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Surkh Kotal en Bactriane, v. 1: Les temples: Architecture, Sculpture, Inscriptions by DanielSchlumberger; Marc Le Berre; Gérard FussmanReview by: William TrousdaleArs Orientalis, Vol. 16 (1986), pp. 173-174Published by: Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the Historyof Art, University of MichiganStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4629348 .

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BOOK REVIEWS

Shinzo: Hachiman Imagery and Its Development. By Christine Guth Kanda. (Harvard East Asian Monographs, v. 119.) 135 + xiv pp., 76 black-and-white figures, bibliography, and glossary. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985. $30.00.

Shinzo: Hachiman Imagery and Its Development is the first monograph written in English on Shinto sculpture. Christine Guth Kanda introduces the Western reader to the problems of the long-neglected field of Shinto art by focusing on the Hachiman cult and its imagery. The appearance of the Shinto god Hachiman, commonly represented in the guise of a Buddhist monk with shaven head, underlines the syncretic nature of Shinto art and the importance of Buddhism in its formation. Kanda makes the point, however, that we can understand these works only by exploring the strands of native beliefs, commonly termed Shinto, that lie at their core. The multifacted approach taken by Kanda in this book, which is a revision of her Ph.D. dissertation (Harvard, 1976), introduces the reader to the methodologies of such eminent Japanese scholars as Naomi Oka, Shuichi Murayama, and Haruki Kageyama.

Kanda divides her monograph into two parts. Part I provides a general introduction to Shinto imagery and places the Hachiman cult in its chronological context. The four chapters in this section survey Japanese attitudes toward the kami (Shinto gods), the rise of anthropomorphic images, the two main types of iconography (courtly and synthetic, or Buddhist), the formal development of Shinto wood sculpture, patronage, and devotional practices. A discussion of the Hachiman cult at Usa Shrine, Todai-ji, Iwashimizu Shrine, and Tsurugaoka Shrine provides background for the later examination of specific cult objects.

Part II focuses of three important work of the Hachiman cult: a Hachiman triad in To-ji, another triad in Yakushi-ji, and a single statue in Todai-ji. Using these three case studies Kanda discusses the devlopment of Shinto wood sculptural techniques and styles from the ninth through the thirteenth century. The To-ji triad represents wood-core lacquer-style statues of the early Heian period; the Todai-ji image, dated and signed by Kaikei, exemplifies the naturalistic joined-wood style of the Kei school in the early Kamakura period. Many other sculptures from the Buddhist and Shinto traditions are also cited to clarify stylistic and iconographic points. The figures provide a wealth of material for reference that is difficult to find otherwise.

Although Kanda's broadly based survey in Part I is espe- cially useful as an introduction to the subject, more detailed examination of certain problems included here still remains to be done. For example, Kanda discusses the origins of Shinto sculpture and classifies the earliest images into two broad types: courtly and syncretic (or Buddhist). Both ap- pear in early Hachiman triads, which are comprised of one male deity dressed as a Buddhist monk and two female deities appearing in courtly garb, and it would be useful to seek the sources of these iconographies. Hachiman, as Kanda notes, was probably not the only Shinto deity to be represented as a Buddhist monk. What do we know about some of the other early wood sculptures of Buddhist deities, such as Jizo and Monju, who also appear as monks? Are there grounds for

believing that some of these figures, which appear outwardly as Bodhisattvas, were actually Shinto deities underneath? In his book on Shinto sculpture Naomi Oka repeatedly points out that the earliest Shinto sculptures appear to be linked to shrines assoiated with immigrant clans and that the images themselves may be tied to ancestor worship. Ongoing research on folk traditions in China and especially Korea may uncover possible sources of influence for these early life-sized wooden court-style Shinto images.

