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The paintings in the Kegon Engi Emaki were done at the Kōzan-ji temple not far from Kyoto, supposedly under the aegis of Myōe (also known as Kōben), a monk who had long studied Kegon Buddhism (at the Tōdai-ji of Nara, centre of the school in Japan) before rehabilitating the Kōzan-ji temple. If that hypothesis as to patronage is accurate, Myōe would also have been the author of the calligraphy texts in the emakimono, drawing inspiration from older Chinese stories. KL Brock suggests, however, that the Gishō scrolls may have been commissioned by Lady Sanmi, a noblewoman then close to the Kōzan-ji, and the Gengyō scrolls by her friends (but with Myōe as the main supervisor).Although the date of creation and the author remain subject to interpretation, it seems clear that the scrolls approach a pictorial style characteristic of Kamakura art, marked by a certain realism and a proximity to humanity. While legend may have attributed the work in the past to Fujiwara no Nobuzane, it is much more likely that the author, or one of the authors, was Myōe's favorite painter, Enichibō Jōnin, also known for his murals; for Mason and Dinwiddie, Jōnin's style is especially evident in the Gengyō portion.Comparative and historical studies have enabled KL Brock to put forward two possible dates of creation of the work: between 1218 and 1223 for the Gishō scrolls, and in the 1220s or 1230 for the Gengyō scrolls.
Kegon Buddhism Myōe Nara Gishō Kyoto Enichibō Jōnin Tōdai-ji Gengyō emakimono Fujiwara no Nobuzane Kōzan-ji