Kusōzu (Nine Stages of Decay) - satoshi-create/emakimono-next GitHub Wiki
💀 Kusōzu (Nine Stages of Decay)
Kusōzu is a deeply symbolic and spiritual emaki scroll illustrating the ten stages of a corpse's decomposition, rooted in Buddhist meditations on impermanence (mujō) and detachment from the physical body.
Unlike the playful tone of Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, Kusōzu explores the solemn reality of life and death through vivid, often unsettling imagery.
🧰 Scroll Overview
- 📅 Period: Kamakura period (13th century)
- 🖌️ Attributed to: Unknown
- 🏫 Housed at: Kyushu National Museum
- 📺 Cultural Note: Referenced in the manga Jujutsu Kaisen as a cursed technique name
Kusōzu served both as religious teaching and meditation tool. Viewers were encouraged to confront the decay of the body to overcome attachment and achieve enlightenment.
📁 Chapter Titles
| Stage | Japanese Title | English Title |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 生前相 | alive |
| 1 | 脹相 | distension |
| 2 | 壊相 | rupture |
| 3 | 血塗相 | exudation of blood |
| 4 | 膿爛相 | putrefaction |
| 5 | 青瘠相 | discolouration and desiccation |
| 6 | 噉相 | consumption by animals and birds |
| 7 | 散相 | dismemberment |
| 8 | 骨相 | reduction to bones |
| 9 | 焼相 | parching to dust |
🔍 Scene-by-Scene Commentary
🔧 Work in progress!
We plan to provide frame-level descriptions, cultural insights, and visual references for each stage.
🔗 See Other Scrolls
👨💼 Characters
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👩 Noblewoman: The central figure whose body decays across the ten stages
-
🖊️ Demons, carrion birds, insects: Appear in some versions to reinforce karmic and cosmic law
🔗 View the Scroll Online
🎨[Open the Scroll Viewer →](https://emakimono.com/kusouzumaki)
Experience the scroll with multilingual captions and chapter navigation.
📝 Feel free to submit translation improvements or scene descriptions via Pull Request or Issue!