The Earliest Buddhist Statues in Japan

8/12/2019 The Earliest Buddhist Statues in Japan

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The Earliest Buddhist Statues in JapanAuthor(s): Donald F. McCallumSource: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 61, No. 2 (2001), pp. 149-188Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249909.

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DONALD F. McCALLUM

THE EARLIEST BUDDHIST STATUES IN JAPAN

I.INTRODUCTION

The beginnings of anyartistic traditionhaveaspecialfascination,particularlywhen seen from theperspectiveof subsequent developments.'Certainlythe long and richhistoryof Buddhistsculp-ture in Japan arouses one's interest in its origins, and there have been, of course, numerousstudiesdevoted to this topic. Although this paper s relatedto the generalquestionof the originsof Buddhistsculpture in Japan, a more specific focus is suggested by the title. First, the term "Buddhist statues"is intended to exclude from considerationthe small number of Chinesemirrors ncorporating repre-sentations of Buddhistdeities that have beenfound in Kofunperiod(3o00-6oo A.D.)burials.3 The rea-son forthis exclusion s thatthere s noproof hat thesemirrorswereassociatedwith thepractice fBuddhism. hese ieces robablynteredapan longwithother ategoriesfmirrors,ndpresum-ably heywereprizedasmirrorsather hanasBuddhist cons.Asecondpointhas odo withthephrase"inJapan."I havedeliberatelyavoided the adjective"Japanese"ince it implies some sortof nationalI An enormous literatureexists concerning the "origins"of Christianart,and I would suggest that the student of Bud-

dhist art might benefit from this material. Among the more interesting recent publications, the following mightbe mentioned: Paul Corby Finney, TheInvisibleGod:TheEarliestChristianson Art (New York and Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press,1994);MosheBarasch,Icon:Studies n theHistoryofan Idea(New YorkandLondon:New York Uni-versity Press,1992);Thomas F. Matthews, TheClashofthe Gods:A ReinterpretationfEarlyChristianArt (Princeton,NJ: Princeton University Press,1993); Hans Belting, Likeness nd Presence: HistoryoftheImagebeforeheEra ofArt(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, I994).2 Kuno Takeshi, "Asukabutsu no tanj6" Birth ofAsuka PeriodBuddhist Sculpture),BijutsukenkyZ315i980), 147-161(hereafterabbreviated to Kuno, "Birth");Alexander C. Soper, "Notes on H6ryoji and the Sculpture of the 'Suiko'Period,"Art Bulletin33,no. 2 (I95I), 77-94, (Soper'sarticle is in parta review of LangdonWarner,Japanese culptureoftheSuikoPeriod New Haven: YaleUniversity Press,I923],hereafterabbreviated o Warner,Suiko);FrancoisBerthier,"LespremieresstatuesbouddhiquesduJapon, entrevues"travers es textesanciens,"ArtsAsiatiques 1 (1986), lo4-1o9.A recent survey is Onishi Shuya, "Shakasanzon z6 no genryu," in Mizuno Keizabur6 (ed.), Nihon bijutsuzenshzu,Horyzujiara Yakushijie:Asuka-Nara nokenchiku-chikokuTokyo: K-dansha, I990), 164-170. This volume, hereafterabbreviated o Mizuno Keizabur6,Horyu-jiara,hasexcellent colorphotographsof all of imagesdiscussedin this paper.After this article was prepared,a long study by Konno Toshifumi appeared,entitled: "Sh6rai'hon'y6'no utsushi tobusshi(I)- Asukabutsu no tanj6to Toribusshi,"Bukkyogeijutsu48(200ooo),9-98; the English title is given as"Copiesof the Imported 'TrueImage'andBuddhist Sculptors(I)- The emergenceofAsuka Buddhist sculptureand the sculp-tor Tori" (hereafterabbreviated to Konno, "TrueImage").As this article takes a significantly different perspectivefrom the one presented here, I will try to considerKonno's ideas and approach n as much detail aspractical.3 Mizuno Seiichi has dealt with these mirrors n "Ch-goku ni okerubutsuz6 no hajimari," n ChzugokuoBukkyobijutsu(Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1968),2o-27 (Originally published in Bukkyjgeijutsu , 1950o).ee alsoWu Hung, "BuddhistEle-ments in EarlyChinese Art (2nd and 3rdCenturies A.D.)"Artibus Asiae 47, nos. 2/3 (1986), 276-281. Konno, "TrueImage," 71-73, argues that the inhabitants of Japan during the Kofun period had a greaterawareness of the icono-graphies of these mirrors than I think likely.

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characteristics nherentin the monuments,whereasall Buddhist iconsused in the earlyperiodunderdiscussion here seem to have beenimportedfromthe Koreanpeninsula.This studywill end just priorto widespreadproductionof Buddhist sculpturesinJapan proper,the periodreferred o by arthisto-rians as the Asukaperiod.

Although precisedatesarefrequently given forthe Asukaperiod, I preferthe moregeneralcirca590 - circa65o A.D. dates, since such a chronologyavoids the impressionthat Asukaperiodart sud-denly began in 552A.D. (or 538A.D.) with the "official ntroduction"of Buddhism, and ended in 645A.D. with the so-calledTaika Reform.

In approaching he fragmentarymaterialavailable,I will avoidthe typeof teleologicalsearch hatstrives to locatespecificobjectsthat arethen forcedinto the role of original objectson which all sub-sequentdevelopmentsare said to be based.Instead,I will attempt to elucidate the complexityof theearly stages of Buddhism and Buddhist art in Japan, showing how doctrines and icons entered theislandsin variousplacesand at various times. Here my approachdiffersfrom the standardmethodol-ogy ofJapanesescholarship,which can be characterizedas Yamato-centric:that is, the assumptionthat Buddhist practiceand imageryarrivedfirst at the court in Yamato and only subsequentlydif-fused out to other areasof the country.

BeforeconsideringactualimagesextantinJapan,the documentaryevidence related to earlyBud-dhist art must beexamined.This evidenceis very incomplete, andnotentirelysatisfactory,but it doesprovideus with some potentially useful informationon the circumstancesof Buddhism in 6th-cen-turyJapan.An effortto relatethis documentarymaterialto the survivingmonuments will shed somelight on the earliest statues inJapan.

Several mall, gilt-bronzestatuesform the coreof the study.Includedare wo imagesin the famous"Forty-eightBuddhist Deities" group, now housed in a special structure at the Tokyo NationalMuseum.4One, designatedas no. IM, s a standing Buddhafigure(fig. I), the other, no. 158,a medi-tating bodhisattva(fig. 4). Both have been recognized by virtuallyallJapaneseauthoritiesas imagesproducedon the continent, presumably n the Koreanpeninsula,andbroughttoJapanat avery earlytime, perhapsduringthe secondhalf of the 6th century.Otherimagesto be discussedin detail are theFunagatayamajinja tanding bodhisattva(fig. 7) and the Kanshoin meditating bodhisattva(fig. IO).Forour presentpurposes,the most importantfeatureof these four figuresis that they display stylesthat seem to precede those seen in images assumedto have been made in Japan during the Asukaperiod. The very early stylesof these images must be stressed here,since thereare other images in the"Forty-eightBuddhist Deities" group and elsewhere, which are also assumedto have been importedfrom Korea.However, as all or most of the latter images can be associateddirectlywith the main cur-rentsof Asuka sculpture, they are not relevantto this narrative.4 The "Forty-eightBuddhist Deities"groupconsistsofsmall, gilt-bronze images, mostly of7th centurydate, the major-

ity of which wereoriginally at Tachibanadera,but then moved to Horyuji in the medieval period. These images werepresumablyforprivatedevotion, but graduallyover the centurieswereplaced in temples as their ownerspassedaway.Consequently, their present grouping is arbitrary,and it cannot be considered an iconographicalunit. In the Meijiperiod,Horyuji"donated"heseimagesand otherobjectsto the imperialhousehold,andtheyweresubsequentlytrans-ferredto the Tokyo National Museum. They arecurrentlyhoused in an extravagantly avish new building opened in1999.A history of the display of these sculptures, arguablythe greatestassemblageof gilt-bronze Buddhist icons inthe world, is verymuch needed.

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While theimages ustmentioned re, n myview,the mostimportant xamples fsculpture el-evant o the aimsof thisstudy,various cholars avecitedother magesasevidenceorearlydevelop-mentsinJapan.Consequently, paysome attention o theseimages n order o providea compre-hensive urvey fproblems ssociatedwiththe earliestBuddhist culpturenJapan.Finally,hestudypresents conclusions as to what we can say about the earliest phase of Buddhist art in Japan.5

2.DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE

Therehasbeenagreatdealofcontroversyoncerninghe dateandsignificanceftheso-called fficialintroduction fBuddhismntoJapan.6Whileadefinitive esolution f theseproblemss notpossiblehere, a brief summaryof the issues is necessary n order to put the extant monuments into a properperspective.

The standard ccountof theofficial ntroduction fBuddhism s givenin Nihon hoki720 A.D.)under the 13th year of Emperor Kinmei, equivalent to A.D. 552.7The text states that King Song ofPaekcheenttwoenvoyswhopresentedo theEmperornegilt bronzemageofShaka,omebannersandumbrellas, ndBuddhist exts. This is followedby a quitedetailedaccountof the reception fthesegifts.A second ext,Gang6ji ngi A.D. 747),provides different ersionofKing Song'sgift. Itplacesthe event in the 7th yearof Kinmei, the tsuchinoe-umaearof the cyclicaldatingsystem.8AlthoughKinmei7 wouldcorrespondo 546 n the Nihon hoki hronology,hetsuchinoe-umaear s5 I havemadeapreliminaryffort o analyze heprocesswherebyBuddhism ndBuddhistartwere ransferredromThreeKingdomsKorea oAsuka apan n "Koreannfluence nEarly apaneseBuddhistSculpture," orean ulture3,no. I (1982), 2-29;TamuraEnch6,"Kan'yakuukky6ken no Bukky6denrai,"n KodaiChisenBukkyjo NihonBukkyjTokyo:YoshikawaKobunkan, 980),1-18(hereafterbbreviatedo Tamura,Kodai);dem.,"Japannd theEastward ermeation fBuddhism,"ActaAsiatica47 (1985), -30 (hereafter bbreviatedo Tamura, Eastwarder-

meation").Konno,"True mage,"paysrelativelyittle attention o theKorean eninsulan his study, nsteadcon-centrating nChina.6 G. Rennondeau,La atedel'introduction ubouddhismeuJapon,"T'oung ao47,nos.I-2 (1959),6-29;Tamura,"Nihonnobukky6denrai"nKodai, 9-36;Masuda o,"Kinmeitenn6 usannen ukky6 orai etsunoseiritsu:Nihonshoki ohensan itsuite,"nSakamoto ar6hakusei anreki i'nenkaieds.),NihonkodaihironshuTokyo:YoshikawaKbbunkan,962),vol. I, 289-327;MizunoRy-tar6,"Gang6jingi o Nihon hoki obukkybdenrainendai"nNihonkodaino iin toshiryjTokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan,993),82-Ioo;CharlesHolcombe,"Trade-Buddhism:aritimeTrade, mmigration, nd theBuddhistLandfalln Early apan",)ournalftheAmerican rientalocietyI9.2 I999),280-292.Anexcellent ecent tudy sHong6Masatsugu, Bukky6 enrai,"nYoshimura akehikoed.),Keitai-Kin-meich6oBukkyjdenraiTokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan,999),240-265 (hereafterbbreviatedo Hong6,"Bukkyodenrai").7 Nihon hoki,Kinmei13thyear,winter,Iothmonth.W.G.Aston,Nihongi:ChroniclesofjfapanfromheEarliestTimeso697, Tokyo:Tuttle,I972),vol. 2, 65-67 (hereafterbbreviatedo "Aston");akamotoTar6, tal., Nihon hoki andII,vols.67 and 68 of Nihonkoten ungakuaikei, Tokyo: wanamiShoten,I980),vol. 2, Ioo-Io3 (hereafterbbrevi-ated to "Sakamoto").translate heJapaneseermtennrhroughout s "Emperor"orthe sakeof convenience;hisshouldnotbetakenasimplyingthat themonarch fearly apanwas n somewaymorepowerfulhan, orexample,the"King" fPaekche.8 Gangoji aran nginarabi i ruki hizaichi,d.bySakuraiTokutar6nvol.2o ofNihon hisoaikei,isha engi, Tokyo:IwanamiShoten, 975),8-9 (modern apaneseranslation)nd328 original ext).Foradiscussion ndpartial rans-

