Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi)

Arts of Asia

15th century

Artist unknown
Japanese

Kukai (774–835) was an influential religious leader responsible for introducing Shingon Buddhism, a form of Esoteric Buddhism, to Japan in the ninth century. After his death, Kûkai received the name Kôbô Daishi (Great Teacher of the Divine Law) and was revered as a saint.

The inscription at the top of this painting is a quotation from the Goyuigo, a set of instructions believed to have been prepared by Kukai for his disciples. In the passage, Kukai describes a dream he had as a child in which he was carried aloft on an eight-petaled lotus flower to a heavenly realm where he conversed with various Buddhas. The practice of depicting religious leaders as children during miraculous moments in their lives would have been keenly reassuring to Buddhist devotees.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Asia

Title: Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi)
Place: Japan (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1400–1499
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Dimensions: 86.7 × 48.9 cm (34 1/8 × 19 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation
Reference Number: 1959.552
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/11146/manifest.json

Mayuyama Junkichi. Japanese Art in the West. Tokyo: Mayuyama and Co., Ltd., 1966, fig. 108 page 93.
Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America, 1959.
Jack V. Sewell, “Notes on Two Recently Acquired Japanese Portraits,” (The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, 1960), pp. 10-11.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.