The Ninth-Century Esoteric Buddhist Altar at Kanshinji - Occidental ...

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 311 Nyoirin Kannonbosatsu (bodhisattva),Heian period, mid-9thcentury. Kanshinji(photo: courtesyKanshinji and TheMainichi Newspapers,Publishing Division)

32 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1historical records and stylistic criteria to the mid-ninth century(Figs. 8-11).13 One of the two extant Buddhas will bepresented here as the most plausible honzon during the earlyhistory of Kanshinji. Although the first reliable record todescribe the Nyoirin Kannon as a honzon is a pilgrimagejournal of 1378 by the priest Kenki, the Kanshinji sankei shodojunreiki (A pilgrim's account of a visit to the various halls ofKanshinji),l4 Japanese scholars nonetheless assert that theNyoirin Kannon has always been the honzon of the monasteryand a secret icon, as it is today. They further maintain that theNyoirin Kannon was made at least a decade before the twoextant Buddhas and under the auspices of imperial sponsorship.15They base their conclusions on their estimation of theNyoirin Kannon's superior artistic quality and fine preservation,fix its date according to stylistic criteria, and interpretthe historical record with a bias toward an earlier date for it.My own proposal is that the extant gilt-wood-with-lacquerimage of Butsugen butsumo Buddha (Figs. 8, 9, 17) is anequally likely honzon for the temple during the ninth century(and probably later), and that the Nyoirin Kannon's currentdesignations developed over time. Widening the discussionshould be relevant even if proof establishing the currentlyaccepted hierarchy (Nyoirin Kannon as the sole main image),chronology (Nyoirin made first), and patronage (imperialsponsorship of the Nyoirin Kannon) emerges in futurestudies. Today the two extant ninth-century Buddhas are keptin the temple's museum (treasure hall). I do not intend toargue for reinserting the extant Butsugen butsumo Buddhastatue into the modern liturgical context of today's worshiphall, however, because the current religious status of iconscannot be contested on the grounds of "original history."2 Nyoirin Kannon bosatsu, detail (photo: courtesy Kanshinjiand The Mainichi Newspapers, Publishing Division)larger history of the monastery-all with a bias toward theauthority of the modern honzon.This essay analyzes the ninth-century context at Kanshinjiin light of the historical record, with awareness of the partialitythat colors scholarly and popular literature. Second, itassesses the accretion of new meanings over time for theearliest icons at the temple, the addition of new icons andcontexts and their functions, and the processes throughwhich the Nyoirin Kannon has been isolated for both religiousworship and academic praise. A third objective is tocorrect flawed characterizations of Esoteric Buddhism andEsoteric icons that derive from faulty deductions and assumptionsabout the Kanshinji Kannon.Most troubling of modern interpretations is the unexaminedassumption that the Nyoirin Kannon statue was alwaysthe honzon of Kanshinji and that it is the only one of thetemple's early icons created under imperial sponsorship. Infact, a temple record dating to 883 shows that the NyoirinKannon image was originally but one icon among a group ofstatues and paintings made for the altar of the monastery'slecture hall. Two Buddha statues from this group still exist,and, like the Nyoirin Kannon, they may be dated usingCanonization, Determinations, and ApologistsContemporary writers on art and literature may question thevalidity of a canon, its sources, and its supportive structure.MartinJay proposes a plurality of sometimes competing visualregimes in modern France, none of which he sees as inherentlysuperior.16 Yet there are many who find the authority ofthe canon justifiable. Harold Bloom, for example, writes ofappraising canonical authors: " 'aesthetic value' is sometimesregarded as a suggestion of Immanuel Kant's rather than anactuality, but that has not been my experience during alifetime of reading." To the question of what makes a workcanonical he notes, "the answer, more often than not, hasturned out to be strangeness, a mode of originality that eithercannot be assimilated, or that so assimilates us that we ceaseto see it as strange.""7 A semiotic slant denaturalizes thecanonical status of a work by acknowledging the contingentrelationship between the perceived value of the work when itwas created and the values of the interpreting culture.18Art historical opinion regarding the Nyoirin Kannon statuehas been presented through two primary types of description.The first stresses formal, stylistic, and material qualities, suchas the statue's aesthetic value, expressive tenor, comparativerelationship to previous types of statuary, method of construction,and ornamentation. This assessment is then related tocharacterizations of Esoteric Buddhism. The second type ofdescription is based on historical records. The majority of theliterature is by Japanese scholars, and their opinions havebeen adopted unquestioningly by Western researchers.

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 333 Kanshinji, main hall, with theNyoirin Kannon bosatsu shrine atcenter, ca. 1950 (photo: courtesyKanshinji)4 Kanshinji and surrounding hills(photo: courtesy Asuka-en)a superb combination of certain characteristics of theIn the earliest analysis of the Nyoirin Kannon statue intry. For its particular kind of sculpture, it may be said to be does not elaborate on the features of Esoteric art; agreementEnglish (1972) Sherwood Moran states:The subject of this study, the Nyoirin Kannon, is theprincipal image of the Hondo [main hall]; in fact, it is theonly art object at Kanshinji that is of outstanding importance.In addition to this, it should be said that as repreprecedingperiod, along with the most satisfactory andultimate expression of Shingon esoteric art.19Moran's description parallels contemporary opinion amongJapanese scholars following the zealot's attack: he praised thesentative of the best of Early Heian sculpture it stands statue's artistic excellence, cultural significance, and unsuramongthe highest of the National Treasures of the coun- passed expression of a Shingon Esoteric aesthetic. His essay

34 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 15 Kanshinji, main hall, with the Nyoirin Kannon bosatsushrine open during annual viewing rite (photo: courtesyKanshinij and Tankosha)6 Nyoirin Kannon bosatsu, detail, right leg (from NCSS-jsh 3,pl. 2; photo: courtesy Kanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuokoron bijutsu shuppan)about an "Esoteric aesthetic" was already widely held byJapanesescholars and the Japanese general public alike.The Nyoirin Kannon statue has become the exemplar for avague notion of Esoteric expression that is grounded inaesthetic response but not in doctrine, practice, or the perceivedefficacy and power of the icon.20 Descriptions of animage not only address appearances but also reveal attitudestoward the icon. Nishimura K6cho, Esoteric priest and aconservator, writes in a book on the Kanshinji Nyoirin Kanrtnon:_Artistically, the work is of immense value. The figure isgloriously modeled, the flesh translucent.... It might notbe appropriate to describe a Buddhist icon as sensual, and icertainly the Nyoirin Kannon transcends carnality. But itexhibits a feminine quality that lingers on the eye, andsimultaneously transcends this sensuality to convey theamysterious depths of the secrets of Shingon Esotericism.21 .. .Many publications use photographs that artificially enhancethrough lighting and composition the sensual and mysterioustraits described by Nishimura (Figs. 1, 2, 12); most of theseare accompanied by texts penned by Shingon scholar-priests.7 Nyoirin Kannon bosatsu, detail, petal of lotus pedestal (fromNCSS-jsh 3, pl. 14; photo: courtesy Kanshinji, MizunoKeizaburo, and Chuoi koron bijutsu shuppan)

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 358 Butsugen butsumo nyorai (Buddha),commonly known as Miroku bosatsu,Heian period, mid-9th century.Kanshinji (from Nihon no Kokuho[Tokyo: Shukan Asahi hyakka, 1996];photo: courtesy Kanshinji and ShukanAsahi hyakka)Nishimura's text is an extreme example among many similarapproaches to the icon.Echoing general Japanese scholarly opinion, an Americanresearcher described the image as follows:The sacred image of Nyoirin Kannon ... exhibits a majestic,corpulent beauty; the round face and half closedeyes express great composure, the full lips do not smilebut give an impression of aloofness. The garment is elaboratelydetailed and richly colored, while the skin is of amuted golden tone. The mysterious nature of this figure isenhanced by its six arms, each bearing great symbolicsignificance....... Its rounded fleshy proportions, short neck and cres-cent-shaped eyebrows richly illustrate Esoteric sculpturalcharacteristics of the Early Heian period. Through itsentrancing, otherworldly beauty, the Kanshinji figureseems to embody the essence of the mysterious doctrine ofEsoteric Buddhism.22These excerpts from the copious literature on the statueare similar to many analyses that promote the Nyoirin Kannonas the model of an Esoteric aesthetic characterized bymystery, profundity, and sensuality. This definition reflectsthe opinions of nineteenth-century apologists for the EsotericBuddhist tradition who in a process of "reverse orientalism"have implicitly or actively sought to neutralize the religiouspower and ritual framework of an icon-as suggested by itsappearance, setting, or function-to more acceptable notionsof artistic achievement, authenticity, historical value(such as noble patronage), or the individual goals of meditation.23The Japanese exegesis raises many red flags. It is theoreticallyif not historically linked to what has been called the

36 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1ern attitudes toward Buddhism. Many Western researchers orgeneral readers are unaware that these authors are clerics.Barbara Herrnstein Smith suggests in Contingencies of Valuethat we canonize by suppressing the temporality of a workand shifting its definition to more comprehensible or acceptableground. She states,For one thing, when the value of a work is seen as unquestionable,those of its features that would, in a noncanonicalwork, be found alienating ... will be glozed over orbackgrounded. In particular, features that conflict intolerablywith the interests and ideologies of subsequentsubjects (and, in the West, with those generally benign"humanistic" values for which canonical works are com-monly celebrated) ... will be repressed or rationalized,and there will be a tendency among humanistic scholarsand academic critics to "save the text" by transferring thelocus of its interest to more formal or structural featuresand/or by allegorizing its potentially alienating ideologyto some more general ("universal") level where it becomesmore tolerable and also more readily interpretable interms of contemporary ideologies.25Sawa Ryuken, a Shingon priest and leading scholar ofEsoteric religion and art, "rationalizes" the non-Japanese appearanceof Esoteric art, making it (to quote Smith) "moretolerable and also more readily interpretable in terms of contemporaryideologies"-in this case a projection of uniqueJapanese attitudes and aesthetics. Sawa writes:9 Butsugen butsumo (from NCSS-jsh 3, suppl. 1, ill. 4; photo:courtesy Kanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuo koron bijutsushuppan)"Protestantization" of Buddhism: the notion that the thaumaturgic,sacerdotal, and image-based ritual functions of Buddhismare at odds with "true" soteriological and philosophicalBuddhism. In this scheme, Buddhist icons are understoodprimarily as pedagogical tools.24 They are said to inspire orvisually convey the experience of the Absolute, but they are notidentified as magical or powerful entities in themselves. Theeffect of such scholarship has been pervasive and now supportsan essentialized image type for the Esoteric school ofBuddhism. Paired with other canonizing strategies, the paradigmaticEsoteric style represented by the Nyoirin Kannonhas determined the slant of extensive literature on Esotericart.Because Shingon ritual items and painted or sculpted iconsare often withheld from public view, high-ranking Shingonpriest-scholars became the dominant spokesmen for all aspectsof the Esoteric tradition. They include authors of someof the most influential works on Esoteric art, including SawaRyuken, Ishida Hisatoyo, and Yamamoto Chikyo, along witheminent Shingon Buddhist scholars such as Toganoo Shounand Matsunaga Yukei. As prime interpreters of the Esoterictradition these men defined earlier religious elements accordingto Shingon doctrine and often became apologists forthe Esoteric schools under the influence of prevailing West-Esoteric statues . . tend to display volume and solemnityin the physique and awe-inspiring emotions in the face.Since these characteristics are not to be seen in Chinesestatues of similar divinities, I attribute them to the reflectionof a distinctively Japanese attitude toward religion.Although these traits are generally referred to as "esoteric,"in fact they are more a direct expression of purelyJapanese feelings projected on the borrowed vehicle ofBuddhist sculpture. This is the way the Japanese of the agefelt that gods should look.26In Sawa's analysis, the human spiritual experience is responsiblefor the "look" of the statue by projection, the "expression ofpurely Japanese feelings." The power of the icon is shifted sothat its aesthetic and spiritual impact conveys "a distinctivelyJapanese attitude toward religion," but even this is not a directexpression of the work. It is a vehicle "borrowed" for the expressionof a Japanese attitude, which suggests a further layering ofneutralized bodies, including icon, art, and nation. Sawa furtherdescribes the ninth-century style associated with Esotericism as"fleshy, heavy," and the Nyoirin Kannon as "soft in a weirdlybewitching fashion ... part of the pure stream of [the Shingonmaster] Kukai's Esoteric aesthetic."27 The aura that has customarilysurrounded Esoteric icons in both academic and religiousdescriptions has hidden from view both the historical processesof canonization and earlier historical contexts. Within all thefalse claims made by Shingon priest-scholars, Esotericism is heldfirmly to its singularized status as an abstruse belief system, evenin its attempted assimilation at the representational level.

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 3710 Miroku nyorai (Buddha),commonly known as Hosho nyorai,Heian period, mid-9th century.Kanshinji (from NCSS-jsh 3, suppl. 2,ill. 1; photo: courtesy Kanshinji,Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuo koronbijutsu shuppan)Esoteric BuddhismThe monastery of Kanshinji was established about 837 as atemple of the Shingon Esoteric Buddhist tradition. The Englishterm Esoteric Buddhism refers to a wide range of teachings andhistorical schools within Mahayana Buddhism, including IndianVajrayana or Mantrayana, Tibetan Tantrism, and JapaneseMikky6 (the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese mijiao), andthere is considerable confusion and misuse among the terms.Mikkyo means, literally, "secret teachings"-thus the Englishtranslation "esoteric." Esoteric Buddhism usually designates thepractice of powerful and efficacious meditation and ritual, includingincantations, eidetic constructions of images (visualizations),fire rituals, sequenced hand or body movements, andinvocations of powerful forces. Access to these practices is opento those who have received certain initiations and secret transmissionsfrom a qualified master. Vajrayana (vajra, or thunder-bolt, vehicle) is an emic or insider's term with historical bias: itwas developed by Indian practitioners to refer to a third andhigher yana superior to that of Theravada (that is, HinayanaBuddhism) or Mahayana. It is probably most appropriate to useit when referring to the traditions of India, Tibet, and Mongolia,and not to the Esoteric traditions of China, Korea, and Japan.Strictly speaking, Tantric Buddhism should be used to refer totraditions that advocate practices found in a particular class ofBuddhist literature, tantra (it must be noted that tantra exist inthe Hindu,Jain, and Buddhist traditions, but here I refer only toBuddhist tantra). Buddhist tantra, deeply related to Vedic-Brahmanictraditions and drawing heavily from yogic systems in allthe Indian traditions, achieved distinction around the sixthcentury C.E.; well-known examples include the Hevajra Tantraand Kalacakra Tantra. Tantra is also a practice. Tantra set outritual practices, religious proscriptions, yogic techniques, and

38 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1venerated of persons-Buddhist or other-in Japanese history.He was ordained a member of the clergy in 804, afterseveral years of practicing Buddhism as a privately ordained(thus unofficial and banned by the state) mendicant knownas an ubasoku, in order to join a government-sponsored missionto China. Kikai returned in 806 after less than two yearsof study, most of which was under the Esoteric masterHuiguo.29The term shingon, a transliteration of the Chinese zhenyan,literally means "true word" and is the translation of theSanskrit mantra-a voiced string of syllables used to effectchange or gather power in ritual practice.30 Mantras featureprominently in Shingon ritual practice. Shingon is one of twoEsoteric Buddhist schools in Japan, the other being Tendai(founded by Kukai's contemporary Saicho, 767-822 C.E.).Kukai's presentation of the Chinese master's teachings constituteda systematic body of Esoteric texts, practices, andreligious objects and effected a substantially new inflection ofearlier (unsystematized) esoteric ideas, practices, and images.Over time, proponents of the Shingon sect defined earlierforms and expressions of esotericism in contrast to their owntenets, labeling them zomitsu (or miscellaneous esoteri-cism).3111 Miroku (from NCSS-jsh 3, suppl. 2, ill. 4; photo: courtesyKanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuo koron bijutsushuppan)philosophical doctrine. David Gordon White proposeslowing working definition of Tantra:the fol-Tantra is that Asian body of beliefs and practices whichworking from the principle that the universe we experienceis nothing other than the concrete manifestation ofthe divine energy of the godhead that creates and maintainsthat universe, seeks to ritually appropriate and channelthat energy, within the human microcosm, in creativeand emancipatory ways.28The Tantric traditions (typically used to refer to Tibetanpractice) and Esoteric Buddhist traditions (typically used torefer to east Asian Tantric Buddhism) are rich, complex, andmultiform and have long defied scholarly definition. AlthoughJapanese Shingon is not the same as Tibetan Tantrismor Indian Vajrayana, they display a number of commonelements. Many of the scriptural and ritual texts in the Shingoncanon are shared by other Tantric traditions. The Buddhistmaster Kukai (774-835) brought the Shingon teachingsfrom China to Japan in 806. Best known by hisposthumous title, Kobo Daishi, Kukai is among the most12 Nyoirin Kannon bosatsu, detail (photo: courtesy Kanshinjiand The Mainichi Newspapers, Publishing Division)

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 39Kukai, famous in his day, became a majorJapanese culturalicon both in medieval and contemporary Japan. He succeededin integrating his Esoteric teachings with existingrituals and beliefs in Japan, while he established support forShingon at the monastic and imperial government levels.Many of the state rituals of medieval China were Esoteric, andKukai effectively introduced the Esoteric doctrine toJapan byciting its efficacy in China. The clergy and nobility ultimatelyaccepted Kukai's transmission as valid and efficacious,32 areception aided by the fact that Shingon was new and Chinese(Kukai's initial friendship with Emperor Saga was drivenby the emperor's fascination with the former's considerableknowledge of Chinese culture, especially poetry, calligraphy,and writing brushes). The material, ritual goods of Esotericismwere certainly part of its appeal to the Japanese courtand clergy. Kukai brought with him from China hundreds ofEsoteric sutras (scripture), commentaries (sastras), and-ingreatest number-ritual manuals (viddhis), along withpainted mandala33 and patriarch paintings, relics, Esotericstatues, ritual implements, iconographic sketches, and otheritems integral to ritual practice. Most of these texts, icons,and ritual goods were new to Japan, and they had tremendouscultural impact. The transmission of Esotericism highlightsthe unacknowledged fact that icons and imagery arenot didactic tools or ritual aids for Esotericism but constitutethe teachings themselves.Shingon relies on the transmission of teachings from aqualified master to an adherent during many years of training,including textual study, oral transmission, and ritualinstruction. The ritual language of mantras, prescribed handmovements (mudras) of ritual practice, and meditative mentalstates-including visualizations-ritually replicate the "threemysteries" and three-part "body" of the Absolute Buddha,Dainichi (Sanskrit: Mahavairocana), whose power and gracea Shingon adherent may unite with during ritual practice.34In this way Shingon doctrine, like the Vedic view of man as amicrocosm of the cosmos, posits man as participant in theBuddha body (Dharmakaya), a state achieved through theritual process. Whereas Tantric practice and thought typicallyexpressed the duality of existence in sexual terms, Kukai'swritings expressed the same concept through discourse onand rituals of the Diamond and Womb World mandalas.Statues and paintings (especially mandalas) and ritual implementsfeature prominently in the ritual systems of Shingon.But ritual texts are not always explicit about their use.Popular understanding erroneously represents the mandalaas the visual focus of a rite or iconographic map of deitiesevoked in a rite. Statues and paintings function as an agent inEsoteric ritual, directly and indirectly. Because the Esotericteachings allow that without images and icons, it is impossiblefor the practitioner to realize the ultimate Buddhist truthwithin himself, imagery is part of what might be called anEsoteric logic of universal similarity. Imagery thus has a newfunction in Esoteric Buddhism. In exoteric (that is, non-Esoteric) contexts, images of the deities stood in for theabsent Buddha. A wide range of sutras advocate image mak-ing and worship, but the distinction between image and deityis usually made clear. Kukai blurred that distinction. Hewrote:The dharma is fundamentally unable to be conveyed inwords, yet without words it cannot be manifested. Theultimate reality35 is beyond form36 but in taking form it iscomprehended.... The great variety of postures and mudrasdepicted [in drawings and paintings] come from thegreat compassion [of the Buddha]. With a single glance[at them] one becomes a Buddha. The secrets of thesutras and commentaries are depicted in a general way indiagrams and illustrations, and the essentials of the Esotericteachings are actually set forth therein. If [the diagramsand illustrations are] discarded, both those whoreceive and those who transmit the dharma will experiencedifficulty, for [the diagrams and illustrations] are noneother than the source of the oceanlike assembly.37The ritual practice of Shingon Esotericism is said by itsadherents to reveal the profound and hidden teachings ofthe Absolute Buddha, teachings that otherwise remain hidden.Like Vairocana Buddha in the Flower Garland (AvatamsakaSutra), Kukai describes the body of Mahavairocana asinconceivable and formless, and as the originator of all forms.Mahavairocana is understood as the Dharmakaya, the timelessand formless Buddha body. Kukai notes in the passageabove that the absolute truth is beyond form, but at the sametime images and forms are the source of the cosmos ofdeities. Elsewhere, he quotes the words of his Chineseteacher, Huiguo:Each of the three mysteries interfuses equally with theothers to pervade all the corners of the world. Practitionersmust therefore understand that all the objects of theirsight are the all-permeating body [of the Dharmakaya]. Allthe sounds they hear are... the voices of the [Dharmakaya]....The practitioners' mind that understandsthis principle underlying all the sights and sounds of theworld is the reality that is the divinities of the mandala. Thereality is the divinities; the divinities, the practioners' ownminds.38Artistic representation and ritual practice, which I understandas distinct traditions with many common functions,expressions, and goals in the Shingon tradition, are conflatedin the art history literature within the singular "ritual context."That is, art, understood as an expedient in the ritualprocess, is thus effectively absent when ritual is present (context,seen as more complex than object, subsumes the ob-ject, which is understood as fixed in meaning). Conversely,"fine art" is a primary vehicle for the apologists' renderingof ritual, because its aesthetic or didactic constructionfrequentlysupporting canonization- diverts attention fromthe apotropaic and thaumaturgic structures of ritual and artthat constitute (in whole or part) rituals. Although the ritualfunction of icons varies considerably in the Esoteric Shingontradition and is often not documented, we would do well toremember the critical function of icon and image in Esotericpraxis and in the fundamental exposition of ultimate realityas presented by Kukai.The Early History of Kanshinji and Its Sacred ImagesThe 883 Official Register and Inventory for Kanshinji (Kanshinjikanroku engi shizaicho) is the earliest extant record of the