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equivalento 538,andthatyearmust havebeen ntended.Not onlydoesGangoji ngi ivea differentyear orthedonation,but alsodescribes hegift differently, tatingthat t consisted f "An mageofthePrince,oneset ofequipmentosprinkle water]on theBuddha, nda set of booksexplainingheoriginof theBuddha."A much ater ext,]igg Shitokuh66 eisetsumid-Heian),alsogivestheyearas538,butstates hatthegift consisted f"ABuddhist con,Buddhist exts,andamonk."9

Whatsortof image(orimages)was sentby KingSing of Paekche?Andwhendidhe send t orthem?Finally,whatwas hereception f thegift inJapan Consideringhe secondquestion irst,mostscholars owbelieve hat the dateofKingSong'sgift was n theyear538.Since his wastheyear hatKingSing moved hecapitalofPaekcheromUngjin(Kongju) o Sabi Puyo), t wouldhavebeenahighly appropriateccasion oranimpressive iplomatic esture.On the otherhand,552wasa timewhenKing Songwas nvolved n warfarewithSilla, ollowing heirjoint conquest f theHanRiverbasin,whichtheyhadtaken romKoguryo.IoVariousuggestions avebeenmadeasto whatsortofimagesmighthavebeenpresented y KingSing. If one assumes hat it wasanimageofShaka, s relatedn Nihon hoki,hen the famous tand-ing Shaka romKogurySwitha datecorrespondingo 539 eems o be the mostlikelycandidateorcomparison." n the otherhand, f the Gangoji ngiaccount s accepted, hentherewould seem tohavebeennotonebut two icons.The mostplausible andidateoranimageof theprincewouldbeameditatingbodhisattvan thehanka hiipose,atypeverycommonontheKorean eninsula.'In thehanka hiipose,the bodhisattvaits with theright leg crossed ver he left leg, the anklerestingon

lation of Gang'ji engisee Miwa Stevenson, "TheFounding of the MonasteryGang6ji and a List of Its Treasures," nGeorge J. Tanabe,Jr. (ed.), ReligionsofJapan in Practice Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press,1999),295-315.9 Jjgf Shatoku uu eisetsu,IenagaSabura ed.) in vol. 2 ofNihon shisj taikei,ShotokuTaishishf, (Tokyo: IwanamiShoten,1975),372-373.

Io For the reign of King Song see Ki-baik Lee,A NewHistoryofKoreaCambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity Press,1984),43-44. Therearemany difficulties in ascertainingreasons orKing S'ng's gift when one is requiredto make a choicebetween the 538and 552possibilities. SeeTamura,"EasternPermeation,"12-17.11 Foran illustration and discussion of the 539ShakaseeJunghee Lee,"SixthCenturyBuddhist Art,"KoreanCulture, ol.2, no. 2 (1981), ig. I, and 28-30; MatsubaraSabur6,Kankoku ondd utsukenkyf (Tokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan, I985),pl. I, 7-8 (hereafterabbreviated to Matsubara,Kankoku). am using a sculpture from Kogury"here since there is noimage extant from Paekche of an appropriatelyearlydate. One can assume, however, that at this time the Buddhafigurefrom the northernand southern kingdoms of Koreawould be basicallythe same in style and iconography.Asdemonstratedby Soper, the "Chinese" tyle Buddha figurewas developed in southern China during the 5th centuryand subsequently influenced the Buddha figure in the later phases of Yungang and Longmen (circa475-525). Fromthis northernsource,Buddhism and Buddhist imagery moved to Koguryo. See AlexanderC. Soper,"SouthChineseInfluenceon the Buddhist Art of the Six Dynasties Period,"BulletinoftheMuseum fFar EasternAntiquities32(i96o),47-112.

12 Forthis typeof icon seeJunghee Lee,"TheContemplatingBodhisattvaImagesof Asiawith SpecialEmphasison ChinaandKorea,"unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,University of California,LosAngeles, 1984;andidem.,"TheOrigins andDevelopment of the Pensive Bodhisattva Images of Asia,"ArtibusAsiae 53,nos. 3/4 (1993),311-357.Foran extensiveseriesof essayssee TamuraEnch6and Huang SuYoung (eds.),Hankashii zUnokenkyf Tokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan,I985).Tamura, "EasternPermeation,"I8-20, argues that Gangoji engi's "image of the Prince" refers to Prince Sid-dharthapriorto his enlightenment, and thus interprets"bookson the origin of the Buddha"asa narrativeexplainingthe life of akyamuni. Naturally, under this interpretationthe hankashii pose would not be interpretedas Maitreya(Miroku),the next Buddha.

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theknee,andwiththerighthandheldupto theface,afinger ouching he cheek n ameditative es-ture.Possiblyhe"one etofequipmentosprinkle water]on theBuddha"efers oa "Newborn ud-dha" tanjobutsu) ndtheappropriate aterbasin.3Conceivably,lthoughnot solikely,Gangojingimayrefer o onlyoneimage,atanjobutsueferredo as theprince,andtheequipmentneeded o per-forma lustration eremony.Thisinterpretationmaybequestioned sinvolvinganoverly pecializediconographyiventheearly tageof BuddhistpracticenJapan.Nihon hoki ndGangjiJngiprovidediffering ccounts fthereception f thegift byKinmeiandsubsequent vents.According o Nihon hoki,Kinmeiwasvery mpressed ythe Buddhist con,butdidnot knowwhat to dowithit; theO-omi,SoganoIname,was n favor freceiving heicon,whilethe twoO-muraji,Mononobe o OkoshiandNakatominoKamako,wereopposed, rguing hatthenativegodswouldbeangry f a foreigndeitywasacceptedbythe court.Kinmeidecided o give theiconto Iname,who firstenshrinedt in his Oharida esidence ndthenpurifiedhis Mukuhara esi-dence othat t couldserveas atemple or he icon.Later, fteraplague truckandmanypeopledied,Okoshiandothersblamed heforeigngodand,withtheemperor'sermission,hrew heimage ntoNaniwaCanalandburneddownthe temple.14

Gangojingi's ccounts differentn severalmportant etails;as we havealreadyeen, he dateofthegiftand ts contentsvary ignificantly.Moreover,ather hanKinmeipresentinghegiftdirectlyto Iname,Kinmei followsIname'srecommendationnd gives it to his own daughter,PrincessNukatabe subsequentlyEmpress uiko),andit is thenworshippedn herquarters.'5inally,a yearafter cceptanceftheicon,when heplague trikes ndvariousministers sserthatthis resulted romworshipof a foreigngod, althoughKinmeiprohibits name romworshippinghe Buddha, nameadoptsapolicyofpassiveresistancewhichKinmeiaccepts.Themotivations f thosewhocompiledGangoji ngiare not hardto detect:the gift to PrincessNukatabeplacesacceptance f Buddhismdirectlyatthe centerofthecourt, ustwhere heauthorities tGangojiwouldwant t to be whentheGangoji ngiwascompiledduringthe mid-8thcentury;and,Iname's amouspassiveresistance ndKinmei'scollusionwith it disposed f theembarrassing atterof thedestroyedconandtemple.16

JoguShitoku ooeisetsuffers briefer arrative,greeingwithGango-jingion theyearof thegift,17with Nihon hoki n it being presentedo SoganoIname,butdiffering rombothin statingthatinaddition o icon andtexts,a monk wasalsoincluded.,]ogufShjtoku oo eisetsulsospecifies hatthedestruction f the iconwascarried ut in 570.

Duringtheyear553, heyear ollowing ts accountof the "official"ntroduction,Nihon hokihasanother toryrelating o Buddhist mages:

13 TanakaYoshiyasu,Tanjobutsu,ol. 159of NihonnobijutsuTokyo:Shibundo, 979).14 This account hows trong races fChinese exts,someof whichwerebrought oJapann 718,whenthe monkDojireturnedrom China.SeeHongo, "Bukky6 enrai," 41-242;InoueKaoru,NihonkodainoseijitoshukyoTokyo:YoshikawaKobunkan,96I),I87-232.15 Since hedatesofPrincessNukatabe'sife are raditionally ivenas554-628, his egendwouldbe mpossibleorboththe 538 nd552datesas the official ntroduction.16 Gangajingidoeshaveanaccount f thisevent,placing t after he deathof Iname.

17 Although heyagreeon theyear cyclical haracters),herearedifferencesn the monthandday.

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During the I4th yearof EmperorKinmei, Summer, 5th month, 7th day, a reportfrom KawachiProvincesaid:"Fromwithin the seaat Chinuin Izumik-ri there was heardBuddhistmusic,whichechoed ike the soundof thunder.A gloryshone ike the radiance f the sun."In his heart heEmperorwondered t this, anddispatchedkebeno Atai to investigate.At this time, IkebenoAtai went to the seaand the result was that he discovereda camphorlog brightly shining as itfloatedon the sea.At lengthhe tookit andpresentedt to theemperor.TheEmperor rderedcraftsmanto make it into two Buddha images. These are the radiant camphorimages now atYoshinodera.18

Nihonshokihasyet anotheraccountassociatedwith Buddhism,dated to the 6th yearof EmperorBidatsu(577):

Bidatsu6thyear,Winter,IIthmonth,Istday,TheKingof the Land fPaekche resentedto theemperor), ymeans fthereturning nvoyOwakeno0 kimi andhiscompanions number f reli-giousbooks, ogetherwitha master fvinaya, master fmeditation, nun,a master fmagicalcharms,a makerof Buddhist images,andatemple architect,six people in all. Theywere installedin the temple of Owake no 6-kimi in Naniwa.19

Owakeno6-kimitogetherwithOgurono kishiweresentto "govern"r"take harge f"Paekchenthe 5th month of 577. One must assumethat this is a typical pro-imperialexaggeration,which dis-guisedthe fact thatthe twoJapanese fficialswerenotgoingto Paekcheo "govern"hatkingdom,butweresimplyenvoysbetween wo monarchs froughly quivalenttatus.Whentheyreturned otheir homelandaboutsix months aterthey brought he gifts justenumeratedromKing Wid'k(reigned554-98)to EmperorBidatsuofJapan.PerhapsKingWid'k wasemulating hediplomaticstrategyof his predecessor,King Song, who had made Kinmei a gift of a Buddhist icon, su-tras, ndritualequipment lmost40 years arlier.

