Daishōgun (Great General)
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Daishōgun is a guardian of the cardinal directions, a powerful and popular deity in ancient Japan, where certain directions were seen as the source of great danger. According to the practices of Onmyōdō, the Way of Yin-Yang, the most perilous direction shifted every three years. Daishōgun icons were moved regularly to safeguard people from menacing cosmic forces in the most vulnerable times and places. Imagined as a bearded and red-faced warrior wearing a helmet and suit of armor, he would have originally held a sword in his right hand.
Asian Art
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.