Ink Drawing of Eight Martial Deities (Symbolizing the Eight Directions)

Sondō Senzui (?-1808) was a Sōtō Zen priest of the late Edo period. He was the 18th head of Kōzenji Temple in Shinano, etc. He resided as Rinjū (Abbot Rotation System) at Fuzōin of Sōjiji Temple in Kansei 7 (1795).

The Eight Martial Deities are the deities that govern the direction of fortune or unfortune as used in the Yin-yang system. In this work, Toshitokujin, the mother of the Eight Martial Deities, is depicted in the center surrounded by the Eight Martial Deities. On both sides are explanations of each deity. During the New Year’s holiday, temples and shrines hang scrolls with the names of the Eight Martial Generals and other deities, but images of the eight generals are rare.

According to Sondō’s inscription and the caption on the back of the work, from the beginning the original was painted in Hōei 7 (1710), and in Kansei 11 (1799), on the order of the 18th Sondō of Kōzenji Temple, the painter Tairēgen (unknown) was commissioned to paint this painting.