宗観筆 九曜秘暦図像 |Iconographic Drawings of the Secrets of the Nine Luminaries
1125
Medium
Handscroll; ink and color on paper
Dimensions
11 1/4 in. x 26 ft. 6 1/4 in. (28.5 x 808.3 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Culture & Period
Japan · Heian period (794–1185)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Accession Number
1975.268.4
Art Historical Context
Created in 1125 during Japan's Heian period (794–5), *Iconographic Drawings of the of the Nine Luminaries by the artist-monk Sōkan is a mesmerizing handscroll blending esoteric Buddhism with Chinese-inspired astrology. Spanning an impressive 26 feet, this ink and color on masterpiece unfolds like a cosmic map, illustrating the "nine luminaries"—the sun, moon, five visible planets, and shadowy nodes Rahu and K. These diagrams reveal secret calendrical systems and iconographic deities tied to celestial influences, used for divination, rituals, and harmonizing human fate with the heavens. In the...