Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī

Kitsusan Minchō was a monk-painter at the Tō fuku-ji Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. He rejected a promotion to stay a temple warden so he could continue painting. In this scroll, the bodhisattva Monju Bosatsu (in Sanskrit, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva) proffers a book of scriptures, The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (in Japanese, Hannya-kyo; Sanskrit, Prajñāpāramitā sūtra). As a bodhisattva, an enlightened being, Monju remained on earth to help others achieve enlightenment. The subtle addition of gold accents to Bosatsu’s crown and earrings would have glistened in the candlelight of a temple setting.