40 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 113 Official Register and Inventory for Kanshinji (Kanshinji kanrokuengi shizaicho), 883, section on the lecture hall (from NCSS-jsh3, 43, ill. 30-5; photo: courtesy Kanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo,and Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan)temple and its holdings (Fig. 13).39 According to reliabledocumentation found within the Register, a founding date ofabout 837 can be proposed for Kanshinji; thus, the inventorywas compiled more than forty years later. The first section ofthe document describes the size and setting of the monastery:fifteen cho (one cho equals 2.45 acres) in Kawachi Province,Nishikori region, in the midst of the southern mountains.The four boundaries are "to the east, Ino waterfall; the west,Oninfukudani valley; the south [no description]; and thenorth, the mountain(s) of the Dragon spring temple."40The next portion of the Register provides a summary of thetemple's early history, derived from several primary sources.From it we can deduce that the priest Shinsho (797-873)took up residence on the current site of Kanshinji from theyear 827 for ten years.41 Shinsho was a distinguished Shingonpriest who trained primarily under Jitsue (786-847), Kukai'ssenior disciple and designated heir.42 The site's status apparentlychanged from private to official when in 837 Jitsueassigned the temple-hermitage a local administrator; the sitewas named Kanshinji at this time. The Register further notesthat in the sixth month of 869 (Jogan 11), forty-two yearsafter he first took up residence at Kanshinji, Shinsho re-quested and was granted government recognition and supportfor the temple with its designation as a jogakuji, orgovernment-subsidized temple.43 As if to signal assent, a governmentbequest of several estates (shoen) was made to thetemple four days before the monk's petition was granted.44Shinsho explained in his petition that there were many piousand legitimate monks residing at the temple, whose ceaselessrecitation of the sutras for the good of the nation, in accordancewith the wishes of his master, Jitsue, could only beassured after his own death with the government's favor.Later legends connect Kukai with the founding of the temple;although the earliest records do not mention him in thiscapacity, he may have known the site for reasons discussedbelow. Over time Kukai came to be linked both with thebuilding of the monastery and the creation of the NyoirinKannon statue (along with other statues concealed in themain hall today), all of which certainly occurred after hisdeath. Whether historically substantiated or apocryphal, Kukai'sassociation with Kanshinji and its modern honzon figuresprominently in the historical construction of meaning foreach.Kanshinji is situated along the route between the ninthcenturycapital of Heian-kyo (modern-day Kyoto)-and theprevious capitals of Nara and Asuka-and Mt. Koya, where in816 Kukai founded the important Shingon monastery ofKongobuji. Even before Kukai's time, countless travelerspassed through the Kawachi region around Kanshinji and thecurrent site of the monastery on their way northeast to Asukaor Nara from Naniwa (modern-day Osaka) on the InlandSea.45 We know from Kukai's writings that he journeyedseveral times to Mt. Koya with his disciples from 816 until hisdeath in 835.46Jitsue and other priests also lived on Mt. Koyaat different periods prior to their master's death. They necessarilytraveled through the Kawachi district to reach Mt.Koya, which is one likely explanation for Kanshinji's foundingby Jitsue and Shinsho. Unusual features of the templeplan and the iconography of the contents of the image halls(to be dealt with below) also suggest that the site had particularassociations or meanings to Kukai's disciples, and perhapsto the master himself. Regional influences may also havepertained.47 Late popular accounts of the temple's foundingor its miraculous Nyoirin Kannon icon (some of which will benoted in the next section) may be understood as ways ofrecognizing the region's ancient magical traditions and apopular claiming of the site once government sponsorshipbecame more tenuous.48The 883 Register lists the worship halls and other buildingsstanding at the temple by that year; it also provides thecontents of some halls. Such inventories are invaluable documentsfor the study of temples and religious practices. Themain precinct contained a three-by-three-bay chancel hall(that is, a five-bay square) named the Nyohodo and a five-byfive-baychancel (that is, a seven-bay square) lecture hall(Kodo); the Register gives the contents for these two primaryworship halls. Next are listed a six-by-seven-bay structureknown as the fire-ritual hall (Gomado), a fifteen-meter banner(to) that served symbolically as a pagoda, a bell tower, andbell and gong.49 The next important structure (bo) of six-bysevenbays served as the sutra repository, for which the textualcontents are listed. The Register then names a storehouse(hozo) and its contents of ritual goods; three buildings (offive-, seven-, and nine-bay chancels) comprising the sobo, ormonks' precinct; and finally a taishu-in, or public precinct,with a five-bay-wide refectory, an altar for kami (native gods),a large kitchen, a large cooking room, a milling structure, arice storage room, a horse stable, a cow stable, a bathhouse,pots, kettles, and cauldrons.50 This section of the inventoryends with a list of its landholdings and donations to thetemple. With the exception of the highly unusual Nyohodo

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 41building in the main precinct, the plan is simpler than thatfor other Esoteric mountain monasteries of the time, as itlacks, for example, a pagoda.51 (The disposition of buildings,including the main hall, in the mountainous location today isshown in Fig. 4. The contents of the halls will be consideredbelow.)It is possible that not all the structures and items inventoriedin 883 existed in 869, when Kanshinji was granted statesupport as a jogakuji. A completion date of 840 may beinferred, however, for the two image halls (Nyohodo andlecture hall) and other primary buildings (probably the dor-mitories, refectory, bell tower, and sutra repository; possiblythe fire-ritual hall and banner). The source for this date isfound in a petition for a bell to be cast for Kanshinji in theyear 840.52 Such a request was made only when the importanthalls of a monastery were completed or well under way andthere was a need for a timepiece for daily priestly activities.53Exoteric monastic compounds of the eighth century featureda main hall and lecture hall as image halls for liturgyand gathering, along with a pagoda (or a pair of pagodas)and, as above, dormitories, dining halls, repositories, and soon. Except for those that had not been planned as Esoterictemples from the start, early Shingon monastic plans did notinclude a main hall although another hall may have served asimilar function (such as the Nyohodo).54 The lecture hallwas typically retained in the Esoteric layout for sutra recitationand instruction, and with a traditional main hall lacking,it became the major image hall. This traditional "lecture" hall(that is, a hall for sutra recitation and doctrinal lectures, aswell as rites) was also a primary image hall, typically featuringa raised platform of statues. This type of hall was vital becauseEsoteric monasteries retained many of the same functions,liturgies, and rituals as did exoteric sites, such as sutra recitation,the lighting of lamps, offerings, or the gathering ofmonks before an altar of statues. Arguably, the most importanthall in an early Esoteric temple was the Kanjodo (alsocalled the Shingondo), used for initiation rites known askanjo (Sanskrit: abhiseka). These important rituals of a priest'straining included the conferral of the precepts and the identificationof each one's personal deity on the mandala.55Unlike established exoteric ceremonies held in statue halls,kanjo might involve only the supplicant and master. Whereasan exoteric image hall featured a raised altar of statues, theearliestJapanese initiation halls, derived from Tang ChineseEsoteric examples experienced by Kukai, featured altars laidout with ritual implements, mandala paintings, and a fireritual(goma) altar.56 Kanshinji had no Kanjodo in 883, theyear the first inventory was made, nor in later centuries. It islikely that the Nyohodo, listed first for the main precinct,functioned as a ritual space similar to an initiation hall.In terms of its name and its contents, however, the Nyohodoat Kanshinji is without precedent among Heian-periodShingon temples. Literally, "hall in accordance with the law,"the structure had a three-bay chancel (moya) with an aisle(hisashi) on all four sides and a cypress-bark roof. An inventoryof its contents in the Register names five paintings or setsof paintings (fourteen paintings total, all in the hangingscroll format) and one small gilt-bronze Shaka (Sakyamuni,the Historical Buddha, henceforth Shakyamuni) statue,named last in the list. Neither the hall nor any of these workssurvives today.57 The first painting listed is a large WombWorld mandala (Taizokai mandara) measuring over five feetwide (eight fuku), one of two mandala images central to theShingon Esoteric representational tradition established inJapan by Kukai (Fig. 14 gives an example of the type).58Listed second, as a pair, are two paintings of the NyoirinKanjizai bosatsu (that is, Nyoirin Kannon), the same deityrepresented by the statue under discussion.59 A note indicatesthat one Nyoirin image is executed in gold paint, the other inpolychrome pigments. Listed third are a set of paintingsdepicting the Godaikokuzo, or Five Great Kokuzo, or Storehouse(Sanskrit: Akasagarbha), bodhisattvas; next, a singleFugen-enmei bosatsu (Sanskrit: Samantabhadra bodhisattva)image; and fifth, a set of "the five great divinities," Godaison(that is, Myoo bosatsu, Lords of Radiance bodhisattvas; Sanskrit:Vidyaraja).60The Nyohodo is unusual in that it features paintings ratherthan statues. This strongly suggests, as above, that it was anEsoteric ritual practice hall. The paintings in the Nyohodowould not have been displayed all at once but taken fromstorage and hung alone or in sets for particular ceremonies.The overall iconographic meaning of the Nyohodo is unclearbecause the paintings listed do not derive from a single ritualtext or sutra. The most important image would have been theWomb World mandala. It is one of a pair, the "Two Worldsmandala" (Ryokai mandara) within the Shingon tradition.Although used in distinct rituals that, together with the gomarite, comprise a primary Esoteric initiation sequence,6 thepair of mandala symbolizes and embodies the perfect spiritualand structural union of the vast assembly of Esotericdeities. The mandala of the Two Worlds, depending on one'sviewpoint, are a symbolic visual synthesis and a conceptualmatrix of an Esoteric Shingon ritual practice system thoughtto embody dimensions of the experience of a Buddha. Theirstructures and potential are always present, subtly or moreovertly, in all Esotericism. The Womb World mandala "representsthe ritual construction of the realm of enlightenedbeings delineated in the Mahavairocana Sutra."62 Surprisingly,there is no mention of a Diamond World mandala anywherein the Register or in subsequent records. If the Womb Worldmandala alone was displayed in the Kanshinji Nyohodo, it isan isolated example of unknown usage or iconography. Thisunusual feature is accentuated by the fact that each deity ordeity group of the recorded paintings in the 883 Nyohodohall is among the assembled deities of the Womb Worldmandala. The prominence of the Nyoirin Kannon in twopainted versions is also unusual, if not unique. It is possiblethat paintings of the Nyoirin Kannon were used in ninth-century Esoteric rituals. Ritual texts of the Sanboin lineagefeature visualizations of the deity.63 Finally, the order inwhich the paintings are listed in the inventory might indicatea hierarchy of importance in an as yet unidentified ritual.Image halls in exoteric Japanese monasteries, typically amain hall or lecture hall, usually designate a honzon, or primaryicon. Image halls in early Esoteric monasteries, typicallylecture halls or a pagoda rather than a main hall, featured aDainichi Buddha or the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Gochi nyorai).An initiation hall or other ritual hall would not usuallyhave had a honzon but, rather, sets of paintings brought outfor ritual use, especially the pair of Diamond and World

42ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 114 Womb World mandala, one of theTwo Worlds mandala, hanging scroll,ink and color on silk, 723/s x 64/2 in.(183.6 X 164.2 cm), Heian period,second half of the 9th century.Kyoogokokuji (Toji) (photo:courtesy T6ji)Womb mandala. The bronze Shakyamuni statue listed last inthe Nyohodo inventory (last, presumably, because it is theonly statue among paintings and represents a distinct objectcategory/ritual category) likely had a permanent position inthe hall for worship. Although the only statue and a commonexoteric honzon, the Shakyamuni icon almost certainly didnot function as a honzon in the Esoteric Nyohodo. WombWorld iconography and possible initiation function are suggestedby the contents of the Nyohodo. If we open up ourassessment of the hall to consider historical developmentsand not just specific iconographic clues, then the unusualhall and its contents may be understood to express the complementaryfunctions of exoteric and Esoteric ritual anddoctrine. The supreme exoteric Buddha, Shakyamuni-representedby a sculpture, the traditional exoteric locus oftwoworship-is juxtaposed with divinities of a mandala, the paradigmaticEsoteric emblem, featuring (for as yet unknownreasons) individual deities and the assembled gods of theWomb World mandala.It is impossible to determine the ritual function of thepaintings listed in the inventory for the Nyohodo, together orindividually, without specific ritual records. The existence ofNyoirin Kannon paintings in a new type of hall withseemingly unorthodox usage of a Womb World mandalawithout a Diamond World mandala suggests special iconographicsymbolism or ritual use for the hall. Some scholarsbelieve this indicates special veneration of the Nyoirin Kannonwithin the hall by the 880s. In focusing on individualdeities or direct correspondences between texts and icongroups, scholars have overlooked meaningful indications offunction. A comprehensive view of iconographic correlationsis helpful.The hall is replete with Womb World mandala imagery.64The Womb World mandala, or mahakarunagarbhodbhavamandala,is literally "the mandala generated from the wombof great compassion." The Mahavairocana sutra, among oth-ers, associates the womb with the receptive feminine principle;apart from the obvious physiological link betweenwoman and womb, the Shingon tradition stresses the wombas a metaphor for the female. The female aspect of themandala may be salient to this hall or the temple, as thediscussion of patronage below will clarify. The central motifof the Womb World mandala is an eight-petal lotus flower(Fig. 14). Fugen-enmei bosatsu, the deity of the Nyohodo

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 43painting list, occupies one of these petals (at the southeastposition) and symbolizes universal wisdom as the embodimentof pure and innate bodhicitta, the aspiration for enlightenmentwithin each of us. Fugen is also a "feminine" deity,typically paired with the boyish bodhisattva Manjusri (Japanese:Monju); later secular images parodied courtesans andprostitutes as Fugen seated on its identifying elephant vehi-cle. In the Mahavairocana sutra, which claims to have beentransmitted from Mahavairocana Buddha to the bodhisattva,Fugen manifests itself as Vajrasattva (Japanese: Kongosatta),leader of the bodhisattvas. Finally, the form of Fugen namedby the Register, Fugen-enmei, refers to its power to grantlongevity (enmei). Numerous ritual manuals imported by Kukaidescribe the Esoteric worship of Fugen-enmei for longlife.65 A statue of Fugen-enmei was also part of the earliestrecorded altar of statues in the lecture hall of Kongobuji onMt. Koya, the mountain training center established by Kukai.The contemporary Tendai priest Saicho performed the Fu-gen-e dempo (rite of Fugen) and the Nyoirin dempo, amongothers, for protection of the state; these rites were also wellknown to Kukai.66The five-deity painting set listed in the Register's Nyohodosection, the Godaison, depicts awesome Esoteric bodhisattvatransmigrations (for a sculpted example, see Fig. 18). Thefive are the focus of rites for the protection of the sovereignand country, such as the Esoteric rite of the Benevolent Kings(Ninnoho), first performed by Kukai in 810. Paintings of thefive are central to the Latter Seven-Day rite (Goshichinichimishuho), established by Kukai in 834 as an Esoteric ritualcomplement to the exoteric Misai-e and first performed atthe Shingonin (Shingon chapel) within the imperial palace.67They also figure in the 839 lecture hall altar designed byKukai for T6ji temple in the Heian capital (Figs. 16, 18, 24).Most noteworthy for the Womb World emphasis of the Nyohodo,four of these five important Godaison bodhisattvas aresituated in the Womb World mandala (Fig. 14) in the socalledCourt of the Mantra Holders, in a horizontal row justbelow the central eight-petaled lotus.68 Thus, in addition tobeing part of the dominant Womb World iconography, thisset of paintings may suggest rituals for national protection orrelics worship.The Five Great Storehouse bodhisattvas, listed next, alsopart of the Womb World mandala, are the five transformationsof Akasagarbha, "One Whose Storehouse of Wisdom Isas Vast as Empty Space," a deity of wisdom and good fortune.More than any other known impetus, a ritual text on thisdeity prompted Kukai to leave his Confucian studies at theNara State College and begin Buddhist training.69 The activitiesof the Kokuzo are thought to bestow treasures, and thedeity's symbolic (samaya) form in the Shingon tradition is thejewel, nyoiju. A rite associated with one of the Storehousebodhisattvas is the Morning Star ritual (Gumonjiho), whereinthe practitioner achieves an enlightened state through theenergy of the magical wish-fulfilling jewel. In the Gumonjihothe Storehouse bodhisattva is understood as a planet or"morning star." Typically, this physically demanding rite isconducted in isolation in the mountains over many days,often with a view of the sky through open windows.70 Worshipof the stars was of special significance at Kanshinji, a site deepin the mountains along the route to Mt. Koya.Imagery and symbolism related to relics worship, as manifestedby the nyoiju wish-fulfilling jewel (held in the righthand of the Nyoirin Kannon) in the Esoteric tradition, wasvery prominent in the early esoteric temples and teachings.The nyoiju held special meaning for the imperial court andwas a primary motif, along with the relics it symbolizes, in theLatter Seven-Day rite held within the imperial palace. Theextended relationship of the wish-fulfilling gem to the WombWorld mandala and Nyoirin Kannon-the first two types ofpaintings listed in the holdings of the Nyohodo-can beunderstood to convey strongly feminine symbolism and as areference to the great bodhi mind contained in the eightpetaledlotus at the center of the Womb World mandala.(The particular import of the Womb World and nyoiju gemsymbolism at Kanshinji will be discussed further in subsequentsections.) Scholars have overlooked relationships andmeanings posited by the lost ninth-century Nyohodo inventoryin favor of extant works. The Womb World mandala andits deities are central to the site, as is the power of the nyoiju.Also of plausible relevance are imperial rule, national protection,and relics worship. Moreover, some of the deities arerelevant to texts imported by Kukai or rites he introduced, aswould be expected in temples founded during the earlydecades of Esoteric dissemination.Next, let us turn to the lecture hall. The 883 Register describesthe lecture hall as a five-bay chancel with an aisle oneach side (that is, a structure seven-bays square) with a cypress-barkroof (Fig. 13).71 Its contents of eight statues andthree paintings are noted as follows:one gilt (konjiki) Butsugen butsumo nyorai statue [Sanskrit:Buddhalocana Buddha];one gilt (konjiki) Miroku nyorai statue [Maitreya; Buddhaof the Future];one sandalwood color (danjiki) Yakushi nyorai statue[Bhaisajyaguru; Buddha of Healing]; [notation remarks:]lacks a mandorla, dedicated by the noviceYakuman;one polychromed (saishiki) Nyoirin bosatsu statue; [notationstates:] approximately three shaku72 inheight, wooden statue;one painting of the Birushana [Vairocana]; [width] 3fuku;73one painting of the Sho Kannon [Aryavalokitesvarabodhisattva];one Tang [Chinese] portrait statue of a priest;one painting of Kongodoshi [Kani-krodha or Subahu; alesser deity];one polychromed (saishiki) statue of Bishamontenno[Vaisravana krodha; Guardian of the North]; [notationremarks:] dedicated by Kiyotaki Yoshio;a pair of ten statues [deva; lesser deities, probably guardianfigures]Whereas the bronze Shakyamuni statue and all the paintingsoriginally housed in the Nyohodo are presumed lost,four statues listed by the Register for the original lecture hallare extant today: the first two Buddhas, Butsugen butsumonyorai (Figs. 8, 9, 17) and Miroku nyorai (Figs. 10, 11),74 theNyoirin Kannon bodhisattva, listed fourth (Figs. 1, 2, 12), and

44 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1Esoteric deities (statues of Butsugen butsumo Buddha andNyoirin Kannon and the painting of Vairocana Buddha) areplaced with exoteric favorites such as Yakushi and Miroku. Asis the case for the Nyohodo, there is no single textual sourcefor the iconography of the deities on the lecture hall altar.And again, it may not be fruitful-or even appropriate-toseek an iconographic source. Rather, it may prove most informativeto be guided by knowledge of Kukai's liturgicalinterests and general principles of Esoteric doctrine. Theicon and its history are mutually constituting. The temple isbest appreciated in light of practice, patronage, and therelationship of Kanshinji and its founders to events of theearly Heian period.Historical inquiry of this type may help answer the followingquestions: What is the meaning of the original lecturehall assembly? When and why was the Nyoirin Kannon statueplaced in the zushi as a secret image? When did it become thehonzon of the hall and the temple? What is the history of thetwo extant Buddha images? When were they removed fromthe lecture hall, and why? Similarly, what has become of theother statues and paintings listed in the Register, and can thechanges that took place on the lecture hall altar be traced ordocumented?15 Portrait statue of a priest, Tang dynasty, China, 9thcentury. Kanshinji (photo: courtesy Mizuno Keizaburo)the Chinese priest statue (Fig. 15). The Register does notindicate when the various statues and paintings were com-pleted, nor which icon, if any, is the honzon, nor the arrangementof images on the altar. It notes the patrons for twoworks, the Yakushi Buddha and Bishamontenno guardian,both of which were important icon types in the early Heianperiod and at Toji, the early Esoteric temple founded byKukai. It does not indicate that the Nyoirin Kannon statuewas a secret image, nor that it was housed in a shrine, as it istoday. The Register explicitly notes the statue's height andcomposition, calling attention to its material representation.Although this notation may support the hypothesis proposedby some scholars that the statue was a hidden image, the sizeof the Vairocana painting in the lecture hall is noted, as is thecomposition of the Yakushi Buddha, distinguishing these twoworks as well. A benefactor for the Nyoirin Kannon is notmentioned, but it is noted for two other statues on the altar,which is suggestive in light of scholarly opinion today thatlinks the Nyoirin Kannon statue-and no others-to imperialpatronage.The lecture hall statues would have been arranged on araised altar, as in earlier non-Esoteric image halls or thecontemporaneous Esoteric lecture hall at Toji (Figs. 16, 18,24). The paintings listed in the inventory would likely havebeen displayed on specific ritual occasions. Although the hallof statues is in keeping with the exoteric image hall, newIntrinsic and Extrinsic Value: The Register as EvidenceThis essay began with a discussion of the setting as it is today(Figs. 3-5): the Nyoirin Kannon is secreted by itself as thehonzon of the main hall, a structure that did not exist in theninth-century temple complex, behind the double doors of ablack-lacquered shrine raised high on a three-by-one-bay altarwith an elaborate canopied ritual altar below and before it atcenter. It is not until the fourteenth century that a zushishrine for the Nyoirin Kannon is mentioned in temple documents.A photograph of the main hall from about 1950 (Fig.3) shows two zushi to either side of that of the NyoirinKannon. The doors at right conceal a fourteenth-centurywooden Fudo myoo (Sanskrit: Acalanatha) revered by EmperorGodaigo (r. 1318-39); behind the left doors is a fourteenth-centurywooden Aizen myoo statue revered by EmperorGomurakami (r. 1339-68). According to traditionthese two images were made by Kukai, and they gainedimportance during the Nanbokucho period (1336-92) dueto their close associations with the two emperors.75 Both wereadded to the altar some time after 1439, the date of thecurrent main hall. All three statues, according to templetradition, were made by Kukai's hands. Arranged across theraised altar in front of the three closed zushi are four guardianstatues (Shitenno) dating to the tenth century.76 Today apair of Diamond and Womb World mandala paintings arepermanently displayed on a panel between two pillars, one toeach side, one bay south of the altar, with a ritual altar (dan)before each mandala (the Diamond World mandala is visiblein Fig. 3). Neither the two extant ninth-century Buddhastatues nor that of the Chinese priest (Fig. 15) are worshipedin the main hall; they are now displayed in the temple'smuseum (treasure hall).Today's designated honzon, scholars agree, corresponds tothe polychromed wooden Nyoirin Kannon statue describedin the 883 Register, judging by correspondences in size, style,technical features, and preservation. Scholarly opinion dif-

