An abbreviation
of
Shinran Shounin 親鸞聖人 (1173-1262), the founder of the New Pure
Land sect, Joudo shinshuu 浄土真宗 of Buddhism. Beginning his studies in the
Tendai 天台 tradition on Mt. Hiei 比叡,
Shinran became *
Hounen's
法然 disciple in 1201.
Honen taught that through the simple act of
faith and practice of the
nenbutsu 念仏 (a formulaic chant 'All praise
to *
Amida 阿弥陀'),
anyone, however low in status or great in sin, would be reborn in
Amida's
Joudo Paradise. This message proved strong competition to the established,
older Buddhist sects, which attempted to suppress it. In the
nenbutsu
persecution of 1264,
Shinran was exiled to Echigo 越後 (now Niigata
prefecture) where he broke with the old tradition of clerical celibacy and
married. In 1211 he moved to Hitachi 常陸 (now Ibaraki prefecture) where he
attracted a large following, before returning to Kyoto in 1234. In his principal
theoretical work, the
KYOUGYOUSHINSHOU 教行信証 (Teaching, Practice,
Faith, Enlightenment ; 1214),
Shinran posits that pure faith is impossible,
but that man is saved by the gift of
Amida's original vow
hongan
本願, and thus recitation of the
nenbutsu is only an expression of
gratitude not a prerequisite to salvation.
Shinran's fame and growing
organization of followers led to the production of portraits both during
his life and after his death. The famous standing portrait at Nishihonganji
西本願寺, Kyoto, is said to have been painted in the last year of
Shinran's
life, and is called the Mirror Portrait
Kagami-no-goei 鏡御影. Rendered in
bold ink lines, it captures
Shinran's spiritual strength. More traditional
seated images include the Anjou Portrait
Anjou-no-goei 安城御影, attributed
to priest Chouen 朝円 now at Nishihonganji, and its close copy the Kumakawa
Portrait
Kumakawa-no-goei 熊皮御影 (14c; Nara National Museum), in which
Shinran
is depicted seated on a bearskin rug. Although
Shinran's pose is
similar to that used for portraits of
Hounen,
Shinran is easily
distinguishable by his thin, severe face, and his white muffler and cane
placed on the floor. The earliest illustrated narrative scroll of
Shinran's
biography was edited by his grandson Kakunyo 覚如 (1270-1351) in 1295. There
are several variant narrative scrolls: the Nishihonganji version
Zenshin
shounin-e 善信上人絵, the Senjuji 専修寺 version in Mie prefecture
Zenshin
Shouin Shinran den-e 善信聖人親鸞伝絵, and the Higashihonganji 東本願寺 version
Honganji Shounin Shinran den-e 本願寺聖人親鸞伝絵 of 1346.