Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine

Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The first shrine devoted to Sugawara no Michizane’s deified spirit, Tenjin, a god of agriculture, literature and music, and the falsely accused, was established within decades of Michizane’s death in exile in 903. In this scene, once part of a set of handscrolls painted in the hakubyō (white-drawing) style of narrative illustration, the shamaness Tajihi no Ayako receives a premonition in the form of possession by Michizane’s angry spirit. Instructed to worship the deceased statesman as a god, the disheveled, partially unclothed Tajihi no Ayako here performs an ecstatic dance on the veranda of a building while a male courtier and a monk look on. According to legend, Tajihi no Ayako received the oracle in 942 and began worshipping Tenjin. Several years later the delivery of another oracle led to the construction of the shrine proper.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin ShrinePossession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin ShrinePossession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin ShrinePossession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin ShrinePossession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine

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.