![]() Many of these pieces depict a beautiful woman who dies and slowly decays. The Chinese sequence is as follows: (1) distension (choso) (2) rupture (kaiso) (3) exudation of blood (ketsuzuso) (4) putrefaction (noranso) (5) discoloration and desiccation (seioso) (6) consumption by animals and birds (lanso) (7) dismemberment (sanso) (8) bones (kosso) and (9) parched to dust (shoso). These stages varied slightly as they were adapted and developed by the Japanese and over the years. The first mention of the stages of decomposition can be found in China with texts such as the Discourse of Great Wisdom, created in 405, which identified the nine stages of corporeal decay in the same sequence that was later used in Kusôzu art. This explains how these depictions managed to be so authentic in their anatomical details. This meant it was common for bodies to be exposed to animals and the elements-similar to the tradition of a Tibetan sky burial. This was because the interment of bodies was not widely practiced in Japan until the late-14th century. In medieval Japan, before we had the internet, if a monk felt he was being tempted by bodily desires he could go to a cemetery and observe a rotting body. #MuseumsUnlocked #religiousart /LaHNud1ZWj Japanese fan (probably 19th century) painted with an extraordinarily gruesome scene believed to represent martyrdom of Christians but also reminiscent of Buddhist pictorial practice of kusozu. What better way to get out of the mood for love than by staring at a bloating discoloured corpse as it slowly rots in the open air? One of the main goals of this meditation was to overcome obstacles to enlightenment and to conquer carnal desires, specifically those connected to the sexual appetite. Kusôzu was meant to aid the viewer in observing the uncleanliness of the decaying corpse in the human realm (or jindō). Kusôzu, and its corresponding poetry kusôkanshi, was inspired by Buddhist beliefs that urged followers to meditate on the temporary nature of life and the physical world by focusing on the decomposition of the body after death. ![]() Kusôzu was introduced to Japan in the 8th Century and was popular until the 19th century during the Edo period and appeared in various formats, including scrolls and printed books. This unique tradition called Kusôzu, consists of watercolor paintings that depicts the slow decay of a body, usually female, from the first moment of death to the final stage of bare bones, with all the discoloured and bloated steps in between. One of these traditions comes from Japan, and shows in vivid detail the anatomical process of decomposition of the human body. From skeletons and skulls to cemetery architecture, there are many traditions in art that aim to demonstrate the beauty of death. Death is one of the most commonly represented subjects of art throughout history. ![]()
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