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Omi no Mifune
Nara-period Japanese man of letters, great-grandson of Prince Otomo, renowned for his classical Chinese, who in 779 wrote the Account of the Great Tang Monk's Journey East on Jianzhen, based on Situo's record.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Mahito Genkai · Genkai · Prince Mifune
Omi no Mifune was a Nara-period Japanese man of letters and official, a descendant of Emperor Tenji and great-grandson of Prince Otomo, originally known as Prince Mifune. He became a monk under the name Genkai in his youth, returned to lay life in 751 with the clan name Omi no Mahito, and served as head of the state academy and professor of letters; with Isonokami no Yakatsugu he was counted the leading writer of his day. In 779, working from the account by Jianzhen's disciple Situo, he wrote in classical Chinese the Account of the Great Tang Monk's Journey East, describing Jianzhen's six attempts to cross to Japan and his transmission of the Vinaya there, signed 'Mahito Genkai'. He died in 785.
Life and times
Dates 722 CE–785 CE