Section of the Dream Diary (Yume no ki)

Myōe Kōben 明恵高弁

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The monk Myōe, founder of the Kyoto temple Kōzanji, recorded his dreams in a diary, the Yume no ki. On the day in 1225 to which this fragment dates there was to be a ceremony at Kōzanji to dedicate three shrines to three deities—Byakkō (a deity associated with the Himalayas), the Great Illuminating Deity of Kasuga Shrine (central deity of Kasuga Shrine in Nara), and Zenmyō (a protective female divinity). Myōe relates that the ceremony had to be postponed due to a typhoon and then describes two dreams in which he met several individuals who he interpreted as the incarnations of the three deities.

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art