(1632–1695) was a Japanese
Buddhist monk, poet and sculptor during the early
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
. He was born in
Mino Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...
(present-day
Gifu Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
) and is famous for carving some 120,000 wooden statues of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
and other Buddhist icons, many of which were given in payment for lodging on his pilgrimages to temples throughout Japan.
Biography
Childhood
The most credible source has Enkū born in 1632 on the banks of the Kisogawa in central Japan in
Mino Province
was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviated fo ...
(present-day
Gifu Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
). His family was poor and, under the tightly controlled regime of the Tokugawa shōguns, there was little prospect of any kind of advancement. Social status, occupation, even religious affiliation, were rigidly prescribed. Travel was restricted. Tradition recounts that his mother was washed away and drowned in a river flood, probably when he was seven years old.
Soon after this, Enkū left home and became a Buddhist monk. The temple Enkū entered belonged to the
Tendai
, also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...
Jimonshu, one of the older branches of Buddhism in Japan. Tendai teaching accepts many ways to realise enlightenment, including the way of the artist – the way of making and distributing Buddha statues. Th
Jimonshu or Jimon branch was particularly connected with the
yamabushi
are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhism and Shinto.
Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or holy persons) of the eighth ...
– literally "those who sleep in the mountains."
Yamabushi practice
In common with many
yamabushi
are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhism and Shinto.
Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or holy persons) of the eighth ...
, Enkū was a healer and a practitioner of kampo, herbal medicine. In fact, we still possess some of his personal notes on medicinal plants. As he travelled in remote regions, his skills as a doctor would have been eagerly received among the poorer people.
Carvings
During his travels, he vowed to carve some 120,000 wooden statues. No two were alike. Many of the statues were crudely carved from tree stumps or scrap wood with a few strokes of a hatchet. Some were given to comfort those who had lost family members, others to guide the dying on their journeys to the next life. Thousands of these wooden statues remain today all over Japan, especially in
Hida and
Gifu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...
regions. Enkū is probably now regarded as one of the most famous Japanese sculptors.
What is less well known is that he was also a prolific poet.
Poetry
There are extant over 1,500 of Enku's Japanese poems in two collections along with a few more written on the back of statues. One collection of 100 poems is called, "Kesa Niji Hyaku Shu" (“One Hundred Poems Containing the Two Characters Kesa). The other which is much larger is called "Otoko Warashi Uta (“Male Child Songs”). Mostly he wrote
waka (also known as “tanka”), an ancient five-line verse form with the syllables running usually, 5-7-5-7-7. Themes include his mountain practice, responses to nature and the seasons, romantic pieces and expressions of joy and bliss (he nicknamed himself Kanki Shamon Enku, "Bliss-monk Enku"). In 2015, a book called "In Heaven's River: Poems and Carvings of Mountain-Monk Enku" was published by Zenways Press in the UK with Japanese and English translations of 100 of Enkū's poems collected together by Enkū’s thirtieth-generation successor, Enju-sensei, together with photos of many of his carvings.
See also
*
Enkū Museum
Further reading
* Alphen, Jan Van
t al.Enku 1632-1695. Timeless Images from 17th Century Japan. Antwerpen, Etnografisch Museum., 1999, 192pp., 9 essays, very richly illustrated
* Skinner, Julian Daizan and Hayashi, Sumiko: In Heaven's River: Poems and Carvings of Mountain-Monk Enku. Zenways Press, 2015, poems and photos of Enku
* Tanahashi, Kazuaki. Enku: Sculptor of a Hundred Buddhas. Shambhala Publications, 1991. 122pp.
External links
Enkū Konan City
Enku Life to Live Documentary on the life of Enku
the Tendai Jimonshu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enku
1632 births
1695 deaths
Japanese Buddhist clergy
Japanese sculptors
People from Gifu Prefecture
Buddhist clergy of the Edo period
Tendai Buddhist monks