Ink, color, and gold leaf on silkexpand_more
Gift of the Clark Center for Japanese Art & Cultureexpand_more 2013.29.23
In the Buddhist Hinayana belief (or the “Lesser Vehicle”), the rakan served as the “perfected one” who gained salvation through his own efforts and overcame the endless cycle of birth and rebirth, but was unable to attain full enlightenment like bodhisattvas. The rakan here is holding a fly whisk designed to chase away insects without harming them, following the Buddhist law against taking life.
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