18 Nihonshoki,Kinmei 14,Summer, 5thmonth, 7th day, Aston 2, 68; Sakamoto2, lo2-1o5. Soper,"Notes on Horyfji,77-79, has dealt in detail with this story under the heading: "ThefirstJapaneseSculptor."Basing himself on Her-mann Bohner, Legendenus derFruhzeitdes apanischenBuddhismusTokyo: Deutsche Gesellschaft for Natur- undVal1kerkundeOstasiens, 1934),and Mochizuki Shinjo, Bukkyjdaijiten(Tokyo: SabataYoshihiro, 1936),4314,Sopertracesthe subsequent history of this story as seen in Heian and Kamakuratexts. This development, however, is notrelevantfor ourpresentpurposessince it relatesto laterstages in formationofJapaneselegends concerning earlyBud-dhist images. Particularly nteresting is Soper'ssuggestion that the legend seen in Nihon shokiwas fabricatedon thebasis of Chinese tales concerning miraculous images. See also Berthier, "Lespremieres statues," Io7-1o8. Konno,"True mages,"70-73, takesthis storymoreseriouslythanmost scholars,arguingthat theremaybesomefactualdetailswithin the legendary narrative.He observes that the material - camphorwood - is the same as that of other earlysculpturessuch as the Yumedono Kannon, and suggests that the model may havebeen derived fromimagery on thebronzemirrors.With regardto the mirrorimagery, he furtherarguesthat, since it is more pictorial than sculpturalin character,this is the reasonwhy a pictorial craftsmanwas assigned the task of producing the pair of images. InKonno'sopinion, the new sculpturesinstalled at Yoshinoderawerenot seenstrictly as Buddhist icons, but ratherwereconceived of askami("deities")of a Buddhist category.

19 Nihonshoki,Bidatsu 6th year,winter, IIth month, Ist day. Aston 2, 96; Sakamoto2, 140-141.

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Owakesnot elsewhereecordednearlyJapaneseistory, lthough here eemsno reason o doubtthat heinfact raveledo Paekche nadiplomaticmission,presumably earing iftsfrom heJapan-esecourt,andreturned romPaekchewithgiftsfromKingWid'k. One candoubt,however,he reli-abilityof the clause tatingthat he returnedwith six individuals ssociatedwith Buddhistpracticeandtechnology.This seemsrather arly n development f BuddhismnJapan,and, n anycase,oneassumes hat suchpeoplewouldnot havebeensent withoutaspecific equest.The most ikely possi-bilityis thatthesepeoplewereconfusedwiththegroup pecificallyummoned ytheSogaclan n 588to supervise onstruction f Asukadera,heirclantemple.2oApparentlyhose whocompiledNihonshoki ealized he difficultieswith thisaccount, specially inceBidatsu s characterizedsanti-Bud-dhist.,Thusthe text states heywere nstalled n thetempleof Owakeno0-kimi inNaniwa presentdayOsaka).Although histemple sotherwise nknown, assume hatbehind heNihon hoki ccountlies a gift of Buddhist exts, icons,ritualobjects,etc., as well as one or more ndividuals ssociatedwith Buddhism,which endedup in privatehands,perhapso be installed n a household hrineatNaniwa. nthatrespect,he situationsroughlyparalleloSogano Iname's cceptancef thegiftfromKing Sing in 538 or552z).inceEmperorBidatsuwas said to havebeenopposed o Buddhism,onemustassume hatthe 577donation,ike the earlier ne,passedntoprivatehands.2

Although he southeastern f the ThreeKingdoms,Silla,was essimportantn initialtransmis-sionofBuddhism oJapanhanPaekche,hatkingdomalsoenters he recordn 579,whenNihon hokistates hatanenvoy romSillabrought ribute o thecourt, ncludinga Buddhist con."Presumablythisaccountdisguises,asusual,adiplomatic xchange etween quals.Theyear579marks he acces-sion of King Chinp'ying(reigned579-632),so possibly his missionwasassociatedwith the newreign.Buddhismdevelopedater n Silla than in KoguryoandPaekche, ommencingunderKingPiph~ingreigned514-40)at the end of the 52os,growingunderKingChinhing reigned540-76),andflourishing uring hereignsof KingChinp'yingand his successors.Certainly,Buddhist conswerebeingproducedn Sillaby the 570s,so there s no reason o doubt thepossibilityof the Nihonshoki ccount.The lastNihonshoki ntryof relevance o this studyis the famousoneduringthe 13thyearofBidatsu 584)thatdescribes ow two iconswerebrought romPaekcheoJapan.23hefirst,broughtbyKafukanoomi, is described s astone mageof Miroku.Thesecond,broughtbySaekinomuraji,is simplyreferredo as a Buddha.Bothimageswerereceivedbythe leaderof theSogaclan,SoganoUmako.A considerablemountofefforthasbeenexpendedntrying ounderstandheappearancefthese images,especially he stone Mirokuof Kafukano omi, which seemsultimately o have beenzo20Forananalysis hattends to accept hefundamentaleracity f thisaccount, eeOhashiKatsuaki,Asukanobunmei

kaika Tokyo:YoshikawaKobunkan,997),120-123. ndividuals ssociatedwithearlyworkatAsukaderare abu-latedbyFrancois erthier, Asukaderaondainosaigimi- Sonohonzon ch-shin toshite,"Bukkyogeijutsu6(I974),56-57.21 Foradiscussion fBidatsu, ee InoueMitsusada,Asukanochitei, ol.3ofNihonnorekishiTokyo:Shogakkan, 974),

180-182hereafterbbreviatedoInoue,Asukach6tei). ongo,"Bukkyo enrai," 54-255, rgueshatBidatsuwasper-sonallyopposed o acceptingBuddhismbecausehatwould conflictwith hisstatusas chiefpriestof theindigenousreligion.22 Nihon hoki,Bidatsu8thyear,winter,Iothmonth.Aston2, 96;Sakamoto , 14o-141.23 Ibid.,BidatsuI3thyear,autumn,9thmonth.Aston2, IoI;Sakamoto , 148-149.

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enshrined t theSoga lan emple,Asukadera.24hemostplausible omparative onument fPaekcheis afragmentarytoneMaitreya eptattheNationalMuseum fKorea, uya.2I51wouldsuggest,how-ever, hatbytheyear584weareapproachinghe erawhenBuddhist culpture egan o beproducedinJapantself,especially nder hepatronagef theSogaclan.Thuswe aremovingbeyondheperiodcovered ythisstudy.Interpretationf the early apanese istorical ocuments s fraughtwithproblems.As a general

rule, one must examine each text with great care, attempting to determine the author's motivations.Ifaspecific ccount eems o havebeenwrittenprimarilyo enhancehereputation fa certainindi-vidualorgroup,onemustbeexceedinglyautiousnacceptingtsveracity.Onthe otherhand, fwhatis saidseemsnot to bebasicallyelf-serving, e areperhapsustifiedn at least entatively doptingtsdata for our own purposes.In some respects,total agnosticismis as fruitless as blind acceptance,espe-ciallywhen t comes o aperiod uchas6th-centuryapan,orwhich o ittledocumentationurvives.6

3.STANDING BUDDHA NO. IsI

IN THE "FORTY-EIGHT BUDDHIST DEITIES"The first extant image to be discussed in detail is the bronze standing Buddha, no. 151 figs. 1-3), inthe "Forty-eight Buddhist Deities" group in the Tokyo National Museum.27 This figure is 41L3 m tallfrom hetopof the head o thebaseof thepedestal enon; hefigurepropers 33.5 mtall.Onlytheupperpartof thepedestalsoriginal, he lower ectionbeingamodern epair.ngeneral heimage squitewellpreserved,lthoughmostof thefingers rebroken ff,andpractically ll thegilt is lost.

Perhapshe moststriking eature f thisimage s theverysmallhead nproportiono thelengthof the body.28This is especially evident in comparison with the standard Asuka period Soga-Tori style

24 For hisimageseeFujisawaKazuo,"Kafuka o omi Kudara hbraiMiroku ekizb etsu,"Shisekiobijutsu77 1947),81-93;TanakaShigehisa,"Kudara enrai o sh-surusaishono Miroku ekizbo utagau,"bid.,318 1961); ujisawaKazuo,"Kafukaoomi Kudarah-raiMirokusekiz6 etsuhoi," bid.,323(I962),97-IO5.

25 For his imageseemy "Koreannfluence,"ig.2, pp. 25-26, andLee,"Origins,"ig.33.Although hispiecemaybesomewhat ater han584, t perhaps eflectsngeneral erms hestyleof theprototypeor he Kafuka o omiimage.Sinceso fewpiecesareavailableromearlyPaekche, ne hasno alternative ut to relyon those available.nKukpo,vol.4, Skpul(Seoul:UngjinCh'ulp'ansa,992),pl. 4, P.I4,it is dated"ca.600."Lee,"Origins,"ates t "second alfof the sixthcentury."LenaKim dates t "sixthcentury,"Kim Rina,Han'guk odaePulgyo hogaksaon'guSeoul:Ilchogak, 989),49, fig.2.18.26 I haveattemptedananalysis f someproblems ssociatedwith textualmaterial onnectedwith makingBuddhistsculpture uring he Asukaperiod n "Tori-busshind heProduction fBuddhist cons nAsuka-periodapan,"oappearn TheArtistasProfessionalnJapan editedbyMelindaTakeuchi.27 The mostdetailed, echnicalreatment f thisimage sTokyoKokuritsuHakubutsukaned.),Horyzujienn6imotsutokubetsuhosaaihj,vol. 6, Kondj utsu (Tokyo:TokyoKokuritsuHakubutsukan,986),15-I7 hereafterbbrevi-ated oChosa);hesixvolumes fChisa,published 984-I990,arebeing ncorporatedntoatwo-volumework,TokyoKokuritsuHakubutuskaned.),Horyu-jiennj omotsu:ondj utsuTokyo:OtsukaK-geisha)ofwhich the firstvol-umeappearedn1996 hereafterbbreviatedo"Kond6 utsu, 996"), o.II iscol. pls. pp. 32-33,andpls.pp.II7-120,232-235,and ext, pp.440, 478-480;MizunoKeizabur6,Horyuji ara,pl. 34;Warner, uiko, p.41,62, pl. 114.28 Although t is notthe intentionofthispaper o trace ources fthevariousmagesdiscussedndetail, hegeneral ty-listicprototypesnChina fstandingBuddha o.II areapparent. eginningwith formulationf the "Chinese" ode

