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Join us for the 2024 Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture.
What was the moment of death supposed to look like for people living in premodern Japan? While most people surely envisioned seeing the Buddha and his retinue descend at this crucial juncture, many more were undoubtedly anxious about the feasibility of achieving this goal in increasingly difficult times. What if, despite one’s best intentions, one still fell into hell? Or, what if one’s gender precluded the possibility of salvation at the time of death altogether? This talk interrogates two sets of fourteenth-century hell paintings owned by the temples Gokurakuji in Hyōgo Prefecture and Konkaikōmyōji in Kyoto, which both posit the possibility of early escape from the infernal realms, albeit in seemingly contradictory ways. By examining the various Buddhist narrative tales (setsuwa) embedded in both of these paintings, this talk will uncover the ways people in premodern Japan transformed hell from a place solely retributive in nature into one that had liberative powers.
Miriam Chusid is assistant professor in the School of Art + Art History + Design at the University of Washington. She specializes in Japanese art and visual culture with an interest in East Asian Buddhist art; the role of women in the production and reception of religious images; visual narratives and narrative theory; the place of conservation in art historical inquiry; and contemporary Japanese art. Her current book project entitled Envisioning the Afterlife: Image, Text, and Ritual Practice in Premodern Japan examines the emergence in the thirteenth century of pictures of Buddhist hell used in rituals to benefit the dead. In particular, it weaves together three lines of inquiry: an investigation of the iconographies and themes that patrons and painters incorporated into images of hell; strategies of the use and display of these images; and the practice of the maintenance and repair of the paintings. |
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