Edo-period biographies of the Buddha and their illustrations reconfigure Gotamī (Kyōdonmi) from devoted sister to jealous adversary

Abstract

This study examines Edo-period biographies of the Buddha to analyze Gotamī’s (Kyōdonmi’s) roles and visual representations, focusing on how they reflect contemporary social contexts. Nine Edo-period biographies of the Buddha were included: (1) Shaka no honji (1643); (2) Shakahassōmonogatari (1666); (3) Shakahassōki tsuketari butsumomayafujin (Kateibunko version, 1669); (4) Shaka ichidaidenki kusui (1692); (5) Shaka goichidaiki eshō (1797); (6) Shaka ōkeryaku genge (1805); (7) Shaka goichidaiki zue (1845); (8) Shaka hassō yamato bunko (1845–1871); and (9) Hasshūkigen shakajitsuroku (1854). Based on analyzing these works, focusing on episodes in which Gotamī harbors malice toward Maya, this study identifies two narrative models: (1) the traditional depiction of Gotamī as the devoted younger sister who cared for Prince Siddhartha and eventually became the first bhikṣuṇī; and (2) the jealous elder sister plotting against her younger, more favored sister Maya, the Buddha’s mother, before ultimately repenting. The latter model, which emerged in the mid-17th century and persisted into the 19th, aligns with general Japanese notions of sibling hierarchy (and rivalry), wherein elder daughters traditionally held authority. Some biographies have expressed Gotamī’s envy symbolically through the imagery of a serpent, a commonly used motif in Edo society. In time, Gotamī’s visual representations have shifted from conventional “Chinese codes” to more realistic portrayals, paralleling the broader transformation of depictions of foreigners in 19th-century Japan, reflecting social change and artists’ encounters with foreigners.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Studies, 2026 · DOI ↗