Rat (Ne): Raigō, from the series Bravery Matched with the Twelve Animals of the Zodiac (Buyū mitate jūnishi) 「頼豪　子」『武勇見立十二支』

Object Details

Label: Raigo (1002-1086) a Buddhist priest of the Miidera temple, vents his fury at the emperor's refusal to build an ordination platform for his temple in recognition of Raigo's successful prayers for the birth of the emperor's son. Bitterly disappointed, Raigo vowed to starve himself to death, and to end the young prince's life as well. The story of Raigo became popular during the Edo period, when its theme of opposition to injustice was recounted in popular literature, kabuki, and prints. Raigo-;here associated with the rat, the first animal in the zodiac cycle-holds an unrolled Buddhist sutra that he transforms into rats through his magical powers. In other versions of the story, Raigo transforms himself into a rat or a colony of rats and continuously devours the temple's precious sutras destroying the very scriptures that once inspired him.
Collection: National Museum of Asian Art Collection
Exhibition History: The Life of Animals in Japanese Art (May 18 to August 18, 2019); Masterful Illusions: Japanese Prints from the Anne van Biema Collection (September 15, 2002 to January 9, 2003)

Related Online Resources: Google Cultural Institute
See more items in: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic: Buddhism; Edo period (1615 - 1868); sutra; rat; Japan; priest; ukiyo-e; Japanese Art; Anne van Biema collection; Eastern zodiac

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye33f4a999d-20c1-477f-a7be-06401b21d3de