Why a Sixteen-foot Buddha? Rethinking the Main Icon of Hwangnyong Temple and Its Materiality (original) (raw)
Related papers
Of Palaces and Pagodas: Palatial Symbolism in the Buddhist Architecture of Early Medieval China
Frontiers of History in China, 2015
This paper is an inquiry into possible motivations for representing timber-frame architecture in the Buddhist context. By comparing the architectural language of early Buddhist narrative panels and cave temples rendered in stone, I suggest that architectural representation was employed in both masonry and timber to create symbolically charged worship spaces. The replication and multiplication of palace forms on cave walls, in “pagodas” (futu 浮圖, fotu 佛圖, or ta 塔), and as the crowning element of free-standing pillars reflect a common desire to express and harness divine power, a desire that resulted in a wide variety of mountainous monuments in China. Finally, I provide evidence to suggest that the towering Buddhist monuments of early medieval China are linked morphologically and symbolically to the towering temples of South Asia through the use of both palace forms and sacred maṇḍalas as a means to express the divine power and expansive presence of the Buddha.
This Master’s thesis (SAMPLE) is an analysis of the statue of Shūkongōjin 執金剛神 of the Hokkedō 法華堂 (hall) of Tōdaiji 東大寺 (temple) in Nara, Japan. Information about this dynamic and well-preserved Buddhist icon, a protective divinity, has largely been drawn from stylistic analysis and records that postdate or predate the work, some of which may be spurious. Recent repairs to the clay image and its pigmented surface and subsequent studies have provided new information about the Shūkongōjin. The hall and its statues were examined twice during the periods 1996–99 and 2010–13, providing new evidence about the decorative motifs represented by the pigments on the statue; additionally, new evidence about its physical placement in the hall emerged. The objective of this thesis is to synthesize all available information regarding the statue in order to determine its most likely date and role in the ancient Hokkedō. To reach these conjectures, this thesis analyzes the appearance and iconography of the statue, early and recent scholarly opinions, worship of Henge Kannon 変化観音 (transformed forms of the bodhisattva Kannon) in the eighth century, and the history of the Hokkedō hall. These aspects were considered as an organic whole in order to propose the most likely scenario for the Shūkongōjin statue's creation, the history of its placement in the hall, and its function therein.
Materiality of Buddhist Icons in Early Medieval China
The Allure of Matter: Materiality Across Chinese Art, 2021
The Smart Museum has made diligent efforts to contact parties holding copyright to materials reproduced in this book. If any credits have been inadvertently omitted, the publisher shall endeavor to include them in any future edition, following written notification.
Colossal Buddha Statues along the Silk Road
Acta Via Serica, 2019
Beginning in the northwestern region of India, and spreading through Central Asia and the rest of Asia along the Silk Road, the making of colossal Buddha statues has been a major theme in Buddhist art. The colossal Buddha statues predominantly feature Śākyamuni (the Historical Buddha), Maitreya (the Future Buddha), and Vairocana (the Transcendant Buddha), and they were fashioned out of religious devotion and frequently in conjunction with notions of Buddhist kingship. This paper examines the religious, social and political circumstances under which these colossal statues were made, focusing on examples from Central and East Asia made during the first millennium CE. Beginning in the 1990s, there was a revival of making colossal Buddha statues across China and elsewhere. The paper also briefly compares the current wave of building colossal Buddha statues with historical examples.
A STUDY OF EARLY KORYŎ STATUES OF THE GREAT MONK SENGQIE EXCAVATED FROM P’AN’GYO-DONG, SŎNGNAM CITY∗
The three sculptures excavated from P갽an갽gyo in 2008 are rare examples dating from the early Kory. period. This article examines the period of manufacture of the gilt-bronze Buddha and bodhisattva excavated from Area C of Zone 10 in P갽an갽gyo. The icon-ography of the two statues with hands held together in prayer is not clear. It is possible that they are images of K.itigarbha, Sengqie, or Arhat, but none display any one typical iconography. From the excavation site, Northern Song dynasty currency was recovered, and this indicates that the statues are from that period. This is supported by the fact that these two images are similar in style to eleventh-century Song statues. During the Mongol invasions, the region of P갽an갽gyo was severely affected and its entire population wiped out. K.itigarbha belief would have acquired currency as the area rehabilitated. This article puts forward the hypothesis that after the Mongol invasions, the statues, which originally represented Sengqie to 갾protect갿 the area, came to be regarded as images of K.itigarbha. The popularity of K.itigarbha belief, after the country suffered greatly from Mongol attacks, can be confirmed by the existence of K.itigarbha images that have survived from that period. Even if these statues are difficult to analyze on the basis of style and iconography, they show not only distinct regional characteristics, but are important examples that reveal the local beliefs of the late Kory. Dynasty.
Images for the Temple: Imperial Patronage in the Development of Tang Daoist Art
Artibus Asiae, 2002
The origin of Daoist iconography was deeply rooted in traditional Chinese representations of the divine. In the course of its development, it inevitably bore the imprint of the Chinese Buddhist figurative tradition. The Tang dynasty witnessed an important evolution in the history of Daoist art., Daoist sculptures of the Tang era made for the temple were characterized by rapid iconographic and stylistic innovations and became distinct in content and form from that of the preceding periods and its Buddhist counterpart. The dramatic change in direction that brought Daoist art to maturity which took place in this period was impacted by the trend of religious politicization, of which intensive imperial interference in religious activity was the key element. Existence of a political dimension in Tang Daoist art can be simply inferred by the fact that this art was consumed by the imperial force. Not only did the court use Daoist art to enhance its own presence and authority, but it also pervaded this art with courtly taste.
Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan - By Sarah J. Horton
Religious Studies Review, 2009
science. Each section of the text is preceded by a brief synopsis, including an indication of the section's "most interesting and often-discussed passages," and nearly every passage is punctuated by an excerpt from commentarial literature as well as Van Norden's own insightful comments. This edition not only illuminates the Mengzi's milieu, but also that of Zhu Xi and the "Neo-Confucian" orthodoxy that Zhu helped to create in medieval China. Moreover, Van Norden demonstrates how, despite the fact that Zhu's interpretation (itself designated canonical in the fourteenth century CE) elevated the Mengzi to canonical status as one of the so-called "Four Books" of the Confucian curriculum, his "metaphysics derails his otherwise keen textual insight" by often reading this early pre-Buddhist text in terms of categories inherited from a millennium of Chinese contact with Buddhist thought. Those who seek to encounter "the most cogent, coherent, and comprehensible" of Confucian classics in an inexpensive, idiomatic, and accurate edition with an ample yet unobtrusive textual apparatus can do no better than to seek out this translation.