National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

　　This painting is a portrait of Nanzan Daishi Daoxuan (596-667), a Buddhist priest from the early Tang period in China. Dauxuan perfected the Lu (Ritsu) school by writing The Manual of the Shibunritsu (Skt. Dharmaguptaka-Vinaya) (Shibunritsu Gyoji sho) and become the founder of the Nanzan Ritsu sect. He also joined the translator-priest Genjo’s translation of Buddhist sutras and wrote various books including List of Sutras Translated into Chinese (Daito Naiten roku), Collection of the Biography of High Priests (Zoku Koso den), History and Cultures about India (Shaka Hoshi and Collection of the Writings about Defense of Buddhist Doctrines (Kogumyo sho). Accordingly, he had great achievements and made great contributions. In Japan, the founder of the Lu sect Ganjin propagated the teachings (Shibunritsu) in the Nara period (710–794) and when the Lu school was revived in Kyoto and Nara in the Kamakura period (1185–1333), many portraits of high priests (soshi zo) were drawn during the period.
　　This painting is a portrait of Dauxuan wearing a black rectangular robe (kasaya) while sitting in a diagonal direction in a high Buddhist chair (kyokuroku) covered with a happi coat and holding a priest’s flapper (hossu). This painting follows the style of the iconography of the portrait of Dauxuan, one of a pair of paintings, the portrait of the precept master Dauxuan and Ganjo (nationally important cultural property held at Sennyuji Temple), which was drawn in Katei 3 (1210) in Southern Sung dynasty of China and brought back by the founder of Sennyuji Temple Shunjo (俊芿) after he learnt the Lu school in China in the Kamakura period. Compared to the realistically presented painting in Sennyuji Temple, the shape of the head and unique facial features such as the slanted eyes of this painting were carefully drawn following a traditional style. This indicates that iconography brought back from China in the Sung dynasty period was regarded important as an original and became popular in Japan. The name “Chosho (澄照)” inscribed in ink is the posthumous name (shigo) of Dauxuan by the Emperor of Tang dynasty, Iso (懿宗). This painting was handed down to the Morimura Family.