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Buddha,whichhasa largeheadandproportionallyhortbody.29 he ushnisha(usnfisa)s clearlydis-tinguished rom he domeof theskull,andnoneof the hairareas hows hepresence fsnail hellcurls.At the backofthehead s a tenon hatoriginally upported halo.Thefeatures rerather oarselyen-dered,butaslightsmile canbedetectedplayingover he lips.30

Curiously,hefigurehaspractically o breadthn theshoulders,while theupperpartofthe torsoseems hort, uggesting hefiguresextraordinarilyong-legged.Seen nsideview(fig.2),theimagehasaprofilewiththe abdomen rotrudingorwardndthe backconcave.Therhythmof this forwardpointingarc s broken o some extentby thewaythehead ilts forward ndslightlydown.One canhardly peakof a senseofmodeling, orall bodilypartsarehiddenunderheavyrobes.Thearmsareabnormallyhort,and the handsappearo be in theabhaya ndvaradamudrds. he feetaremoder-ately arge,butquiteschematicallyendered. een rom herear,heimage s schematic oanextreme.The backview(fig.3),however,doesreveal hepresence f fourrectangularavities; he two at thelowerpartof the imageareclearlyvisible.This is a traitfarmorecommon n KoreanhanJapanesesculpture.31Buddhano.I51wears he standard obes.Crossinghechest, rom eft shoulder o therighthip,isthelineofthesogishiavest).There s no articulation f foldshere,so the fabric exture is not differ-entiated rom he flesharea bove.Coveringhe shoulders ndcontinuingdown o below he knees sthe outerrobe,which is articulatedwith large"U" oopsthat crossover hefrontof thebody; hese

inthe ater5thcentury sseen n Cave6atYungang, nenotesratherquat igureswith theirrobes laring utstronglyat the hems;then, in the early6th century n the CentralBinyangCaveat Longmenone sees the sameformula,although he drapery owbecomesmoreschematizedn arrangementndthe robesdo not extendout laterally ostrongly.A slightdegreeofelongation an alsobenoted now.These endencies remuchdevelopedn the EasternWei cavesatGongxian, o thatfiguresn Cave5continue heelongationprocess, rrangementfdraperys furtherschematized, nd oldsaresomewhat latter.Matsubaraites an EasternWei stele dated543which s similar n pro-portionsanddetails o Buddhano.151. eeMatsubaraSabur6, Shijhattaibutsu:Sonokeifu ni tsuite,"Kobijutsu9(I967),22-38,and ig.2.Even f we assume stylisticprototypeor his mageexisted nChinabycirca 5o, t is difficultto locateanythingmuchresemblingno.151 n the Korean eninsula.A four-sided tele at Yesanhas on onesideastandingBuddhawithsomeresemblancesono.151,ncludingarrangementf robe withmuchof the under obevis-ible),related chematizationffolds,and imilarproportions.eeKimRina,Han'gukodaePulgyo, 9, ig.2.34;Kukpo,vol. 2, KinmdongbulaebulSeoul:Ungjin Ch'ulp'ansa,992),pl. 113.BothsourcesdatetheYesansteleto the latersixth orearly eventhcentury.)Also related re woimages n Matsubara, ankoku,ls. 7aand7b.Onishi(Mizuno,Horyu-ji ara,207) attributesno.151o Paekche.29 SeestandingBuddha,no.149 n the"Forty-eight,"nChosa ,10-13,andSeiichiMizuno,AsukaBuddhist rt:Horyuji(Tokyo ndNewYork,Weatherhill/Heibonsha,974),pl.181hereafterbbreviatedoMizuno,Asuka);r heMy6j6instandingBuddha, llustratedn Matsubara aburo ndTanabeSabur6suke,hokondo utsuTokyo:TokyoBijutsu,1979),no.II(hereafter bbreviated Matsubara/Tanabe").employ he term"Soga-Tori"o refer o themaincurrentofAsuka culpture, ormally esignated sthe"Tori tyle."Thisterminologys intended ogive equalcredit oboththe dominantpatronage roup theSogaclan andtheprincipal upervisor Toribusshi.30 Incharacterizinghe faceof thisimage,Kuno,"Birth,"50o,ays:"Sonomensoga yayamanobishita y6joo shi."Thephrasemanobishitaao sgivenin Sanseid6's ewConciseJapanese-Englishictionarys"a tupid-lookingace."Ken-ky sha'sNewJapanese-Englishictionaryivesmanobinoshitaaoas"avacant-lookingace."Although cannot ay hatI havesurveyed ll of Kuno'sveryextensivewritings,I suspect hat he doesnotuse this term o describe"Japanese"images.

31 Koreanmageswithopenings n thebackcanbe seen nMatsubara, ankoku,ls. 56b,77c,78c, 79c,8Ic,90b,etc.

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foldsare trongly arved,withhigh ridgesanddeepvalleys.The lowerhem of the robe sarrangedtthe frontnabroad, ownwardointingarc,asomewhat nusualmotif.Somevarietyn foldconfigura-tion is seen n the fabricorming he"sleeves,"lthough heendof the robe hrown ver he left shoul-der sentirelyplainat the back.Muchmoreofthe under obe s seen han s normallyhecase nearlyBuddha igures.Thefabrics arrangedn verticalpleatsat thefront,with anundulatingowercon-tour ine. The two sides flareoutprominently,husaccentuatinghetriangular hapeof the figure.Interestingly,he robedoesnot falldown o thepedestalbuthangsataboutankle evel; he anklesareclearly isible,even n thehighlyschematic epresentationtthe back.

The chance urvival f StandingBuddhano.151 rovidesus withpreciousnformationoncern-ing initialstagesof BuddhistpracticenJapan, nformationupplementinghatavailablen docu-mentary ources.Althoughone cannotbecertain, hemostlikelyscenario s that apersonorgroupfrom he Korean eninsulabrought heimage,perhaps round he middleof the6thcentury.Whenthesepeoplesettled nJapan, heimagepresumablyerved s afamily con,forclearly heverysmallscale 33.5 m)doesnot indicate empleuse.Ifbrought oJapanbyKorean ettlers nfact, heyprob-ablyhada senseof large-scaleemple consand thus could associate heirpersonalcon withpublicBuddhistworship. amspeculatinghatthis sortofimagemaynot havebeenused orconversionur-posesbut more ikelyservedas an emblematic con forpeoplealreadyamiliarwith Buddhism.Pre-sumablyheimagewaskept n a smallhouseholdhrine,only opened odisplay heBuddha t timesof devotion.

A definite tatement oncerninghe iconographys impossible, lthough t probably epresentsShaka,he historicalBuddha. nanycase,no evidence ndicatesdepictionof otherBuddhas uch asYakushiorAmida, he cultsof whichbecamepopular t a laterdate.One can magine hat the own-ersweremoststronglyaffected ytheimage'swarm, ompassionateacial xpressionnd hedignityconferred n it by elongation f thebody.Althoughwemightbeimpressed ythestriking ideviews,it seemsunlikely hat suchqualitieswould muchaffectcontemporaryevotees.No doubttheysawthe Buddha s anagentofmagicalpowers, ble ograntwishes,cure lls,andoffer uccor fterdeath;certainlyheydid not characterizehe icon nprimarily estheticerms,although heymayhavebeenconscious f its beautyat some evel.

4.MEDITATING BODHISATTVA NO. 158 IN THE"FORTY-EIGHTBUDDHIST DEITIES"The bodhisattva o. I58 figs. 4-6) seated nhanka hii pose, one of the most unusual igures n the"Forty-eight uddhistDeities," s generally onsidered yJapanese cholarso be an mage mportedfrom he Koreanpeninsula. Since ts veryearly tyle clearly recedes he Soga-Tori tyle formulated32 Chosa3, 15-16;"Kondo butsu I996," col. pls. 49-51, pls. pp. 140-142, 260-263, and text, pp. 442-443, 492-94; foracolor illustration see McCallum, "KoreanInfluence,"fig. 4; Mizuno, Asuka,pl. 191;Warner,Suiko,33,pl. 56. Prob-

lems are encountered in seeking a comparableimage for no. 158on the Koreanpeninsula. Matsubara "Shijahattaibutsu," fig. 4) relatesit to a meditating bodhisattvain the National Museum of Korea,Seoul, which does have somesimilar traits including: (I) a related crown form;(2) slender upper body and tubular arms;(3) schematized drapery

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during he Asukaperiod,aplacement t mid-6thcentury ra little later eemsappropriate.his dat-ing is strengthenedf no. 158s comparedwithmeditatingbodhisattva o.155,which s acharacter-isticexampleoftheSoga-Tori roup.33

Meditatingbodhisattva o.158hasaheadof moderateize,but anextremely lenderupperbodyandarms.Thehipsflareout broadly, reatinganhour-glass rofilewhen seenfrom he back fig.6).There svirtuallyno senseof thelegs'modelingunder hedrapery, lthough he feetare arge. nsideview(fig.5)onenotesthatthe back s curved,with headbentstrongly orward.f thefigure s imag-ined asstanding, helegswould bequitelonginproportiono theupperpartof thebody.Theareasoffleshexposeddisplayverysmoothmodeling,with little emphasis ntreatment fspecificdetails.34Thecrown s alarge, ingle-elementorm,decoratedwithfloral rnamentation.35t doesnot con-tinuearound o the backof the head,but terminates t the ears.Hairemergesonto the brow romunder he diademband,andprominentocks allfrombehind he earsdownto theshoulders,wheretheyshowtwo distinctcurlsat eachside. There s noarticulation f hairatthe backofthehead,pre-sumablybecausehis areawouldhavebeenhiddenbyahaloattachedo thelarge enonthere.

Although he face s quitebroad ndfleshy, ndividual eatures, articularlyheeyesandmouth,aresmall.Theneck,however,sverysolid,especiallywhenseenfrom he side.Shoulders reof mod-eratebreadth, lthough heyhavea distinctslope.Thearmsare ong andtubular n configuration,with essentiallyno senseof specificmodeling; he fingers, oo,arehighlyschematic. nterestingly,while the deity holds his righthandtoward he facein the characteristicmeditativepose, in thisinstancehe hand sheldpalmoutand hefingersouch hechinrather han he cheek.36he efthandrests n theareaof therightankle.

