Minneapolis Institute of Art

Picture of Drunken Lu Zhishen Smashing a Vajra Warrior at the Temple of Mount Wutai

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi; Publisher: Matsui Eikichi; Carver: Takimoto Chokuzan

Date: September 1887
Medium: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Department: Asian Art
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Like another vertical diptych nearby, this one takes its motif from the popular Chinese novel The Tales of the Water Margin (Shuihuzhuan; Jap.: Suikoden). In it, Lu Zhishen is a policeman who accidentally kills a man and must flee his village. He enters a monastery where he receives the nickname Flowery Monk, since his upper body is adorned with tattoos of flowers. Bored by monastic life, he gets drunk, and on his return to the temple he is refused entry. In a rage, he demolishes one of the two large vajra warrior sculptures that guard the temple gate. The entrance to Mia’s Japanese Buddhist gallery is guarded by such a pair of vajra warriors. Asia

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