Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

J APAN, BUDDHIST A RT IN
attitude. Sutras were copied for a variety of occasions
and reasons, and their completion was often accompanied
by ceremonies or lectures. In the eleventh-century
court, lavish projects to copy the LOTUS SU TRA
(SADDHARMAPUN D ARIKA-SU TRA) mobilized teams of
aristocrats who chose the finest materials—colored
and decorated paper, gold and silver ink—to create
manuscripts of extraordinary beauty and richness. The
boom in sutra-copying in the mid-eleventh century
was related to belief that the world had entered the final
era of the dharma (mappo ). Many monks and lay
patrons buried hand-copied sutras in specially designed
sutra mounds (kyo zuka), in remote mountain
settings where they were protected by local kami while
awaiting the advent of Miroku (Maitreya). In some
cases, letters or picture books of the deceased would
be used as the paper for sutras written out by their descendants
on behalf of the departed. But most sutracopying
projects were a simple matter of ink and paper,
and a private vow from the writer; most ended up in
temple or family storehouses. This practice of copying
sutras still flourishes at temples and in private homes.
In addition to sutras, Buddhist literature abounds
in biographies and miracle tales, many illustrated.
The life of Śakyamuni was among the first narrative
sequences to be represented in Japan in both sculpture
(Horyuji pagoda) and painting. But the initial
focus on Śakyamuni quickly expanded to include
miracle tales, both imported and localized. In the
tenth century, the Sanbo e (Illustrations of the Three
Jewels), written on behalf of a princess, included
painted depictions of episodes from the history of
Buddhism as well as of contemporary Japanese religious
festivals and ceremonies.
Many temple icons were believed to have miraculous
origins, and these origin tales (engi) were frequently
illustrated in painted narratives. More
extensive painted scrolls treat entire temple histories,
from the making of icons, building of halls, to miracles
wrought by their deities. A major genre of illustrated
narrative was the sacred biography. In addition
to Śakyamuni, the life of Prince SHO TOKU was illustrated
repeatedly, first at temples he founded such as
Shitennoji and Horyuji, and at numerous temples that
claimed him as founder. At least as early as the eleventh
century, painted narrative cycles of famous patriarchs
stressed aspects of their lineage and teaching. Interest
in the lives of teachers peaked in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries with the lavish productions of
pictorial biographies of Pure Land patriarchs IPPEN
CHISHIN, HO NEN, and Ryonen produced in numerous
copies for distribution to branch temples. Some of
these survive in such pristine condition that one wonders
if they were ever viewed. The small scale of handheld
narrative scrolls proved unsuitable for more than
intimate viewing, but at Dojoji (Wakayama prefecture)
picture-explaining monks (etoki ho shi) unroll a largeformat
scroll to tell the infamous story of Kiyohime’s
unrequited love for a monk and her transformation
into a dragon, which follows the monk to Dojoji and
incinerates him with her fiery breath.
However, large hanging scrolls more commonly
served for picture-explaining lectures directed at visitors
and pilgrims. Prince Shotoku’s life may have been
the first instance of this, but many such wall-sized biographies
and origin tales exist from the thirteenth and
later centuries, often now worn and tattered from repeated
use. In the sixteenth and later centuries many
temples and shrines utilized pilgrimage mandala to instruct
visitors about the history of their institution, its
halls and deities, and miracles that had occurred within
their precincts. These paintings served as effective
fund-raising devices, as did representations of the six
realms of existence (rokudo ) with their emphasis upon
punishment and hell. Such paintings, crude in execution
but powerful in message, were carried about by
itinerant storytellers who worked the roadsides, festivals,
cities, and even private gatherings.
Practical needs
Buddhist temples and their affiliated shrines are repositories
of the myriad finely crafted objects used to
adorn temple halls, ritual implements employed in ceremonies,
articles used by temple inhabitants, and precious
gifts donated by lay patrons. These constituted
part of a temple’s material wealth, and thus could be
sold if need dictated. Among the temples noted for
their extensive storehouses are Horyuji (seventh- and
eighth-century textiles and metalwork, etc.), Todaiji
(eighth-century objects in all media of foreign and native
manufacture), Toji and Daigoji (esoteric arts and
manuscripts of all periods), Kozanji (manuscripts and
printed books, including those from China and Korea),
DAITOKUJI (imported Chinese paintings, calligraphies,
and tea utensils), and Kodaiji (lacquerware and
textiles), to name a few.
The many public and private ceremonies conducted
at Buddhist temples or even in private residences utilized
a variety of finely crafted objects for sacred adornment
(so gon) and in actual practice. Painted and woven
banners were hung or were carried by participants in
E NCYCLOPEDIA OF B UDDHISM
395