Description
Yuima (Vimalakirti) was a Vaisali millionaire famous for his eloquence. Though he never entered the priesthood, he had a deep understanding of Buddhism. One day while he was sick with the illness of sentient beings, the Bodhisattva Monju (Manjusri) came to see him. Their discussion is an important dialogue in Mahayana Buddhism.<P>
This painting is a dramatic scene out of the <I>Yuima-kyo (Vimalakirti)</I> sutra. The elderly Yuima reclines on a bed with his arm on an armrest and his mouth slightly open. An angel from the <I>Kanshujobon</I> section of the sutra stands beside him scattering sacred flowers. <P>
Yuima's gentle expression and the elaborate patterns of the bed are characteristic of Song painting.
<P>The artist followed the traditional, ink-painting style of late-Northern Song Dynasty painter Li Gonglin, known for his portraits of Yuima.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
July 20, 2026