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 4516 Kyoogokokuji (Toji), lecture hall,statues of the Heian period, ca. 839(from NCSS-jsh, vol. 1, 154; photo:courtesy Toji, Mizuno Keizaburo, andChuo koronsha)fers on the iconographic sources and liturgical function ofthe statues inventoried in the lecture hall. Stylistic appraisalsprompt many scholars to date both extant Buddhas to thesecond half of the ninth century, ten to twenty-five years laterthan the Nyoirin Kannon.77 Debate arises in part from strategiesthat give preference to the honzon and in part from theinconclusive meaning of the order in which the icons arelisted in the lecture hall section of the inventory. Such listsordinarily rank statues and paintings in a canonical hierarchy,beginning with icons of the Buddha class, followed by bodhisattva,deva, and other lesser deities. It is not certain in thecase of the Kanshinji Registerwhether the order indicates thehonzon of the respective hall in first position or, alternatively,a hierarchy of ritual or other ranking, because there are nocomparable inventories for the early ninth century.78 Ineighth-century inventories, for example, those for Saidaijiand Todaiji, the order of statues is typically hierarchical: thehonzon is listed in first position, followed by attendant imagesand lesser deities. Japanese art historians typically cite thelack of contemporary inventories when explaining why theNyoirin Kannon-their honzon of choice-is listed fourth inthe Register, but given the protocol of eighth-century inventories,one might just as readily assume that the first-listedButsugen butsumo nyorai (Buddha) statue was the honzon.This point will be taken up again below.In the case of the lecture hall, it is likely that the first-listedBuddha, the Butsugen butsumo, was intended as the mainimage or was part of an Esoteric grouping that did not featurea single image as honzon. It is also possible that the originalhonzon was the Miroku or Yakushi Buddha, listed second andthird, respectively. One possible arrangement would comprisethe first three Buddhas, with one at center as the honzon.The Nyoirin Kannon may have been one of a sculpturalmandala, an attendant statue (waki-zo), or-most likely-adevotional image. It may have had a distinct function andstatus as a secret image without serving as honzon. It may havebecome a secret icon later in the temple's history. Otherarrangements are also plausible. Despite a wealth of possibilities,most scholars and devotees alike believe that the NyoirinKannon alone was the honzon for the original lecture hall,and for the monastery of Kanshinji.Japanese art historians, save one, have all maintained thatthe Nyoirin Kannon was created before other statues in thelecture hall and that it was the honzon. This is refutable inlight of its position in the inventory, the lack of similar honzonprecedents, and the lack of supporting documentationissuesthat would in many respects render it the least likelychoice for a central icon.79 Little mention is made in the literatureconcerning statues no longer extant, such as theYakushi Buddha listed third in the Register. Advocates for theNyoirin Kannon as honzon rest their claims on alleged corroborationbetween documents and aesthetic evaluation, relyingstrongly on the latter to satisfy gaps in the documentation.It may well be true that the statue so esteemed today andin medieval times was the original honzon of the lecture hallaltar. Its fine pigmentation and construction are notable. Butappraisals of the only other extant Japanese works from theninth century, the two Buddhas, are overshadowed by a rangeof extravagant claims about the Nyoirin Kannon. Althoughscholars agree that the two extant Buddhas correspond tothose listed in first and second position in the 883 Register,their stylistic assessments typically date the two statues to adecade or more after the Nyoirin Kannon, from about 850 toas late as the tenth century.80 Yet there is no proof to support

46 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 117 Butsugen butsumo (from NCSS-jsh 3, suppl. 1, ill. 1; photo:courtesy Kanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuo koron bijutsushuppan)this position. The following discussion of technical and artisticfeatures, in tandem with proposals for the disposition oficons on the altar, lays bare the hyperbole that too oftenaccompanies analyses of the favorite icon.The Nyoirin Kannon statue is 43 inches (109.4 centimeters)tall,81 a height almost doubled by a lotus pedestal 425/inches (108.5 centimeters) high. The icon is backed by astriking red flame-ringed gold mandorla measuring 551/8inches (140.3 centimeters) tall (Fig. 1).82 Both the pedestaland mandorla are made of Japanese cypress (hinoki); thefigure may also be made of cypress, although-in the absenceof conclusive testing-many scholars assume that it is formedfrom kaya, a more precious wood.83 The figure is constructedin the so-called single-woodblock technique (ichiboku zukuri)characteristic of the early Heian period (794-1185); theNyoirin Kannon's head and main portions of the torso aremade from a single piece of wood.84 The statue is hollowed(uchiguri) at the core from three points (rear of head, centerof back, and base). As was typical of wooden statues constructedduring the ninth century in workshops linked tostate sponsorship, the statue and pedestal are covered with a"dry lacquer" (kanshitsu) coating 2 to 9 millimeters thick,topped with primer, then decorated with pigments (saishiki)and, in the case of the drapery, cut gold-leaf (kirikane) patterns(Fig. 6). The exceptionally well-preserved motifs adorn-ing the bodhisattva's draperies and the sequenced color patternson the pedestal's lotus petals are among the finestexamples of early Heian-period decoration (Fig. 7) 85The Butsugen butsumo and the Miroku statues are nearlyidentical in style and construction. Like the Nyoirin Kannonstatue, the two Buddha figures are roughly three-foot- (onemeter-)high figures made of hollowed wood and coated withlacquer (Figs. 10, 17). Both are constructed of Japanesecypress. The height of the Nyoirin Kannon is nearly identicalto the height of the two extant Buddhas (Butsugen butsumo,421/2 inches [108 centimeters], Figs. 8, 9, 17; Miroku, 43inches [109.5 centimeters], Figs. 10, 11). The daises of theBuddhas (333/8 and 33 inches [84.5 and 83.6 centimeters],respectively), however, are about 10 inches smaller than thatof the Nyoirin Kannon.86 A visual comparison shows that allthree figures have similar upper-body sashes (johaku) andprobably wore similar crowns, suggesting a common date andworkshop. It might also point to a triadic arrangement of thethree images, or possibly, with the inclusion of the lostYakushi Buddha icon of unknown dimensions, an arrangementof four images.Konno Toshifumi recently proposed that the three extantworks originally formed a triad following an iconographicconception of the three as transformational bodies(hengeshin) of the Dainichi Buddha, the central icon for theShingon tradition.87 Although a triad arrangement of imagesseems possible for images of this size, the iconographic basishe offers is highly unusual and the proposal seems forced.Moreover, like so many other researchers, Konno completelydisregards lost works listed by the Register. Certainly the (lost)Yakushi Buddha listed third in the Register, before the NyoirinKannon, had an important place on the altar, as did theChinese portrait statue, the pair of deva, and the Bishamontennostatues. Modern hypotheses that do not so much asspeculate on the possible import of lost ninth-century worksto the lecture hall altar are inherently flawed.The Nyoirin Kannon's colorful designs and cut gold-leafpatterns have been carefully studied and roundly praised inthe literature. It is easily forgotten, however, that the renownof the decoration arises largely from its extraordinary preservation,which is an effect of the statue's concealment asmuch as any intrinsic value. In comparing the relative qualityof the Nyoirin Kannon bodhisattva and the two extant Buddhas,researchers stress that the application of colors and cutgold leaf on the Nyoirin Kannon constitute a highly labor-intensive process, while the Buddhas are decorated with goldleaf alone.88 Mizuno Keizaburo and Nishikawa maintain thatthe quality of the Nyoirin Kannon's decoration was possibleonly with the support of a wealthy, probably imperial, patron.89Nishikawa's research on the Nyoirin Kannon integratesstylistic and documentary analysis. He posits an early date forthe Nyoirin Kannon, and sees it as followed by the creation ofthe two Buddhas on the occasion of Kanshinji becoming astate-supported jogakuji in 869. He sees the Nyoirin Kannonas an accomplished work completed in the mid-ninth cen-tury, and he believes that its quality implies imperial patronage.Nishikawa further promotes the work to Kanshinji'smain icon from the origins of the monastery. He cites anentry in the RegisterforJogan 16 (874).7.9 that records a land

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 47bequest by Dowager Empress (widow) Junna (809-879)90 toKanshinji for the repair of a worship hall referred to as"Saga-in Taiko taigo gogando," or "hall made according tothe vow of Dowager Empress Saga."91 Empress Junna wasPrincess Seishi, daughter of Emperor Saga (786-842, r. 809-23), who became a nun after the death of her husband (andSaga's brother), EmperorJunna (786-840, r. 823-33). EmpressSaga was Tachibana no Kachiko (785-850), the primarywife of Emperor Saga, who was the first imperial sponsor ofthe Shingon teachings and Kukai's greatest patron. The factthat some time before her death in 850 Empress Saga dedicateda hall at Kanshinji, and that its upkeep was provided forin 874 by the subsequent Dowager Empress Junna impartsspecific meanings to the monastery as a whole, as well as tothe hall she endowed. Note, however, that neither of the tworeferences to the endowed hall names which Kanshinji buildingreceived the imperial largesse. Nishikawa, equipped withthe patronage record for an unnamed hall, points to theartistic and technical superiority of the Nyoirin Kannon andconcludes, in a "chronological reversal,"92 that the lecturehall received the dowager empress's patronage; in addition,he asserts that the Nyoirin Kannon statue in particular profited.In a metaleptic inversion, the effect (the dowager em-18 Gozanze Heian 839.press's largesse) is offered as proof of the cause (the allegedfact of the Nyoirin Kannon's aesthetic and material value).Nishikawa, considering the hall endowed by the dowagerempress to be the lecture hall, conjectures that the statue wasmade before Kasho 3 (850), the year of Dowager EmpressSaga's death, probably around Jowa 9 (842), when EmperorSaga died.That the gilt-wood Buddhas may have been the object ofsimilar largesse should not be overlooked. All three statuesuse a layer of lacquer between the wood and the exterior coatof gold leaf or pigment.93 The extraordinary expense andskill required to construct images employing lacquer meantthat only temples of notable means or patronage housed suchworks. Lacquer use for statues had declined by the mid-ninthsurface was standard for Buddha images, as it counts among Nyoirin Kannon statue by the Register inventory. If imperialcentury largely due to its cost; thus, lacquer application onthe three surviving Kanshinji examples under discussion sugmyoobosatsu, period, ca.Kyoogokokuji (Toji) (from NCSS-jsh, vol. 1, 13; photo: courtesyKanshinji, Mizuno Keizaburo, and Chuo koron bijutsugests that considerable expense was involved in their cre- shuppan)ation. It also links these works to artists trained in a statesupportedatelier in the capital, or to the workshops themselves.94The style of all three statues has many affinities withthe Esoteric statues made for the state temple T6ji about 839(Figs. 16, 18, 24). At the same time, they resemble ChineseEsoteric works from the eighth century, a style that wasthe most significant of his (Sanskrit) lakshanas, or auspiciousphysical marks. For this reason, polychromed Buddha examplesSimilarly, it is typical for bodhisattva statues andthose of deva or lesser deities to be polychromed. The statueconveyed through paintings, drawings, and small statues of Gozanze myoo bosatsu of about 839 (Fig. 18) or thebrought to Japan by Kukai, among other ways. Despite thesesimilarities, contemporary scholars judge the Butsugen butsumoand Miroku Buddhas to be artistically and technicallyinferior to the Nyoirin Kannon.Furthermore, the labor involved in production and decorationwas not always a criterion for the liturgical status of thework and certainly makes a tenuous substantiation: in manytemple halls may be found a honzon (both Buddha and bodhi-Shitenno, both at the Esoteric monastery of Toji, are but twosuch examples. The Nyoirin Kannon is described as decoratedby saishiki, or polychrome, by the Kanshinji Register,which also notes the lecture hall guardian statue, Bishamontenno,as having saishiki decoration. In addition, the patronfor the guardian statue is noted, as it is for the Yakushi image,distinguishing otherwise unrelated images.Given the notations of patronage for the Yakushi andsattva statues) decorated with gold leaf sharing the altar with Bishamontenno statues as well as the fact that both werefinely polychromed statues, such as at the Todaiji Hokkedoor Tdji (Fig. 16). It may also be noted that surface decorationwas largely determined by iconographic requirements. A goldimportant icon types in the early Heian period, these loststatues from the lecture hall warrant special attention. Itshould not be glossed over that no patron is noted for the

48 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1scribed by several Yakushi texts. This aromatic and highlyesteemed wood was, however, not native to Japan and China,so in these contexts the term danjiki typically refers to wood(and a mode of representation) that emulates sandalwoodfigures (Fig. 19 shows an early ninth-century example of anEsoteric form of Yakushi from Shinyakushiji). If the Yakushistatue were a Chinese work made of imported sandalwood, anotation would likely have described it as Chinese, as is thecase for the Tang priest's portrait. Because the Register makesnote of the missing mandorla of the Yakushi statue, thisstrongly suggests that the statue is an older icon, that is, a"guest" icon brought from another temple or already installedelsewhere at Kanshinji during its earliest history. Thislikelihood is supported by the mention ofYakuman, a donor,which provides further "history"-presumably to a knowledgeablereader of the time. The image is not described as aSeven-Buddha Yakushi, that is, the Esoteric form of the deity,so it was probably a non-Esoteric type. The incorporation ofa preexisting or guest (non-Esoteric) Yakushi Buddha intoEsoteric altar assemblies or Esoteric monastic contexts is seenat a number of Heian-period temples (the earliest amongthem are Jingoji and Toji), where such images were typicallyin place before the temple became affiliated with the EsotericShingon sect.95 When present in Shingon halls, Yakushiwould be part of a mandala-like grouping (as at Zenrinji,Kyoto). The Yakushi at ninth-century Kanshinji may havebeen part of an altar group and not the main image. In lightof the historical context (to be elaborated in the next section),it is possible that the Yakushi image was made as acurative vow for the health of an imperial patron. The19 Yakushi nyorai butsu (Buddha), Nara, Nara period, late 8th Yakushi Buddha is also associated with relics, and typicallycentury Shinyakushiji. (photo: courtesy Asuka-en)holds a reliquary jar of the sort that connotes healing.96 Inany case, since the statue is lost and we know nothing of itsvisual character, it is imprudent to attempt a definitive hypothesis.At the same time, its possible implications for thepatronage had been conferred on the Nyoirin Kannon, as original altar should not be overlooked.modern researchers hypothesize, it would almost certainly Nishikawa and Mizuno propose additional evidence to bolhavebeen noted by the Register. Scholars do not address this ster the worth of the Nyoirin Kannon. The contents of thediscrepancy in their discussions of patronage. Neither does temple storehouse as given by the 883 Register indicate athe Register indicate that the statue is a hidden image, casting majority of ritual goods such as urns, bowls, censers, andthis possibility into doubt as well. The material (wood) and other altar implements. The authors call attention to five giltsize (3 shaku) of the statue are provided by notations, which vessels and two white Tang Chinese porcelain bowls (bothmight suggest that these traits were not widely known because donated by the Buddhist master Eshuku), which are identiitwas a hidden image, but the notations could have been fied as objects "for the Kannon bosatsu."97 They assume thismade for other reasons. Lastly, there are many cases in which to mean the Nyoirin Kannon, although the Nyoirin Kannona particular statue was singled out by a patron for special is not the only Kannon represented at the temple: there areproduction or treatment and was worshiped on particular a Sho Kannon painting in the lecture hall inventory and theoccasions, but it was not necessarily the honzon of the altar or Nyoirin Kannon paintings, among others, in the Nyohodo;the temple. Even if the Nyoirin Kannon was the recipient of also, the noun Kannon bosatsu may be singular or plural. Animperial largesse, this points to the statue's efficacy or the additional notation lists one bowl in a set of ten for "thepatron's affinity with the deity and does not necessarily indi- Kannon(s)," with the remaining eight for "the ritual hall"cate the icon's status at the temple. Thus, despite widespread (Hodo) and one "for incense."assumptions to the contrary in the literature, there is little In other Register entries ritual goods are specified for useintrinsic or comparative evidence to support the Nyoirin with the Chinese portrait statue (extant) and the pair of devaKannon as honzon during the temple's early period.statues (now lost) on the same altar. It is suggestive thatYakushi Buddha was widely worshiped in Japan from the although these statues are virtually impossible candidates forseventh century for its curative and magical properties. There the honzon or high canonical rank, precious ritual goods areexist both exoteric and Esoteric versions of sutras about also earmarked for them. Reference to the Kannon offeringsYakushi. The Kanshinji work, listed third in the Register, is are given by the authors as further proof that the Nyoirinnoted as "danjiki," that is, sandalwood-the material pre- Kannon must have been the honzon of the lecture hall by 883,

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 49when the Registerwas compiled.98 In fact, the evidence offereddoes not indicate that the Nyoirin Kannon is the honzon somuch as that particular goods and-in all probability-particularceremonies were reserved for a "Kannon(s)." If theNyoirin Kannon was a secret image by 883, special ceremonieswould normally have marked its annual display or celebration;ritual goods would also be mentioned. It is alsopossible that the urns and bowls were donated by the priestEshuku for particular purposes (such as rituals for healing)in the years or decades after the statue was made, but theexistence of such goods is not proof of the Nyoirin Kannonstatue's or any Kannon image's function for the temple, itsstatus as a secret image, or its canonical rank on an altar.Let us return to a consideration of the Butsugen butsumoBuddha statue in the early Kanshinji context. First, the Butsugenbutsumo and Miroku statues are listed in first andsecond place in the 883 Register list, indicating possible icon-ographic primacy on the altar. As noted above, although theorder of deities in the Register is not conclusive as regards thestatus of the images, eighth-century precedents suggest thatthe image (s) given first on a list are typically the main images.If the Register list merely indicated rank according to canonicaldeity type (Buddha first, then bodhisattvas, and so on),then the Birushana Buddha painting in the middle of the listshould be nearer the beginning, following the three Buddhaslisted in first, second, and third positions. Second, the Registerliterally represents a salient clue to the Butsugen butsumo'simportance. Beneath the text and scattered across the surfaceof the paper, the official Kanshinji temple seal is stamped inred ink-about six hundred seals over seven scrolls (Fig. 13).The seal consists of two characters in a square (shown en-20larged in Fig. 20, the red appearing as gray in the reproduction).99The temple name, Kanshinji, comprises three Sino-Japanesecharacters, pronounced kan, shin, and ji. In their regularforms, the characters mean "temple (ji) of contemplation (orvisualization, kan) [and] mind (shin)." The characters mightalso mean aspiration for enlightenment, bodhicitta, that is,"temple (ji) of bodhi (kan) citta (shin)." The temple seal imprintedacross the pages of the Register uses the first twocharacters only and modifies the second of these. It shows theusual character (kan) in the first place, but for the secondcharacter (shin), a Sanskrit letter (Siddham), sri, is used in itsplace. The temple name is thus rendered by the seal as "Kansri" (illustrated in standard type in Fig. 21). In Buddhistterminology sri means felicity or good luck (Japanese: kisshoor kofuku). Siddham letters have special meaning and use inthe Shingon Esoteric tradition that are key to understandingthe seal.Sanskrit is often used in Shingon ritual texts, and theteachings draw from many Indian elements. Sanskrit soundsand letters are used in mantra and letters are used as symbolicreferents (or samaya forms) for deities, called shuji("seed syllables"; Sanskrit: bija). The Esoteric symbolism ofthe Siddham sri, the letter used in the Kanshinji seal, is oneof several shuji for the deity Butsugen butsumo Buddha.?00Nishikawa and Mizuno mention the Esoteric meaning of theseal with the gloss, "there is a Butsugen butsumo statue in theLecture Hall, suggesting that sri connotes felicitous meanings."'0'I believe that the symbolism of the seal indicates aOfficial Register and Inventory for Kanshinji, detail showingseal (from Nihon no Kokuho, vol. 3, 184; photo: courtesyKanshinji and Shukan Asahi hyakka)21 Kanshinji Register, transcription of seal(from NCSS-jsh 3, 20; altered by authorwith permission of Mizuno Keizaburo andChuo koron bijutsu shuppan)much more consequential relationship between the Butsugenbutsumo Buddha statue/deity and Kanshinji temple thanthis.To begin with, the first element of the seal, kan, meanscontemplation or visualization, as noted above. Kan etymologicallycorresponds to the Sanskrit letter loc, and loc is theroot syllable for the Buddha Locana, the equivalent of Butsugenbutsumo Buddha in the Shingon Esoteric tradition. Inshort, the official ninth-century seal for Kanshinji should beunderstood as a double referent to the Butsugen butsumoBuddha. Additionally, the combination kan sri readily suggestsa parallel reading of "meditation [or visualization]102 onthe Butsugen butsumo Buddha (Locana)." The second letteris in Siddham script, which is the samaya form of the deity andthe locus of meditation on the deity for initiates in visualizationrituals, amplifying the resonance visually, virtually, andsymbolically.It is important to remember that within Shingon, as Kukaiexplained in his essays, language-especially phonetic systems-effectivelymanifests the ultimate truth of emptiness.103The deity Butsugen butsumo Buddha has a primaryrole in the Shido kegyo shidai (Precepts of the Four Stages ofPrayoga) rituals central to Esoteric training.'04 In the rites ofempowerment (kaji) within the training are the three centralempowerments of body, word, and mind. In the second andfourth rites of the Shido kegyo shidai a section called Butsugenbutsumo empowerment appears before the Nyugaganyu, Shonenju, and Jirinkan sections and helps the prac-

