Scene from the Spring Shoots II Chapter of The Tale of Genji

The scene on this folding fan is from chapter 35 of The Tale of Genji. Genji makes a pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi Shrine with his wife, a former lover, and her daughter.   The right men carry trays of food that Genji and his entrage will give to the gods as an offering.  The vertical lines visible on this painting are from creases made by bamboo slats when the painting was earlier mounted as a folding fan. A later owner removed the painting from the bamboo structure and converted it to its present scroll format, thus assuring its preservation.