Tokiwa at Fushimi (Fushimi Tokiwa) and Tokiwa's disputation (Tokiwa mondō) from the Picture scrolls of ballad dramas (Mai no hon emaki)

Unknown

Handscroll from the 'Picture scrolls of ballad dramas' (Mai no hon emaki) painted in ink, colours and gold on paper in Japan in the mid-17th century. This is one of six illustrated handscrolls in the Chester Beatty collection that tell stories from Japan's Kōwaka mai ballad dramas. Combining alternating sections of text and illustrations, these scrolls would have belonged to a larger set. This scroll features two stories regarding Tokiwa, famed beauty and mother of the hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189). 'Tokiwa at Fushimi' (Fushimi Tokiwa) tells of her flight from Kyoto seeking safety for her children, while in 'Tokiwa's disputation' (Tokiwa mondō) she stands up to a temple superintendent who chastises her for entering the temple's chapel to recite a sutra.