Hell Scroll (Nara National Museum) Explained

Hell Scroll
Artist:	Unknown
Year:	12th century
Type:	Color on paper
Height Metric:	26.5
Width Metric:	453.9
Metric Unit:	cm
Imperial Unit:	in
City:	Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan
Museum:	Nara National Museum

is a scroll depicting seven out of the sixteen lesser hells presented in Kisekyō ("Sutra of the World Arising"). Six of the paintings are accompanied by text, which all begin with the phrase "There is yet another hell", following a description of what the sinners depicted did to end up in this particular hell.

The seven hells depicted are:

1. the Hell of Excrement (: Japanese: 屎糞所, Japanese: しふんしょ)
2. the Hell of Measures (Japanese: 函量所, Japanese: かんりょうしょ)
3. the Hell of the Iron Mortar (Japanese: 鉄磑所, Japanese: てつがいしょ)
4. the Hell of the Flaming Rooster (Japanese: 鶏地獄, Japanese: とりじごく)
5. the Hell of the Black Sand Cloud (Japanese: 黒雲沙, Japanese: こくうんしゃ)
6. the Hell of Pus and Blood (Japanese: 膿血所, Japanese: のうけつしょ)
7. the Hell of Foxes and Wolves (Japanese: 狐狼地獄 狼野干泥梨, Japanese: ころうじごく ろうやかんないり)

It is considered likely that the scroll corresponds to the Paintings of the Six Paths, commissioned by Emperor Goshirakawa in the 12th century. This handscroll was preserved in Daishō-in in Higashiokubo, Tokyo until the Meiji period, when it came into the hands of the Hara family of Kanagawa, later ending up in the possession of the Japanese government.^[1]

See also

• Naraka (Buddhism)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (paintings)

External links

• Tokyo National Museum's page on the scrolls, with pictures and descriptions of the individual paintings

References

Web site: Hell Scroll . Emuseum . National Institutes for Cultural Heritage . 2010-11-08 . 20 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320075328/http://www.emuseum.jp/detail/100237/000/000?mode=detail&d_lang=en&s_lang=en&class=&title=&c_e=&region=&era=&century=&cptype=&owner=&pos=1&num=6 . dead .

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia of Japan . Jigoku-zōshi . 2012-04-27 . 2012 . Shogakukan . Tokyo . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ . 2007-08-25 .