%C2%A9 Yamaguchi Bidou
Wood, pigments, lacquer, gofun, gilt metalexpand_more
Gift of Targetexpand_more 2004.206.2
With bared fangs and teeth and eyes staring intensely under furrowed brows, this Shishiguchi mask appears fearsome. Although the mask has human-like features, actors wear it when performing lion characters. In the Noh play Shakkyō (Stone Bridge), a Japanese monk who travels to Mount Wutai in China attempts to cross a bridge to reach the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī’s Pure Land. As he begins to cross, a young woodcutter convinces him to refrain and wait. He then witnesses a miraculous sight: a lion dancing with peonies. He then understands this lion is Mañjuśrī’s vahana, the bodhisattva’s form of conveyance.
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© Yamaguchi Bidou