Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi) (15th century): Artwork and History

Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi) (15th century) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Artist unknown Japanese.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Boy (Chigo Daishi)
• Date: 15th century
• Artist attribution: Artist unknown Japanese
• Place of origin: Japan
• Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
• Dimensions: 86.7 × 48.9 cm (34 1/8 × 19 1/4 in.)
• Type: Painting
• Department: Arts of Asia
• Reference number: 1959.552

Collection credit

Gift of the Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation

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