decided to post some photos of it here. It portrays a beautiful woman (vision, memory ??) emanating from smoke (fog, breath ??) of a skull.

 

The odd part and reason I am posting is that some of the fissure lines on the skull are done in writing, not merely lines drawn, but tiny kanji.

 

I am interested to hear your opinions as to what you may think the painting means.

 

As well curious as to whether or not anyone has seen this type of work before, and most importantly if anyone out there has any idea what it says ??

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Ed,

 

What an unusual image, my first thought was that it may be a pun on the Basho Haiku:

 

夏草や

兵どもが

夢の跡

 

Then the thought of the skull being a victim of the Hag on Adachi Moor came to mind.

 

Or a perspective upon the fleeting nature of Beauty.

 

There is something O.C.D. about the way the script is written which reminds me of similar obsessive compulsive traits found in many artists' work.

 

Bellmer, Van Gogh and to an extent, the work of a 20th Century British "outsider artist" called Scottie Wilson being brief examples.

 

I put the image at maximum magnification and tried to find repeat patterns in the script.

 

I wonder if the script is contemporary with the rest of the painting?

 

After all that Artsy waffle, I haven't a clue what it's about, but it was fun to speculate.....

 

Thanks for posting it Ed

[Ed]

Hi Malcolm,

I have owned the scroll for a number of years and often wondered what it eluded to, and always felt like it was a memory of old bones left to rot on the battlefield. Like you I can only speculate.

 

Whether or not the script was done originally or added is anyone's guess. I had hoped one of our Native Japanese members might shed some light on the meaning of the writings and/or the painting as a whole.

 

At any rate glad you enjoyed it.

[Drago]

Ed, I agree with your interpretation.

 

I think this is the original skull of that ghost (-> no legs) when the woman was still alive and it's "memories" are keeping it alive. Might also be a curse. The text looks contemporary with the painting.

 

But if someone has the tine to translate it, I'd be happy to hear that translation. But it certainly looks Japanese, not Chinese, because I think I see some hiragana here and there.

 

Ah, I always wanted to get a yokai or ghost scroll, but those are so rare and if one pops up on eBay it often is in bad shape. If you know any good sources...

[Baka Gaijin]

Good morning Tobias,

 

Do you know this resource?

 

http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/graphicversio ... zou_e.html

 

It has some extremely interesting imagery such as an army of Obakemono storming a Castle.

 

It's in Japanese, but navigation is really easy once you get the hang of it.

 

Cheers

[Drago]

Thanks, I'll have a look.

[Ed]

Tobias,

I had links to a couple of sites which sell nothing but scrolls in Kyoto and Osaka, but I can't seem to find them. If I do I will send them to you.

 

Doesn't look like we will get anymore info on the scroll.

[Drago]

How about you write Morita-san directly. Perhaps he can find the time or knows someone...

[Ed]

Tobias,

No, those guys get asked to help too often as it is. I am sure most everyone has seen this, if anyone has time or wishes to comment they will.

[Brian]

Most of those guys don't hang out in the Izakaya, so moving this to the translation forum for a few days, see if that is of assistance, and then can move it back.

 

Brian

[k morita]

Hi Ed,

See below LINK,it's the meaning of the writings some of the fissure lines on the skull.

http://jodoshinshubuddhism.wordpress.co ... er-rennyo/

[Brian]

What a beautiful poem. Well done and thanks Morita san.

Hakkotsu no Ofumi (‘White Ashes’) – a letter of Master Rennyo

by Kyōshin

“When I deeply contemplate the transient nature of human life, I realize that, from beginning to end, life is impermanent like an illusion. We have not yet heard of anyone who lived ten thousand years. How fleeting is a lifetime!

 

Who in this world today can maintain a human form for even a hundred years? There is no knowing whether I will die first or others, whether death will occur today or tomorrow. We depart one after another more quickly than the dewdrops on the roots or the tips of the blades of grasses. So it is said. Hence, we may have radiant faces in the morning, but by evening we may turn into white ashes. Once the winds of impermanence have blown, our eyes are instantly closed and our breath stops forever. Then, our radiant face changes its color, and the attractive countenance like peach and plum blossoms is lost. Family and relatives will gather and grieve, but all to no avail? Since there is nothing else that can be done, they carry the deceased out to the fields, and then what is left after the body has been cremated and has turned into the midnight smoke is just white ashes. Words fail to describe the sadness of it all.

 

Thus the ephemeral nature of human existence is such that death comes to young and old alike without discrimination. So we should all quickly take to heart the matter of the greatest importance of the afterlife, entrust ourselves deeply to Amida Buddha, and recite the nembutsu. Humbly and respectfully.” (translated by Hisao Inagaki et al)

[Baka Gaijin]

"What a beautiful poem. Well done and thanks Morita san."

 

I'll second that Brian.

 

Rennyo details:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennyo

 

Cheers

[Ed]

Wow! That is way more than I expected.

As usual Morita Sama amazes me once again, my sincere thanks to you sir.

 

Thanks to you as well Brian for moving the post.

As it wasn't a sword or fittings I didn't want to put it there, a mistake.

 

Surprisingly, my interpretation of the painting was not too far off.

Not necessarily a battlefield, just a field where ashes of the departed are placed.

In this case obviously the ashes and remains of a once vibrant and lovely lady.

 

The writing relating to the scroll is a wonderful example of how transient is life in the millennial of eternity. It emphasizes the importance of preparing for the afterlife now, not waiting. Death can come at any time, unannounced and permanent, a blink of an eye and you mortal body is no more, yet your spirit lives on.

 

Personally, this information adds a great deal to the scroll. Knowing the meaning and not having to speculate is great.

Thank you again Morita Sama.

 

One more small question if you don't mind. Is it possible you can translate the artist name ?

[k morita]

Maybe the artist name is "Hashu"(ha-shu) 波 洲

[Ed]

Again, my thanks to you sir.

[k morita]

Thank you for your kind reply. :D

I was interested in the starting point of the sentence.

[Ed]

I was surprised that you could find the actual starting point, especially when I did not provide close ups of the entire skull.

Very impressive.

 

I don't know if anyone noticed but to the lower right of the skull are what I suppose are bone fragments. I always wondered whether they were rocks or bone but as they too have the writing on them, I am now thinking they must be bone fragments.

 

Once again my most sincere thanks to Morita Sama for making a nice scroll a great scroll, for me at least.