50 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1titioner perfect his or her practice. As has been noted, Butsugenbutsumo also has a central position in the WombWorld mandala and is understood therein as the Buddhafrom which all Buddhas come, literally, the "mother." Thisdeity would have been important to the training aspect inWomb World rites (and remains so today). The BuddhaLocana is identified in the Mahavairocana Sutra as vidya-rajnt,the queen of Wisdom, consort of Mahavairocana, and personificationof prajfia (wisdom) as language-mantra.105 Visu-alizing (the mind aspect of practice, eidetic meditation)Locana (the mantra or language aspect of practice) is thusanother possible interpretation of the temple seal. Languageand mind are two of three essential components of ritual:gestures (mudra), language or incantations (especially mantra),and mind (kan, meditation). These three fundamentalritual expressions find their correspondences in the "threemysteries" (Sanskrit: trighuya; Japanese: sanmitsu) of a divinity.The three mysteries are understood as the means bywhich the Dharmakaya Buddha, Mahavairocana, reveals hisinnermost enlightenment to the practitioner.The Buddha Miroku, listed just after Butsugen butsumo,may represent the exoteric teachings and salvation in thefuture. Yakushi Buddha signals healing, and the Nyoirin Kan-non, next in the list, embodies the power of the nyoijujewelassociatedwith relics and the symbol of the Buddha Locana,the proposed patron deity. This grouping of three stronglysuggests Kukai's faith in the mother of Buddhas, the HealingBuddha, and the Future Buddha, and his disciples' understandingof Kukai's faith and promise to aid them after hisdeath as an avatar of Miroku. The painting of Mahavairocana(Birushana), listed next in the Register, may well be the ritualcomplement to the statue of Butsugen butsumo, Mahavairocana'sconsort. Unlike most of the literature on Kanshinji,these interpretations consider contemporaneous practiceand meaning in the Shingon tradition in analyses of the altarand the temple seal.106The icon constitutes "the real" in a particular culturalstructure, but it has value only as long as it remains viable (orpresent) within that structure. Icons are situated in a type oflife cycle within the production-circulation context. Whenelements of that cycle are lost to history, analysis can superimposeits own cycle of commodity circulation.'07 We analyzeboth what we see and what we reconstruct, using tools andepistemologies we deem appropriate. The ninth-centuryicons designated by the Register have been analyzed thus faraccording to their iconography and symbolism; in the contextof ritual function; in light of the meaning of the Kan-shinji seal; according to known material features; in juxtapositionwith a study of patronage; and against the contents ofa body of literature that favors the Nyoirin Kannon as honzon.All these areas of inquiry indicate that the Butsugen butsumoBuddha is a likely candidate for the honzon of the imagehall-or the temple-in its early history. This investigationfurther points to the function of the Nyoirin Kannon as thefocus of individual rituals for the divinity in both theNyohodo and the lecture hall (possibly for different reasons)by the time the Registerwas composed in 883. It also suggeststhat the Nyoirin Kannon was worshiped as a secret image bythe eleventh century or, along with other newly created ornewly secreted icons, by the fourteenth century. It is apparentthat the deity Nyoirin Kannon was important to the Kanshinjipriests and patrons during the ninth century. What is alsoevident is that other icons had a dynamic and primary role inthe early history of the monastery. The following sectionexamines the relationship of presumed imperial patronagefor the Nyoirin Kannon and the honzon status of the Butsugenbutsumo.Causality and ValueThe following chronology of events may be ascertained fromgovernment and temple records for the period and is helpfulto any consideration of the icons. Emperor Saga retired fromthe throne in 823 at the age of thirty-eight, the same year heawarded Kukai the headship of the monastery Toji for use asa Shingon training center in the Heian capital. His wife,Empress Saga, remained at court during the reign of Saga'sbrother, Junna, from 823 to 833. When Emperor Junnastepped down from the throne in 833, at the age of fortyseven,the son of the retired Emperor and Empress Sagaascended as Emperor Nimmyo (810-850, r. 833-50) at theage of twenty-three. In 842, during Nimmyo's reign, the retiredEmperor Saga died at the age of fifty-seven. In the thirdmonth of the year 850, the reigning Emperor Nimmyo diedat the age of forty. At that time Nimmyo's mother, DowagerEmpress Saga, took the tonsure and entered a temple. Shepassed away less than two months later at the age of sixty-five.Each of these imperial court members was a practitioner andpatron of Shingon.As noted above, Nishikawa cites an entry for 874 in theRegister of a land bequest to Kanshinji by Dowager EmpressJunna specifically for the repair of a worship hall "madeaccording to the vow of Dowager Empress Saga." Nishikawa,the leading scholar for the history of Kanshinji, hypothesizesthat the donation of funds by Dowager Empress Saga wasprompted by the illness of her husband, retired EmperorSaga, around 839.108 The date of the dowager empress'sdonation is not recorded; we know only that it was before herdeath in 850. The donation of funds to temples by membersof the imperial family during this period were regarded as ameans to secure religious merit, restore health, or ensure thesafe passage to the Buddhist paradise of a deceased relative.Nishikawa selects the date of 839 because it supports alreadyestablished conclusions about the Nyoirin Kannon. He concludesthat the lecture hall and the Nyoirin Kannon werecompleted by the year 839 with the support of DowagerEmpress Saga; he cites the record requesting that a bell becast (seventh month, 840) as additional evidence. Havingconstructed an argument for the Nyoirin Kannon as the locusof imperial patronage in which canonization plays a supportingrole, he suggests stylistic traits to support his conclusionthat the two Buddhas were produced later, in about 850,unconnected to imperial support.One might well argue that the strong female iconographicnuances of the Butsugen butsumo makes it an ideal candidatefor the empress's patronage.109 A second domain ofdoubt around Nishikawa's hypothesis is that there is no reasonto assume that the dowager empress gave funds for thelecture hall rather than the Nyohodo. Given the strong femaleiconography and ritual elements present in theNyohodo, including the Womb World mandala; links be-

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 51tween the Godaison and activities at the imperial palace; thenyoijujewel elements inherent in representations of the FiveGreat Storehouse bodhisattvas and the Nyoirin Kannon; andthe association of the jewel with imperial relics (to be describedbelow); in addition to the proposed function of theNyohodo as a ritual initiation hall, that structure seems astronger possibility for Dowager Empress Saga's patronage. Adifferent interpretation of the record is that the hall inquestion was dedicated to the dowager empress rather than byher, for which a likely date would be just after her death in850.110 Nishikawa's appraisal (and others that followed fromit) arranges history on the drawing board to preserve thestatus of the Nyoirin Kannon from ancient to modern timesas though history safeguards only the finest works of art.That Nishikawa ascribes the date 839 to the dowager em-press's gift limits the possibilities. If the funds were designatedfor the construction of a hall (and, presumably, itsicons), it is unlikely that they could have been completedonly a year later (recall that a completion date of 840 isstrongly supported by a request to cast a bell that year). Theconstruction of temples in mountainous regions was generallyhampered by geographic and physical conditions, as wasthe case at nearby Kongobuji, Mt. Koya, even during Kukai'slifetime. Moreover, contemporaneous Shingon monasteriesboth in the capital (T6ji) and beyond are on record as havingdeveloped slowly due to lack of financial support or officialrecognition.Even if one allows that the Nyoirin Kannon statue wasmade around the year 839 to aid Emperor Saga's recoveryfrom illness, this does not guarantee its status as honzon, nordoes it preclude the possibility that other statues were simultaneouslycompleted and worshiped. It is in fact difficult toimagine a "completed" hall lacking any of the three Buddhaslisted first in the 883 Register inventory. If the funds weredirected toward the lecture hall, the Yakushi statue recordedin the Register, now lost, would have been a more likely targetfor vows to cure the retired emperor than the Nyoirin Kannon.Such devotions had numerous precedents during theperiod."l The Miroku Buddha, Buddha of the Future, listedsecond in the Register before the Yakushi, could similarlysuggest a vow for Emperor Saga or Nimmyo's afterlife in theBuddhist paradise, or for the aged empress herself. ThatDowager Empress Saga and her son the reigning emperorNimmyo both died early in the year 850 may also haveprompted the placement or creation of devotional images. Ifthe hall named in the Register was dedicated by DowagerEmpress Saga, it may have been in the third month of 850,when Emperor Nimmyo died (and just before she passedaway in the fifth month). These events and beliefs pertainingto Buddhist deities are valuable historical clues. There is noreason to compromise them for the sake of elevating theNyoirin Kannon statue alone.As I have stressed elsewhere, if the three original Buddhastatues made for the altar did not already have special status(iconographic, aesthetic, liturgical, or other) at Kanshinji bythe time the Register was completed in 883, but the NyoirinKannon was a honzon, as scholars assert, then one mightexpect the record to list the Nyoirin Kannon first. If, asNishikawa maintains, Dowager Empress Saga had directedher gifts specifically toward the Nyoirin Kannon within thelecture hall by the year 850, followed by an endowment forthe upkeep of the hall from Dowager Empress Junna in 874,temple records would in usual cases make specific note ofsuch extensive patronage for an image or a hall, which theydo not. In fact, lacking proof to the contrary, the Nyohodo, asthe main hall of the Esoteric compound, would be the presumedrecipient of patronage and would thus not necessarilyrequire special mention in the Register other than the appellation"gogando," or "hall made by a vow."It might seem unlikely that a temple as remote as Kanshinjiwould be the recipient of imperial favor. The connectionprobably can be explained by the following. In 841,just a yearbefore retired Emperor Saga died, Empress Saga received alay Esoteric initiation (kechien kanjo) at Toji from Jitsue, whowas Kukai's favored disciple as well as the teacher of Shinsho(Kanshinji's founder) and a priest himself intimately connectedto the early history of Kanshinji.1l2 A year beforeEmpress Saga's Esoteric initiation, we also find the record forthe casting of the Kanshinji bell (840.7.27). It was during thissame period thatJitsue was active at Mt. Koya, and-accord-ing to Shinsho's testimony-at Kanshinji. The empress mayeasily have become aware of Kanshinji through Jitsue, andshe may have known Shinsho. This history supports my proposalthat Kanshinji received the empress's patronage afterEmperor Saga's illness was recorded (839.8.4), perhaps afterher initiation. There is a good possibility that she funded theNyohodo if it functioned as Kanshinji's initiation hall, inmemory of her own conferral at Toji.Additional evidence links Kanshinji to Dowager EmpressSaga through her son Emperor Nimmyo. According to entriesin the chronicle Sandaijitsuroku, the construction of a setof five new Buddha statues to be dedicated to Kanshinjibegan under the direction of Shinsho in the year 854 (Saiko1). Although neither the reason nor the sponsor for thisproject is clearly indicated, the document tells us thatShinsho's vow included these words: "I ask for the blessing ofthe late Emperor Nimmyo, whose virtue I am too ignorantand insignificant to appreciate."1l3 Nimmyo died in 850, thefive Buddhas were begun in 854, and they were completedthree years later. Ito Shiro believes, and I concur, that therecord strongly suggests that the five new statues were commissionedfor Emperor Nimmyo's reincarnation in paradisefour years after his death.ll4The evidence presented above, namely, the connectionsbetween Nimmyo's mother, Jitsue, and Kanshinji, in tandemwith the dowager empress's sponsorship of a hall at thetemple, strengthens the idea that these five statues werecommissioned for the temple to honor and protect Nimmyo.An entry in the records of Emperor Montoku (r. 850-58)points further to the association between the court and Kanshinji.The document notes that on the seventh day afterEmperor Nimmyo's death, Kasho 3 (850).3.27, envoys weredispatched to "the six temples connected to the sovereign.""115The envoy Michi-no-o was sent to Hinoo-dera, the local namefor Kanshinji. These links between Nimmyo and Kanshinji,indicated by the dedication of the Five Wisdom Buddhas andthe envoy, suggest that Dowager Empress Saga's bequest fora hall at Kanshinji could have come at the time of Nimmyo'sdeath or during a period of indisposition, placing the dedicationof the "Saga-in Taiko taigo gogando" hall in the same

52 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1period, that is, the late 840s or early 850s.116 The associationbetween Kanshinji and the imperial palace relics rites duringthe fourteenth century described above may also find itsorigin in these earlier centuries.The iconography of the five Buddhas made for Kanshinjiunder Shinsho's direction is germane to the present discussion.The Five Wisdom Buddhas, with Birushana (Dainichi)Buddha at center, are the central motif of the DiamondWorld mandala. This deity group is understood as the DiamondWorld and partner to the Womb World, the latterbeing the prevalent iconography of the Nyohodo. The impetusfor an altar or hall featuring Diamond World imagerywould not be surprising given the curious absence of a DiamondWorld mandala painting in the Nyohodo. Ritual hallsfor the Five Wisdom Buddhas, called Godaido, were found atEsoteric temples from the ninth century. It is quite likely thata plan was envisioned (probably by Shinsho) to pair two hallsat Kanshinji: the Nyohodo and a new hall for the Five WisdomBuddhas, as manifestations of the Womb and DiamondWorlds, respectively.117The five new statues, however, never realized their place inthe proposed plan. Records state that the Five Wisdom Buddhaswere made at Kanshinji; after their completion in 857,Shinsho had them shipped to Zenrinji, a Kyoto monasterybuilt under Shinsho's direction in 853 on the estate of FujiwaraSekio in the Higashiyama district of the capital.118 If theplan for Kanshinji included a Godaido hall to balance theiconography of the Womb World mandala-and the femalenature of the proposed honzon Butsugen butsumo-and ifthat plan was not realized, then it is logical that a shiftoccurred over time in the liturgical and symbolic importanceof the honzon proposed here, the Butsugen butsumo, to favorthe Nyoirin Kannon.It seems natural to question whether the death of DowagerEmpress Saga in 850 contributed to changes at Kanshinji. Anexamination of land bequests to the temple in the Registershows that the peak of (recorded) support for Kanshinjioccurred in the late 860s. In the seventh month of 874,Dowager Empress Junna made her land bequest to Kanshinjito pay for repairs to a hall previously dedicated by DowagerEmpress Saga, as discussed above. By that time, judging fromrecords of land grants and other contributions to the monastery,support for Kanshinji had declined. No scholar has asyet suggested that Dowager Empress Junna's land grant in874 may have been made in honor of the priest Shinsho,abbot (betto) of Kanshinji, who had passed away one year andtwo days before (in 873.7.7).119 Given the importance ofShinsho's relations to the temple, and the established practiceof marking the first year after death, such a proposal isreasonable.With the group of Five Wisdom Buddha images intendedfor Kanshinji installed at Zenrinji from 857 and the Esotericmaster Shinsho deceased, the iconography and symbolism ofthe Nyoirin Kannon may have taken on increasing importanceto the activities at Kanshinji. It is also possible that theNyoirin Kannon came to be associated with Shinsho after hisdeath in 873. Paintings were frequently added to altar assembliesover time. The Register lists two Nyoirin Kannon paintingsin the Nyohodo by 883. One possibility is that they werecreated for the hall after the Nyoirin Kannon in the lecturehall achieved greater prominence and as further complementto the female Womb World iconography of the hall.The Five Wisdom Buddha statues' relocation to Zenrinji in857 opened an avenue for new meanings and icons at theNyohodo, or the highlighting of existing trends. Thus, ratherthan serving to bolster the probability of the Nyoirin Kannondeity (and statue) as honzon through their iconographic affinity,the creation of two Nyoirin Kannon paintings for theNyohodo may have been inspired by the increasing importanceof the Nyoirin Kannon in the lecture hall contextdecades after it was made.How would the Nyoirin Kannon have come to replace theButsugen butsumo Buddha as honzon? Many art historianswould point to its beauty as the answer. But even here we areon unstable ground. I have suggested that changes in worshippractices and patronage at the temple contributed to itsaltered status. Below I will again consider the evolving contextat Kanshinji, one in which the Nyoirin Kannon gainedvalue and significance, offering evidence for a more complexnexus of meanings at the monastery in the ninth century andthereafter.The Life of ImagesThe name Nyoirin Kannon, literally, "Kannon of the WishgrantingJewel and Wheel," refers to two of the image'shand-held attributes: nyoiju (or h-Iju), a jewel (Sanskrit:cintamani) that grants all desires, and rin, a wheel (Sanskrit:cakra) that symbolizes the Buddhist teachings (both attributesare clearly visible in Fig. 2).120 It seems likely that the NyoirinKannon had a special role at Kanshinji, especially as a Kannonof the wish-fulfilling jewel. Because two paintings and astatue of the deity existed in the temple by 883, it can bereasonably assumed that there occurred rituals dedicated tothe deity. At some point in time, the Butsugen butsumoceased to be regarded as honzon. This probably happenedduring the thirteenth century. The earliest reliable record todescribe the Nyoirin Kannon as a honzon and as a secretimage is a pilgrimage journal of 1378 by the priest Kenki, theKanshinji sankei shodojunreiki (A pilgrim's account of a visit tothe various halls of Kanshinji).l21 The Pilgrim's Account statesthat the Nyoirin Kannon honzon was placed behind a three-bay span of doors within the five-by-five-bay chancel (that is,seven-bay square) Hondo (that is, Kondo, or main hall), a"recently rebuilt hall." The priest also notes that the statuewas "carved by the master" (Kukai). He explains that fewpersons were allowed to see this sacred image in times past,but on the occasion of the recent rebuilding of the former"Konpon godo" (another name for a main hall), he was ableto view it for an instant.122 He describes the polychromedstatue as larger than life-size; he also refers to it as the"seven-star Nyoirin Kannon" (a reference to Ursa Major, tobe considered below).The fourteenth-century Pilgrim's Account notes that theearthen platform altar (jidan) "was not disturbed" when theKonpon godo was rebuilt.123 The ninth-century Register doesnot mention an earthen altar. From this we can deduce thatan earthen altar was created between 883 and 1378. It isunclear when the original ninth-century lecture hall was lost,but according to the Pilgrim's Account of 1378, the hall hadrecently been rebuilt, suggesting that at least one other hall

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 53(the Konpon godo) was built after the original lecture halland before the structure of about 1378. The latter structurewas lost and rebuilt at least once more before the presentmain hall (Fig. 22), which dates to 1439 (Eikyo 11).124 Theconfiguration of the hall, that is, with a five-bay-square chancel,is similar to the original lecture hall, except that thepresent building now has a raido, or forehall, added to thefacade for ceremonial use.125From this document we know that the Nyoirin Kannon wasalready a secret image for some unspecified period of timeprior to 1378. The text also indicates that the altar arrangementand equipment were very different from the contextdescribed in 883 but similar to the modern altar. The Pilgrim'sAccount also notes that the Nyoirin Kannon was flanked by "aFudo myoo statue" and a "hosho [that is, dharma nature][miniature] pagoda," both behind the span of doors andboth "made by Kukai." 26 The latter two works, neither extanttoday, are not listed anywhere in the Register of 883. Theyhave been replaced on the altar with fourteenth-century im-ages of a Fudo and its iconographic relation, Aizen myoo.Incidentally, both fourteenth-century images flanking theNyoirin Kannon today were allegedly "made by Kukai" and,like the ancient Nyoirin Kannon, have been enclosed withinindividual zushi since the fourteenth century (as in Fig. 3).127This context further supports my proposition that imagesassociated with Kukai took on increasing importance at thetemple from around the time of Kenki's visit in 1378. Hisjournal also suggests that the Fudo deity and the pagoda wereimportant to the fourteenth-century temple or the main hallliturgy; Fudo was widely worshiped in medieval Japan, andthe pagoda was symbolic of a reliquary and associated withrelics, as well as the dharma. Except for the Nyoirin Kannon,not one of the statues or paintings inventoried for the lecturehall in 883 are mentioned in the Pilgrim's Account. Mostcuriously absent are the two extant Butsugen and MirokuBuddhas.128A survey of medieval records allows us to trace somechanges in the meaning and location of the two Buddhasfrom the late fourteenth century. A three-storied "jeweledstupa" (hoto; modern, Tahoto) or three-storied pagodal29 wasbuilt by the year 1360 and was restored three times beforebeing destroyed by fire in 1462 (Kansei 3).130 The pagodahoused two or four Buddha statues (four Buddhas would bethe standard iconographic grouping). It is unclear whetherboth the ninth-century Butsugen butsumo and Miroku werehoused within that pagoda, but they were definitely installedas two of the four directional Buddhas in the new so-calledTatekake pagoda, completed between 1462 and 1633 andextant today, along with a Shaka and Yakushi Buddha of laterdates.131 The iconographic identity of the Butsugen butsumoand Miroku Buddhas changed around this time as well, toMiroku and Hosho nyorai, respectively (today they retainthese names in popular worship). This identity transformationwas probably a result of their installation in the pagodawith its own special iconographic plan.132 Miroku Buddha'snew name, Hosho (Sanskrit: Ratnasaihbhava), "One Arisenfrom the Jewel," refers to a deity in both the Womb andDiamond World mandalas. Hosho is also the principal deityin the imperial palace Latter Seven-Day rite established byKukai, in which relics from Toji are the ritual locus.13322 Kanshinji, main hall, 1439 (photo: courtesy Kanshinji andAsuka-en)It is clear from a number of changes that Kanshinji becamestrongly associated with rites for the imperial relics-whichare in turn closely tied to nyoijujewel worship-no later thanthe fourteenth century. According to legend Kukai buried ajewel (cintamani or nyoiju) given to him by his Chinese master,Huiguo, in the mountains of Muroo (alt. Mur6), to thenorthwest of Kanshinji, where the temple Murooji became animportant Shingon center during the early Heian period.The jewel and relics of Muroo figure largely in the LatterSeven-Day rite at the imperial palace by the eleventh century.The presiding abbot of the rite, dispatched from Kukai'sShingon monastery in the Heian capital, Toji, was required tocarry out the central ritual offering as he meditated onHosho, the buried nyoi of Muroo, and the Buddha's relic onthe great ritual altar.134 Kanshinji soon became an extensionof this imperial rite. An imperial order of 1360 indicates thatthe relics from Toji temple were presented at the Kanshinjimain hall, 'jewel pagoda," Karitei (Sanskrit: Hariti, a goddess)altar, and offered to the Benzaiten deva.l35 These developmentssuggest the changing context at Kanshinji duringthe Northern and Southern Courts period, Nanbokucho(1336-92), when one of two emperors ruled from Yoshino,south of Kanshinji.136Another factor in the changes undergone at Kanshinji is itsassociation with constellar traditions. Ancient (and current)belief holds that Kikai followed the Seven Stars of the NorthernDipper constellation (Big Bear or Ursa Major; Japanese:Hokuto shichisei) deep into the mountains one night anddesignated the area to which its stars pointed as the site forKanshinji. No later than the fourteenth century, the NyoirinKannon statue at Kanshinji was called the Seven-star Nyoirin.137Modern art historians do not comment on these connections,but the significance of Ursa Major is apparent fromthe veneration of its astral deities in most if not all the ritualtexts of the Chuin lineage (that is, the Shingon branchassociated with Mt. Koya). The Kakuzensho, an importantEsoteric ritual manual of about 1218,138 features a long sectionon the worship of the Northern Dipper and quotes a fullpassage from the Beidou qixing yanmingjing (The Seven Starsof the Northern Dipper Longevity sutra), an apocryphal Chi-

