ART HIS 42C Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Yamabushi, Mino Province, Kampo
22 Dec 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Japanese buddhist monk, poet, sculptor during the early edo period. Famous for carving a high volume of wooden statutes of the buddha along with buddhist icons. Many were given in payment for lodging on his pilgrimages to temples throughout japan. He was a healer and practitioner of kampo, herbal medicine. Still possess some of his personal notes on medicinal plants. Skills as a doctor would have been eagerly received among poorer people. It was during these travels that he proclaimed and vowed to carve some 120,000 wooden statues. Many were carved from tree stumps or scrap wood with a few strokes of a hatchet. Some given to help comfort those with lost family members, others to guide the dying on their journey to the next life. A great amount of these wooden statues remain today all over japan, especially in hida and gifu regions. Enku is regarded as one of the most famous japanese sculptors.
