Sutras, Buddhist statues, and other images were brought to Japan from China or Korea as Buddhism moved from its cradle in India across the Chinese continent to arrive in ancient Japan, where Japanese statues and paintings of the Buddha evolved from the carvings and paintings introduced from abroad. The two images of the white path and two rivers presented here are not Chinese, but motifs created in Japan in the Kamakura period. The paintings illustrate the content of the Tang dynasty Kanmuryoju-kyosho (Commentary on the Meditation Sutra). A great river stretches between this world in the bottom half of the painting (the shaba world) and the other world in the upper half, where the buddhas and bodhisattvas reside. A monk is depicted moving along the white path between the two worlds. The great river is divided into a river of water on the right side and a river of fire on the left side of the white path, suggesting that it is not easy to cross over from this world to the realm of enlightenment.
The Nara National Museum has a painting of the white path and two rivers, which has been designated an Important Cultural Property, but very few of these works are still extant. Both these works are known as outstanding examples held in overseas collections. Thanks to this restoration project, they are now in a better state of conservation.
A hanging scroll, 14th century, Cleveland Museum, Fiscal year of restoraion: 2001
<A hanging scroll, 14th century, Seattle Art Museum, Fiscal year of restoraion: 2005
