In Silken Painting of Emperor Go-Daigo, how is the Overview discussed?
On October 26, 1330, the year before the Genkō War against the Kamakura shogunate, Emperor Go-Daigo was given a ritual called the Yu-Gi-Kanjo at Jounei-Den in the palace by his Buddhist confidant and renowned painter, Bunkanbo Koshin. This was the most sacred ritual of the Shingon Buddhism of the time, as it was said to be the "ultimate perfumation" and "the highest attainment of esoteric Buddhism. The only thing higher than this is the attainment of Buddhahood. Although it is exceptional for a secular emperor to receive the Yu Gion Puja, it is believed that he followed in the footsteps of his father, Emperor Go-Uda, who was also a prominent practitioner of esoteric Buddhism, and that he had practiced enough to qualify for the Yu Gion Puja. This is not unusual. Godaigo, who was a loving wife, asked Bunkan to have the middle palace, Saionji Kishi, undergo the same ceremony on November 23 of the same year. This work was painted under the supervision (or actual production) of Fumikan Shonin himself, who led the perfuming ceremony, as a representation of the Yu-Gi perfuming scene. On September 20, Engen4/Ryakuō2 (1339 October 23), thirty-five days after the fall of Go-Daigo, the Buddhist priest instructed Bunkan in the  Buddhābhiṣeka and completed it.
The setting depicts a scene in which he was 43 years old, but since his portrait shows features of old age, it is thought that he actually modeled his face at the time of his death, when he was about 52 years old. The composition in the painting shows him uniting with Vajrasattva, the second founder of Shingon Buddhism, a Bodhisattva who acts as an intermediary between man and Buddha (Vairocana). Vajrasattva, a bodhisattva. It is also said to be related to Go-Daigo's belief in Rāgarāja, one of the incarnations of Vajrasattva. He is said to be wearing a Emperor Jimmu Benkan, Emperor Chūai Mianfu, National Treasure, and Buddhism, the Kūkai kesa of Kōbō Daishi, from the collection of Tō-ji. However, it seems that these treasures were not available for reference at the time of painting, and the kesa in particular is clearly different from the real thing. In addition, the crown (Emperor Jinmu's crown) and the ordinary crown are worn twice, which is thought to be an imitation of the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra of Prince Shotoku, who was regarded as a supreme being in both the sacred and secular realms. It is thought to be a copy of the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra The upper three oracles, Amaterasu, Kasuga Gongen, and Hachiman, respectively, preside over honesty, compassion, and purity, and are associated with the Imperial House of Japan, Kuge (Fujiwara clan), Buke (Seiwa Genji). This image shows that Emperor Go-Daigo, as Vajrasattva, identified with these three Shinto deities and became the center of royal law, Buddhism, and Shintoism.
However, it is unclear whether this work was created under the direction of Go-Daigo himself or his dying wish. However, it is not clear whether the deification of this work was directed by Go-Daigo himself or his dying wish. It is thought that the deification of this work was done hastily as a memorial to the emperor before the 57th day memorial service after his death, and the deification was done by projecting the impressions that Bunkan and other senior retainers of the Southern Court had of Go-Daigo.
On August 1, 1396, four years after the unification of the Northern and Southern dynasties, the temple passed from the hands of a former vassal of the Southern dynasty to the hands of the 12th head of the Toki sect, Youko Shonin, who was the founder of the Toki sect. He was the son of Prince Tsuneaki, the prince of Emperor Kameyama (the grandfather of Emperor Go-Daigo), and was also a cousin of Emperor Go-Daigo. Afterwards, it was kept in Shōjōkō-ji (Kanagawa Prefecture, Fujisawa City), the head temple of the Ji-shu sect. On March 21, Eishō (Muromachi period)14 (1517), a copy of the statue was made by a priest of the Ji-shu, Yaamida Buddha, and worship was conducted through the copy. In this case, according to the Honji suijaku theory, it is thought that the goddess Amaterasu was worshipped as Vairocana, the bodhisattva Hachiman as Amitābha, the main deity of the Tokishu, and Kasuga Daimyojin as Amida's assistant, the snare Kannon. It is also believed that Amitābha was worshipped as Amitābha.
On April 7, 1900, the statue was designated as a National Treasure at the time and later as an Important Cultural Property as a "silken copy of the statue of Emperor Godaigo.
Because of its striking features, this work has often been discussed in connection with the theory of kingship of the Kemmu regime, and because until the 20th century, research on the imperial court during the Kamakura period lagged behind and Emperor Go-Daigo's political skills were not highly regarded, it was used as a symbolic image in Yoshihiko Amino's theory of "deformed kingship" in the 1980s. However, since around 2000, it has been used as a symbolic image of Godaigo. However, a reevaluation of Godaigo's political skills began around 2000, and as of the 2010s, although the Kemmu regime collapsed with complicated twists and turns, its policies themselves were realistic and excellent, and the smooth continuity between the Kamakura period, the Kemmu regime, and the Muromachi shogunate has come to be evaluated. As for the interpretation of this work as of the beginning of the 21st century, the first is that it is an interpretation of the kingship theory of this work. The first is that the figure is the successor of his father, Go-Uta. The first is that he is the successor of his father, Go-Uta. Go-Uta was also famous as an esoteric Buddhist monk, and he is the patron of Shingon esoteric Buddhism, which can be interpreted as the legitimate royal authority to succeed the Daigakuji lineage (the imperial lineage to which Go-Daigo belongs). Secondly, it can be inferred that it represents Go-Daigo's faith in Taishi. Unlike his father, Go-Daigo, who was more devoted to religion than to politics in his later years, Shotoku-Taishi, who had an excellent sense of balance between politics and religion and made outstanding achievements in both, may have been considered the ideal king, and he himself may have been regarded as such by those around him.
Amaterasu Rāgarāja Imperial House of Japan Kamakura period crown Emperor Jimmu Shōjōkō-ji Emperor Kameyama Buddhism Fujiwara clan Bunkanbo Koshin Buddhābhiṣeka 1900 Hachiman Yoshihiko Amino Buke Genkō War Ryakuō Vairocana Ji-shu Kuge Emperor Vajra Prince Shotoku Eishō Kanagawa Prefecture Eishō (Muromachi period) Kūkai Honji suijaku theory Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Chūai Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra Mianfu Bunkan Engen Emperor Go-Uda Tō-ji bodhisattva Honji suijaku Buddhahood Kasuga Gongen Bodhisattva National Treasure Amitābha Kamakura shogunate Shingon Buddhism Vajrasattva Kōbō Daishi Southern Court 1396 Benkan April 7 Fujisawa City Fujiwara Muromachi shogunate portrait Seiwa Genji Saionji Kishi