The Art of Decomposition: The Kusozu Paintings of Japan
Trigger Warning: Graphic
images of blood, pus and corpses.
If you are still here after reading the trigger
warning then I assure you, you’ll find today’s blog quite interesting. A word
of caution: please eat before reading this because this blog quite unappetizing.
Now that we have discussed the potential side-effects
of this blog, let’s dive into today’s topic.
What is Kusozu?
The word Kusozu means ‘nine phase images’ and these images
show the nine stages of the decomposition process. Buddhist monks contemplate
on the decomposition of the corpse as a meditation process. This helps them understand
the temporal nature of the body. Their contemplation on the corpses were
expressed through poetry and paintings. These paintings are called ‘Kusozu’
The Kusozu typically shows the decomposition of a
woman’s body rather than man’s body. Most of the Kusozu has women as it’s subject.
There is a reason behind this. Whenever the monks used
to have any sensual thoughts or emotions, they would imagine or observe the
decomposition of a beautiful woman’s body. This helps them understand the fleeting
nature of beauty and they overcome their lust.
The objects of their imagination or observation – a woman’s
corpse – would then be expressed in their poetry and paintings.
The Nine Stages of Decomposition in
Poetry:
Here is a stanza from the Chinese poet Su Tongpo’s poem:
“The distension makes the newly deceased
hard to identify;
After only seven days, mere vestiges of
the [original] appearance remain.
The rosy face has turned dark and lost its
elegance;
The raven hair, first withered, is now
tangled with grass roots.
Six organs are putrefied and the corpse
pushes out beyond the coffin;
The four limbs have hardened and lie on
the deserted field.
The field is desolate, and no one is
present;
The spirit has gone to the other world in
solitude”
That wasn’t a very happy poem but it does get the
message across: Even something as permanent as death has a process which involves
change. This is why Su Tongpo often uses nature as a metaphor for the corpse. Nature
is permanent but it also goes through a change.
The Nine Stages of Decay as Shown in
Kusozu:
In the first phase, a beautiful courtesan is dying slowly. In this painting, she appears youthful and attractive.
In the fourth phase, the body ruptures. The skin starts breaking slowly. In this painting, we can see the severely bloated body with breaking skin. Blood is visible through these breaks.
In the ninth phase, even the skeleton gets reduced to nothing. A beautiful woman who once walked and charmed people has left behind nothing of herself. This is the nature of life Kusozu depicts. No matter what type of life we lead in the end, this is what awaits us.
These paintings show how the attraction and lust
towards beauty is shallow because beauty is impermanent. Eventually, every
beauty will change into ugliness. The ugliness, in turn, will transform into
nothing.
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