江口君と西行図鐔 大月光興　Mitsuoki-Otsuki　Tsuba

As Saigyō was traveling toward Tennōji one evening, he was caught in the rain at Eguchi village. He sought shelter from the rain at a certain courtesan’s house, but upon seeing his monk’s attire, she refused him entry. Standing there, disheartened, Saigyō composed the following verse:

“You say you have renounced this world, yet you seem unwilling
to part even with a temporary lodging.”

Moved by these words, the courtesan responded with her own poem:

“Hearing that you have renounced the world, I thought you
would not let your heart dwell even in a fleeting shelter.”

When the woman realized that the monk was indeed Saigyō, she spent the night telling him the story of her life.

This courtesan of Eguchi was said to be Myōjo, the daughter of Taira no Sukemori, who perished in the Genpei War. Having escaped the Heike persecution, she lived in hiding in Eguchi.

This tsuba was made by Ōtsuki Mitsuoki, one of the foremost metalworkers of late Edo–period Kyoto. The design includes a gold-inlaid inscription by the Zen monk Takuan Sōhō of Tōkai, making it a piece themed around three figures who lived in the spirit of Zen. From the work itself, one can also sense Mitsuoki’s own deep connection to Zen thought.

The tale of a Heike woman who, after the fall of her clan, lived as a courtesan, is also told in the port towns east of Lake Biwa. It is a legend often chosen as a motif for sword fittings, known as the “Asazuma-bune” (Boat of Asazuma) design.

江口君と西行図鐔　銘　月光興鐫(大月)

　西行が天王寺へ向かう途中の夕暮れ時、江口の里で雨に降りこまれた。西行は、とある遊女宿で雨宿りを乞うたが、遊女は僧の姿をみると拒絶。途方にくれた西行は、しばらく佇み、「世の中を厭うまでこそかたからめ　仮の宿りを惜しむ君かな」と呼びかけるように詠むと、この歌に感じた遊女は「世を厭う人としきけば仮の宿に　心とむなと思うばかりぞ」と返したという。僧が西行であることを知った遊女は、一夜を通して身の上を語り明かしたという。
　この江口の遊女こそ源平合戦で敗れた平家の資盛の子で妙女。平家追討の追手を逃れ、江口の里で隠れるように生きていたのである。
　この鐔は、江戸後期の京都金工を代表する大月光興(みつおき)の作。図に東海澤庵和尚の賛が金象嵌で刻されている。即ち、禅に生きた三者を題とした作品。そして光興もまた禅に生きたことが読み取ることのできる鐔である。
　平家の女人が、源平合戦の後に遊女として生きたことは、琵琶湖の東に位置する港町辺りにも伝説があり、装剣具の画題に採られることが多い。朝妻舟図である。