{"data":{"id":56731,"api_model":"artworks","api_link":"https:\/\/api.artic.edu\/api\/v1\/artworks\/56731","is_boosted":true,"title":"Legends of the Y\u016bz\u016b Nembutsu Sect","alt_titles":null,"thumbnail":{"lqip":"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhDQAFAPUAAJaJc52OdJiLepmNe5mNfJyQc5+QdJ2Sd5uVd6GTdKCRdqGUd6KTeKWUeaKSfaGTf6mXfaeZeqeZfqmYe6iZfamafqibfqGUgK+dgquchq2chK+dhq+ehq2eiK+fibCfhrCfh7CfiK+hja+ij7Ohh7Shh7CgibOhibWjirWkibSki7CijbGijrCij7qpj7SmkbWmkbenkLank7eplLiplbqqlbqrlrqrl72umb6umL6umcCwmMCwm8Gxm8OymgAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAAANAAUAAAY4QJHpwOCYUCQMqQSDiWAIiSrmywACEx+tBaskChGOYHDJaWk0b0X1cYQ85lzrs0hUGhyPg9DKzYIAOw==","width":14994,"height":5979,"alt_text":"Long painted scroll, green, brown mountains, wooden house, Amida Buddha on cloud."},"main_reference_number":"1956.1256","has_not_been_viewed_much":false,"boost_rank":null,"date_start":1185,"date_end":1333,"date_display":"Kamakura period (1185\u20131333), 14th century","date_qualifier_title":"","date_qualifier_id":null,"artist_display":"Artist unknown\nJapanese, active 14th century","place_of_origin":"Japan","description":"<p>This long narrative handscroll recounting events in  the life of the charismatic monk Ry\u014dnin (1072\u20131132)  is both endearingly personal and deeply spiritual.  We fi rst encounter Ry\u014dnin as a recluse in \u014chara,  north of Kyoto, where he remained in prayer and  meditation for twenty-four years while his fame  as a holy man spread. One day the Amida Buddha  appeared to him in a dream, riding in on a pedestal  of clouds and radiating golden light. The vision  told him to redirect his path toward enlightenment  not by studying the sutras and living in isolation  but by chanting a simple nembutsu prayer\u2014an  invocation of the Amida Buddha\u2014with a pure heart,  and teaching others to do the same.<br>Inspired by his dream, Ry\u014dnin developed  a dynamic new approach to salvation based on  the Buddhist concept of y\u016bz\u016b, which refers to the  interrelationship or initial oneness of all things.  Given this connection, the meritorious action of  one individual benefi ts many.<br>The remainder of the scroll shows the monk  taking this teaching into the world, starting his  appeal with the imperial court and eventually  converting all the humans and deities that make up  Japan\u2019s spiritual universe. Seeing these miraculous  events unfold as each section of the scroll was  opened to the width of an arm\u2019s length and viewed<br \/>\nclose-up would have had a great impact on medieval  viewers. This rare work remains one of the most  important records of a more populist approach to  Buddhism that had enormous appeal in contrast  to the elite rituals of other sects.<\/p>\n","short_description":"Commissioned and executed in the mid-14th century, this lengthy horizontal scroll illustrates the founding of the Y\u016bz\u016b Nembutsu sect of Japanese Buddhism. Y\u016bz\u016b Nembutsu means \u201cchanting [Amida\u2019s] name in communion\u201d\u2014a reference to the belief that one person chanting the Amida Buddha\u2019s name would affect all other beings, whether in attaining individual rebirth or allowing souls in hell to be saved.","dimensions":"30.5 \u00d7 1176.9 cm (12 \u00d7 460 in.)","dimensions_detail":[{"depth":null,"width":1176,"height":30,"diameter":null,"clarification":null}],"medium_display":"Handscroll; ink, colors, and gold on paper","inscriptions":null,"credit_line":"Kate S. Buckingham Endowment","catalogue_display":null,"publication_history":null,"exhibition_history":null,"provenance_text":null,"edition":null,"publishing_verification_level":"Web Basic","internal_department_id":8,"fiscal_year":null,"fiscal_year_deaccession":null,"is_public_domain":true,"is_zoomable":true,"max_zoom_window_size":-1,"copyright_notice":null,"has_multimedia_resources":false,"has_educational_resources":false,"has_advanced_imaging":false,"colorfulness":0,"color":{"h":53,"l":54,"s":13,"percentage":0.0006458512490127344,"population":579},"latitude":null,"longitude":null,"latlon":null,"is_on_view":false,"on_loan_display":null,"gallery_title":null,"gallery_id":null,"nomisma_id":null,"artwork_type_title":"Painting","artwork_type_id":1,"department_title":"Arts of Asia","department_id":"PC-7","artist_id":null,"artist_title":null,"alt_artist_ids":[],"artist_ids":[],"artist_titles":[],"category_ids":["PC-7","PC-831","PC-837"],"category_titles":["Arts of Asia","Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"term_titles":["paper (fiber product)","handscroll","Japanese (culture or style)","Buddhism","painting (image making)","gold","ink","painting","asian art","religion"],"style_id":"TM-13407","style_title":"Japanese (culture or style)","alt_style_ids":[],"style_ids":["TM-13407"],"style_titles":["Japanese (culture or style)"],"classification_id":"TM-468","classification_title":"handscroll","alt_classification_ids":["TM-9","TM-26"],"classification_ids":["TM-468","TM-9","TM-26"],"classification_titles":["handscroll","painting","asian art"],"subject_id":"TM-12131","alt_subject_ids":["TM-11421"],"subject_ids":["TM-12131","TM-11421"],"subject_titles":["Buddhism","religion"],"material_id":"TM-2982","alt_material_ids":["TM-2452","TM-2398"],"material_ids":["TM-2982","TM-2452","TM-2398"],"material_titles":["paper (fiber product)","gold","ink"],"technique_id":"TM-3891","alt_technique_ids":[],"technique_ids":["TM-3891"],"technique_titles":["painting (image making)"],"theme_titles":["Essentials","Arts of Asia 100"],"image_id":"d74be21b-d385-f064-2813-cc0cad848204","alt_image_ids":[],"document_ids":[],"sound_ids":[],"video_ids":[],"text_ids":[],"section_ids":[],"section_titles":[],"site_ids":[],"suggest_autocomplete_boosted":"Legends of the Y\u016bz\u016b Nembutsu Sect","suggest_autocomplete_all":[{"input":["1956.1256"],"contexts":{"groupings":["accession"]}},{"input":["Legends of the Y\u016bz\u016b Nembutsu Sect"],"weight":2062,"contexts":{"groupings":["title"]}}],"source_updated_at":"2026-01-22T13:25:06-06:00","updated_at":"2026-03-03T05:18:13-06:00","timestamp":"2026-09-06T05:52:38-05:00"},"info":{"license_text":"The `description` field in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License (CC-By) and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu. All other data in this response is licensed under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) 1.0 designation and the Terms and Conditions of artic.edu.","license_links":["https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/","https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/terms"],"version":"1.15"},"config":{"iiif_url":"https:\/\/www.artic.edu\/iiif\/2","website_url":"http:\/\/www.artic.edu"}}