Hell Story - Jigokuzoushi

This is a picture scroll depicting the state of hell. Currently, the most well-known scrolls are the one in the Nara National Museum (formerly the Hara family version) and the one in the Tokyo National Museum (formerly the Anju-in version), both of which are national treasures. This is one of the Rokudo-e paintings that were actively produced from the end of the Heian period through to the Kamakura period, based on the idea of ​​Rokudo-rinne (the cycle of reincarnation in the six realms), which flourished with the development of Pure Land Buddhism from the mid-Heian period onwards. It is thought to have been intended to spread Pure Land Buddhism, but it realistically depicts the turbulent social climate of the late Heian period, making it a valuable surviving example of this type of painting, along with "Gaki-zoshi" (Hungry Ghost Story) and "Yamaino-soshi" (Sick Story).

The Nara National Museum version has six sections of text and seven sections of pictures, and contains seven scenes: Hell of Excrement, Hell of the Box Law, Hell of the Iron Pole, Hell of the Chicken, Hell of the Black Clouds, Hell of Blood and Pus, and Hell of Foxes and Wolves. The Tokyo National Museum version has four sections of both text and pictures, and contains four scenes: Hell of Burning Hair, Hell of Fire-Cutting Insects, Hell of Clouds, Fire and Mist, and Hell of Rain and Fire Stones. The style and style of the text and pictures are similar in both volumes, but it is difficult to say that they were written by the same artist. Created between the end of the Heian period and the beginning of the Kamakura period (late 12th century), the pictures are mainly made of free-flowing brushstrokes, and the colors, mainly red and dark gray, are effective. Although the subject is ugly, it gives an aesthetic impression, which speaks to the high level of his artistic skill. Other known relics include fragments at the Gotoh Museum of Art and elsewhere (formerly the Masuda version), and a fragment (one scroll) formerly owned by Yasuzaemon Matsunaga.

[Yasushi Murashige]

"Ienaga Saburo (ed.), "Newly Revised Complete Collection of Japanese Picture Scrolls 7, Hell Stories and Other Stories" (1976, Kadokawa Shoten)" ▽ "Komatsu Shigemi (ed.), "Complete Collection of Japanese Picture Scrolls 7, Hell Stories and Other Stories" (1977, Chuokoron-Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

地獄の世界のありさまを描いた絵巻。現在、いずれも国宝の奈良国立博物館蔵（旧原家本）の1巻、東京国立博物館蔵（旧安住院本）の1巻などが著名である。平安中期以降浄土教の発達とともに栄えた六道輪廻(ろくどうりんね)の思想に基づき、その末期から鎌倉時代にかけて盛んにつくられた六道絵の一つ。浄土教の布教を目的としたものと思われるが、平安末期の動乱の世相が現実的に表現されており、『餓鬼草紙(がきぞうし)』『病草紙(やまいのそうし)』などとともにこの種の絵画の貴重な遺品である。

　奈良博本は詞(ことば)6段、絵7段からなり、屎糞(しふん)地獄、函量(かんりょう)地獄、鉄磑(てつがい)地獄、鶏(とり)地獄、黒雲沙(こくうんさ)地獄、膿血(のうけつ)地獄、狐狼(ころう)地獄の7図を、東博本は詞・絵ともに4段からなり、髪火流(はつかる)地獄、火末虫(ひまつむし)地獄、雲火霧処(うんかむしょ)地獄、雨炎石(うえんせき)地獄の4図を描いている。2巻とも詞・絵の形式・作風が似ているが、同筆とはいいがたい。平安末～鎌倉初期（12世紀末）の制作で、絵はのびのびとした筆線を主体とし、赤と暗灰色の対比を基調とした色彩が効果的である。醜い題材を描きながら、むしろ美的な印象を与え、その画致の高さを物語っている。なお、このほかの遺品としては五島美術館ほかの断簡（旧益田(ますだ)本）、および松永安左ヱ門旧蔵の断簡（1幅）が知られている。

［村重　寧］

『家永三郎編『新修日本絵巻物全集7　地獄草紙他』（1976・角川書店）』▽『小松茂美編『日本絵巻大成7　地獄草紙他』（1977・中央公論社）』

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