夢記切（夢記断簡）　明恵上人筆

寛喜元年巳丑十月廿五日於當寺
北谷求出草菴所、當日自常吉
日、占彼所名三加禅付法門/有義、同夜
子時許与義林房義渕房空達
房議草創事之次記之、
一　同十一月七日　上下両房共立始也、
一　同十二月十日　移住此菴室了、
一　同十一日夜夢
　故上師唐本廣幅絹面ニ
　畫一瓶、自瓶中流出白光、

　　　　　如此也、

　於諸人中語曰、此瓶ヲ絹合分ヲ
　開ケハ金剛界ノ三マヤ戒ノ万
　タラ也、不全分シテヒキク開テ、
　此程ニ開ケハ、一切諸佛□別義ノ
　三マヤ也云々、例ノ唐本ニテ殊
　勝ニ畫之タルヲ令開見也云々、

明恵上人（1173～1232）は鎌倉時代初期の華厳宗の高僧で，行・学を積んだ碩徳として仰がれた。紀伊国有田郡石垣庄吉原の旧家に生まれたが，幼年で父母を喪い，京都西郊の高雄山神護寺に住した叔父の上覚を頼って上洛。16歳で出家し，東大寺で受戒して明恵房成弁と称した。36歳の時から高弁と名乗る。遁世の聖を志して帰郷，湯浅湾岸などで修行した。釈尊を慕って天竺に渡海を図ったが，春日大明神がこれを制止したといわれる。「釈迦に帰れ」を呼号して，南都仏教の華厳宗を宣揚した。建永元年（1206）に後鳥羽上皇から神護寺別所の栂尾山を賜り，高山寺を開いた。上人は慈悲深く，山水・草木・鳥獣のすべてを愛した。また能筆家でもあった。栄西禅師から茶実を贈られ，栂尾山中に茶園を開いて栽培に成功した功績も大きい。

上人は，建久2年（1191）の19歳から58歳の寛喜2年（1230）までの40年間，見た夢を書き続けた。夢を夢中所作の学業と考えていたからである。その夢の記録が「夢記」である。「御夢記」「御夢御日記」ともいわれる。もともと巻子本17巻，冊子本7帖，散紙28紙があったが，一両巻が流出，「夢記」（夢記切）として珍重されている。寛喜元年は明恵57歳の時で，この一幅は10月25日に記されたものである。その筆跡は力強く，行間に花瓶から白光（天竺の女神を意味する）が出ている絵が描かれている。反故の紙背を用いたものが多く，本幅のような絵入りのものは特に喜ばれる。

寛喜元年巳丑十月廿五日於當寺
北谷求出草菴所、當日自常吉
日、占彼所名三加禅付法門有義、同夜
子時許与義林房義渕房空達
房議草創事之次記之、
一　同十一月七日　上下両房共立始也、
一　同十二月十日　移住此菴室了、
一　同十一日夜夢
　故上師唐本廣幅絹面ニ
　畫一瓶、自瓶中流出白光、

　　　　　　　如此也

　於諸人中語曰、此瓶ヲ絹合分ヲ
　開ケハ金剛界ノ三マヤ戒ノ万
　タラ也、不全分シテヒキク開テ、
　此程ニ開ケハ、一切諸佛・別義ノ
　三マヤ也云々、例ノ唐本ニテ殊
　勝ニ畫之タルヲ令開見也云々、

Myoe Shonin (1173-1232) was a high-ranking monk of the Kegon Sect of Buddhism and was active in the beginning of the Kamakura period. He was much admired as a priest of virtue for his profound learning and noble deeds. Myoe Shonin was born to a distinguished family in Kii Province (present-day Wakayama and Mie Prefectures). He lost his parents as a child, and went to Kyoto to live with his uncle Jogaku, who was a monk at Jingoji Temple in Mt. Takao. At age 16, he renounced the world and was initiated into Buddhism at Todaiji Temple in Nara, whereupon he took the name Myoebo Joben. From the age of 36, he became known as Koben. Myoe then returned to his homeland to leave the worldliness of this world and led a rigorous life of religious training in the Yuasa Bay area. During this time, it is said that Myoe attempted to go to India for the love of Buddha, but the deities enshrined in Kasuga Shrine prohibited him from embarking on this trip. With the slogan "Return to Buddha," he tried to proselytize people to the Kegon Sect. In 1206, the retired Emperor Gotoba granted him land in Toganoo that belonged to Jingoji Temple, where he built Kozanji Temple. He was benevolent and loved nature and all living beings. Myoe was a capable calligrapher, too. A Zen priest named Eisai gave Myoe some tea seedlings, with which Myoe successfully cultivated tea in the hills of Toganoo.

He recorded his dreams for forty years from the age of nineteen through fifty-eight (1191-1230), because he believed that dreaming is a type of learning. The record that he made is Yume no ki (Records of Dreams). Yume no ki is also known as On-yume no ki or On-yume on-nikki. Originally, Yume no ki comprised 17 scrolls, seven books, and 28 sheets of unbound pages, but two scrolls came to the attention of the public, subsequently called Yume no ki, which are especially treasured. The present piece was written on the 25th day of the tenth month of 1229, when he was 57 years of age. The strokes are vigorous, and white light emanating from a flower vase, symbolizing a goddess of India, is drawn in the margin. Typically he used waste paper back, and illustrated pieces such as the present work are highly valued.

寛喜元年丑巳　十月廿五日於當寺
北谷求出草菴所、當日自常吉
日、占彼所名三加禅、同夜
子時許与義林房義渕房空達
房議草創事之次記之、
一　同十一月七日　上下両房共立始也、
一　同十二月十日　移住此菴室了、
一　同十一日夜夢
　故上師唐本廣幅絹面ニ
　畫一瓶、自瓶中流出白光、

白光　　　　　如此也、

　於諸人中語曰、此瓶ヲ絹合分ヲ
　開ケハ金剛界ノ三マヤ戒ノ万
　タラ也、不全分シテヒキク開テ、
　此程ニ開ケハ、一切諸佛　別義ノ
　三マヤ也云々、例ノ唐本ニテ殊
　勝ニ畫之タルヲ令開見也云々、