Pictorial Representation of Byōdōin as Political Propaganda

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 미술사와 시각문화학회
· 수록지 정보 : 미술사와 시각문화 / 23호 / 82 ~ 121페이지
· 저자명 : 김정희

초록

This paper examines why Byōdōin (平等院), an eleventh-century Buddhist temple located in Uji (宇治), made its appearance as an important visual motif in later paintings. The first pictorial representation of Byōdōin emerges in the late fifteenth-century Uji River fan (Ujigawa senmen-zu, 宇治川扇面図) with a poem written by Ranpa Keishi (蘭坡景茝, 1419-1501). The reason for this sudden appearance of Byōdōin can be explained by the intention of Konoe Masaie (近衛政家, 1444-1505) to appropriate the authority of the Fujiwara family (藤原家), the former owner of the temple as well as the direct ancestor of the Konoe family (近衛家). Masaie’s awareness of the significance of Byōdōin seems to develop while staying in Uji during the Ōnin War (応仁の乱, 1467-1477). It is highly possible that Ranpa Keishi and Konoe Masaie had known each other from the cultural events such as poetry gatherings, and in one of such occasions, Keishi might have complied with Masaie’s wishes by adding his poem praising Uji in combination with the depiction of Byōdōin in the fan.
Political significance may also have been attached to the representation of Byōdōin in the sixteenth-century Pleasures in Famous Places around Kyōto (Rakugai meisho yūrakuzu, 洛外名所遊楽図), a set of folding screens, produced by Kano Eitoku (狩野永徳, 1543-1590). The left panels depict Byōdōin against the peaceful scenery of Uji, southern suburb of Kyōto, and the right panels display famous temples such as Tenryūji (天龍寺) and Rinsenji (臨川寺) in Saga, western part of the capital. This paper claims that the presence of Tenryūji and Saga in the right panels is connected to the Ashikaga shogunate (足利幕府, 1336-1573) while Byōdōin and Uji are closely associated with the Konoe family. The juxtaposition of these two regions may celebrate the union of two families through marriage. It may also reflect the nostalgia of Konoe Sakihisa (近衛前久, 1536-1612), the likely patron of this painting, for the most prosperous past of the two families before Sengoku period (戦国時代, 1467-1600).

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