Illustrated Biography of the Founders of the Kegon Sect (Color on Paper; Kegon Engi)

The Story of Uisang, Wonhyo and the Dragon Maiden

The Illustrated Biography of the Founders of the Kegon Sect (Color on Paper; Kegon Engi) (紙本著色華厳宗祖師絵伝〈（華厳縁起）〉) is seven Kamakura-period handscrolls owned by Kozanji in Umegahata Toganoo-cho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto City, which in 1952 were designated a National Treasure.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records seven scrolls owned by Kozanji.

Kozanji explains that, also called the Kegon Engi, they tell the stories of Uisang and Wonhyo, founders of the Hwaeom (Kegon) school in Silla.

Scrolls and Story

Kozanji notes that the scrolls were originally four on Uisang and two on Wonhyo, by different hands, later handed down damaged and disordered as three each, and rearranged in the 1996 restoration as four and three. They are 31.7 centimetres high and 748.3 to 1712.0 centimetres long.

The Uisang scrolls centre on the woman Shanmiao and the Wonhyo scrolls on the healing of a queen. The Kyoto National Museum relates how Shanmiao, daughter of a Tang merchant, confessed her love to the Silla monk Uisang, was counselled by him, and when he sailed home threw herself into the sea, becoming a dragon that guarded his voyage.

What to Look For

Kozanji suggests that Myoe supervised the scrolls and wrote the texts, based on the Song Biographies of Eminent Monks, to guide women, and that Myoe projected himself onto the two founders. It is a masterpiece among the earliest illustrated biographies of monks, showing Song influence, and the first to write characters' speech into the pictures.

The Kyoto National Museum highlights the continuous narrative that builds rhythmically to the climax of Shanmiao, as a dragon, carrying the ship on her back.

Visiting the Illustrated Biography of the Founders of the Kegon Sect (Color on Paper; Kegon Engi)

The scrolls are owned by Kozanji and are not always on display; check the temple and exhibition announcements.