Thisimagehasnonecklace, rmlets, rbracelets.Encirclinghewaist s aplainbelt with a large,somewhatpeculiarbuckleelementat the front.Suspendedromeitherside of the belt arecharacter-isticside tasselsofthemeditatingbodhisattva. he costume onsistsof anupperandunder kirt; heformer overs hearea romwaistthrough he lap,the under kirt s draped ver hepedestal.Somefolds.Nevertheless, he NationalMuseumpiecedisplaysmuchgreater ealism n articulation f the right leg andtreatment f thedraperyoldsover hepedestal. nno.158,heflat, chematizedoldsareverydifficult oexplain,andDr.JungeeLee personal ommunication,une28, 1995) asexpressedtrongreservationss to whethermeditatingbodhisattva o. 158wasproduced n the Koreanpeninsula.Onishi(MizunoKeizabur6,Horyuji ara,207),on theotherhand,attributest toPaekche,ater6th orearly7thcentury.Perhapshispiecewasmadebyan nexperienced,provincial raftsman ho hadnotfullymastered is trade.

33 Chosa ,4-7; "Kond-butsuI996," ol. pls. pp.46-48, pls. pp.136-139,256-259,nd ext,pp.442,489-492.Mizuno,Asuka,pl. 80;MizunoKeizabur6,Horyupjiara,pl. 15.Bodhisattva o.155s ratherunusual, n thattherighthanddoes nottouch hecheek,butis held out in front n theabhayamudrd.34 M-riHisashi, n "Sangokuhokoku o Asukach6koku," amuraEnch6 ed.),Kudara unkaoAsukabunkaTokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan,1978),52, characterizeshe flesh of this image as: "tashikani hosomi no numetto-shita

nikushin."Numetto-shitaerives romthe nounnumeri,efined n Kenkyusha's ewJapanese-Englishictionarys"slime," sliminess,"slipperiness."assumehis sanothernstance funconsciousrejudice,imilaroKuno'susageofmanobishitay -' citedabove,note30.35 For hecrown, eeChizawaTeiji,"Kond6hijuhattai utsuh6kankU,"TokyoKokuritsuakubutsukaniyi4 (1968),fig.3,PP.52-53.36 Forasurvey fmeditatingbodhisattvas'andpositions, eeChizawaTeiji,"Kond6hijahattai utsuk6:saibuhente (B)hankaz6,"Museum56 1972), -11.

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hem-lines nd oldsaredecorated ithrows fbeading.One ssurprisedo note hatwhile omeofthepleatfoldsat the frontareso decorated thersareplain,as if thesculptor hangedhis intentionsin the middle.

Thepillowon which hefigure its,seen rom he backview,isrepresented ithveryheavy,plas-tic folds.Thedrapery elow hepillow,covering hepedestal,s arrangedn broaderoldsthan hoseseenat the front.At present hepedestal estsdirectlyon theground,as does the left foot,althoughpresumablyn theoriginal ompositionheremusthavebeensomeadditional aseelement,perhapsincorporatingotus decoration.

Ispeculated boveontheoriginofstandingBuddhano.151 nd tspossible unction;here wouldlike topresent imilar peculation nmeditatingbodhisattva o.158.Aswithno.151, o.158must beseenasanexceedingly aluable esource, oth forwhat t tells usaboutearly culpture nthe Koreanpeninsula ndforwhat t may ndicate oncerningBuddhist houghtandpractice sbrought o theJapaneseslands n the initialstages.As is wellknown, he cultof themeditatingbodhisattvawasofparticularignificancen ThreeKingdomsKorea.Ordinarily,magesn thehankahiimodeare houghtto berepresentationsfMaitreya,hebodhisattvaestined o become he nextBuddha.AlthoughSid-dh-rthacanalsobe identifiedasbodhisattva,he weightof available videncemakes he MaitreyahypothesismostlikelyforKorea.37

Sincevirtually llJapaneseuthorities aveacknowledgedhepeninsularrovenancef this mage,I wouldsuggestthat t too wasbrought oJapanbyafamily romKorea hat then used t asahouse-hold con.The mostreasonablessumptions thatmeditatingbodhisattva o.158 mbodiedhe samecultassociationsscomparablemagesdiscoverednKoreaThus t presumablylso s connectedwithMaitreyaworship.Although here s nofirm vidence, wouldalsoarguen this case hatthe iconwasnot used orproselytizing ut servedhe needsofpeoplealreadyamiliarwiththeworship fthisdeity.Ofcourse,what amsuggesting n the caseof the two mages rom he"Forty-eight uddhistDeities"group s thattheyweredirectlyconnectedwith the religious ife of "immigrants"romthe Koreanpeninsulawhohad settled n the AsukaregionofYamatoProvince.That these conswereobtainedbyresidents f thisregionwho did nothaveprevious ontactwithBuddhism eemsmostunlikely ome,sincesuch conswouldobviouslyhavenoparticularmeaningorvalue o suchpeople.

5.THE FUNAGATAYAMAJINJABODHISATTVAThe Funagatayamajinjaodhisattvafigs. 7-9) is one of the mostextraordinaryiecesof earlyBud-dhist sculpture n Japan o come to light in recentyears.38t casualglance,the image might seeminsignificant, ut morecareful xamination eveals ts verygreat mportance.Not associatedwitha37 SeeJungheeLee,"Pensive odhisattvamages," 45-349.38 Kuno,"Birth," l. IV, figs.4a-c, pp. 151-153; unohaspresented detailedanalysis f this image n Toraibutsu otabi Tokyo:NihonKeizaiShinbunsha,981), 21-45;MizunoKeizabur6,Horyu-jiara,pl. 35;OnishiShfiya,"Asukazenkinosh6kond6butsu oChasenSangokuki ozoz6,"n "Kondjutsu 996," 47,places hisimage n thefirsthalfof the 6th century;Matsuyama etsuo,"Funagatayamajinja6 kond6bosatsuritsuz6ch6sah6koku,"Miedaigaku

kyjiku akubu ijutsu akenkyukiyj2 (1993), 05-112.

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Fig.I StandingBuddha,no.II of the"Forty-eight uddhistDeities."Gilt-bronze.Height:33.4cm.Frontview.TokyoNationalMuseum.Fig.3 StandingBuddha,no.ISIof the"Forty-eight uddhistDeities."Gilt-bronze.Height:33.4cm. Backview.TokyoNationalMuseum.



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Fig. 2 Standing Buddha, no. 151 f the "Forty-eightBuddhist Deities."Gilt-bronze. Height: 33.4cm. Right and left side views. Tokyo National Museum.



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Fig.4 MeditatingBodhisattva, o.158ofthe"Forty-eightBuddhistDeities."Gilt-bronze.Height:12.1 m. Frontview.TokyoNationalMuseum.

Fig.6 MeditatingBodhisattva, o.158of the "Forty-eightBuddhistDeities."Gilt-bronze.Height:12.1 m. Backview.TokyoNationalMuseum.



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Fig. 5 Meditating Bodhisattva, no. 158of the "Forty-eightBuddhist Deities." Gilt-bronze. Height: 12.1cm. Right and left views.Tokyo National Museum.



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Fig. 7 Standing Bodhisattva.Gilt-bronze. Height: I5.o cm. Frontview.Funagatayamajinja,Miyagi Prefecture.



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Fig.8 StandingBodhisattva.Gilt-bronze.Height:I5.ocm. Sideview.Funagatayamajinja,iyagiPrefecture.

Fig.9 StandingBodhisattva.Gilt-bronze.Height:I5.ocm.Backview.Funagatayamajinja,iyagiPrefecture.



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Fig. IO Meditating Bodhisattva. Gilt-bronze. Height: 16.4 cm.Front view. Kanshoin, Nagano Prefecture.Fig. 11 Meditating Bodhisattva. Gilt-bronze. Height: 16.4 cm.Side view. Kanshoin, Nagano Prefecture.



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Fig. 12 Meditating Bodhisattva.Gilt-bronze. Height: I6.4 cm.Backview. Kanshoin, Nagano Prefecture.

Fig. 13 Meditating Bodhisattva. Gilt-bronze. Height: 16.4 cm.Head and upper body. Kanshoin, Nagano Prefecture.



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Fig. 14 Mandorla, no.196, "Forty-eightBuddhist Deities." Gilt-bronze. Height: 30.1cm.Tokyo National Museum.



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Fig. 15 Buddha Triad, #I43, "Forty-eightBuddhist Deities." Gilt-bronze. Height of Buddha, 28.7 cm.Tokyo National Museum.



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Fig. 16 Buddha. Gilt-bronze. Height: 28.2 cm.Dainichib6, Yamagata Prefecture.

Fig. 17 Standing Bodhisattva. Gilt-bronze. Height: 20zo.o m.Sekiyamajinja,Niigata Prefecture.



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Fig. 18 Standing Bodhisattva. Wood. Height: 93.7 cm.Tokyo National Museum.Fig. 19 Standing Bodhisattva. Wood. Height: 93.7 cm. Side view.Tokyo National Museum.



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Buddhistemple, his mage ervesnstead s heshintai"godbody") f aShinto hrine.39 ountFuna-gatais a peakof 1,500ooeters ocatedon the borderbetweenYamagata ndMiyagiprefectures;heshrine tself is on theMiyagiside. Since he iconsofShintoshrines reseldomrevealed ublicly, t isnot surprisinghat little has been writtenaboutthis image.Now broughtout froma hidingplaceeveryyearonI May,however,hefigurehasbecomeknown o scholars f Buddhist culpture.4o

Thefigure,which s only15cmtall,has beenthroughat leastone fire.Practically ll thegilt hasbeen ost,andthere s agooddealof surface brasion.ntermsofproportions,he head with crown)is ratherarge n relation o therelatively hortbody.The shoulders reverynarrow, ndthere s lit-tle senseof modeling n the body.Seen n side view(fig.8), the figure hows he sameprofilenotedabove n theanalysis f thestandingBuddhano.151.The handsare argeandheldcloseto thebody;therightis helddown,the leftup,both withpalms acingout. The feet are argeandsolid,formingasubstantial ase orthefigure.

Variousdetailsof the crownand headareparticularlynteresting,and one detail is apparentlyuniqueamongextant tatues nJapan.This is thearrangementf three arge lowers t thetopof thehead. ndividual etalsaredelineated, nd he central tamen-pistil lementprojectstrongly.Crownsof related onfigurationanbe seen nChina,ncludingaNorthernWeifiguredating530.4IIt can alsobefoundon the Korean eninsulan a triaddated o 57I)and n astandingBodhisattvaigure,boththoughtto be fromKogury6,perhapsduringthe secondhalfof the 6th century,41n two piecesofabout he sameperiod romPaekche, ne fromKunsuri n Puy6,the other romKyuamri, lsofromPuy,43 andfromSillaonaBodhisattva xcavatedrom he site of Suksusa.44he factthatthis motifisnot found n Asuka culpture, ut seemsrelatively ommon nearlyThreeKingdoms mages, ug-geststhat theFunagatayamajinjamagewas mported romKorea.A normaldiadembandcrosseshe frontofthehead,andasingle, eaf-shaped laque ises rom t.Elaboratetreamers angdown romeither ideof thisband, ustbelow heouter lowers, eachingothe shoulders.Although here s little detailing n thehair,one notesthat at theback,near hebaseof the neck,the hair s divided nto two sectionsThese henhangdownthesidesof both shoulders.Lookingat theimage rom hefront, t will be seenthat these ocksof hairproducehe first wo saw-toothridgesat theupperarms.39 Christine Guth Kanda, Shinzi: HachimanImagery nd Its DevelopmentCambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press,

1985), 3, 26-27.40 For discussions ofshinbutsubunri, he separationof Shinto andBuddhism, see Allan G. Grapard,"Japan's gnoredCul-

tural Revolution: The Separation of Shinto and Buddhist Deities in Meiji (shimbutsubunri) and a Case Study:TEnomine,"HistoryofReligions22, no. 3 (1984),240-265; andJames EdwardKetelaar,OfHeretics ndMartyrs n MeijiJapan: Buddhismand Its PersecutionPrinceton, NJ: Princeton University Press,Princeton, NJ, 199o0).