54 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 123 Maedachi Nyoirin Kannon bosatsu, Heian period, 1lthcentury. Kanshinji (photo: courtesy Kanshinji and MizunoKeizaburo)nese sutra,139 or a sutra of probable Japanese invention, theSutra of the Seven-Stars Cintamanicakra's Secret Essentials.l40 Gra-pard notes that rites focusing on Ursa Major were prohibitedby the government as early as 796 for a variety of reasons, andthat from the middle of the ninth century documents indicateincreased interest in astrology on the part of the governmentand aristocrats.'41There is also unexpected material evidence of preferredtreatment of the Nyoirin Kannon. When the icon is viewedfrontally, it is evident that its flame-ringed wooden mandorlarests slightly off center (Fig. 1). Close examination of thejoinery, wear marks, and measurements of the mandorla forthe Nyoirin Kannon confirm that the mandorla does notprecisely match. Further investigation proved that the mandorlawas originally made for the Butsugen butsumo Buddha.142Presumably, when the mandorla for the Nyoirin Kannonwas damaged or lost at some point in the temple'shistory, the nimbus for the Butsugen butsumo was "borrowed"to replace it, and it remains with the Nyoirin Kannontoday. Neither the Butsugen butsumo nor the Miroku statueshas a mandorla today.It seems very likely that the significance of the NyoirinKannon was amplified, both at the iconographic and liturgicallevels, due to the increasing attention given the jewel-inconnection with relic worship-at court and at temples inthe capital and mountainous regions. The existence of twoNyorin Kannon paintings in the Nyohodo by 883 indicatesthat Kukai's disciples had knowledge of nyoiju worship orother rites for the Kannon and that Kanshinji was linked,historically or otherwise, to jewel or relics beliefs. I havesuggested that given the increasing importance of the LatterSeven-Day rite and the legend of the cintdmani at Muroo fromthe mid-tenth century, noted above, legends about the foundingof Kanshinji, including its historical association withKukai and the seven-star Ursa Major, may have developed,along with practices honoring the nyoiju and relics.143 Theselegends were then bolstered by the increasing attention givenKanshinji by court and clergy during the Nanbokucho era.The fourteenth-century pagoda housing the four Buddhasand the miniature pagoda on the main hall altar noted in the1378 Pilgrim's Account were undoubtedly part of this complexevolution of meanings.The proposition of a late tenth-century date for the increasingrelevance of the Nyoirin Kannon statue to rites at Kanshinjiis further substantiated by the existence of an alternateimage of the Nyoirin Kannon at Kanshinji (Fig. 23). Suchicons, known as maedachi, "to stand before," typically serve asstand-ins for secret images.144 Dating to the eleventh century,this smaller image was likely placed before shrine doors concealingthe older Nyoirin Kannon. The creation of a maedachifor worship suggests that the original Nyoirin Kannon becamea secret image during the eleventh century.145Hidden images like the Nyoirin Kannon-hibutsu, literally,"secret Buddha"-are common to Esoteric temples from atleast the tenth century.146 As Elias Canetti writes, "secrecy liesat the very core of power."147 Such images are revealed oncea year or more infrequently and, as in other cultural tradi-tions, are thought to hold considerable power and efficacy.The idea of concealing and revealing a sacred object finds itsorigins in the worship of relics.'48 The aura and power of thehidden icon are maintained through denial of its direct gaze.Walter Benjamin wrote, "The essentially distant object is theunapproachable one. Unapproachability is indeed a majorquality of the cult image. True to its nature, it remains'distant,' however close it may be."'49 His seemingly contra-dictory concept of "aura" allows that even the mechanicallyreproduced object (in the present case, the revealed and researchedicon) retains the distance and sacrality of its originalcontext.The fanatic's assault on the Nyoirin Kannon statue in 1955was an affirmation of the deity's continuing power-its aura.(One is reminded here of the story of the sculpture of Shirmnin the Grotto of Taq i Bustan, about which Ernst Kris andOtto Kurz note, "the statue was believed to be alive not only bythe man who offered his love to it, but also by those who mutilatedit to prevent others from falling in love with it."150) Butthe incident also exposed the hidden-it closed the distancethat maintains sacrality. Finally, it unexpectedly revealed theicon to the eye of historians and art historians, an audiencethat wanted greater knowledge of its formal attributes.Expectations and Esoteric DescriptionThe history of Kanshinji and its environs reveals how theNyoirin Kannon was linked to the wish-grantingjewel (or viceversa), contributing to the deity's favorable reception aroundthe thirteenth century. The status of the Nyoirin Kannon andother images at the temple changed in tandem with Kukai'srenown and in keeping with their role in traditions concern-

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 55ing relics and the stars, and with imperial patronage. Considerationsof efficacy are only inferential in my arguments,largely because efficacy is rarely documented. In the religiouscontext one can usually assume that a cherished image isperceived as being efficacious. And there is certainly a mutuallysupportive structure among factors that aid canonizationand perceptions of efficacy. The elevated status of a workmaintains certain conditions and beliefs, while the context(for example, oral tales or the building of a new hall) is atonce engendered by the work. Catherine Bell's observationson ritualization are useful in understanding this relationship-amongmany others. "Ritualization, the production ofritualized acts," can be seen as "the strategic production ofexpedient schemes that structure the environment in such away that the environment appears to be the source of theschemes and their values."151Perhaps the work of art, more so than ritual, can be readilyappropriated and (mis)understood as fixed in meaning, sothat the "production of expedient schemes" by and about thework appears seamless. In order to understand both ancientand modern meanings for the Nyoirin Kannon, it is importantto accept that the strategies that structure and maintaincertain Shingon beliefs are pervasive and self-perpetuating.As Bell further states, "ritualization does not see how it activelycreates place, force, event, and tradition, how it redefinesor generates the circumstances to which it is responding....It does not see what it does in the process of realizingthis end, its transformation of the problematic itself."152 Likeritual, canonization is a strategy that both validates and extendsthe schemes it embodies; these schemes are internalizedin subsequent reception (ritual theorists might considercanonization a ritual practice). Modern scholarship on theNyoirin Kannon is structured by the schemes and activitiesthat have occurred around it and in which it participates.This setting, a nexus of activities, consists of religious practice,apocryphal tales, belief, historical research, aestheticappraisal, and the work's affective order,153 among manyresponses.In this final section I will return to a discussion of therelationship between characterizations of Esotericism andevaluations of the Kanshinji Nyoirin Kannon. The stasis ofdependency created by what Hans Robert Jauss calls the"horizon of expectations"'54 and generalizations concerningEsoteric Buddhist expression and artistic value secures thework in an exalted, canonized, and thus unresponsive andfixed position as regards evaluation: both the statue and theteachings whose character it ostensibly expresses are mutuallypredetermining. As for its place in the artistic canon, arthistorians similarly situate the Kanshinji statue within chronologicaland stylistic taxonomies according to its formal andaesthetic features. These are then applied to privilege theicon in a history of use, meaning, and representation withoutsufficient documentary or other evidence.Sawa Ryuken praised the Nyoirin Kannon as "a work ofEsoteric statuary well known for its exceptional expression ofsensuality."155 In 1964 he wrote,Not only is the Nyoirin Kannon at the Kanshinji the greateststatue of this Kannon ever produced in Japan; it alsorepresents the pinnacle of allJapanese Esoteric Buddhistart. Seated with one knee raised in the royal-ease posture,the trunk held straight and head slightly inclined to oneside, the figure has a soft sensuality that is balanced by thedignity of the pose. Not long after this statue was completed,Esoteric art in Japan settled into formalization... 156Here and elsewhere the literature on the Nyoirin Kannonposits it as a model of Shingon expression wherein the magicalor sublime power of the image-its excess157-is counteredby two intellectual maneuvers: its power is classed asvisual and sensual rather than efficacious or magical, whilethe potential sexual aspect of its power or appearance iscloaked by claims of mysterious and complex doctrine.158Such reformulation masks undesirable elements while preservingthem in a different, normalized, form.Bernard Faure puts it another way:If unlike the devotional or ritualistic approach-and morethan the traditional Buddhist emphasis on beauty-themodern aesthetic approach is essentially a strategy forcontaining the "impure" (sexual or magical) elements ofcultural artifacts, we need to move beyond aesthetic discourseto consider the abundant, yet neglected, anthropologicaldata regarding (and regarded by) the icon.159The terms used to describe Esoteric icons frequently take onthe same tone as the object they describe;'60 the detailed,complex, colorful appearance and the lively poses of figuresin mandala paintings often elicit highly charged, dense de-scriptions. In the case of the Nyoirin Kannon, the delicate,indeterminate, caressing tone of the terms chosen by variousauthors mimics their appraisal (or vice versa): "minagirunikutai no utsukushisa" (beauty constituted by overflowingsensuality),161 "minagiru mikkyotekki kan'notekina jusokukan"(overflowing esoteric and sensual repleteness),162"maborokai ayashii made no nikkan no hyogen ni taishite"(phantasmal, even strangely mystical expression of sensualism).163The icon is photographed with a dark backgroundand glowing direct light on it-"boutique lighting"; when thiseffect is used in today's museum displays, Stephen Greenblattfinds that "[the] pool of light that has the surreal effect ofseeming to emerge from within the object rather than tofocus upon it from without-is an attempt to provoke orheighten the experience of wonder, as if modern museumdesigners feared that wonder was increasingly difficult toarouse."'64 One is led to question, then, the intention behindgiving the sacred Buddhist icon a heightened experience ofwonder. Does the temple fear that devotional wonder haswaned?Descriptions that mention the sensual, sexual, or somaticqualities of the Nyoirin Kannon are posited largely by Shin-gon scholar-priests. These may arise from unrecorded ritualexperiences and insights somehow akin to sexual experiences.165In China the rites of the stars had long involvedsexual promiscuity'66 and were, as we have seen, a vital part ofesoteric belief and practice-and of import to Kukai beforehis esoteric training overseas. These rites, specifically those ofUrsa Major, were suppressed by the Nara and Heian governments.The hibutsu status of the icon also contributes to a

56 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1desire for the unseen or unobtainable that is analogous withsexual desire. The secret image is a double, an imaginedbody, of the deity. Secreting the icon helps to preserve itsefficacious presence for the devotee. Sexual arousal or meditativeexperiences akin to arousal may begin with the gaze.Looking, perception, visualization, and visual attention allfind their genesis in an ontology of images that recognizespower in the absent image.Comparing the Kanshinji work to the roughly contemporaneousEsoteric Shingon statues in the Toji lecture hall(Figs. 16, 18, 24), Nishikawa writes: "for the first time we cansee an originality of expression: there is an overflowing Esotericand sensual repleteness in the expression and posenever before witnessed in previous periods."'67 Sawa's research,like that of many other scholars, characterizes theNyoirin Kannon as enigmatic, exotic, and sensual, but itomits a discussion of closely related and mutually constitutingspheres: ritual activity and the icon's efficacy. Instead, theyacknowledge the statue's status as a religious icon in termsthat maintain an idealized characterization of Esoteric Buddhismand Esoteric Buddhist icons, almost exclusivelythrough a description of a work's artistic merit, material orvisual features, the historical record (especially that whichleads to dating or a historically valued pedigree), and historicalrelativism. In Sawa's characterization, the Toji statuesshow many of the same stylistic traits attributed to the "overflowingEsoteric and sensual repleteness" of the Nyoirin Kan-non (compare the Toji bodhisattva, Fig. 24, with its fullalthoughtaut-form and gentle countenance).Both the formal and somatic-religious approaches to thestatue reflect general trends in scholarship for Buddhistsculpture during the late nineteenth century. Buddhist artwas rehabilitated during the Meiji era as part of Japan's newcultural identity, its cultural partrimony. Research prior toWorld War II analyzed statues primarily according to stylistictraits based on formal analysis, or stylistic traits attributed toa religious sect's mode of expression (for example, PureLand style, Shingon style, and so on). Sculpture of the Heianperiod (794-1185) was usually divided into early, middle,and late phases. Early Heian works (794-931) were characterizedas belonging to the Nara style, Esoteric style, andexoteric (kengyo) style.168 Postwar scholars generally preferstylistic groupings specific to technique, such as wooden(mokuzo or junmokuzo chokoku), faux sandalwood (danzo),and lacquer or lacquer-treated (kanshitsuzo or mokushinkanshitsuzo) statue types.In the formal approach, stylistic, decorative, and otherfeatures of the Nyoirin Kannon, all laudatory, are said topoint to the imperial court or similar patrons of ample meansand artistic control. Careful comparisons of the Kannon'sdrapery folds, ear formation, surface modeling, and methodof construction with those of other works provide valid evidencefor linking it to ninth-century state-sponsored workshops.The data from both formal and technical studiesgenerally provide the information for a linear typology andchronology of statuary and lead to larger taxonomic divisionsof "native style," "Chinese style," "Esoteric style," "exotericstyle," and so on, which are also useful categories in comparativestudies. The articulation of such divisions, however, mayrest on false claims situated outside the work. When a work is24 Kongosatta bosatsu, Heian period, ca. 839. Kyoogokokuji(Toji) (from NCSS-jsh, vol. 1, 1; photo: courtesy T6ji, MizunoKeizaburo, and Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan)admired and canonized, contingencies such as time andplace and function are pushed aside or reformulated tomaintain other interests. In such cases, taxonomic divisionsand models begin to limit our understanding of a work.Similarly, when the mysterious, profound, and foreign characterof Esoteric Buddhism is discussed, examples such as theNyoirin Kannon come to "prove" these very characterizations.According to Smith, a canonized work is isolated because it"performs certain desired/able functions particularly well ata given time for some community of subjects, being perhapsnot only 'fit' but exemplary." Under such conditions it "willhave an immediate survival advantage" and, by virtue of itsresultant cultural reproduction, "will be more readily availableto perform those or other functions for other subjects ata subsequent time."'69 Appraisals of the Nyoirin Kannonsupport a normalized definition of Esotericism that inhibitsexploration of many other images and image functions. Ifthese evaluations are understood, in part, as a symptom ofcircumventing the work's powerful presence, their normalizationspeaks further to the suppression of that power.170 Atsome point in their history, the two extant ninth-centuryBuddha statues at Kanshinji, the Butsugen butsumo and Miroku,were removed from the altar they once shared with theNyoirin Kannon. Today, they are normalized: art historiansconsider the two artistically inferior to the Nyoirin Kannon

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 57and they are housed by temple administrators in a separatebuilding for temple artifacts, not in any of Kanshinji's worshiphalls. Because the two extant Buddhas do not dovetailwith the preferred modern characterization of Esoteric Buddhismas enigmatic or sensual, there is further impetus todiscount their role at the monastery and in the history ofBuddhist art. Removed from a liturgical context, the workshave little opportunity to prove efficacious in the life of thepractitioner.Within and Outside the CanonOne of the determinations of the question of value is thepredication of the subject.-Gayatri1985171Chakravorty Spivak,An epigraph typically functions as a rebus for an essay, providinga gloss or indicating the author's approach. Spivak'swords serve as both a closing and self-censure. The NyoirinKannon has been the subject of many scholarly discussions,and in my attempt to decenter it I have only added to theliterature. This essay nonetheless seeks to bring some balanceto existing studies. Today's honzon is treated here as both thesubject of study and as the object of history. I have done morethan suggest that other interpretations are possible-andnecessary-for the Kanshinji Nyoirin Kannon. Awareness ofthe unconscious biases of past and present has stimulated afresh analysis. By considering the bases for prevailing interpretations,both etic and emic sources for canonization havebeen identified.172 As part of this process new or recoveredmeanings have been suggested for both lost and extant statuesand paintings at Kanshinji. Historical consciousness,Hans-Georg Gadamer explains, leads to "seeing historicalmovement not only in process, but also in understandingitself. Understanding is not to be thought of so much as anaction of one's subjectivity, but as the placing of oneselfwithin a process of tradition, in which the past and presentare constantly fused."173 It is from within and outside a varietyof traditions, canons, and histories that the Kanshinji iconsshould be understood.CyntheaJ. Bogel (Ph.D. Harvard University, 1995) teachesJapaneseart and architectural history at the University of Washington. Shehas published on Buddhist art, coauthored Hiroshige: Birds andFlowers (1988), and curated exhibitions of contemporary textilesand ukiyoe prints. She is writing a book on Esoteric image and icon[Division of Art History, School of Art, Art History and Design,University of Washington, PO Box 353440, Seattle, Wash. 98195-3440, cjbogel@u. washington.edu].Frequently Cited SourcesAbie Ryuichi, The Weaving of Mantra: K-ukai and the Construction of EsotericBuddhist Discourse (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999).Ito Shiro, "Shingon mikkyo chozoron," in Jingoji to Murooji, vol. 8 of ShinpenMeiho nihon no bijutsu, ed. Ota Hirotaro et al. (Tokyo: Shogakkan, 1992),99-141.KZ: Inaba Yoshitake et al., eds., Kobob daishi zenshu, vols. 1-3, 3d ed., rev.(Koyasan, Wakayama Pref.: Koyasan daigaku, Mikkyo Bunka Kenkyujso,1968-78).Mae Toshio and Nagashima Gyozen et al., eds., Kanshinji, vol. 2 of Kojijunrei,Saikoku, ed. Inoue Yasushi and Sawa Ryuken (Tokyo: Tankosha, 1981).MD: Mikkyo Jiten Hensankai, ed., Mikkyo daijiten, 6 vols. in 1 (1931; reprint,Kyoto: Hozokan, 1983).NCSS-jsh 3: Nishikawa Shinji, Nishikawa Kyotaro, and Mizuno Keizaburo, eds.,Juyo sakuhin hen, vol. 3, Nihon chokokushi kiso shiryo shusei, ed. MaruoShosaburo et al. (Tokyo: Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan, 1977).Smith, Barbara Herrnstein, Contingencies of Value (Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversity Press, 1988).T: TakakusuJunjiro and Watanabe Kaigyoku, eds., Taisho shinshu daizokyo (theBuddhist canon), 100 vols. (1922-32; rev. ed., Tokyo: Taisho issaikyokankoka, 1969).White, David Gordon, ed., Tantra in Practice (Princeton: Princeton UniversityPress, 2000).NotesThis essay is dedicated to Professor John Rosenfield (Professor Emeritus,Harvard University), who sponsored my first study of the Nyoirin Kannon,presented at the Frick Symposium, New York, in 1985. He then patientlyguided my interest in Buddhist art for a decade thereafter. Professor MizunoKeizaburo (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku) trained me to assessBuddhist statues and the documents of Japanese temple history and hassupported my critical examination of his scholarship on the Kanshinji statues.I am indebted to the manyJapanese scholars whose inestimable scholarship Ievaluate in this essay, especially the late Nishikawa Shinji. My research andwriting were sponsored by the J. Paul Getty Foundation; the Walter H.Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington; and the JapanFoundation Endowment Fund, University of Washington.I would like to acknowledge the generosity and expertise of friends andcolleagues who commented on this essay at various stages, especially RyuichiAbe, Ian Astley, the late Robert Boardingham, Jeffrey Collins, Allan Grapard,Christine Guth, Karen Kelsky, Charles Lachman, Donald McCallum, SamuelMorse, John Stevenson, Mimi Yiengpruksawan, and a very considerate anonymousreader for the Art Bulletin. The Rev. Eko Noble has kindly offeredsuggestions and shared her insights at key moments in my research. I am alsograteful for input from students in a 2000 seminar on Esoteric art at theUniversity of Washington, especially Heather Blair, and for suggestions fromAlfred Acres, Barbara Altmann, Asai Kazuharu, Fujii Keisuke, Allen Hockley,Kihara Toshie, Konno Toshifumi, Mizuno Keizaburo, Brian Ruppert, TimonScreech, Robert Sharf, the late Nishikawa Shinji, Yukiko Shirahara, JeromeSilbergeld, Wada Keiko, Marek Wieczorek, and Catherine Vance Yeh.Unless otherwise indicated, translations are mine. Transliterations ofJapanesewords, unless otherwise noted, are from MD. The artist is unknown forall works illustrated. Sanskrit terms may be used over Japanese equivalents ifcommon usage dictates.1. Literally, the "main object of veneration." The Sanskrit equivalent isSayadhi-devatah. The term probably derives from Tantric texts. In Japan, itquickly came to be used by both Esoteric and non-Esoteric traditions. InJapanese Esoteric practice the honzon can take three forms (ji, in, keizo): averbal "seed syllable" (hr Japanese: shuji, Sanskrit [henceforth, Skt]: bzja); asymbolic mudra, or hand gesture; or a pictorial representation. Each of theseis further subdivided into six groups, according to ritual texts. The termappears in the Dainichi-kyo (Mahavairocana sutra); see esp. the section honzonsanmai bon (sanmai, Skt: samadhi, meditative consciousness, concentration), T,vol. 18, text no. 848; see MD, 2068. In Notes on the Secret Treasury (Hizoki), a textby Kukai featuring the oral instruction he received in China from the esotericmaster Huiguo, he discusses the term honzon (KZ, vol. 2, 30).2. A bodhisattva, literally, bodhi being, has voluntarily stopped the enlightenmentprocess in order to help sentient beings on the path to attainenlightenment. Kannon (Skt: Avalokitegvara), often called the bodhisattva ofmercy, is the most popular form of the deity in east Asia. In Sanskrit, NyoirinKannon is Cintamanicakra-avalokitesvara.3. Eighteen corresponds to the day set for Kannon worship by the "tenprecept-observation days" (jusainichi).4. For an excellent discussion of Nyoirin Kannon iconography and iconology,numerous illustrations of both Japanese and Chinese images, and anextensive bibiography, see Inoue Kazutoshi, ed., Nyoirin Kannonzo, BatoKannonzo, Nihon no bijutsu, no. 312 (May 1992): esp. 19-53, 96-97. See alsoMD, 1738-39; and Hamada Takashi, "Boston bijutsukan Nyoirin Kannon gazoko," Museum, no. 386 (May 1983): 23-33. For a stylistic and iconographicanalysis of Nyoirin Kannon statues in English, see Sherry Fowler, "NyoirinKannon: A Chronological Analysis of Six-Armed Sculptural Examples fromthe Ninth through the Fourteenth Century," M.A. thesis, University of Washington,1989. Further references for the Kanshinji statues are provided below.5. InJapanese, Henge Kannon, literally, "transformed-shape Kannon." Kannonis one of many bodhisattvas, and the Nyoirin is one of many transmigrationsor forms of Kannon. Transmigrations of the bodhisattvas and Buddhasfeature prominently in Esoteric Buddhism-in both texts and imagery-andto a lesser degree in non-Esoteric traditions. A two-armed form of the deity isbased on exoteric (that is, not Esoteric) texts. In the Victoria and Albert

