Besson zakki 別尊雑記

Keywords
Art History
Painting
Document

Miscellaneous Record of Classified Sacred Images, a late Heian compendium of Buddhist iconography. Also called the Gojikkanshō 五十巻抄 (Selection of 50 Chapters), the work actually consists of 57 chapters and was compiled by the painter-priest, or *gasō 画僧, Shinkaku 心覚 (1117-80) during the Jōan 承安 era (1171-75). Based on the treatises of the Shingon 真言 sect of Buddhism, such as Shugyōshō 修行抄, Jōrenshō 成蓮抄, and *Zuzōshō 図像抄, it features excerpts from explanations of oral legends and commentaries on sutras and other sacred texts, in addition to 309 iconographic illustrations. It is composed of six chapters on *nyorai 如来, three on the *Butchō 仏頂, seven on sutras, eight on *Kannon 観音, seven on *bosatsu 菩薩, eight on ferocious deities or *funnusō 忿怒相, and eight on heavenly beings, or *ten 天. It is reproduced in Bukkyō zuzō shūko 仏教図像集古 and in Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大蔵経.