Jingoji Temple: Record of Initiations

JAPAN, Kyoto; Heian period

As the contents of this text by Master Kukai suggest, the scroll is comprised of a list of monks who received initiations at Jingoji Temple, then known as Takaosanji Temple, in Kyoto, Japan. This work was listed as a National Treasure in 1951.
The scroll presents lists from three separate initiations, the first being the Diamond Realm Initiation held in year 812; the second occasion was the Womb Realm Initiation in the same year; and the third was another Diamond Realm Initiation that took place in 813. It is speculated that the third list could have been written by a different person. It is apparent that the name list was a working script as evinced by several corrections that were made to the document.
Master Kukai was a renowned calligrapher of the early Heian period (794–1185) in Japan. He visited China and studied under many eminent monks. His calligraphic style was chiefly influenced by Yan Zhenqing, while the flow and rhythm showed semblances of the styles of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. Interestingly, the random brushstrokes appearing in this piece are highly similar to those seen in Yan Zhenqing’s Requiem to My Nephew.