Unknown maker
Legends of the Yūzū Nembutsu SectKamakura period (1185–1333), 14th century
Commissioned and executed in the mid-14th century, this lengthy horizontal scroll illustrates the founding of the Yūzū Nembutsu sect of Japanese Buddhism. More about this work
About this work
Commissioned and executed in the mid-14th century, this lengthy horizontal scroll illustrates the founding of the Yūzū Nembutsu sect of Japanese Buddhism. Yūzū Nembutsu means “chanting [Amida’s] name in communion”—a reference to the belief that one person chanting the Amida Buddha’s name would affect all other beings, whether in attaining individual rebirth or allowing souls in hell to be saved.
Text from the Art Institute of Chicago.
What you’re looking at
Long painted scroll, green, brown mountains, wooden house, Amida Buddha on cloud.
Description from the Art Institute of Chicago.
How it was made
- Handscroll
- Unrolled from right to left an arm’s length at a time, so the picture unfolds like a journey.
- Ink on paper
- Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Art Institute of Chicago has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1956.1256
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Arts of Asia
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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