Kako Genzai Ingakyo (Sutra of Cause and Effect)

Object Details

• Label

  This fragment of a sacred Buddhist scripture (sutra) illustrates a dialogue in which the Buddha relates incidents of his life that led to his enlightenment.

  This segment from a handscroll shows the Buddha's miraculous deliverance by a deity who bends a branch downward to rescue him from a turbulent river. In the next episode he is restored to health by drinking nectar from a thousand-petaled lotus.

  The illustrations are set in imaginary landscapes that are intended to evoke the original settings of the stories in ancient India. The philosophical basis of this sutra is the Buddhist concept of karma, the system of causal relationships by which a person's good or evil actions affect future events. Illustrations of this sutra were first produced in Japan in the eighth century. This example dates from a revival of interest in the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, during the Kamakura

  period (1185-1333).

• Provenance

  To ?

  Hosomi Ryoichi (1901-1978). [1]

  To 1962

  Oriental Art Gallery, New York. [2]

  From 1962

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Oriental Art Gallery, New York. [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] Freer Gallery of Art Purchase List after 1920 file, Collections Management Office.

  [3] See note 2.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Words of Wisdom: Buddhist Calligraphy from Japan (April 1, 2023 to February 25, 2024)

  Real and Imagined Places in Japanese Art (March 4 to October 21, 2001)

  Japanese Art (March 12, 1982 to November 3, 1986)

  Japanese Art (June 16, 1982 to September 28, 1982)

  Japanese Art (July 14, 1980 to March 6, 1981)

  Japanese Art (April 11, 1978 to March 6, 1981)

  Japanese Art, Galleries 3, 4, and 5 (January 1, 1963 to September 16, 1970)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Hosomi Ryoichi (1901-1978)

  Oriental Art Gallery (New York)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1400s, 1300s

• Name

  Hosomi, Ryoichi, Seo, Joseph U., buddha

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Sutra of Cause and Effect, Kamakura period (1185 - 1333), Art, Japanese Art, Lotus, Kakemono

• Culture

  Buddhists, Japanese

• Object Type

  Paintings