Three of fifteen paintings from Tale of Mount Oe
Artist unknown
Colors on paper
78 x 34.5 cm, 91 x 34.5 cm, 75 x 34.5 cm
Cat. 266137J, 266137K, 266137L
© The Field Museum
These three paintings are part of a set of fifteen scroll fragments in the Boone collection that illustrate the Tale of Mount Oe. The story describes how the hero, Minamoto no Yorimitsu, and his four retainers killed Shuten Doji, a cannibal devil residing in Mount Oe, and rescued the daughter of Lord Kunimasa and other captive ladies.
Shuten Doji, whose name literally means Great Drunkard Boy, is a serious imbiber and overgrown boy, over eight feet in height. He would transform into a demon at night and rampage the country with his fellows. The Emperor Nari Akira thus sent Yorimitsu, a warrior and a swordmaster, to slaughter the demon.
Yorimitsu and his four retainers disguised themselves as traveling priests and headed for Mountain Oe. On their way, the spirit of Sumiyoshi, a Bacchanalian god, revealed himself and gave them a drug which can make Shuten Doji dead drunk, and a magic cap which Yorimitsu was to wear under his helmet.
Using a clever strategy, they entered Shuten Doji's fortress and joined his banquet where human flesh and blood were served. Yorimitsu ate the flesh and drank the blood, and in return he offered Doji his sake which contained the magic drug. Doji drank the sake, after which he fell asleep and revealed his true shape as a demon. As we can see in the first painting, Shuten Doji was lying on green mats, drunk, head leaning on his left arm. The court ladies he has abducted from Lord Kunimasa sit around him. What happened next, seen from the next painting, is that the warriors put on their armors and attacked Doji. Brave Yorimitsu drew out his sword and cut the demon's head off. Desperately fighting back, the demon's head jumped onto Yorimitsu's helmet, trying to devastate the hero's head with his sharp fangs. However, the magic cap saved Yorimitus's life.
The last painting describes the successful team returning home with Shuten Doji's head which can be seen at the very left, a strange variety of small demons' heads, and two live captives. People crowded on the street to celebrate the hero's triumph.
The set of paintings shows an obvious tendency toward yamato-e, Japanese native painting tradition often associated with Japanese secular literature. The use of solid, opaque pigment creates a bold color effect. The panorama of the interior is obtained from a roofless, aerial point of view. Stylized blue clouds occupy the top and the bottom of each painting. When the paintings are put together in the narrative order, the clouds connect to each other and form a visual continuity symbolizing the continuity of the narrative mode.