A dearth of documentation and a lack of comparative materials stand as formidable barriers against establishing a precise chronology for Shinto sculpture. We can see this in the problems associated with the dating of the two Hachiman triads discussed in Part II. Although a consensus of Japanese scholarly opinion dates both the To-ji and Yakushi-ji triads to the ninth century, these two sets of images exhibit great differences in scale, technique, and style. The To-ji triad seems consistent with other mid-ninth century wood sculpture. The problem lies with accepting a late-ninth century date for the Yakushi-ji images. Oka, the leading authority on Shinto sculpture, attributes this triad to the late tenth or early eleventh century based on his reading of pertinent documents and stylistic comparisons. Kanda, finding that the documentary evidence does not fully support either opinion, assigns this triad to the early tenth century. Her view that this triad inaugurates the wood-style statuary of the late Heian period, however, suggests that Oka's later dating may have validity.

Kanda's monograph on Shinto sculpture falls squarely within a newly developing trend in Western scholarship on Japanese religion and religious art. For many years scholars have tended to emphasize the continental Buddhist tradition, while neglecting the contributions of nature religious developments. Recently, however, scholars have begun placing more emphasis on the indigenous aspects of the Japanese religious tradition, specifically including the intermingling of the great tradition of Buddhism with native Japanese beliefs. The two go hand in hand and must be considered together. Studies on Japanese folk religion, the honji suijaku theory, and shugendo make up an important part of this trend. So, too, do studies on Shinto art. Shinzo: Hachiman Imagery and Its Development, complementing Kanda's other work in the field of Shinto art, makes an important contribution to the body of research that is leading towards a clearer picture of the early development of Japanese religious beliefs and a more penetrating analysis of the most definite statement of these beliefs, the visual arts.

BRUCE DARLING

Surkh Kotal en Bactriane, v. 1: Les temples: architecture, sculpture, inscriptions. By Daniel Schlumberger, Marc Le Berre, and Gerard Fussman. (Memoires de la Delegation Archeologique Francaise en Afghanistan, v. 25.) In two parts: Texte, 160 + viii pp.; Planches, viii pp., 72 black-and-white plates, 61 plans. Paris: Diffusion de Boccard, 1983.

So long has Surkh Kotal held a prominent position in Central Asian archaeology, history, and linguistics that the final report

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174 BOOK REVIEWS

on the excavation of the temple and its precinct offers few fresh insights, only some more detailed descriptions than hitherto available. Indeed, its appearance now, more than a decade after the death of the director of the excavations and five years after the death of the architect Le Berre, is owing chiefly to efforts of a younger colleague, Gerard Fussman, who worked at the site only during the last two of the sixteen seasons. It is owing as well to D.A.F.A.'s commendable commitment to the publication of all its field work. Fussman has gathered together the loose ends, and most important, has published the customarily excellent architectural plans and drawing of M. Le Berre at adequate scale. The Delegation is to be praised as well for its return to a large format, permitting it to dispense with envelopes stuffed with awkwardly folded plans. These present volumes represent archaeological publishing at its highest standard today.

Schlumberger was one of the last great Asian archaeologists who was a thinker before a practitioner. In his thoughtful and respectful introduction, Fussman has acknowledged some of the shortcomings in the Surkh Kotal archaeological record. Some of these were the result of inadequate staff and funding for work at a site which, in the 1950s, was remote from even the basic necessities of life. But another part reflects, I believe, Schlumberger's position within the humanist tradition that placed greater emphasis on discovery and interpretation than upon some of the more niggling aspects of recording. Most of what Schlumberger would have written in his final report of the excavations at Surkh Kotal, conducted between 1952 and 1963, is contained in his detailed preliminary reports, which appeared in the Journal Asiatique (bibliography in text volume, page viii). And I concur with Fussman (p. 5) that we may accept as Schlumberger's synthetical final statement on the art historical significance of Surkh Kotal his "Descendants non-mediterraneens de l'art grec" (Syria, v. 37, 1960), a study which with precision, brilliance, and deep intuition brought to a sudden, decisive end decades of speculation on "the problem of Hellenism in Bactria and India," to quote the author's own words. His conclusions were all the more remarkable for having been made before the discovery of the Hellenistic city of Ay Khanum on the Amu Darya, and other Kushan sites in Turkistan and northern Afghanistan.

