The Comparative Study on the Composition and Motifs in Heaven Scene from Edo Period’s Oujouyoushuu and Early Rattanakosin Period’s Triphum Paintings

Abstract

This paper is a part of a research project titled “The concept of “heaven” through its expression in Japanese and Thai paintings”. The objective of this research is to investigate the concepts and representations of heaven in Japanese and Thai paintings, focusing on Japanese Rokudou-e and Oujouyoushuu paintings from the Edo period and Thai Triphum paintings from the Early Rattanakosin period. In this paper, results pertaining to Oujouyoushuu and Triphum paintings will be presented. After analyzing the motifs and composition of the paintings, works from the Edo period which depicted heaven as one of the Six Realms can be found in Japan. Some of these contain motifs which express the sufferings of heavenly beings. Moreover, the motif of heavenly beings painted in ‘Hell’ and ‘Afterlife Judgement’ scenes can also be found. In Thai examples during the Early Rattanakosin period, motifs showing the sufferings of heavenly beings cannot be found. Most of these paintings contain motifs of Tavatimsa heaven. In some examples, the heavenly realm was painted with motifs from the story of Gautama Buddha’s life. However, only a few of Japanese paintings of Buddha’s life contain the same episodes. Then, the concept of heaven was investigated through manuscripts, literature and the Buddhist background of both countries. In the Japanese case, the word ‘heaven’ in the manuscripts and literature of the Edo period was covered by layers of beliefs: Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian concepts. In the Thai case, the concept of heaven as a blissful realm and the concept of Lord Indra relating to ideal leadership and its symbolism might have played a major role in motifs of sufferings not being found in the heaven scenes of the examined paintings.