Painting of Hanshan and Shide

Sakai Tadamichi

Meiji period (19^th-20^th century)

Donated by Watanabe Riemon

Sakai Tadamichi (1856-1921) was the 12^th lord of Shōnai Domain, and the 14^th head of the Sakai family. In 1873 he traveled to Germany to study law, and upon return to Japan, transferred the heirship of the family to his brother Tadazumi, spending his remaining years cultivating roses and painting.

This painting portrays the two monks Hanshan and Shide, said to have lived at Guoqing Temple during the late Tang era in China. Hanshan is considered to have been the personification of Manjushri, a bodhisattva associated with wisdom, and Shide the personification of Samantabhadra, a bodhisattva associated with practice and meditation, giving the subject of the painting an air of Zen.