e-awase 絵合

1　Painting contest; a contest involving two teams, popular among Heian aristocrats from the 11th century. Each side in turn was required to present a painting in handscroll or booklet format for comparison and appreciation. Poetry or poetic titles were sometimes attached to each painting. Artistic skill, propriety of subject matter or quality of mountings were all taken into account in judging. The earliest reference to the e-awase of scroll paintings illustrating famous tales monogatari-e 物語絵 is found in Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). E-awase of poem-painting *uta-e 歌絵 and of painted fans *senmenga 扇面絵 are also mentioned in historical records.

2　A pictorial subject consisting of scenes from "A Picture Contest" E-awase, Chapter 17 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), Saigū 斎宮, former high priestess of Ise 伊勢, daughter of Lady Rokujō, Rokujō no Miyasudokoro 六条御息所, and Genji's ward, enters court and is favored by Emperor Reizei 冷泉, due to her skill at painting. This leads to rivalry with the Kokiden 弘徽殿 faction candidate for Empress which in turn becomes an actual contest in painting. Pictures in each faction's collections are pitted against one another, first in front of Empress Dowager Fujitsubo 藤壷, then, in the second round, in front of the Emperor himself. While things at first go badly for Akikonomu and Genji's side, at the end Genji offers his own picture-diary, e-nikki 絵日記 of exile in *Suma 須磨, which wins the day. Scenes often chosen for illustration include; Genji and Murasaki 紫 (see *Wakamurasaki 若紫) collecting pictures for the forthcoming competition in the third month, when Genji shows her his Suma diary for the first time and, the actual competition before the emperor. See *genji-e 源氏絵.