41 Kuno, "Birth," ig. 5;MatsubaraSaburo,ChfgokuBukkyochikoku hi kenky?,2nd ed., (Tokyo:YoshikawaKobunkan,Tokyo, 1966), pl. Iooe (hereafterabbreviatedto Matsubara,Ch goku).42 For the 571 tele, seeMatsubara,Kankoku, l. 8;forthe Kogury6Bodhisattva,seeLee,"Origins," ig. 3,pl. 31,andMat-subara,Kankoku, l. 2b. Excellent illustrations of the flowermotif can be found in Onishi Shuya,"Shaka anzon z6 no

genryf," figs. 68-70 in Mizuno Keizaburo,Horyji kara,164-170.43 For the Kunsuripiece, seeKuno, "Birth,"pl. V; Lee,"Origins," ig. 7;Matsubara,Kankoku, ls. Iza,b;forthe Kyuamripiece, Kuno, "Birth,"P1.VI; Matsubara,Kankoku,pls. 13a,b.

44 Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan (ed.), Higashi Ajia nohotoketachiNara: Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 1996), pl. 18 andp. 237. (Hereafterabbreviated to NNM, HigashiAjia.)

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The face is quite long andthe browhigh; eyesarenarrowandthe nose small. Playing over the lipsis agentle smile. Although the jawis small, the neck is solid.

The arrangementof the drapery ollows a standard ate Wei type. Thus the scarf crosses over infront of the legs in an "X"pattern,with the two ends hanging downat either side in adistinct fishtailmode. Kuno Takeshi hascompared he scarfarrangement o the two Paekcheworks cited above,45butmorerelevant, n my view, is the Koguryo piece in the SeoulNational Museum.Likeourbodhisattva,it shows a ratherwobbly treatment of the fin-like projections. Looking at the Funagatayamajinjabodhisattva,one can see the oblique line of the undergarmentcrossingthe chest. Two layersof skirtcan be observedat the lower hem-lines. By and largethere is very limited articulationof individualfolds. Moreover,when seen from the back,there is little indication of individualdraperyelements.

Turning to the jewelry arrangement,one notes first the large,circularplaquesat either shoulder.The necklace s the usualearly type, consisting ofa single plate with adownwardpointing centraltip.A veryprominent "X"jewelrystring crossesover the front of the body, with a largecircularknob atthe center.Although this element appears requently n Northern Wei figures,46t it s not seen in mostof the ThreeKingdoms examples, except for the Suksusabodhisattva whereit can be clearlydetecteddespite serioussurfacecorrosion.In fact, even in its present damagedstate, the Suksusapiece seemsremarkablyclose to the Funagatayamajinja igure, offering the possibility that the latter may havecrossed the EastSea/JapanSeadirectly to the Hokuriku-Tohoku coast beforeproceeding inland toMiyagi.47

Kuno haspointed out that the projectile-shapedrenniku oes not appear n Asuka-Hakuhosculp-ture.48Although he does not mention this, the base of both the Koguryo and Silla bodhisattvas areverysimilarto the Funagatayamajinjaorm. Seenin sideview, one notes that our figurehas one tenonat the back of the head to supporta halo and a much largerone at waist level that would have beenused to attach the figureto amandorla.In backview (fig. 8) the figureshowsvirtuallyno articulation.These traits would seem to suggest that the image wasoriginallypartof a triad and thusmeant to beseen only fromthe front.

In considering standing Buddhano. II andmeditating bodhisattva no. 158,I stressed the strongpossibility of their use as independent objectsof worshipin a householdsetting. One canreasonablyassume that standingbodhisattvasalso served this function,especially given the very largenumber ofsingle Kannonimages that were made during the Asuka and Hakuho periods.Therefore,one wouldlike to know what sort ofsingle bodhisattvaconwascurrentduringtheperiodconsidered n this study.The Funanagatayamajinja odhisattva, as just noted, appearsoriginally to have been one of the twoflanking figures ofa triad, and thus it cannot appropriatelybe analyzedas an independent devotional45 Kuno, "Birth,"I52yz.46 ForNorthern Wei examples see Matsubara,Chugoku, ls. 78, 81,and Iooe.47 According to the measurements in the Nara National Museum catalogue, this piece is slightly smaller than that of

Funagatayamajinja11.8versus15.ocm.), although it is possible that differentmeasuringsystems wereemployed. Ofcourse, the most significant difference between the two is the arrangementof the hands,with the Suksusapiece hav-ing its right hand up, left down, and Funagatayamajinjahe opposite. Although this would be impossible to prove,thereis a chance that if both figureswereflankingBodhisattvasin triadsthey originally would have stood at the oppo-site sides of their respectiveBuddha figures.

48 Kuno, "Birth,"p. 152.Renniku efers to the pod or torus of the lotus blossom used as a base.

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object.Rather,t shouldbecomparedwith thevarious mall,gilt bronze riadsmadeduring he 6thcenturyon the Koreanpeninsula.Unfortunately, o comparableriad s extant n Japan romourperiod,althoughone canreasonablyssume,given the popularity f the type in ThreeKingdomsKorea, hattheywerealsoafeature f the earliestBuddhistart nJapan.49

6.THE KANSHOIN MEDITATING BODHISATTVAA very mportantmeditatingbodhisattvaigure s locatedat Kanshoin figs. 10-13),NaganoPre-fecture n centralJapan.5o nfortunately,his imagehas beenthroughat least onefire,resulting nlossof therightarm romelbow ohand. twas aterrepairednwood.There salsoconsiderableam-ageto the restof thesurface.Nevertheless,heessential haracter f the statuecanstill be madeout.

Theheadwith itsprominent rownsrelativelyarge nproportionothebody fig.13).Theshoul-dersarenarrow ndtheupperbodyextremely onstricted, roducing veryslender igure.Thearmsare ubular, nd,because fthedamage ustmentioned, heoriginal ormof therighthandcannotbedetermined.The magehasarelatively omplex rown, onsistingof alarge, ingleelement hatdominates hecomposition.At the centralpeak s a sunand crescentmoonmotif,andbelow this is a largeflowerwith aprominentasselemerging rom ts center.5Iloral lementsareseenateitherside,andtasselsaresuspendedromthediadembandat bothsides. Hiddenbehind he crownaretwoknobsof hair(fig.12).The hairatthemiddleof thebackofthehead s sharply arted,and ocks alldownonto theshoulders. heface sround, nd hebrowofmoderate eight.Broadlyweeping yebrowsreaccentedwith centralgrooves.Theeyesare arge,andwideopen;the nose s of moderate ize,and a distinctsmileplaysacrosshelips.

Jewelry s limitedto a simple,early ypenecklace imilar o the one seenin the Funagatayama-jinjabodhisattva.Theskirt s supported ya belt,whichhasaknot at the frontandtasselsattachedat eitherside.Generally peaking, he upperpartof the skirtis simple,although here s a fluentlyundulatingoldat the frontof thehorizontal ight eg.More omplexdraperyoldsare een nthe fab-ricdraped ver hepedestal.Thepedestal s acylindrical lement,and there s a lotusformsupport-ing the left foot.This lotuselement s no longersupportedby anything,but originally heremusthavebeen a lotus stalk or some other supportingelement.

Kuno, n analyzing his image, hassuggested hat thereare hreecharacteristicsndicating hatit is eitheranimport romthe Koreanpeninsulaor an image madeby a sculptorwhohad recentlycome toJapan.5 he traitshe finds mportant re: I) the strongconstriction f the upperbody,(2)49 DonaldF.McCallum, TheBuddhistTriad n ThreeKingdomsSculpture," orean ulture6,no.4 (I995), I8-35.5o Matsubara/Tanabe,ls.5a-c,p. 335; Kondo utsu1996,"354-356;DonaldF.McCallum,ZenkVjindItsIcon: StudyinMedievalJapaneseeligiousrt(Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress, 994),pl. 2;MizunoKeizaburo,Hiryfjikara,pl. 33.51 SeeKimRina,Han'guk odae ulgyo,igs.2.62-2.66, pp.103-IO6,or histypeofcrown;KunoTakeshi,KodaiChosenbutsuoAsukabutsuTokyo:AzumaShuppan, 979), igs.I9-zo (p.II)providesndian ndChinese omparisonshere-afterabbreviatedo Kuno,KodaiChosen).52 Kuno,"Birth,"154.

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the incised ine chiseled nto theeyebrows, nd(3)thecarefully esigned asselseenon thefrontofthecrown.Kunopointsout that the areaofNaganoPrefecture, here he imagewasfound,was animportant lace or mmigrantsrom hepeninsula,husestablishing convincing ontext.Certainlythe figure eems oprecede heSoga-Torityleof the Asukaperiod,although t is not in exactly hesame ineageasthemeditatingbodhisattva o.158analyzed bove.53

7.OTHER MONUMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO THE 6TH CENTURYIn thepreceding ections discussedour mages hatarealmostcertainlyworks mported oJapanat a timepreceding stablishmentf the studio hatproducedcons ortheSogaclanandtheirallies.Thereare everal thermonumentshatalsohaveoccasionallyeenascribedo theearlyphaseof Bud-dhistart nJapan;hisgroupmustnowclaimourattention.Someof thesemay n factbeearly mports,butothers, n myview,seem o be associatedwith a laterphase.

