BackNo.50
FEBRUARY 1936
ON THE SMALL WOODEN NICE CARVED WITH BUDDHIST INAGES IN THE POSSESSION OF THE CHIMANJI MONASTERY.
BY HAJIME WATANABE
A miniature shrine wherein Amitabba and six other deities are ensrined is owned by the Chimanji monastery in Shizuoka. It measures only 11.1 cm. in height and is one of the smallest Buddhist images in this country. But it is so delicately cut as to resemble Byzantine ivory.
Interesting is the shape of the shrine. It was modelled after a Buddhist temple. The stylobate of two levels and the tited roof furnished with "shibi" at each end of the main ridge show a resemblance to the famous "tamamushi" portable shrine.
The images enclosed in the shrine are, though in size, full of grace and difnity. They reveal the stylistic characteristics of the Fujiwara period. Amitabha is seated on a lotus pedestal of peculiar form; above his head is carved out a canopy; the wall behind him is decorated with swastika desigh.
The names of the six deities atanding round Amitabha are uncertain, except the one standing on the left of Amitabha, which is apparently Achala. But if we assume that the shrine represents the type which we call the Amida-do shine, frequently erected and worshipped in the Fujiwara period, we may say that the two priestly figures standing behind Amitabha are Jizo(Ksitigarbha) and Ryuji (Nagariuna); the Buddha standing on the right side of Amitabha is Bhesajaguru; and the two Boddhisattvas are Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta.
However, the most outstanding feature of this image is its peculiar technique of carving-the dexterous way of carving out of a single block of wood both Buddhist images and their shrine together.
This technique seems to originate in India, and, in its wide sense, stelae, stups and grottoes may also be classified in this category. The introduction of this technique into China can be traced as far back as the time when the cave-temple of Tung-huang were excavated.
However, an aplication of this technique to sandal-wood and other precious woods seems to originate form the T'ang period. Various old documents tell us that this kind of buddhist image was then very much in vogue. There still exsist in Japan three of the T'ang examples which are said to have been brought back from China by the priest Kukai.
(1) A triptych representing the Buddhist Pantheon in the Kongobuji Temple.
(2) The images of Budha Sakyamuni and attendant deities in a casket in the Fumon-in Temple.
(3) A triptych representing Sakyamuni and attendant deities in the Itsukushima Shrine.
The Kongobuji triptych (fig. 1 & 2) has a peculiar bulle-like shape and bears a close resemblance to images found in Chinese Turkestan. On the contrary, the Fumon-in image faithfully keeps a traditional style of stone sculprure of the preceding ages. (P1. III & IV. 18 cm x 15 cm)
These small images, made of precious wood, were highly appreciated as the Makura-honzon and they were also copied in Japan.
The Makura-honzon which were made in this country and have been preserved so far, are the following:
(1) Amitabha and attendanat deities enshrined in a miniature in the Chimanji Monastery.
(2) A triptych with thousand-armed Avalokitesvara and Deva Kings in the Shitennoji Monastery.
(3) Image of Cintamani in the Komatsudera Monastery.
(4) Buddihist Pantheon in Mr. Tokuhei Ono's Collection.
(5) A triptych with Manjusri and attendant deiries in the Hemmyon Monastery.
(6) There triptychs representing Nivana, Manjusri, Ksitigarbha and the Ten Kings of Hell in the Gakuanji Monastery.
If we include in this group some bas-reliefs of diminutive scale, we should add the following to the above list.
(1) Six screen-shaped bas-relifs in the Ryukoin Monastery.
(2) A pair of tablets representing the Garbha-kosa-dhatu and Vajra-dhatu in the Jizoin Monastery.
(3) A tablet representing the Hokke Mandala in the Ojojo Monastery.
(4) A pair of tablets representing Garbha-kosa-dhatu and Vajra-dhatu Mandala in the Myooin Monastery.
(5) A tablet with nine deities in the Kongobuji Monastery.
(6) A tablet representing Garbha-kosa-dhatu and Vajra-dhatu Mandala in the Kongobuji Monastery.
(7) Garbha-kosa-dhatu and Vajra-dhatu Mandala in the Kongobuji Monastery.
All these images and bas-reliefs are the products of the Fujiwara period, except the Hemmyoin triptych (Pl. VII. 14.4 cm x 9.5 cm), which is the work of the Kamakura period, and the Gakuanji triptychs which are to be assigned to the Muromachi period.
BIOGYAPHICAL STUDIES OF IKE TAIGA.
BY SENZO MORI
In spite of the fact tat Taigado played a significant role in the history of painting, most of the biographies hitherto published of Taigado have many imperfections and errors. Being much dissatisfied with the work sofar done, Mr. Senzo Mori tries in his study to sketch the true character of Taigado, citing from the writings of various autors who were the contemporaries of this master painter.
The contents of his studies are as follows:
1. Toyo's view on Taigado as revealed in the "Shoga Bunkenroku" by Tansai.-2. Doubts about the opinion that Taigado got married at the age of 24-that is, in 1774; his nineteen penny pictures; his poems.-3. A short biography of Taigado described in the "Geien Kokon Jurinden"; his names.-4. His relation to Ryurikyo and Gion Nankai.-5. Some anecdotes about him mentioned in the "Hogen Kibun" by Okano Hogen; his mother.-6. His friendship both with Ko Fuyo, a seal engraver and Kan Tainen, a calligrapher.-7. His wife Gyokuran; shi was living apart from her husband for a time.-8. His countenance and his likeness; his broad-minded character.
PLATES.
P1. I-III, XI-XIV. Tengu Zoshi E.
Painted in colors on paper. Mounted as a scroll.
Size: H. 30.7 cm., W. 10.3 cm.
In the Collection of Mr. Kaichiro Nezu, Tokyo.
We reproduced in our journal No. 47, a picture scroll "Zegaibo Ekotoba" which unfolds a humorous story about Tengu, and also stated that there is another kind of Tengu Zoshi which caricaturs the conduct of the arrogant monks in the seven great monasteries, viz. Kofukuji, Todaiji, Enryakuji, Toji, Daigoji, Koyasan and Miidera. Of this kind of Tengu Zoshi there are extant seven scrolls in all, of which five scrolls are originals and two are copies. As regard the date of the scrolls we may safely assign them to the late Kamakura period, for there is weitten the date of the 4th year of Einin(1296) in the text of the Kofukuji scroll.
Out of the seven scrolls we reproduce here the Miidera scroll of the Nezu collection.
On P1. II is shown the scene where Tengus are repenting their past misdeeds and consulting about erecting a holy edifice. In Pl. III the building are getting under way: P1. I shows Tengus transfigured again into human being owing to their piety.
P1. IV, V. XV & XVI. Landscape of Dotei and Sekiheki. BY TAIGA.
In colors on silk. Mounted as a scroll.
Size: H. 59 cm., W. 298.5 cm.
In Mr. Kokan Konishi's Collection, Tokyo.
We can safely say that Taiga was a born painter. He could perceive at a glance the true spirit of Nature and reproduce it on silk just as it was. He was a gifted draughtsman while he was an eminent colourist. He was gifted with a special quality of giving the sensation of the third dimension. With few precise stokes he was able to paint pavilions and trees standing in bold relief against their background.
the present picture, which was painted in August, 1771 when the artist was at the apogee of his talent, may serve as an ample demonstration of the above statement. It is most likely that Taiga painted this picture when fascinated by a poem of Yang Sheng-lu, a Chinese poet of the Ming dynasty.