58 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1Museum, London, there is a Javanese four-armed gilt-bronze statue of thisdeity roughly contemporary with the six-armedJapanese example at Kanshinji(no. 459-1880, dated by the museum to the early ninth century). For Indianand Chinese examples, see Inoue and Fowler (as in n. 4).6. The 1897 (Meiji 30) Protection of Old Temples and Shrines Law (Koshajihozonho) designated numerous temple and shrine artifacts for governmentfundedconservation and exhibition in national museums. These were revisedseveral times, and in 1951 (Showa 26) the number of Kokuho was drasticallyreduced. At that time the government designated Important Cultural Properties(Juyo bunkazai), totaling 8,339 artworks and 1,753 structures, andNational Treasures (Kokuho, the highest level of importance), totaling 825artworks and 207 structures. These same terms and designations remain inuse today; new items are regularly added to both categories.7. Left second hand (holding the lotus bud) and right third hand (holdingthe prayer beads). The burnt remains of the lotus bud was used as a corewithin the newly fashioned lotus, attesting to the perceived power and efficacyof the original piece.8. A summary of the official record of the Dec. 1955 incident is kept by theAgency for Cultural Affairs, Tokyo.9. Nishikawa Shinji, "Kanshinji Nyoirin Kannonzo ni tsuite," Bijutsushi 22,vol. 6, no. 2 (Dec. 1956): 1-14.10. Nishikawa Shinji, "Kanshinji no butsuzo (jo)," and "Kanshinji nobutsuzo (ge)," Bukkyo geijutsu 119 (Aug. 1978): 61-68; and 121 (Dec. 1978):86-106. One year before, Nishikawa S. collaborated with Nishikawa Kyotaro,Mizuno Keizaburo, and others in compiling pertinent documents, sources,technical analyses, and other relevant information on the Nyoirin Kannonstatue and (to a far lesser degree) the two extant Buddha statues, in vol. 3 ofNCSS-jsh. This volume is untitled but is described in the table of contents as"Nyoirin Kannon bosatsuzo, Osaka, Kanshinji." Other significant research onthe Nyoirin Kannon statue includes (in chronological order) Adachi Yasushi,"Kanshinji honzon to Kanshinji engi jitsurokucho," Kenchikushi 2, no. 3 (May1940): 11-22; Tsuji Shindo, "Kanshinji Nyoirin," Bukkyo geijutsu 10 (Dec.1950): 74-75; Sawa Ryuken, "Kanshinji Nyoirin Kannonzo ni tsuite," Bukkyogeijutsu 10 (Dec. 1950): 76-77; Ikawa Kazuko, "Akogare no hibutsu: KanshinjiNyoirin Kannonzo," Sansai, no. 84 (Feb. 1957): 15-17; Kurata Bunsaku,Butsuzo no mikata (giho to hyogen) (Tokyo: Daiichi hoki shuppan kabushikigaisha,1965), 134-39; Kuno Takeshi, "Kanshinji no Heianshoki butsuzo nitsuite," Kokka 22, no. 961 (1973): 15-24; idem, "Heian shoki no bosatsuzo," inHeian shoki chokokushi, 2 vols. (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 1974), 205-17;Ota Hirotaro, ed., Nihon kenchikushi kiso shiryo shusei, vol. 7, Butsudo IV (Tokyo:Chuo koron bijutsu shuppan, 1975), 100-107, 189-92, 199-201; FukuyamaToshio, "Kanshinji no soritsu ni tsuite," Bukkyo geijutsu, no. 119 (Aug. 1978):53-60; Tanaka Megumi, "Kanshinji sosoki no zobutsu to Shinsho," Iwatedaigaku kyoikugakubu kenkyu nenpo 41, no. 2 (1982): 59-80; Tamura Ryusho,"Kanshinji to Kyoonji no butsuzo," in Nihon koji bijutsu zenshu, ed. NagaiShin'ichi, vol. 7, Shitennoji to Kawachi no tera (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1981), 117-24;Ito, esp. 115-20; Konno Toshifumi, "Kanshinji Nyoirin Kannonzo no fukei,"in Nihon bijutsu zenshu, ed. Maekawa Seiro and Okawa Naomi, vol. 5, Mikkyojiin to butsuzo, ed. Mizuno Keizaburo, Konno Toshifumi et al. (Tokyo:Kodansha, 1993), 156-62; and Mizuno Keizaburo, "Heian jidai zenki nochokoku," in ibid., 147-48.11. On this subject, see Smith, esp. chap. 3. Viewed from another theoreticalstance, Pierre Bourdieu situates the image in a field of cultural production.See his essays "Outline of a Sociological Theory of Art Perception" and"The Field of Cultural Production, or: The Economic World Reversed," in TheField of Cultural Production: Essays on Art and Literature, ed. Randal Johnson(NewYork: Columbia University Press, 1993), 29-73 and 215-37, respectively.12. I cannot deal here in depth with the efficacy of the image for thedevout, largely because that aspect of the icon's history has not typically beenrecorded. Questions of efficacy are certainly of importance to devotees.13. A Chinese statue of a priest also survives, which can be dated to theninth century (Fig. 15). It is 15 in. (37.8 cm) tall and constructed of Chinesecherry wood, with touches of pigment remaining. For a photograph and briefdiscussion of the priest figure, see the exhibition catalogue Danzo: Byakudanbutsukara Nihon no mokuchobutsu e: Tokubetsuten (Nara: Nara kokuritsuhakubutsukan, 1991), 148-49 (cat. no. 66); and Mae and Nagashima, 136-37, pls. 47, 48. See also Mainichi shinbunsha, ed., Juyobunkazai, vol. 6 [chokokuVI] (Tokyo: Mainichi shinbunsha, 1975), 113, no. 277.14. The journal is dated Eiwa 4. Excerpts appear in NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 6, line5), text section (unless otherwise noted, pages refer to text pages and notpages of a preceding section of plates), 45. The journal notes that the image,which the priest was allowed to view, had been a secret image from "earliertimes" and had rarely been seen by visitors. The record will be discussed indetail below in "The Life of Images."15. Only Kuno Takeshi dates the two extant Buddha statues earlier, toabout 834-48 (Jowa era), and the Nyoirin Kannon to about 850. See Kuno,1973 (as in n. 10). See also Kuno 1974 (as in n. 10), 211-17. All other studiesdisagree with Kuno's dating, citing stylistic criteria.16. Martin Jay, Downcast Eyes: The Denigration of Vision in Twentieth-CenturyFrench Thought (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993). For an excellentsummary of the history of visuality, see Robert Nelson, "Descartes's Cowand Other Domestications of the Visual," introduction to Visuality before andbeyond the Renaissance: Seeing as Others Saw (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 2000), 1-21. In a manuscript in progress I will attempt to "see as otherssaw" in the 9th century; the current essay primarily addresses how modernvisuality affects possibilities of other visualities, to borrow current terminology.17. Harold Bloom, The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages (NewYork: Harcourt Brace, 1994), 1, 3. There is a significant body of work in thefield of literary criticism on the concept of the canon. Useful are BarbaraHerrnstein Smith; "Canons," Critical Inquiry 10 (1983): 1-36; Leslie Fiedlerand Houston Baker, eds., English Literature: Opening Up the Canon (Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981); Herbert Lindenberger, The History inLiterature: On Value, Genre, Institutions (New York: Columbia University Press,1990); and Paul Lauter, Canons and Contexts (New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1991), among many others. Discussions of a canon of literature or artshould consider the relative meaning of value, "a term that straddles thematerial and spiritual realms" (Lindenberger, xvii). Recent examples on theartistic canon and value include Ann Gibson, "Recasting the Canon: NormanLewis andJackson Pollock," in Modern Art and Society: An Anthology of Social andMulticultural Readings, ed. Maurice Berger (New York: IconEditions, Harper-Collins, 1994), 216-30; Diane Hill, "The 'Real Realm': Value and Values inRecent Feminist Art," in Interpreting Visual Cultures: Explorations in the Hermeneuticsof the Visual, ed. Ian Heywood and Barry Sandywell (London: Routledge,1999), 143-61; and Joseph Leo Koerner and Lisbet Koerner, "Value,"in Critical Terms for Art History, ed. Robert Nelson and Richard Shiff (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1996), 292-306. There is very little discussion inthe literature on the notion of value in Buddhist imagery. Of relevance areRichard Davis, Lives of Indian Images (Princeton: Princeton University Press,1997); and Stanley K Abe, "Inside the Wonder House: Buddhist Art and theWest," in Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism, ed.Donald S. LopezJr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995), 63-106.18. See, for example, Norman Bryson, "Semiology and Visual Interpretation,"in Visual Theory: Painting and Interpretation, ed. Bryson, Michael AnnHolly, and Keith Moxey (New York: IconEditions, HarperCollins, 1991),61-73.19. Sherwood Moran, "Early Heian Sculpture at Its Best: Three Outstand-ing Examples," Artibus Asiae 34 (1972): 155. Although Moran was not formallytrained as an art historian, his work was respected. As considered below, otherWestern scholars echoed his view.20. Excessive valorizing, artistic, or aesthetic descriptions suggest that somethinghas been left out. On disavowals of power and sexuality, see DavidFreedberg, The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), 345-77, 429ff. He writes: "thetime has come to acknowledge the possibility that our responses to imagesmay be of the same order as our responses to reality; and that if we are tomeasure response in any way at all, then it is to be seen and judged onjust thisbasis" (438).21. Nishimura Kocho, "Omoi no mama ni takara o kureru hotoke-san," inNyoirin Kannon, ed. Nagasaki Hashio et al., vol. 15 of Miwaku no butsuzo, ed.Mainichi Shinbun (Tokyo: Mainichi shinbunsha, 1987), 37. Figs. 1, 2, and 12are reproduced in this publication; Mae and Nagashima; and others. As aBuddhist sculptor and conservator of many Japanese works of art, includingNational Treasures, and an Esoteric priest of the Tendai school, NishimuraKocho has special access to icons such as the Nyoirin Kannon-and specialcontrol over their interpretation.22. Sherry Fowler, "Nyoirin Kannon: Stylistic Evolution of Sculptural Im-ages," Orientations 20 (1989): 58, 60. This article was written at an early pointin Fowler's career; the author would probably approach the topic differentlytoday. The passage nonetheless demonstrates the pervasiveness of canonizingassessments of the type I have been describing, as well as of the influence ofJapanese scholarship on subsequent appraisals.23. The latter has been the received understanding of the Zen tradition. Onthe evolution of "reverse orientalism" or Zen "occidentalism," respectively, seeBernard Faure, "The Kyoto School and Reverse Orientalism," in Japan inTraditional and Postmodern Perspectives, ed. Charles Wei-hsun Fu and StevenHeine (Albany: SUNY Press, 1995), 245-81; and Robert H. Sharf, "The Zen ofJapanese Nationalism," in Lopez (as in n. 17), 107-65, and an earlier versionin History of Religions 33, no. 1 (1993): 1-43. See also Sharf's essay "Visualizationand Mandala in Shingon Buddhism," which addresses the understandingof mandala and the reconstitution of the public and sacerdotal traditions ofShingon practice as highly individual psychoexperience, in Living Images:Japanese Buddhist Icons in Context, ed. Elizabeth Horton Sharf and Robert H.Sharf (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001). I am grateful to Dr. Sharffor providing me with a copy of his essay prior to publication, and for hisconsultation.24. The term Protestantization (of Buddhism) was coined by GananathObeyesekere to describe the new form of Buddhism that developed in BritishdominatedSri Lanka in the late 19th century. See Obeyesekere, "ReligiousSymbolism and Political Change in Ceylon," Modern Ceylon Studies 1, no. 1(1970): 43-63 (the term is defined on 46-47). For an excellent discussion,see also Gregory Schopen, "Archaeology and the Protestant Presuppositionsin the Study of Indian Buddhism," History of Religions 31 (1991): 1-23.Schopen writes, "it is possible that a sixteenth-century Protestant polemicalconception of where 'true' religion is located has been so thoroughly absorbedinto the Western intellectual tradition that its polemical and theoreticalorigins have been forgotten" (22). The American wife of early 20thcenturyJapanese Zen teacher D. T. Suzuki, Beatrice Erskine Lane (1878-

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 591938), studied Shingon Esoteric Buddhism in Japan and published on thesect during the 1920s and 1930s in the journal Eastern Buddhist. See alsoBeatrice Erskine Lane and D. T. Suzuki, Impressions of Mahayana Buddhism(Kyoto: Eastern Buddhist Society; London: Luzac, 1940). On Buddhist studiesin Europe and America, seeJ. W. deJong, A BriefHistory of Buddhist Studies inEurope and America, Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica, no. 33, 2d ed. (Delhi: SriSatguru, 1987). Donald Lopez has termed the early period of Buddhist studiesin the West the "European construction of an original Buddhism"; Lopez,Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra (Princeton: Princeton UniversityPress, 1996), 99. The research of James Edward Ketelaar, Of Heretics andMartyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution (Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1990), is also extremely helpful in understanding issues ofmodernization and religion in Japan. On Western attitudes toward religiousexperience, see Wayne Proudfoot, Religious Experience (Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1985). I have drawn on these works and that of Robert Sharf,above, for the theoretical framework of my analysis of Esoteric reception.25. Smith, 49. Hans-Georg Gadamer deals with these same issues in hisdiscussions of objectivity and "the classical." See Gadamer, Truth and Method,trans. Sheed and Ward Ltd. (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), 253-58; originallypublished as Wahrheit und Methode (Tiibingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1960).Smith discusses "the classical" on 50-51. Theodor Adorno reminds us thatnone of these statuses, however, are fixed: "If each work is in a condition ofequilibrium, each may yet once again enter into motion.... What art workssay through the configuration of their elements in different epochs meanssomething objectively different, and this ultimately affects their truth content."See Adorno, "Toward a Theory of the Artwork," in Aesthetic Theory, ed.Gretel Adorno and Rolf Tiedermann (Minneapolis: University of MinnesotaPress, 1997), 193-94. For Pierre Bourdieu, actions such as essentialization andcanonization presume a less mediated relationship to the object, a relationshippresumed and secured by class privilege. Sharf, 2001 (as in n. 23), andidem, "Experience," in Critical Terms in Religious Studies, ed. Mark C. Taylor(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 94-116, suggests that the applicationof a "hermeneutics of experience" falsely constructs Shingon meditationas a personal, experiential practice. On the pernicious effects ofShingon sectarian scholarship on the study of Esotericism in eastern Asia, seeCharles D. Orzech, "Seeing 'Chen-yen': Traditional Scholarship and theVajrayana in China," History of Religions 29, no. 2 (Nov. 1989): 87-114. On theimpact of Shingon scholarship on our view of both Esotericism and Esotericart, see CyntheaJ. Bogel, "A Matter of Definition: Japanese Esoteric Art andthe Construction of an Esoteric Buddhist History," Waseda Journal of AsianStudies 18 (1996): 23-39.26. Sawa Takaaki [Ryuken], Art in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, trans. RichardL. Gage (New York: Weatherhill; Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1972), 56; originallypublished as Mikkyo no bijutsu, vol. 8 of Nihon no bijutsu (Tokyo: Heibonsha,1964), 56. The translation gives an accurate equivalent of theJapanese exceptthat "nihonjin no shukyokan ni yotte" (purely Japanese feelings) is betterrendered as 'Japanese religiosity."27. Ibid., 56, 80. For many years Sawa's work was the only material onEsoteric art available in English other than that dealing with mandala paintings(narrowly defined). Although he is respected more today as an iconographyexpert than an art historian, his work was nonetheless very influentialand his response to the Nyoirin Kannon typical of enduring attitudes.28. White, 9. As White further notes, this definition must be modifiedaccording to its contexts. An excellent study of Buddha systems in TantricBuddhism is Yoritomi Motohiro, Mikkyo butsu no kenkyu (Kyoto: Hozokan,1990), with a useful English summary, 691-716.29. Kukai studied on a scholarship from the government that was meant tokeep him in China for twenty years. The best source on early Shingon historyin English is the recent study by Abe. On Kukai and his writings, see YoshitoS. Hakeda, Kukai: Major Works (New York: Columbia University Press, 1972);and on Shingon practice and thought, Taiko Yamasaki, Shingon: JapaneseEsoteric Buddhism, trans. Richard and Cynthia Peterson (Boston: Shambhala,1988). In his book on early Shingon history, Ab6 convincingly argues that theritual language of mantra was the basis for Kukai's dissemination of Mikkyo. InJapanese the best recent sources are Kushida Ryoko, Shingon mikkyo seiritsukatei no kenkyu (Tokyo: Sankibo busshorin, 1964); and idem, Kukai no kenkyu(Tokyo: Sankibo busshorin, 1981); Matsunaga Yukei, Mikkyo no rekishi (Kyoto:Heirakuji shoten, 1969); and Takagi Shingen, Kukai shiso no shoshiteki kenkyu(Tokyo: Hozokan, 1990). The best sources on Kukai in English are Abe;Hakeda; and David Lion Gardiner, "Kfukai and the Beginnings of ShingonBuddhism in Japan," Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1994.30. Literally, "mental device or instrument of thought," mantra is "an acousticformula whose sound shape embodies the energy-level of a deity; a spell,incantation or charm employed in Tantric ritual or sorcery" (in White, 629).The definition of mantra varies considerably. Mantra recitation can be usedfor personal, worldly, and other effect and has been understood as havingreligious, linguistic, magical, ritual, and somatic functions, among others. InEnglish, see Harvey P. Alper, ed., Mantra (Albany: State University of NewYork Press, 1989); and Frits Staal, Rules without Meaning (New York: PeterLang, 1989).31. In this essay Esoteric (capitalized) will be used when referring to thesystematized esoteric tradition, that is, Shingon and, occasionally Tendai, andesoteric (lowercase) will be used for pre-Shingon or non-Shingon esotericelements. The process of systemization continued after Kukai. For 8th-centurypre-Shingon esoteric statues and practices, see CyntheaJ. Bogel, "Ritual andRepresentation in Eighth-Century Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Sculpture,"Ph.D. diss., Harvard University, 1995. On 8th-century esotericism inJapan, seeKushida, 1964 and 1981 (as in n. 29); Ishida Mosaku, Shakyo yori mitaruNaracho bukkyo no kenkyu (Tokyo: Toyo bunko, 1931); and Horiike Shunpo,"Narajidai bukkyo no mikkyoteki seikaku," in Kukai, Nihon meiso ronshu, 3,ed. Wada Shuijo and Takagi Shingen (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 1982).The Shingon school was established by Kukai, but during his lifetime he didnot often identify his Shingon teachings as a "school"(Shingonshu) so muchas a category (for example, the shingon secret treasury or secret vehicle). Theterm Shingonshu was used in EmperorJunna's decree of Konin 14 (823); thiscoincided, however, with the granting of certain privileges to the Tendai sectand a broader atmosphere of political interest in these two new Buddhistteachings. See Bogel (as in n. 25), 37-38, and Abe, esp. 189-204. Latergenerations stressed Shingonshu over other designations and emphasizedterms such as pure esotericism (junmitsu) in contradistinction to miscellaneousesotericism (zomitsu). Bernard Faure has discussed the Tachikawa-ryu, asubschool of Shingon, which equated sexual bliss with Kukai's doctrine of"becoming a Buddha in this very body" and gave Shingon practice a muchmore sexualized coloring. See Faure, 'Japanese Tantra, the Tachikawa-ryi,and Ryobu Shinto," in White, 543-56.32. The validity of what Kukai brought was not accepted unquestioningly.Apocryphal texts (that is, sutras, or scripture, composed in China) and insufficientlylearned monks returning from abroad were thoroughly reviewed bythe monastic hierarchy; apocrypha were often accepted as "original sutra."Kukai's writings and ideas and the new texts he imported were debated anddiscussed by clergy in the temples of Nara.33. Hereafter referred to as sutra(s) and mandala(s). According to White,629, a mandala is a "'circle'; an idealized circular model of the cosmos, withthe source of cosmic or temporal power located at the center, and deities orbeings representing lesser powers or energies radiating outward toward theperiphery, the limits of the system." Kukai carried huge polychrome paintingsthat both represented and embodied (or radiated) this concept. OriginalBuddha nature dwells in the mandala, and it manifests the practitioner'spotential for spiritual awakening. It is also a part of the primary rituals ofShingon Buddhism. Mandalas may be geographic, architectural, sculptural,or linear/painterly; they are form, concept, and practice. On the subject ofmandala in Japanese, see Toganoo Shoun, Mandara no kenkyu (Koyasan,Wakayama-ken: Koyasan Daigaku Shuppanbu, 1927); and Omura Seigai,Sanbon ryobu mandarashu (Tokyo: Bussho Kankokai, 1913). In English, seeElizabeth ten Grotenhuis, Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography(Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999); David L. Gardiner, "Mandala,Mandala on the Wall: Variations of Usage in the Shingon School," Journal ofthe International Association of Buddhist Studies 9, no. 2 (1996): 245-79; LokeshChandra, The Esoteric Iconography of Japanese Mandalas (New Delhi: JayyedPress, 1971); Adrian Snodgrass, The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas inShingon Buddhism, 2 vols. (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1988); and UlrichH.R. Mammitzsch, The Ryobu Mandara of Shingon Buddhism in Religious andHistorical Perspective, vol. 8 of Ajia Kenkyujo kiyo (Tokyo: Ajia Daigaku AjiaKenkyujo, 1981).34. The "universal three secrets"; Skt: triguhya; Jpn: sanmitsu. The yogictechniques are described in many Esoteric texts, especially in chaps. 19-23 ofthe Mahavairocana sutra. See Abe, 120-33.35. Skt: tathata. Traditionally translated as "thusness"(pn: shinnyo), itconveys a Mahayana conception of the true reality underlying all phenomenaldiscrimination, the absolute source of all.36. Skt: rupa (Jpn: shiki). Form or matter, that which is capable of disinte-gration.37. Goshoraimokuroku (Inventory of Imported Items), written by Kukai in806, and found in KZ, vol. 1, 95. This passage is from the preface to thesection listing imported Buddhist images, specifically, mandala paintings andpatriarch portraits. For a complete translation in English, see Hakeda (as inn. 29), 140-50. For provocative comments on the topic of imagery andBuddhist practice, see Roger Goepper, "Some Thoughts on the Icon inEsoteric Buddhism of East Asia," in Studia Sino-Mongolica, Festschrift fiir HerbertFranke, ed. Wolfgang Bauer, Miinchener Ostasiatische Studien, vol. 25 (Wiesbaden:Franz Steiner, 1979), 245-54. The work of Hans-Georg Gadamer is ofrelevance here for his understanding of the relationship between the image(the represented) and the original, which he posits as mutually constituting.The represented image is an "ontological event" that affects the original and"shares in what it represents." See Gadamer (as in n. 25), 127, 125.38. Kukai's Hizoki, in KZ, vol. 2, 40-41, trans. Abe, 129-30.39. Dated Gankyo 7 (883).9.15, that is, the seventh year of the Gankyo era(or 883), ninth month, fifteenth day (see Fig. 20). The Register is in thetraditional handscroll format. For a complete transcription, see NCSS-jsh 3(shiryo 4), 35-44, which includes photographs of sections of the originalmanuscript, consisting of one scroll 11 in. (27.7 cm) in width and 42/2 in.(108 cm) in length. During the Nara and early Heian periods, inventoriescalled shizaicho or shizai rukicho usually were required of officially sponsoredtemples (typically) called jogakuji, "fixed-stipend temples" (see n. 43 below) ordaiji, "important temples." These temples received funds for standard equipmentsuch as oil and candles and for repairs in exchange for submittinginventories of their assets to the state. See Hiraoka Jokai, Nihon jiinshi nokenkyu, kodai-hen (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 1981), 417-52.

