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Related
Kawamura Tsuneshige - Tsuba with the Bell of Dôjôji - Walters 51341 - Back
Kawamura Tsuneshige - Tsuba with the Bell of Dôjôji - Walters 51341 - Mark A
Shimamura Mitsuyoshi - Tsuba with Kôsagi, a Paragon of Filial Piety - Walters 51373
Koizumi Katsuchika - Tsuba with the Samurai Watanabe no Tsuna - Walters 51110
Murasakibara Toshiyoshi - Tsuba with Doves - Walters 51350
Sugiura Jôi - Tsuba with Fudû Myô-ô - Walters 51362
Katsumoto Ichiun - Tsuba with Bamboo - Walters 51357
Uchikoshi Hirochika - Tsuba with Wang Xizhi - Walters 51144
Nakajima Sadataka - Tsuba with Stag Calling under the Autumn Moon - Walters 51346
Kawamura Tsuneshige - Tsuba with the Bell of Dôjôji - Walters 51341
Summary
The scene depicted is from a story about the bell at the temple Dôjôji. On right are two monks with prayer beads in the act of praying. At the left, the large bell of the temple is shown fallen from its tower. A jealous woman transformed into a dragon while chasing a monk she thought had promised to marry her. The monks of Dôjôji hid the monk in the bell tower. The bell fell, trapping him under it. The woman, in her dragon form, coiled her body around the bell and breathed flames on it. This killed the monk trapped inside. The story is retold in noh and kabuki plays of the same name. In the plays, a dancer comes to the temple to celebrate the installation of a new bell. She dances under the bell and when it falls on her is transformed into the dragon. A pine tree and stream are shown on the reverse.