Japan
Kobo Daishi (Kukai) as a Child (Chigo Daishi)
Kamakura period, 14th century
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
86.7 x 48.9 cm
Gift of the Joseph and Helen Regenstein Foundation, 1959.552

Kobo Daishi was a Japanese monk who brought the True Word sect of Buddhism from China to Japan during the ninth century. This hanging scroll shows this saint as a child of seven or eight, when he dreamt that he conversed with a host of Buddhist deities.

It was a popular practice in Japan to make images of saints as children, to make them seem approachable and compassionate. As here, Buddhist figures are often shown on lotus blossoms—a symbol of purity, since the lotus grows pure white even out of the blackest mud.