60 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 140. The temple's modern address is Osaka-fu, Kawachi Nagano-shi, Teramoto475. Kawachi is an ancient province, now part of Osaka Prefecture. It issituated along the ridge of the Kongo-Katsuragi mountain range within apicturesque valley extending north from Nagano-shi. The Izumi mountainchain runs to the southwest and the Kongo (alt. Kongo-Katsuragi) range tothe east; Mt. Kongo rises 3,648 ft. (1,112 m) and in the southeast Mt. Katsuragistands at 3,150 ft. (960 m). Today Kanshinji may be reached by train, then busand foot.41. As the NCSS-jsh 3 authors point out, Tencho 2 (826) is an error forTencho 3 (827), based on the calendrical designation hinoui uma, heigo notedin the text. For an excellent discussion of the founding history, see alsoFukuyama (as in n. 10), 53-60. Many later histories state that the site was firstused by Jitsue and called Unshinji (Cloud-mind temple), the name beingchanged to Kanshinji in 837.42. On Shinsho, see Mochizuki Shinkyo, ed., Bukkyo daijiten, 10 vols. (1933-36; reprint, Tokyo: Sekai seiten kangyo kyokai, 1974-77), vol. 3, 2063. Hisbiography is based primarily on the Gonshosozu Shinshofuzokujo, excerpted inNCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 2), 35; and in Takeuchi Rizo, Heian ibun (Tokyo: Tokyodoshuppan, 1965), 55ff. Shinsho was made betto (superintendent) of Todaiji,Nara, in 840 and rose to higher ranks in subsequent years, ending with theadministration of Kanshinji and Zenrinji in Kyoto.Jitsue was named the headdisciple in Kukai's Last Testament, the Goyuigo (attributed to Kukai but apparentlywritten in the tenth century). Jitsue administered the building andartistic activities at Toji and Kongobuji on Mt. Koya after Kukai's death in 835.The Gonshosozu Shinshofuzokujo records that it wasJitsue who began Kanshinji,in 827, with Shinsho continuing its development thereafter. GonshosozuShinsho fuzokujo, cited in NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 2), 35. On Jitsue, see Mochizuki,vol. 2, 1932. Despite conflicting versions of the temple's origins, it can besurmised from these accounts and others that the site of Kanshinji wasShinsho's private hermitage (probably recommended byJitsue) from the year827.43. Literally, "set-amount temple," that is, a temple on a fixed stipend. Suchmonasteries, officially recognized by the state, received a fixed subsidy fromthe government (see n. 39 above), derived revenue from their own landholdings(rather than depending entirely on state support), and were allowednenbundosha, or annually appointed ordinands, for each sect. See HiraokaJokai, "Heian bukkyo no seiritsu to hensen," in Ronshu nihon bukkyoshi, Heianjidai, ed. HiraokaJokai (Tokyo: Yuzankaku, 1986), 3-30; and idem, 1981 (asin n. 39), 417ff.44. NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 4), 39. The land grant, to become part of the temple'sestate, is dated 869.6.9, from the office of Public Affairs (Minbusho); thejogakuji was awarded on 869.6.13; see NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 4), 36 and 39-40,respectively. Shinsho provided a capsule history of the temple in his petition,which is excerpted within the Register, stating that Jitsue established theKanshinji for the benefit of the nation and that he recognized the localadministrator of the ancient Kawachi Province as the temple's head, or betto.45. Established routes to the west and north had long led traffic betweenthe major Inland Sea port of Naniwa and the 7th- and 8th-century capitals atAsuka and Nara along the valley above which Kanshinji is situated. By the 9thcentury there were at least three known routes through the Kawachi district,leading to and from the Yamato plain, and from there north to Kyoto; orsouth to mountainous Mt. Koya in Kii Province (modern Wakayama Prefecture)via ancient Izumi Province (modern Osaka-fu) through the Kimi Pass;or to Osaka bay. These same routes could be used to reach the importantreligious worship sites at Mt. Kimpu (Yoshino Shrine), Mt. Makino, andNachi. Although not mentioned in the Register, the founding of Kanshinji istraditionally associated with the miracle-working 7th-century mendicantmonk En-no-Gyoja (En no Ozuna), who probably did travel the area. SeeTamura (as in n. 10), 117-22, esp. 118. The hermitages (and, later, temples)along the Kanshinji route served as lodgings for travelers. At the same time,the region has rich associations with the sacred dragon spring (noted as thenorth border of Kanshinji in the Register, above) and its indigenous (Shinto)gods, called kami. In waterfall, also mentioned in the boundaries, was also akami worship site.46. Kukai states in a letter to Emperor Saga that he discovered Mt. Koyaduring his time as an ubasoku, that is, the period between his leaving thecentral university at age twenty-four, in 797, and his departure to study inChina in 804. See KZ, vol. 3, 524 (Seireishu, fasc. 9). Kukai's historical relationshipto the region is clouded by centuries of legend.47. Because of an influx of Korean immigrants in the 5th century theKawachi district was a commercial, cultural, and Buddhist center by the 6thcentury. The ancient chronical Kojiki notes that Kawachi Asuka flourishedduring the reign of Emperor Kenzo (485-87). On the region and its history,see Naoki Kojiro, "Kawachi Asuka no rekishi," and Sakai Takashi, "KawachiAsuka no tera," in a special issue on Kawachi and its temples, Bukkyo geijutsu119 (Aug. 1978): 11-21 and 116-33. The richness of popular lore in theregion attests to mixed religious practices. Kukai acknowledged and supportedthe combined worship of kami and the Buddhist divinities; he documentedthe ascent of Mt. Futara (Nantaizan, Nikko) by the priest Shodo(735-817) to pray to the kami of the mountain and seek enlightenment. Thetext has been translated by Allan Grapard in "Kukai: Stone Inscription for thesramana Shodo, Who Crossed Mountains and Streams in His Search forAwakening," in The Mountain Spirit, ed. Michael Tobias and Harold Drasdo(New York: Overlook Press, 1978), 50-59. On syncretic beliefs and shrine-temple histories, see several works by Kuroda Toshio, especially Jisha seiryoku(Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1980) and Obo to buppo (Kyoto: Kozokan, 1983). InEnglish, see Allan Grapard, Protocol of the Gods (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress, 1992).48. Pilgrimages devoted to Kobo Daishi (Kukai) developed in the areasaround Mt. Koya and on the island of Shikoku from the 12th century. On thelatter, see Ian Reader, "Legends, Miracles, and Faith in Kobo Daishi and theShikoku Pilgrimage," in Religions of Japan in Practice, ed. George Tanabe(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 360-69.49. NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 4), 36. A bay is one ken, an ancient linear measureequaling 6 shaku, or 71'/2 in. (1.82 m; see n. 72 below). Documents for thisperiod often describe a structure as a certain number of bays with aisles. Thebays in this case refer to the length and width of the moya, or chancel; thecalculation of the total size depends on whether there are aisles all around(four sides) or only on one or two sides. The Nyohodo is three bays (that is,its chancel) with an aisle on all four sides, making it a five-bay-square structure;the lecture hall is five bays (its chancel) with an aisle on all four sides,and thus a large seven-bay-square structure; the fire-ritual hall, given as sixbays with an aisle on one side, is thus six by seven bays. The number of doorsis also noted in some cases. The nonstandard long o for Nyo in Nyohodo iscorrect, according to Abe (the term is not found in MD).50. NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 4), 35-38.51. Fujii Keisuki, Mikkyo kenchiku kukanron (Tokyo: Chuo koron bijutsushuppan, 1999), 47. Nonetheless, given its remote location, the plan is considerable.52. First mentioned by Nishikawa Shinji in his 1956 article (as in n. 9), twodifferent documents cite a request by the Kanshinji sango (clerical council)that a bell be cast for the temple. The petition is noted in the Kanputo hennenzasshu (Collected government annals) and the Zoku Kobodaishi nenpu (Chronologyof Kobo Daishi, continued) in Jowa 7 (840).7.27. For the fullestdescription, see Nishikawa S., Aug. 1978 (as in n. 10), 65-66.53. Typically, the main hall (Kondo), lecture hall (Kodo), sutra repository,and dormitories of a monastery were constructed first. Pagodas were alsoimportant structures but Kanshinji had a banner instead, probably due to theexpense and complexity of building a pagoda, also possibly due to iconographicrequirements. At Toji, the main hall and several dormitories werecompleted initially, followed much later by the lecture hall and pagodas.54. Main halls existed at the 9th-century Esoteric temples of Toji andJingojiprior to their designation as Shingon sect temples. Both subsequently re-tained traditional Healing Buddha (Yakushi) statues as the main icon.55. The first abhiseka hall (Kanjodo) in Japan was established at the importantNara monastery of Todaiji in 822. That same year Kukai initiated theabdicated emperor Heizei, probably as part of the opening ceremony for thehall (for the document, Heizei tenno kanjomon [alt. Kanjobun], see KZ, vol. 2,117-45); trans. Allan G. Grapard, "Precepts for an Emperor," in White,146-64. Later Esoteric monasteries sometimes had a mandala hall(Mandarado). On 9th-century Esoteric halls, see Fujii (as in n. 51), esp.15-61. In English, see Nancy Shatzman, "The Mizong Hall of Qinglong Si:Space, Ritual, and Classicism in Tang Architecture," Archives of Asian Art, no.49 (1991): 27-50, which discusses a Tang Chinese precedent for early Japaneseinitiation halls.56. A hall of the same name was built on Mt. Hiei, at the chief monastery ofthe Tendai school, Enryakuji. Possibly related to its genesis are practices suchas the Nyohokyo and the copying of the Lotus sutra, although these do notappear to have been conducted at Esoteric halls or the Kanshinji structure.See Mochizuki (as in n. 42), vol. 9, 4140-41.57. There is a bronze Shaka among a group of four such icons in thecollection of Kanshinji dating to the second half of the 7th century. Accordingto Japanese scholars the Shaka is not documented in the temple's history andthus cannot be equated to the Shaka image listed in the Register. See Tamura(as in n. 10), ill. and text, 122; Tamura dates it by style to the Tenchi orTenmei era and notes the lack of documentation about the icon. It would notbe uncommon to house an image made in the region at an earlier date in anewly built temple hall, nor would its function as a small votive icon in arelatively small hall filled with paintings (typically brought out only forparticular rites) be at odds with other such images in early Japan.58. A fuku is a traditional Japanese measure for cloth (width). In the 9thcentury 1 fuku measured 21 to 22 inches (54.0 to 56.2 cm). Fujii (as in n. 51),47, notes that such a large painting in a relatively small hall is notable (withoutsuggesting why).59. The sutras typically refer to the Nyoirin by this appellation.60. The myoo are bodhisattvas and they achieve both group (typically five)and individual deity status within the Esoteric tradition (for a myoo bosatsustatue, see Fig. 18).61. Central to these was the abhiseka. Kukai performed three abhisekas partof his relatively brief training in China. There are several types of initiation,including that in which the lay public may participate (such as kechien kanjo,or "binding karmic affinity"). Abe, 124, discusses the three levels identified inSubhakarasimha's Commentary on the Mahavairocana Sutra. The kechien kanjo isthe first of three levels of initiation rites, at the close of which the participantis given the mantra for his or her own personal deity. The intermediate levelis the "studying of the dharma," or gakuho kanjo, after which the priest is taughtto ritually invoke his deity through mantra, mudra, and eidetic meditation,and in some cases to study yogic exercises for additional deities of the

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 61pantheon, allowing him to visually construct the mandala. The highest levelof initiation rite is the denpo kanjo (alt. denkyo kanjo), "transmitting the teaching."For an excellent summary in English, see David L. Gardiner, "TheConsecration of the Monastic Compound at Mount Koya by Kukai," in White,119-30.62. Abe, 122. The Womb World mandala is thought to be based on chap. 2of this sutra. The term kai (world) is not used after the term taizo (womb, ormatrix) in the Mahavairocana sutra, but Taizokai came into usage amongTendai Esoteric priests during the second half of the 9th century and spreadinto common usage. The Womb World deities do not appear to have hadgreat currency in Tang China, according to extant texts and the archaeologicalrecord. Although Kukai brought back to Japan the Two Worlds conceptand mandala, and they were almost certainly transmitted to him by hisChinese teacher, Huiguo, the Chinese history of mandala use remains unclear.63. The Sanboinryu (branch or lineage) of Shingon originated with thepriest Shobo (832-909) at Daigoji and, along with the branch associated withMt. Koya (and Toji), the Chuinryu, constituted the earliest subsect of thetradition. Both enjoyed imperial patronage. Examples of Sanboin lineageNyoirin texts include the Nyoirin hoshuho, Nyoirin kanjisaibosatsu nenjuho,Kanjisaibosatsu Nyoirin nenjugiki, and the Nyoirin yugah6, among others; seeMD, 1739-40. In the Sanboin lineage of Shingon practice, the Sho NyoirinKanjizai bosatsu nenju shidai is the first of four important precept rites (Shidokegyo shidai) and features the Nyoirin Kannon as its visualized honzon. Overtime, the sources for these two primary Shingon lineages have blurred,making a conclusive evaluation impossible. It is not clear which rites werepracticed at Kanshinji during the 9th century, although later the temple andits rites would be associated with the Mt. Koya lineage (Chuin), not theSanboin and its rites. For the Sanboin lineage of Esoteric rituals, see TakaiiKankai, Mikkyojiso taikei-tokuni Sanboin kenshinp o kicho to shite (Kyoto: TakaiiZenkashu shakka kankokai, 1952); for the Chuin lineage, see ToganooShoun, Himitsue jiso no kenkyu, vol. 2, Toganoo Shoun zenshu, ed. KoyasanDaigaku mikkyo bunka kenkyusho (Kyoto: Rinsen shoten, 1935).64. From his reading of the iconography of the paintings or the reading ofthe characters for Nyoho, Konno (as in n. 10), 157-58, presents severalhypotheses, but none is particularly convincing, nor are there known occasionsof these rites in the early Heian period. Going by the prominence ofWomb World imagery, Konno believes that the rite of the Womb World(Taizokaiho) may have been performed in the hall, or perhaps a rite calledthe Nyoho taizokaiho, which could have featured the Nyoirin Kannon, althoughhis suggestions lack the support of other examples. Rites featuringwish-fulfilling jewels and related deities, including the Nyoirin Kannon,abound in the Shingon tradition. Some originate in the 10th century with theShingon master Shunnyu, who was associated with Ishiyamadera and itsNyoirin Kannon. See the Ishiyama shichi shu, 143b-c, and the Yoson dojo kan,49c-50b, as noted by Brian D. Ruppert, Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics andPower in Early Medieval Japan (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University AsiaCenter, 2000), 147 n. 18, 428. Ruppert's work is an excellent discussion ofjewel iconography and worship as it relates to rites for relics.65. The relevant rite, Fugen enmei-ho (alt. Fugen enmyo-ho), is based onthe Kongo jumyo darani-kyo, T, vol. 20, text no. 1134B, and is described in theKongo jumyo darani nenjuho, T, vol. 20, text no. 1133, and the Kongo jumyodarani-kyobo T, vol. 20, text no. 1134A, as noted by Abe, 354, 526 n. 86; andAllan G. Grapard, "Religious Practices," in The Cambridge History of Japan, vol.2, Heian Japan, ed. Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1999), 542. These rites were popularthroughout the Heian period, increasingly in the private sphere. See MimiYiengpruksawan, "In My Image: The Ichiji Kinrin Statue at Chusonji," MonumentaNipponica 46, no. 3 (autumn 1991): 329-30.66. See Misaki Ryoshu, Taimitsu no kenkyu (Tokyo: Sobunsha, 1988), asnoted by Grapard (as in n. 65), 532 (he cites the Fugen-e dambo).67. There are no records before the 10th century that provide informationabout the ritual components of this annual rite; by the 10th century, we knowthat relics worship was central to it. See Ruppert (as in n. 64), esp. 102-41.68. The Jimmyooin shows (right to left) Fudo myoo, Gozanze myoo, Hanyaharamittabosatsu, Daiitoku myoo, and Shozanze myoo (the latter is not oneof the Godaison).69. Kokuzo bosatsu noman shogan saishoshin darani gumonjiho, T, vol. 20, textno. 1145.70. In ancient times, one hundred days; today, fifty days. For a descriptionof the rite in English, see Yamasaki (as in n. 29), 182-90.71. NCSS-jsh 3, 36, 43, no. 30-5.72. A traditional linear measure. One shaku is just under a foot (30.3 cm).73. Three fuku equal about 65 in. (165 cm). The Chinese characters forBirushana (alt., Rushana) typically denote Vairocana Buddha of the Kegon-kyo(Avatamsaka sutra). It may refer here to Dainichi or the Esoteric Vairocana ofthe two primary Esoteric Shingon texts, the Sarvatathagatatattva-sa.mgraha orVajrasekhara sutra (Jpn: Kongocho-kyo, or Diamond Peak sutra), T, vol. 18, textno. 865; and the Mahavairocana sutra (Dainichi-kyo), T, vol. 18, text no. 848.Without visual evidence or a known iconographic plan for the altar, theidentity of the deity is unclear.74. The statue of Butsugen butsumo Buddha is known popularly as Mirokubosatsu, and the Miroku Buddha is known popularly as Hosho nyorai. Theseattributions may have begun in the 14th century. Our identification of thestatues is based on early iconographic sources (for the Butsugen butsumo, seeTakakusa Junjiro and Ono Genmyo, eds., Taisho shinshu daizokyo, Zuzo [Iconography],12 vols. (Tokyo: Daizo Shuppan kabushiki kaisha, 1932-34), vols.3-4, for example, the Kakuzensho, Shosonzuzo, Daigojibonzuzo, Shikashozuzo, and,for Miroku, the Shikashozuzo) and on an inscription found on the base ofButsugen butsumo statue.75. The Fudo myoo (right facing) is illustrated in Mae and Nagashima, pl.21, description, 119-20. It is a seated figure 37 in. (93.9 cm) tall. The seatedAizen myoo (left facing) is illustrated in the same volume, pl. 21, description120-21, and is 42 5/ in. (108.5 cm) tall. Both are designated ImportantCultural Properties (Juyo bunkazai). See also Bunkacho and Mainichi shinbunshajuyo bunkazai iinkai jimukyoka, eds., Juyo bunkazai, 32 vols. (Tokyo:Mainichi Shinbun, 1972-77), vol. 3 [chokoku III], 98, no. 445, and 118, no.540.76. Mae and Nagashima, pls. 49-52; and Juyo bunkazai (as in n. 75), vol. 4[chokoku IV], 5 (nos. 54-56). They are made of wood in the single-woodblocktechnique and range from 561/2 to 591/2 in. (144 to 151 cm), standing. All aredesignated Important Cultural Properties.77. Mizuno; Nishikawa S.; Tanaka; and Tamura (all as in n. 10).78. Except for that of Anshoji, in which the arrangement of Five WisdomBuddhas (Gochi nyorai) is orthodox.79. Only Kuno, 1973 (as in n. 10), dates it later, and Ito allows that theNyoirin Kannon may have been part of a honzon group. Ito believes that theNyoirin Kannon was made between 850 and 869, and that the other statues,including the Miroku and Butsugen butsumo, were completed at the sametime.80. Kuno, 1974 (as in n. 10), 214-17, is among the few authors to discussthe Butsugen butsumo and Miroku Buddha statues in his research. He datesthem to 834-48. Shimizu Zenzo (discussion with author, May 1990) believesthe two extant Buddha statues date to the 10th century. Other scholars datethem to the second half of the 9th century, a decade or more later than theNyoirin Kannon.81. Three shaku, 6 sun, 1 bu, given in traditional measurements.82. The lotus pedestal is the original mate for the statue, but the mandorla(kohai)-although it dates to the 9th century-is from another statue.83. Hinoki is Chamaecyparis obtusa; kaya is Japanese nutmeg, Torreya nucifera,commonly called the California nutmeg tree. Mizuno Keizaburo noted in aconversation with author (Mar. 1996) that conclusive wood tests have notbeen conducted on the Nyoirin Kannon statue, although most sources,including the definitive technical study of the work by Mizuno and NishikawaShinji, in NCSS-jsh 3, state that the material of construction is kaya. The latteris a rarer wood usually used for special types of Buddhist icons.84. The lower arms, outermost leg and foot sections, and panels coveringthe hollows are made from separate pieces of wood, but all original woodenparts of the statue appear to be from the same tree. For a complete technicaldescription, see NCSS-jsh 3, 7-13, and for diagrams on the statue's construction,22-28. Ichiboku zukuri is a slightly misleading term to the nonspecialistwhen, as here, more than one piece of wood is used. Technically, if the torsoof the statue, excluding the feet, arms, or even the head, is made from a singleblock of wood, the term may be applied.85. The color combinations (ungen saishiki) and applied gold patterns showlittle retouching. The pigmentation has been documented in NCSS-jsh 3,8-13; see also colorpls. 6-21. Also original to the statue and well preservedare a wooden crown made of hinoki covered with lacquer and gold paint. Onlythe wooden hand-held attributes, second left hand and third right wrist,byakugo (iconographic mark on the forehead), and some of the bracelets andarm jewelry are later replacements. On the repaired and replaced sections ofthe statue, see NCSSjsh 3, 18-19.86. A section of the dais for each of the two Buddhas has been replacedsince the 9th century, but without affecting the original height or structure.NCSSjsh 3, 29-31.87. Konno (as in n. 10), 158.88. Until recently, color photographs showing the two Buddhas were noteasily obtained, further indicating the modern scholar's lack of interest inthem.89. NCSS-jsh 3, 16; Inoue (as in n. 4) concurs.90. Wife of EmperorJunna (786-840, r. 823-33).91. This record is first noted in NCSSjsh 3 (biko), 20, which Nishikawaco-edited, and is further discussed in his articles of 1978. The land bequest wasin nearby Furuichi-sho, Kawachi.92. See Friedrich Nietzsche, Werke, vol. 3 (804), as discussed by JonathanCuller, On Deconstruction: Theory and Criticism after Structuralism (Ithaca, N.Y.:Cornell University Press, 1982), 86.93. Some sources refer to the technique as mokushin kanshitsu, or wood-coredry lacquer, but recently the use of this term is increasingly limited to worksin which the wood core is unfinished in many areas, relying on lacquer formodeling. The wooden Kanshinji statues were nearly completed to the surface,then coated with lacquer.94. It is uncertain where the Kanshinji images were constructed. There mayhave been a workshop on the monastery grounds (although the Register doesnot mention one) or they may have been made in the capital and transportedto Kanshinji. The fact that a set of Five Wisdom Buddhas was sculpted atKanshinji around the year 847 (to be discussed below) points strongly to the

62ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1former. It is notable that despite its remote location such a workshop was inplace.95. Recent research on the Yakushi Buddha atJingoji and other jinguji, orstate temple-shrine complexes, suggests that this type of Yakushi may havebeen made for sites with deep links to indigenous kami worship. See NagasakaIchiro, "Shoki jinguji no seiritsu to sono honzon no imi," Bijutsu kenkyu 354(Sept. 1992): 1-18. Kanshinji, as a mountainous site, would have had suchlinks. The honzon of the Mt. Koya Kongobuji main hall is today a Yakushi. Inthe 9th century (although the date of completion is debated, with the earliestrecord indicating 968) the main icon of the lecture hall (today's main hall)was Ashuku, the Esoteric equivalent of the Buddha of Healing.96. Many sources identify this Buddha's attribute as a "medicine jar," but itsfundamental form and meaning indicate it is a reliquary that has the powerto heal.97. NCSS-jsh 3, 37. The two bowls were probably Chinese Xing or early Dingware; in China porcelain was only just beginning to be considered a materialprecious enough for Buddhist ritual use, as we know from bowls sealed in theyear 880 beneath Famensi pagoda, about 95 miles from modern Xian, China,as part of the equipment used in relics rituals. In English, see RoderickWhitfield, "Esoteric Buddhist Elements in the Famensi Reliquary Deposit,"Asiatische Studien (Etudes Asiatiques) 44, no. 2 (1990): 247-57; idem, "TheSignificance of the Famensi Deposit," and Zhu Qi-xin, "Buddhist Treasuresfrom Famensi: The Recent Excavation of a Tang Underground Palace,"Orientations 21 (May 1990): 84-85, and 77-83; and Patricia EichenbaumKaretzky, "Esoteric Buddhism and the Famensi Finds," Archives of Asian Art157 (1994): 78-85. The finds were first reported in Wenwu, no. 10 (1988):1-56.98. NCSS-jsh 3, 20.99. We do not know the origins of this seal, only that it dates to some timebefore the Register (883). Mizuno, who has seen the original document, statesthat it is beneath the writing (conversation with author, Apr. 1997). The sealis illustrated in Kokushi daijiten henshu iinkai, ed., Kokushi daijiten, vol. 3(Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1983), 850.100. The common liturgical sources list sri, ga, gam, bu, and kham. I hope tofurther research ritual texts on Butsugen butsumo, for if sri is used in aparticular rite a more exact analysis of the character of Kanshinji and itsdeities might be possible. The Nyohobutsugenho rite may be of relevancehere. See MD, 1748.101. See NCSS-jsh 3 (biko), 20.102. On the nature of yogic meditation practices and the meaning of kan,see Sharf, 2001 (as in n. 23).103. This idea is set forth in Kfkai's The Meanings of Sound, Word, and Reality(Shoji jissogi), The Meanings of the Word Hum (Unjigi), and Attaining Enlightenmentin the Very Existence (Sokushin jobutsugi). For translations of the texts, seeHakeda (as in n. 29), 234-45, 246-61, 225-33. Abe's title translations differ.104. The most comprehensive description of these rites available to theresearcher is found in Toganoo (as in n. 63), 33-96. They consist of theEighteen-Stage rite (Juhachido nenju kubi shidai), Diamond World rite(Kongokai nenju shidai), Womb World rite (Taizokai nenju shidai), andGoma (fire) rite (Sokusai goma shidai) to the deity Fudo. The mantra ofButsugen butsumo begins and ends the Sannenju (Additional recitation)sections of the four rites, which points to the significance of the deity'sgenerative function and context. This is not necessarily the case with othermajor and more advanced ritual practices like those in the Rishukyo; thus,Butsugen butsumo functions in a spiritually particular and important way inthe Shido kegyo text. The Nyoirin Kannon features in these rites as well (see n.145 below).105. T, vol. 18, text no. 848, and the commentary, vol. 39, text no. 1796.106. A similar interpretation (with the appearance of some of the samedeities) is offered Abe by in his analysis of mantras used in one component ofthe Latter Seven-Day rite at the Shingon chapel in the imperial palace (Abe,351-53).107. As Michel de Certeau wrote, "The situation of the historiographermakes study of the real appear in two quite different positions within thescientific process ... . On the one hand, the real is the result of analysis, whileon the other, it is its postulate"; Certeau, The Writing of History (New York:Columbia University Press, 1998), 35.108. This condition is recorded in the eighth month of 839 in the ShokuNihonkoki, entry forJowa 6 (839).8.4. Kuroita Katsumi, ed., Nihon kokushi taikei,vol. 3 (Tokyo: Yoshikawa kobunkan, 2000).109. Inoue (as in n. 4), 29, suggests that the female appearance of theNyoirin Kannon and the fact that it holds a nyoiju jewel (of importance toKukai) attracted the empress's attention.110. No one has as yet suggested this reading for the phrase "Saga-in TaikoTaigo Gogando."111. See Hayami Tasuku, Heian jidai kizoku shakai to bukkyo (Tokyo: Yoshikwakobunkan, 1975).112. The consecration took place in Jowa 8 and is noted in "Hoi Sagakanjobun," in Toboki, vol. 4, as noted by Ito, 119.113. Shinsho, in the Montoku jitsuroku, as quoted by Ito, 119.114. Ibid.; and NCSSjsh 3, 50.115. In the Montoku jitsuroku, as quoted by Ito, 117.116. If one or more of the lecture hall statues was completed as a vowaround the time of Nimmyo's death in 850, the five new Buddhas in 857would constitute sustained art-making activity for the temple over more thana decade. This may be more plausible than the comparatively erratic chronologypresented by other scholars: the Nyohodo and its images, the lecturehall and the Nyoirin Kannon (in addition to others?) by 840; then, ten yearslater, the Miroku and Butsugen butsumo statues along with other numerouslecture hall statues; and finally, the five new Buddhas in 857.117. This possibility and iconographic correlation have not been notedpreviously in the literature.118. Sandai jitsuroku, in NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 1), 35. Zenrinji became a statesponsoredjogakuji in 863, six years before Kanshinji achieved that status.Shinsho bequeathed it to his disciple Shuei in 867. It may have some bearingthat on the statues' completion, Shinsho wrote, "the temple [Kanshinji] is sosecluded in the depths of the mountains that it is difficult to maintain aresidence there. I am concerned that it will fall to ruin in later generations."Shinsho's explanation is possibly an excuse for moving the statues created forKanshinji to a temple nearer the capital. Shinsho's affiliation with Zenrinjigrew strong during the late 850s, when he made it his own training center.Zenrinji also had strong ties to the powerful Fujiwara nobility.119. He died in 873.7.7, and the grant was made on 874.7.9. This proposalis strengthened if we recall that a bell was cast in honor of the deceased priestShinsho at Jingoji in the following year, Jogan 17 (875).8.13, as noted inNCSS-jsh 3, 50.120. The deity also holds prayer beads and a lotus bud. The carved woodenattributes postdate the statue but presumably correspond in form to theoriginal items used.121. Kanshinji sankei shodo junreiki (henceforth, Pilgrim's Account), by thepriest Kenki, noted above and as quoted in NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 6), 45.122. Hyperbole about special icons is common in pilgrimage accounts, andit is advisable to read the account with this understanding.123. It was formerly called the Konpon godo (main hall) and was "recently"rebuilt and called the Hondo (main hall). NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 6), 45.124. According to Adachi (as in n. 10), 102. This date is based on a roof tileinscription. It is possible that portions of the present main hall were lost andthe tiles reused, as there is a temple fire recorded in 1462 (Kansai 3). Mostliterature dates the hall to the Nanbokucho era (1332-92) based on earlierevidence, but 1439 is correct.125. See Yamagishi Tsuneto, Chusei jiinshakai to butsudo (Tokyo:Koshobokan, 1990), 130-32; and Alexander Coburn Soper III, The Evolutionof Buddhist Architecture in Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1942;reprint, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1978), 249-51.126. NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 6), 45.127. For the 13th- and 14th-century history of Kanshinji, see NagashimaGyozen, "Kanshinji no rekishi," in Mae and Nagashima, esp. 91-108.128. Neither is the 9th-century Chinese priest portrait statue mentioned inthe Pilgrim's Account; today it is enclosed within a zushi dating to the 15thcentury in the temple's museum.129. The Sino-Japanese term makes no distinction between stupa (henceforth,stupa) and pagoda. The Taho to is the Prabhutaratna-stupa. Accordingto Ruppert (as in n. 64), 66, 402 n. 80, the construction and worship of these'jeweled stupa" in Shingon and Tendai temples proliferated by the 10thcentury and proved to be among the most important ritual influences on thedevelopment of the offering of Buddha relics. The building of stupa (pagodas),including both stone monuments and wooden-construction pagodas,for karmic merit was promoted in texts brought to Japan by Kukai.130. In a record concerning Emperor Gomurakami from the year 1360(Shohei 15), the Gomurakami tenno rinshi, in the Tojichoja Raii bussharihonohogyojo, a section dealing with the priest Raii and the rite of relics, it is statedthat the relics ,from Toji were presented at the Kanshinji Hondo, Hoto(pagoda), Karitei altar, and to the Benzaiten deity; from this we know that thepagoda existed by 1360. The 1378 Pilgrim's Account indicates that it is athree-story pagoda. The 1462 fire destroyed the whole temple. See NCSS-jsh 3,31.131. The 1378 Pilgrim's Account notes "Amida Miroku" as the honzon of thepagoda. A 1669 record notes "Amida" as the honzon of the pagoda. A 1733record notes that "four directional Buddhas" were installed. The Shaka nyoraiBuddha, a wooden statue, dates between the 10th and 11th centuries; thewooden Yakushi Buddha to the 13th century. All four Buddhas are currentlyhoused in the Kanshinji treasure hall (museum). The name of the pagoda,Tatekake-literally, "under construction"-is, according to temple legend, areference to the interruptions that occurred during its construction.132. I have been unable to locate records of the Buddhas' installation in thepagoda.133. It is odd that the Butsugen butsumo Buddha received the new appellationof Miroku (as it is commonly known today) and not Hosho, "OneArisen from the Jewel," since the two share the nyoi jewel as their symbolicattribute. Further investigation of the (late medieval) traditional appellationsof the two Buddhas might add clues to the changing meanings of the templeicons over time.134. Paraphrased Abe, from 349. On the Latter Seven-Day rite, see Ab6, esp.344-55; and Ruppert (as in n. 64), esp. 130-35.135. The document is the Gomurakami tenno rinshi, in the Tojichoja Raiibussharihono hogyojo (see n. 130 above), dated 1360 (Shohei 15), cited inNCSS-jsh 3, 31.

THE NINTH-CENTURY ESOTERIC BUDDHIST ALTAR AT KANSHINJI 63136. On the Nanbokucho history of Kanshinji, see Kokushi daijiten (as in n.99), vol. 3, 850; and Nagashima (as in n. 127).137. The first recorded mention of this event and appellation is found inthe Kanshinji engi jitsurokucho (copied 1394, with a date of 827) within aspurious record datedJowa 4 (837). See also Kenki's 1378 Pilgrim's Account, inNCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 6), 45-46 (term found on 45). The phrase "Seven-starNyoirin" is also used in the 1669 Kanshinji garan jiyakusobohoshiki hikae (inKanshinji monjo, 556), excerpted in NCSS-jsh 3, 16 n. 7; and the 1733Hinooanzoki, in NCSS-jsh 3 (shiryo 7), 46-48 (phrase on 46).138. For the Chumn lineage, see n. 63 above. The Kakuzensho is a work in 316chapters. Reproduced in Takakusa and Ono (as in n. 74), vols. 4-5.139. T, vol. 21, text no. 1307. The Chinese text is of uncertain date. Thebest discussion of Seven Stars worship and its history in east Asia is Henrik H.Soerensen, "The Worship of the Great Dipper in Korean Buddhism," inReligions in Traditional Korea, SBS Monograph, no. 3 (Copenhagen: Seminarfor Buddhist Studies, 1995), 71-105, esp. 74-79. As Soerensen (75) explains,because the Chinese (apocryphal) sutra is mentioned in both the Kakuzenshoand the later Esoteric ritual compendium the Hakuhokusho (Book of the whiteprecious mouth), by Ryozen (1258-1341), it probably dates to the Tangdynasty.140. T, vol. 20, text no. 1091. The text is based on an edition from 1801, butthe work is undoubtedly of earlier origin; see Soerensen (as in n. 139), 77.None of the literature on the Kanshinji statue mentions this text, althoughconnections between the two are likely. Also of possible significance is theritual for the nyoiju (jewel) and Ursa Major, the nyhohokutoku (with the dietyKinrin bucho at the north position); see MD, 1748.141. Grapard, 1999 (as in n. 65), 555; he discusses celestial worship andinterpretations of celestial irregularities throughout this essay.142. NCSS-jsh 3, 9. The authors do not mention it, but it is possible that themandorlas of the two Buddhas were removed when they were housed in thepagoda. Why the Nyoirin Kannon required a new mandorla comes less readilyto mind.143. It may also be of interest that among the set of relic boxes foundbeneath Famensi pagoda (see n. 97 above) the fourth of seven nested casketsin the rear chamber features a six-armed Cintamanicakra-avalokitesvara (NyoirinKannon); the smallest of the caskets contained the precious relic. Ofgreat interest here is that the seven principal stars of the Northern Dipper arecarved on the interior surface of the innermost casket (a point that is notdiscussed in the Famensi literature). On the back central panel of the samecasket is Vairocana; on the left side is Bhaisajyaguru (Yakushi)-both deitiesin the lecture hall inventory at Kanshinji. See Karetzky (as in n. 97), fig. 11, foran illustration of the Cintamanlicakra-avalokitesvara. We have already notedthe paintings of the Five Great Storehouse bodhisattvas inventoried for theNyohodo that may have been used in rituals associated with the stars. Whilemany researchers interpret associations between the site or the statue and theconstellations as local tradition of little relevance to Kanshinji's ancienthistory, it is profitable to consider the contents of such traditions, their textualsources, and the light they may cast on earlier, albeit undocumented, beliefsor populations.144. For a photograph, see Juyobunkazai, vol. 3, 58, no. 168. This maedachi(alt., maedate) today is called the "kokoromi no saku" (literally,"test model"),meaning that it was modeled after the earlier Nyoirin Kannon.145. Neither the explanation provided here regarding the relationshipbetween medieval relics and jewel worship with changing meanings for theKanshinji statues nor that concerning the maedachi statue and the NyoirinKannon as hibutsu is suggested in the literature on the icon.Another point of relevance is the possible ritual function of the NyoirinKannon. It is the honzon of the central phase of the Nenju ho (recitationmethod) within the Juhachido, or "eighteen methods" practice, the firstmajor Esoteric rite to be mastered by Shingon initiates. In the Nenju hosection, the mantras of the Nyoirin Kannon are recited as part of the honzonkaji (empowerment of the main deity) practice, in which one partakes of thepower of the deity through eidetic meditation, recitations (including mantras),and mudras. Honzon kaji is repeated three times in the course of theNenju ho rite, with the Nyoirin Kannon as the honzon. Although there is verylittle difference in the practice of the Juhachido among lineages, the NyoirinKannon is the honzon of the Sanboinryu (lineage) of Shingon (see n. 63above), which originated with the priest Shobo at the monastery of Daigoji inthe 10th century. The honzon for the Nenju ho in the Chuinryu (lineage),associated with Mt. Koya and with which Kanshinji is affiliated, is the DainichiBuddha. See Toganoo (as in n. 63), 33-40.At first glance it would seem unlikely, then, that this variant of the rite waspracticed at Kanshinji, even if it had existed in the 9th century. It is worthnoting, however, that Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930, patron of Daigoji) was veryactive as a donor in the Kawachi region during the 10th century (Kokushidaijiten [as in n. 9], vol. 3, 850); the Daigo (Sanboin) lineage may have beeninfluential. It is also possible that the Sanboin-style ritual was subsequentlyadopted because the Nyoirin Kannon had already achieved a canonized statusby the 10th century. The late 9th century was a period of dispute between Tojiand Mt. Koya; about 912 the priest Kangen (853-925) was appointed bettosimultaneously at Toji, Kongobuji, and Daigoji, which further increased thelikelihood of shared practices and transmissions. The literature on Kanshinjito date has not explored these potential links between Esoteric ritual practicesand the Nyoirin Kannon's popularity.146. Contrary to popular belief, no hibutsu are recorded prior to the 10thcentury, although the practice may have begun before that time. One likelysecret image from the mid-8th century is the Shukongojin statue in Todaiji'sHokkedo Hall. On hibutsu, see Mochizuki, 4326; and MD, 2068.147. Elias Canetti, Crowds and Power, trans. Carol Stewart (New York: FarrarStraus Giroux, 1962), 290.148. See several essays on relics and stupas by Gregory Schopen, Bones,Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, andTexts of Monastic Buddhism in India (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press,1997); see also Kevin Trainor, Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997); and Bernard Faure, "Relics,Regalia, and the Dynamics of Secrecy in Japanese Buddhism," in Rending theVeil, ed. Elliot R. Wolfson (NewYork: Seven Bridges Press, 1999), 271-87. TheVajrasekhara sutra, a central text in the Shingon Esoteric tradition, describesthe secreting of the image Akaasagarbha (Jpn: Kokuzo bosatsu).149. From Walter Benjamin's famous essay on the aura of objects, "TheWork of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," in Illuminations, ed.Hannah Arendt, trans. Harry Zohn (New York: Schocken Books, 1969; Frankfurt:Suhrkamp, 1955), 243 n. 5. More recently, Stephen Greenblatt calls this"wonder." See Greenblatt, "Resonance and Wonder," in Exhibiting Cultures:The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display, ed. Ivan Karp and Steven D. Levine(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991), 42. For a discussionof concealment in the temple, see Edmund Leach, Culture and Communication:The Logic by Which Symbols Are Connected (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1976), 84-88.150. Ernst Kris and Otto Kurz, Legend, Myth, and Magic in the Image of theArtist: A Historical Experiment (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929), 72.151. Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1992), 140.152. Ibid., 109, the following sentence is paraphrased from 110.153. Michael Ann Holly, Past Looking (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press,1996). I thank Alfred Acres for first directing me to Holly's work, enabling meto further develop my understanding of a work's affective qualities.154. Hans Robert Jauss, "Literary History as a Challenge to LiteraryTheory," in Toward an Aesthetic of Reception, trans. Timothy Bahti (Minneapolis:University of Minnesota Press, 1982), 3-45. Others have pointed out thatJauss's account presumes a degree of faith in the historical transcendence ofvalue judgments; see Janet Wolff, Aesthetics and the Sociology of Art (Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press, 1999), 35. The term is useful here, however, inunderstanding how the ascribing of value to a work turns on its encounterwith the expectations of each period in which it is evaluated.155. Sawa (as in n. 10), 47-48.156. Sawa, 1972, trans. Gage (as in n. 26), 147; idem, 1964, original (as inn. 26), 150-51, more precisely translated: ".. the six-armed figure has arelaxed form with a sensual beauty...."157. As recent theoretical works on literature have noted, excesses andsurpluses form the boundaries of our rhetorical and analytic concepts.Jacques Derrida explains in Of Grammatology, trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976), that social conventionhides difference and excess; the excess disguised by social convention is alsopreserved by it. See also the work of Georges Bataille, for example, "TheNotion of Expenditure," in Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927-1939, ed.and trans. Allan Stoekl (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985),116-29.158. The "sexual" element of Tantric or Esoteric cultivation differs fromthat of ordinary experience. Essays in White provide very helpful discussionsabout the energies and empowerments of Esoteric practice; see especially hisintroduction, esp. 9-18, the essay by Richard K Payne, "Ritual Manual for theProtective Fire Offering Devoted to Manjusri, Chuin Lineage," 489-508, andthat by Gavin Flood, "The Purification of the Body," 509-20. Kukai consideredritual experiences to be private and sacred. Although a sexual experiencemay be the only corollary for a description of the empowerment generatedby ritual practices, the Esoteric experience is, according to practitioners,different in quality and duration.159. Bernard Faure, "The Buddhist Icon and the Modern Gaze," CriticalInquiry 24, no. 3 (spring 1998): 778.160. Holly (as in n. 153) and others would argue that the response is (inpart) organized by the work's structure and constitutes an affective order.161. Nishimura Kocho (as in n. 21), 37. Minagiru means "swollen, overflowing."162. Nishikawa, Aug. 1978 (as in n. 10).163. Sawa Ryuken, Mikkyo no bijutsu, Nihon no bijutsu, vol. 25 (Tokyo:Kodansha, 1964), 70. Sawa's choice of the word ayashii is interesting becausethe foremost meaning of ayashii is "doubtful or suspicious," although it is alsoused in the sense of "mystical or mysterious" (thus, my rendering of the singleword as "strangely mystical"). The particle made, "even" or "as much as,"modifies it.164. Greenblatt (as in n. 149), 49; for a brief explanation of "wonder," seen. 149 above.165. Sexuality and sexual experiences figure in the Buddhist tradition to adegree that would surprise many readers. On the topic, see Bernard Faure,The Red Thread: Buddhist Approaches to Sexuality (Princeton: Princeton Univer-sity Press, 1998); and White, 15-18. In the Esoteric tradition, ritual experiencesare not usually recorded. Monks and nuns whom I questioned sug-

64 ART BULLETIN MARCH 2002 VOLUME LXXXIV NUMBER 1gested that practices for the Nyoirin Kannon may result in an empowermentwith sensations that find a descriptive (but not somatic) corollary in sexualorgasm, as above. This explains, perhaps, the many characterizations of thedeity by Shingon scholar-priests employing sexually charged vocabulary, aswell as the abundance of such descriptions in the general literature on theKanshinji Nyoirin Kannon and other Esoteric icons. Another way to understandthe experience might be in the Kundalini tradition with its experiencesarising from the increase in energy flow along bodily channels.166. See Grapard, 1999 (as in n. 65), 549 (no source given).167. Nishikawa, Aug. 1978 (as in n. 10), 68. In Japanese, "sono hyojo yashitai ni minagiru mikkyotekki kan'notekina jusokukan wa...."168. The final date for "early Heian sculpture," according to Mizuno, 1993(as in n. 10), should correspond to the end of Daigo's reign (923-31). For twocontrasting views, see Kuno, 1974 (as in n. 10), and the ongoing series ofarticles by Konno Toshifumi entitled "Heian chokoku no seiritsu," in Bukkyogeijutsu, beginning with pt. 1, no. 175 (Nov. 1987): 27-40. On the designationof Buddhist icons as "Buddhist art," see John M. Rosenfield, 'Japanese BuddhistArt: Alive in the Modern Age," in Buddhist Treasures from Nara, ed.Michael R. Cunningham (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998), 232-44.169. Smith, 48.170. By symptom I mean an inadvertently conveyed sign, in the Peirceansense. See Douglas Greenlee, Peirce's Concept of Sign (The Hague: Mouton,1973).171. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, "Scattered Speculations on the Questionof Value" (1985), in The Spivak Reader, ed. Donna Landry and GeraldMacLean (New York: Routledge, 1996), 109. On 110 she asks, "What subjecteffectswere systematically effaced and trained to efface themselves so that acanonic norm might emerge?"172. For a recent discussion of the terms etic (outside, of different origin)and emic (inside, sectarian), see Kenneth L. Pike, Emics and Etics: The Insider/Outsider Debate, Frontiers of Anthropology (Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications,1990). See also Gudrun Ekstrand, Developing the Emic and Etic Conceptsfor Cross-Cultural Comparisons (Malm6, Sweden: Dept. of Educational andPsychological Research, School of Education, 1986).173. Gadamer (as in n. 25), 258.