The firstwork s nota completemonumentbuta mandorlafig.I4) thatis all thatsurvives f atriadmadeon the Korean eninsula.This is no. 196 n the "Forty-eight uddhistDeities." t bearscyclical haractershatcanmostreasonablye nterpretedsequivalento 594or654.54Although omescholars aveargued orthe laterdate,the styleof thepiecedoesnot seemappropriateormid-7thcentury;factuallyproducedn 654,thestylewouldhavebeendecidedly ld-fashionedythat time.Consequently,he594dateseemsmoreappropriate,husplacing he mandorlaightat a timeequiv-alent to thebeginningof the Asukaperiod nJapan, ustat thetime theSoga-Toritylewasreceiv-ing initialformulation.Comparison ith the mandorlas f the H-ryujiKond6Shaka riadandtheHoryuxjiMuseum riaddated628makesclear hat the mandorla nderconsiderationitssquarelywithintheSoga-Tori roup.55

Triadno.143 fig.15)of the"Forty-eight uddhistDeities"hasalso requently eengivenanearlydate,butthis attribution eemsmostunlikely.56n particular,hefigure tyleof the centralBuddhaappearsather dvanced,makinga7th centurydatemuchmore ikelythanone in the 6thcentury. f53 The closestprototypeor heKansh6inmage sabadlydamagedmeditatingbodhisattvaow nJ6rinji,atempleonthe islandTsushima ocatedbetween he Koreanpeninsulaand northernKyushu.Theproximityof Tsushima o

Paekchendicates Paekche rigin orboth theJ6rinjipieceand he Kanshoinmage.Fordetaileddiscussion f theJ6rinjimeditatingbodhisattva,eeOnishiSh ya,"TsushimaJ6rinjio d zohanka onitsuite,"Tamura ndHuang,Hanka hiizj, 305-326.Other mages n the Kanshoinineage nJapan ncludemeditatingbodhisattvasn Koyaji,Matsubara/Tanabe,ls. 6c-c, andGokurakuji,bid.,pls. 7a-c. These magesseemslightlylater han theKanshoinmeditatingbodhisattva.

54 Themostcomplete ublicationf thismandorlasNaraKokuritsu unkazaiKenkyuj6,AsukaShiry6kaned.),Asuka-Hakuho ozaimeikondoutsu,irstedition,Nara,1976,pls.,pp. 10-II,andpp.72-73, 97-98; second,expanded di-tion,Nara,1979,pls., pp.51-56,pp.148-149,173-174hereafterbbreviatedoZaimei ondoutsu); umagaiNobuo,"Ko-inmei O Ensonzokchaik6,"Bijutsukenkyu-09 (I96o),223-241;Mizuno,Asuka,pl. 167;MizunoKeizaburo,Horyujjiara,pl. 37;McCallum, TheBuddhistTriad," 6-29, fig.7.

55 Zaimei onduutsu,(H6ryujiKond6Shakariad), irstedition,pls.,pp. 56-57,P. 116;econd dition,pls.pp. 132-133,pp.192-193;628triad), irstedition,pls.pp. 17-23,pp. 75-76, 99-1lo; secondedition,pls.pp. 61-66,pp.151-152,175-177. eealso,Mizuno,Asuka, l. 6 (Kond6 riad) ndpl. I (628 riad);MizunoKeizabur6,Horyijikara,pls.7-1o(Kond6 riad)andpl. 13 628triad).

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the Buddha of no. 143is comparedto our standing Buddhano. I51 he stylistic differencesshould beimmediately apparent.

A standingBuddhafigure (fig. 16)at Dainichibo, YamagataPrefecture,57as beengiven a Koreanprovenanceby some scholars.This figure,28.5cm tall, has lost both its haloandpedestal,but is other-wise quite well preserved.In certain details the Dainichibo Buddha resembles the Buddha of Triadno. 143 ust considered; orexample,the bow at the chest, the relationshipbetween the outerrobe andthe under robeat the base,and the manner in which the anklesarerevealed.Other featuresare differ-ent, suggesting somewhat variant lineages. Although it has sometimes been given a late 6th-early7th centurydate, I believe a 7th centuryattribution is most likely. Whether or not the DainichiboBuddhawasproducedin Paekcheremains to be determined.5

There is agood deal of debateconcerningtheprovenanceand date ofthe Sekiyamajinjabodhisattva(fig. 17).59As was the case with the Funagatayamajinjabodhisattvaconsideredearlier, the presentimage is also the shintaiof a Shintoshrine,one located in Niigata Prefecturealong the EastSea/JapanSea coast. One scholarhassuggested aChineseLiang dynasty(50o2-557A.D.)provenance,althoughtheconsensus seems to be for the Koreanpeninsula;to the best of my knowledge, no scholarhasseriouslyadvocatedJapanesemanufacture.6o

Controversyalsoexists as to the date: if the LiangChineseprovenance saccepted,the image wouldhaveto date to the firsthalfof the 6th century,which seems ratherearly;a Koreanprovenancewouldimply later 6th or first decadesof the 7th century.I personallybelieve that placementat the veryendof the 6th centuryor earlydecades of the 7th centuryis most appropriate.If my dating is acceptable,the Sekiyamajinjabodhisattvafalls slightly outside of the time rangeconsidered n this study.

Becausethe Sekiyamajinjabodhisattva hassurvived at leastone seriousfire,thereis verysubstan-tial damage to the surface,including total loss of both hands.'61 owever, most details of modeling,drapery,and jewelryare still visible, allowing reasonableassessmentof their characteristics. n termsof facial features and body modeling, this image seems substantially advancedbeyond the Funa-gatayamajinja figure. Arrangementof draperyand jewelry elements is similar to that of the latter56 ChisaI, 4-14; "Kond6butsu 1996," col. pls., pp. I2-15, pls. pp. 76-84, 186-93, text pp. 436-437, 449-457. The labelfor this triad at the Tokyo National Museum now reads:"ThreeKingdoms or Asuka." I have discussed this triad in

McCallum, Zenkojiand ItsIcon,59-60, pl. Io. Seealso Mizuno Keizabur6,Horyujikara,pl. 3o; andMcCallum, "Bud-dhist Triad, 29-30, figs. 8-0I.57 Illustrated in Matsubara/Tanabe,pls. I2a-c, p. 337.58 Asai Kazuharu in Mizuno Keizabur6,Horyujikara, zo6, places it in the Three Kingdoms period, early 7th centuryandsuggests that it was made in Paekche.Earlier, n Tokyo KokuritsuHakubutsukan(ed.), Tokubetsutenuroku:Kondobutsu Chugoku,Chosen,Nihon(Tokyo:Otsuka Kogeisha, 1988):4Ol,Asai dated it second halfof the sixth orearly7thcentury.

59 The Sekiyamajinjabodhisattvais illustrated in Matsubara/Tanabe,pls. 4a-b; Mizuno Keizaburo,Horyujikara,pl. 32;Kuno, KodaiChisen,fig. 21,p. 12.Formoredetailed discussion see Kuno, Toraibutsunotabi, 74-78.6o LucieWeinstein has suggested that the Sekiyamajinjabodhisattvamay havebeen made in Liang dynasty China;see"TheYumedono Kannon: Problems in Seventh-CenturySculpture,"Archives fAsian Art 42 (1989),37.61 The way the armsareheld in front of the body suggests that originally this image held a jewel in its hands. For this

motif see Kim Rina, "Samguksidaeuiipongji pojuhying posal ipsang yin'gu: Paekchewa Ilbon Uil ang il chungsimViro,"Misul charyo 7 (1985),1-39. A Japaneseversion of this article is "H6juhoji bosatsu no keifu" in Mizuno Keiz-aburo,Horyujikara,I95-200.

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figure,although hoseof theSekiyamajinjaodhisattva remorecomplex narticulation. hisfigurehasoftenbeencomparedwith the YumedonoKannon tHoryuxji, comparison hichwould endtopull theSekiyamajinjaodhisattvanto the7thcentury ndsuggestarelationshipwith formation ftheSoga-Torityle.62

Afinal,doubtfulwork sstandingKannon, o.165,n the"Forty-eight"hichbears yclical har-actersbest nterpretedsequivalento either591 r651.63xtensivenvestigation asconvincedmostauthorities hat the laterdate s appropriate. uteven f the earlierdate s accepted,hisimage, ikeMandorla o.196,belongs irmlywithinthecategory fSoga-Toriculptures.64

8.CONCLUSION

Formost of its existence hroughoutAsia,Buddhismhasbeena religionmuch concernedwithpro-ductionanduseof icons.Perhaps ecause fthis,noissue n thehistoryofBuddhistarthasbeenmorehotlydebated han thequestionof how the Buddha igureoriginatedn India.Forobviousreasons,thechronologicalndgeographical imensions fthatproblemneednotoccupyushere,although tis importanto keep n mind that Buddhism eft Indiaas areligion trongly ommitted o iconwor-ship.Infact,agoodcasecanbe made or thepropositionhat Buddhismwouldneverhaveachievedsuch remendousuccesswithout hisrichlydevelopedystem orrepresentinghe deities.Whilethebasic teps nformulatinghis iconicsystemwere aken n India, hespecificneedsandpredilectionsof various ulturalareas o which Buddhism raveledprofoundlyransformedppearancesf iconsreceived rom he Buddha's omeland.65

Toa certain xtent,thislaststatementmust beaccepted nfaith,sincewedo notnormally avespecificmages ransmitted romanIndian ite to someotherareaofAsia.Only by comparingargecomplexesntherecipient ulturewithequivalent omplexesn thehypotheticalource rea anonetentativelysolate hoseelements hatmusthaveresulted rom he typeof transformationustpro-posed.This sortofinvestigation asbeencarried utextensivelywithregardo transmissionfBud-dhist art to Southeastand CentralAsia,China, Korea,andJapan,often with highly interesting62 Forcomparisons ith the YumedonoKannon eeKuno,"Birth,"53, ndWeinstein,"TheYumedonoKannon," 7.63 Zaimeikondjbutsu,irstedition,pls., pp. 24-26, pp. 76-78, 102-103; econdedition,platespp. 57-6o, pp. 149-151,

174-175;Mizuno,Asuka,pl. 63 eft;MizunoKeizaburo,Horyuji ara,pl. 39.64 Theargumentationor he594/654A.D.Mandorland he 591/65I .D.Kannonmightseemsomewhat ontradictory.I amsuggesting hatthemandorlarobablyepresentsheearly tageofformulatingwhatsubsequently ecomesheSoga-Torityle nJapan nd husoptfor he594date. fthe654date scorrect,hemandorla ouldhave obethoughtof asrather ld-fashionedn style.In thecaseof theKannon, eatures f the inscriptionalvidence, tyle,and tech-nique uggest hat he651date sappropriate.his,ofcourse,mplies hat t representsontinuationf certainmpor-tanttraitsof theSoga-Toriroup.Althoughnotdirectly elevant ere,asimilarineofargumenthouldbepresentedin favor f the aterdate orMirokuno.156 SeeMizuno,Asuka, l. 61)withcyclical haractersquivalento 6o6/666.In this case oo,one cansee some raits hatcontinuedrom heearlier,Asukaperiod. ampreparing n articledeal-ing with theKannonno.165andmeditatingbodhisattva o. 156,whichwill analyze nscriptional,tylistic, cono-graphical, nd echnical vidence elevant o dating hese woimages.