The present text volume is based in part on Schlumberger's notes, short descriptions of the excavated structures, and field notes and logs of Le Berre and other participants, inevitably of varying exactitude. No major attempt at elaboration of these records is made and this decision is both honest and wise. Fussman's own substantial contributions are clearly identified, and in addition to descriptive chapters concerned with aspects of the excavations for which there were no, or inadequate, notes, he has contributed a valuable chapter on the interpretation of the site and its position in the Indo-Iranian world of the first and second centuries. This arrangement is essentially the plan adopted in the posthumous publication of Schlumberger's earlier excavations at Lashkari Bazar (MDAFA, v. 18, 1976), and presumably this same plan will be followed in the publication of the Surkh Kotal surveys and excavations not included in the present volumes: the small fort, the investigations in the plain below the sanctuary ridge, minor exploratory excavations of the secular structures adjacent to the temple on the ridge top, and surveys in the immediate region. Almost no archaeological excavation is completed in detail, and it is surely the most singular fault of the Surkh Kotal excavations that comparatively little of the ridge-top community (if that is indeed what it was) was cleared. While temples and palaces are by far the most exciting structures

to unearth, they almost always lack the data necessary to place them in their immediate social contexts. But these questions anticipate further final reports which may alter current judgment.

Because of the nature of this report, its catalogue and summary of what remained to be reported, and summary recapitulation of what had already been published, it has an insufficiency which can be compensated for only by familiarity with the extensive site literature. It would, therefore, have been useful to include a full bibliography of the scores of articles published since 1952 on Surkh Kotal. That this has been done selectively for the inscriptions (pp. 132ff.) certainly reflects Fussman's own linguistic interests. While most of the inscriptions have been extensively published and analysed by many philologists in dozens of journals, references to many of which are cited, it would have been appropriate to include transcriptions of the inscriptions here, even though the photograph of SK 4M, "the great inscription" (plate 71), is fairly clear. These texts belong here, for, most of all, they are an essential part of a final publication.

The sculptural fragments, of stone and mud, in relief and in the round, are fully published for the first time, and this is an important contribution. We can see at last the full range of objects that contributed to the formation of Schlumberger's theories concerning the inheritors of Greek art in the East.

The final chapter is concerned with the basic function of the structures at the site, particularly the ambiguous Temple A, the largest architectural complex. Schlumberger maintained to the end that this monumental structure was a fire temple, even if it did embody elements of a cult sanctuary, and Schlumberger's intuitions have always been keen. While it is unlikely that we shall ever certainly know the true nature or function of this building, Fussman's arguments against its identification as a fire temple are persuasive, even though these alternative interpretations are in themselves necessarily ambiguous and uncertain.

Schlumberger had a remarkable career in archaeology, and all his excavations were conducted at remote sites under taxing physical conditions. At Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, in the Syrian desert, water had to be brought from Palmyra in skins on camelback. Yet he found there a precious hoard of Umayyad carved stucco and wall paintings. At the eleventh- century Ghaznavid palaces at Lashkari Bazar in southwestern Afghanistan, before the amenities of the nearby community of Lashkar Gah existed, he again discovered wall paintings and carved stuccos. At Surkh Kotal, besides the numerous manifestations of Hellenized Kushan art, he found substantial texts in a language previously known only from short coin legends. He was always an archaeological pioneer. His contribution to the discovery and preservation of Afghan historical patrimony exceeded that of any other foreigner, and his vision remains in those who had the great good fortune to study and work with him.

This posthumous work on Surkh Kotal is not a final report in the traditional sense, but it is likely a final statement on the long project and is important for that reason. It can serve only as a starting point for anyone wishing to study the site. It stands as well as testimony, though elegantly attired, to archaeological projects left unfinished by those most critically concerned with their results.

WILLIAM TROUSDALE

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