Wakan Roeishu Anthology

• Handscroll
• Ink on paper
• Vol.I: 27.9 X 367.9 cm
• Vol.II: 27.9 X 422.9 cm
• Late-Heian Period (Dated 1160)
• National Treasure
• BK 598

The Wakan Roeishu is an anthology of Chinese and Japanese verse written by mid-Heian poet Fujiwara Kinto. This copy of the work was written on an ashide-e handscroll. The inscription reveals that it was copied by Sesonji Koreyuki in 1160.

Ashide-e was a painting technique fashionable in the late-Heian period that combined decorative motifs and script. This ashide-e includes reeds, water fowl, flying birds, rocks and wheels, in navy blue, greenish-blue, brownish-red and silver.

This work is valuable not only as a complete edition of the Wakan Roeishu, but also as a rare example of calligraphy on an ashide-e ground.