65 Iplanto investigatehese ssues n aforthcomingmonographntitled"SeiryojindIts Icon:A StudyofAsianBud-dhistArt."

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scholarspostulate a majormovement across the Bering LandBridge some 12or 15millennia ago bypeoples from Asia who became the earliest inhabitants of the Americas.In a certainsense, thesepeo-ple could be called "immigrants," ince they migratedfrom one placeto another,but the term is usu-ally restricted to those who enter a previouslysettled region. From the latterperspective,the entirepopulation of the Americasexceptfor the Amerindians should be classifiedas"immigrant,"althoughundoubtedly large groupswhose ancestorshave lived on these shores for some time would rejecttheappellation.68

What is the situation intheJapanese slands?Evidencesuggests thattheJomon (circaIo,ooo-3ooB.C.)peoplesenteredthe regionat a time when the islands were still attached to the Asiaticcontinent;in otherwords,an exactparallelto the populatingof the Americas.Subsequently, argegroupsofpeo-ple crossedthe straits from the Koreanpeninsula during the Yayoi (300 B.C.-300 A.D.)and Kofun(3oo00-6oo00.D.)periods, establishing far more advanced societies than had existed with the hunter-gathererculture of theJ6monphase.69Logicallythese new arrivals hould be called "immigrants,"butas there was no dominantelite to so designatethem, this did not happen.Large-scalemovement fromthe peninsula continued during the 7th and 8th centuries. Yet with establishment of more highlyorganized political entities, especiallyduring the Naraperiod (7IO-94), efforts commenced to dif-ferentiate"immigrants"rom thosewho sawthemselves as the originalinhabitantsofJapan. (The lat-ter often believedtheyweredescendentsof one or another"emperor,"thus llowing them to tracetheirancestryultimately backto Amaterasunoomikami, the SunGoddess,surelyno "immigrant"herself )The new arrivalswere referred o by the pejorativeterm kikajin("peoplewho came andchanged"),even though they normallywere bearersof advancedtechnology and culture so essential to continu-ing development of the newJapanesestate.70Themodestcons tudiedn thispaperwere, believe,hepropertyfthese o-calledmmigrants.Thereasonheyhad uchcons, fcourse, as hat heyhadpreviouslyeen ssociatedithBuddhismon theKoreaneninsula. fundamentaluestionor tudy fearlyBuddhismnJapansjustwhen,where, ndunderwhat ircumstancesonger-establishednhabitantsf the slandsirst ncounteredthe newreligion nd tsimagery. ndoubtedly,omemembersf thisgroupwouldhave ome ntocontact ithBuddhismnvisits o theKoreaneninsularChina.However,or hosewhoremainedathome, heir nitialexposure usthavebeen hroughontactwithmore ophisticatedeighborsfrom broad. hathis nvolvedconversionxperienceased ndoctrinesfBuddhistheologyeemshighlyunlikely; ather, uddhistcons ndassociateditual ractices usthavebeen een s mbuedwith great magicalpowers of benefit to devotees.7'68 A livelyaccount f thisstory s BrianM.Fagan,TheGreatJourney:hePeoplingfAncient mericaLondon: hamesandHudson,1987).More ecent esearch assuggested n evenearlier eopling,although hatwouldnotchange he

present rgument.69 For ecentmaterial nthearchaeologicaleriods fJapan,eeRichard earsoned.),AncientJapanWashington,D.C.:Smithsoniannstitution,1992);dem.,Windowsn heJapaneseast:StudiesnArchaeologyndPrehistoryAnnArbor:CenterorJapanese tudies,University fMichigan, 986).70 SekiAkira,KikajinTokyo:Shibund6, 966); HiranoKunio,KikajinokodaikokkaTokyo:YoshikawaK6bunkan,

1993).7I Onebookwhichhas nvestigatedhese ssues sJ.H. Kamstra,EncounterrSyncretism:he nitialGrowthfJapaneseBuddhismLeiden: .J.Brill,1967).Unfortunately,hestudy s sopoorly xecutedhat t cannotbe recommendedor

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By the 6th century,whentheyfirstappearnJapan n substantial umbers,Buddhist conshadbeenproduced andrefined forseveral enturies.Thisprocess f refinementesulted n a "powerfimages," ninherent ttraction hat must havehadastrong mpactonthosefortunate nough o seethe icons.72Perhapshe initial reaction s symbolically apturednNihon hoki's ccountofKinmei,whoafter umping or oyuponreceiving ing'sgiftand tating hathe hadneverheard uchawonder-fuldoctrine,defers he decisionas to acceptance espitehispositive eelings.Later,n thesamepas-sage,the Buddhist conis specifically haracterized:thecountenance.., s of a severedignity(sibotangen),73uchaswe haveneverpreviously ncountered."urely hisdescription ivesus somesenseof thepowerful ffect his newiconictype produced nviewers,althoughpresumablywe will neverhavemorespecificnformationsto earlyreception.That thosewhopossessedhe iconsweregener-allywell-educated earers fadvancednowledge nd echnologywouldnecessarilynhance oth heirstatusand that of their cons.Nothing couldbefartherrom hetruth, n myview,thanapictureofhumble"immigrants" eing patronized y a superior lite group;rather, believethatthis initialencounterwithBuddhism ndBuddhistconsmustbeassociatedirectlywithadoption f newerdeasandtechniquesrom hecontinent.Thosewhose amilieshad ived inJapan orsomecenturies im-plydid what theirancestors addonerepeatedlyn thepast: hey adopted he newestcultural ormsfromthose who brought hemfromabroad.Needlessto say,this traithascontinuedasa constantthroughout apanese istory, een asstrongly n theMeijitransformationfJapanasit wasduringintroduction f Buddhismandcontinental ivilization nthe 6thand7thcenturies.)ThegrowthofBuddhism ndBuddhistartduring he Asukaperiod, ncomparisono thedecadesconsideredn thispaper, s relativelywell documented.From he establishment f Asukadera,lantempleof theSoga n 588, hrough hebuildingof otherclan emples n the 59osandearly6oos,wecanfollowquiteclearly heprocesswherebyBuddhismbecame nextricablyinked with thepowerelite.74But thatis another tory.Here,wehavebeensearchingorthosealmost mperceptibleracesthat shouldsheda little light on theearliestpractice fBuddhist conworshipnJapan.

generaluse.Regrettably, morerecent ffort,SonodaKoya,"Early uddhaWorship"nDelmerM.Brown ed.),TheCambridgeistory fAncientJapan,ol. I,AncientJapanCambridge: ambridgeUniversityPress,1993), 59-414, snotverysatisfactoryither. Itshouldbepointedout here hatalthough he article s listed asbySonoda,most of itwasactuallyprepared ythevolume's ditor.)

72 DavidFreedberg,ThePower f Images:tudiesn theHistory ndTheory fResponseChicago:Universityof ChicagoPress,1989).73 Sakamoto ,102, note3,and18,note9, provideanexegesison thisterminology.74 The iterature nestablishmentfAsukaderand tsearlycons senormous. am nvestigatinghese ssues nastudytentatively ntitled,"TheSogaClanandEarlyBuddhistArtinJapan."

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APPENDIXAStanding odhisattvan theTokyoNationalMuseum

Earliern thispaper madesomebriefcomments boutKonnoToshifumi's ecentarticle,but hereIwould ike to considerngreater etailonequitesurprising laim hat he makesconcerning stand-ing bodhisattvan theTokyoNationalMuseumfigs.18-19).75The ssueofBukkyj eijutsu herehisarticleappears as wo colorand hreemonochromelates,allfull-page iews,at the frontof thejour-nal,presumablyndicative f theimportancef thissculptureo hisstudy.As acolorphotograph ftheimagehadappearedecentlyn aNaraNationalMuseum atalogue,hepiecewasquitefamiliar,although he latter ourcedidnot includeviews romall sides.76 efore nalyzingKonno's laims, etus lookfora momentat thesculpture.

Thefigure s a standingbodhisattva, 3.7cmtall, carvedroma singleblockofcamphorwood,except or the hands,which werejoinedseparatelynowlost).While there s significantdamage otheimage,whatremainss adequateo understandmost detailsof theoriginal orm.Inverygeneralterms, nitialinspectionwouldsuggestthat the image s archaicn style,incorporatingmotifsthatcanbe seen n characteristicorksof the Asukaperiod.Konno p. 73)cites ascomparative orks heYumedonoKannon,lanking igures ftheHoryujiKondoShakaTriad, heHoryfijiMuseumbronzestandingbodhisattva56.7cmhigh), and bodhisattvas os.165and166 in the "Forty-eight"t theTokyoNationalMuseum.Particularlymportantare the senseof frontality, he proportions, ndarrangementf the scarf.Seen rom heback, hesculptures schematico anextreme,whilein sideviewit is extraordinarilylender, xcept orthelargehead.

As Konnonotes(pp. 73-74) therearea numberofpuzzlingorinterestingaspects o theimage,including:I. Original ormof thecrown.2. Circular laquesateither houlder.

75 Inorder o avoidanunwieldynumber f notes,I will indicatepagesof Konno'spapern parentheses.Konno'sdis-cussion f theTokyoNationalMuseumbodhisattvasessentially n-annotated:neofthe two notesrefers othe1999TokyoNationalMuseum culptureatalogue, nd henonly n thecontextofimageacquisition nd he modernabelon its back.Apparentlyt waspurchasedrom heTokyoArtSchoolbytheTokyoNationalMuseum n I892.Thelabelreads:"At the periodof ShotokuTaishithis sculpture amefromPaekche,one imagefrom[aset of] I,oooimages,"which s obviouslyegendary, s is theclaimthatit came romEchigo.Althoughspace s not availableotrace hehistoriographyfthisimagehere, t is interestingo notethat t appearedsthefirstplate nWarner, uiko,pp.22,53.Warner's iscussions notveryuseful,andhisgeneral pproacho thisperiodhasbeencritiquedn detailin AlexanderC.Soper,"NotesofHoryuji nd heSculpturef the SuikoPeriod,"s notedabove. havewrittena crit-ical assessment f Soper's tudy n anunpublished aper,"AlexanderoperontheH6ryfijiShakaTriad."Berthier,"Les remierestatues,"o8-Io9,alsodealswiththeimage.76 NaraKokuritsuHakubutsukan, igashiAjia,pl. 24,p. 238.The shortentry,writtenbyMatsuuraMasaaki,epeatsthe beliefthat the imagehailsfromEchigoProvince ndargues hatit hasanextremely rchaic tyle.He alsosug-geststhat,because f the"yayamanobishitaonahyojo" ndsimplication fthe headarea bove hecrown, t canbecloselyrelated o smallgilt-bronze magesof theThreeKingdomsSilla.Thephrase"rathermanobishitappearingfacial xpression"s the same erminology nalyzedn note3oabove.

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3. Large leeve-like ormsover he arms.4. The redpigmentseenat the back.5. The overall tyleof thefigure.Inanalyzing hesetraits,Konnopresents strikinglyoriginalhypothesishat,in myview,doesnotstandup to criticalexamination.f I understand is arguments orrectly, e asserts hattheTokyoNationalMuseumbodhisattva atesasearlyas the secondhalf of the 6th century.77n additionherelates ts iconography,t least npart, o imagery n the bronzemirrors iscussed n the firsthalfofhisarticle pp. 71-73).FundamentallymotivatingKonno'sdiscourse s hisdesire o findascul

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