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

The Five Great Wisdom Kings are described as five deities placed in the five directions in the two-fascicle Humane King Sutra (Ch. Renwang huguo bore boluomiduo jing) translated by the monk Amoghavajra (705–774) and the single-fascicle Embracing without Hindrance Sutra (J. Shōmuge kyō). They include Fudō (Skt. Acala) for the central direction; Gozanze (Skt. Trailokyavijaya) for the east, shown to the viewer’s lower right; Gundari (Skt. Kuṇḍali) for the south in the lower left; Daiitoku (Skt. Yamāntaka) for the west in the upper left, and Kongōyasha (Skt. Vajrayakṣa) for the north in the upper right. Works dividing the Five Great Wisdom Kings among five hanging scrolls are known to have been made during the early Heian period (794–1185), and an extant example is owned by Tōji Temple in Kyoto. Works like this painting that show Fudō in the center with the other Wisdom Kings placed in the four directions around him, however, date later, with the earliest known versions being ink-line drawings produced between the late Heian period (794–1185) and the early Kamakura period (1185–1333).

In terms of style, Fudō has a similar but more filled-out physique than an image of the “blue Fudō ” owned by Shōren-in Temple in Kyoto, and the face resembles it as well. This style is associated with the painter-priest Genchō (dates unknown). The flaming mandorla behind him is divided into seven parts reminiscent of fire-breathing bird-like beings called karura (Skt. garuḍa). The two child attendants are painted in a style that combines those seen in works owned by Hōrakuji Temple in Osaka and Ruriji Temple in Hyōgo Prefecture that are thought to be derived from Shōren-in’s blue Fudō (Seitaka [Skt. Ceṭaka] is identical to an ink-line drawing of the two child attendants made in Genchō’s style owned by Daigoji Temple). The iconographies of the other four wisdom kings are very similar to those seen in paintings of the Five Great Wisdom Kings owned by Daigoji Temple and align with those described as being in the style of the painter-priest Enjin (dates unknown) in the Bessonzakki, a 12th-century compendium of Buddhist iconographies. In this way, the painting combines past iconographies to create a new composition.

The depiction of Fudō appears to date much later than mid-Heian Buddhist paintings, as it has distinct features associated with the powerful painting styles of the Kamakura period. The painting lacks the ornate designs in colored pigments seen in Shōren-in’s blue Fudō, instead having a limited palette of more subdued colors, strong shading, and renderings relying on deliberate brushwork.