Also in the T'ang Dynasty, the Gupta style of the Buddhist art of India was more fully introduced into China. In the reign of the great T'ai Tsung, Hiuen Tsang came back from an eighteen year's stay in India laden with the knowledge imparted to him by the holy men there. He brought paintings and images, and a whole library of the sutra.
Though India was the greatest source of knowledge and the desired goal of the monks, it was not always necessary to go so far afield. India had come up the road cleared by China, and we read of an artist, Wei-ch'ih I-sêng by name, who came from Khotan in Turkestan. In the T'ang capital he enrolled many pupils who afterwards became famous.
From recent discoveries in Central Asia it is clear that the Indian art of this period, or slightly before, was prevalent there. It shows great similarity to the paintings in the caves of Ajanta in India. In Central India, the technique of the full gradation of colors and the modeling of flesh of the Gupta school developed.
In Japan, all this was felt, during the second half of the seventh century, and so strongly, that the art is clearly marked off from that of the former Suiko Period. This will be seen in extant examples of sculpture and painting.
In the year 710 the capital was installed at Nara, where it lasted until the year 794 when it was removed to Kyoto. This period, from 710 to 794, is sometimes called Tempyō, and the period preceding the Tempyō is called Hakuho, but we here include both periods under the same heading called Nara.
The centralization policy adopted in the reign of Kotoku (645-654) eventually reached a culminating point in the reign of the Emperor Shōmu (724-748), who, blessed with peace and prosperity, succeeded to the Imperial heritage. The civilizing influence that China had already exerted continued in this reign.
Nara of that day presented an appearance very much like that of the great Chinese Capital, Chang-an. Indeed, China was to Japan what Athens was to Rome.
China was then an extremely rich and strong nation, and her capital was the very center of all the civilization and culture under the sun. Therefore Persians, Armenians, and Indians all brought their religions, works of art, and many kinds of merchandise to her capital. It was at this time that Nestorian Christianity was propagated in China. The people in the capital were leading very luxurious lives. Even a petty housemaid wore a silk dress. Japan sent her envoys, priests, and students to China to learn the culture that was flourishing in the Chinese capital. They brought home the best of this culture and replanted it at Nara. How bright and resplendent the results were may be gathered from a poem composed by a poet of the day:
"Bright and gay, Nara, the Capital, is now at its best; like the cherry in full bloom!"
The most wonderful social aspect of the Nara Period was the strong influence of Buddhism upon all the affairs of state. Indeed, in the first half of the eighth century, Buddhism was most intimately and consummately connected with the court and the state.
The most prominent figure in Tempyō Buddhism was the Emperor Shōmu who, being a most ardent believer in Buddhism, even tried to conduct the administration according to Buddhist principles, instead of by law. In fact, all the official monasteries in the capital, as well as in the provinces, were erected in accordance with his ordinances.
The greatest of the monasteries built by him was the Tōdai-ji, the Central Cathedral at Nara. In 752 it was dedicated to the Buddha Vairochana.
This Buddha still stands, and is popularly known as Daibutsu or Great Buddha of Nara. In the course of its erection, the Emperor issued the following Imperial Ordinance on the 1st of April, 21st year of Tempyō (749).
The Ordinance reads as follows:
"While we (the Emperor), inheriting the sovereignty in succession to the Sun in Heaven, are making every effort to make our mind one with the Heart of Heaven and Earth, there has been bestowed upon us a gift of gold, said to have been found at Odanokori in the province of Michinoku in the eastern part of the Empire. This has caused us to think that the words of Buddha provide the most excellent of all instruction for securing the welfare of the empire. Therefore we have distributed the manuscript called Saisho-wō-kyō (Suvarnaprabhâsattamaraja-sutra) in every province; we have managed to erect the image of Buddha Vairochana, supplicating the help of the deities in Heaven and Earth; for the same purpose we have also worshipped the souls of our Imperial ancestors, while at the same time we have invited many people who have joyously united in the pious work. All these efforts have been made in order to ward off calamities and to procure peace and happiness. Meanwhile the people have felt doubt about the success of the erection of the image of Buddha. But the gold was bestowed on us and this gift we regard as a testimony of the marvellous teaching of Buddha, as a sign of the gracious good will of the deities in Heaven and Earth, and of the lovingkindness of our Imperial ancestors."
With such devotion and with the greatest efforts, the erection of the Great Buddha was completed and the dedication ceremony was held in 752.
This ceremony was an epoch-making event in the history of Japanese Buddhism. The whole court attended it and thousands of priests in beautiful robes are said to have participated in it.
The great image of Buddha stood brilliantly in the center. Golden and silk banners of gorgeous colors and beautiful designs were suspended in rows. Beautifully mounted manuscript copies of scripture were unrolled and read in rhythmical tone by hundreds of priests. All sorts of music and dances, introduced from India, Annam, China, and Korea, were performed. It was indeed a highly international function.
The richness and splendor of the ceremony can be imagined from relics of the objects that were used on the occasion, which are still preserved to this day in the Shōsō-in treasury at Nara. Near Nara, the capital, were such great official monasteries as Hōryū-ji, Yakushi-ji, Gangō-ji, Tōshōdai-ji, and Saidai-ji. Every province had a provincial monastery or Kokubun-ji and a nunnery to correspond. The governor of each province had to pay the highest respect to the provincial monastery as the center of social life. Today there still remain many sites of these provincial monasteries, protected by the government as historical monuments.
As the erection of a monastery was an important state affair, the making of manuscripts of Buddhist scriptures became also no less an important business of the state.
In the reign of the Emperor Shōmu, in the middle of the eighth century, there was in the central government a special department, called Shakyōsho, or a department for making copies of Buddhist scriptures under a chief who was styled Shakyoshi. The noble style of penmanship, the care taken to make exact copies of the text, the use of decorated paper, the provision of beautiful cases and covers to preserve the copies, all testify to the reverence for the Buddhist holy scriptures. All these manuscripts consisted of rolls, a long sheet of paper being wound around a central rod. A great number of the manuscript copies made in this period are still preserved in the Shōsō-in treasury at Nara.
Of the motives which impelled persons to make copies of the manuscripts we learn something from the colophons. The colophons consist mostly of prayers and of notes on the circumstances of the making of copies. These motives may be classified under six heads, or the attainment of six objects:
Long life for the Emperor and prosperity for the nation.
Perfect enlightenment and spiritual welfare of the deceased Emperors in the next world.
Perfect enlightenment and spiritual welfare of ancestors and deceased parents in the next world.
Welfare of all people and other living creatures.
The fulfilment of a vow made by some high priest.
Recovery of the sick.
In many of the colophons we find the names of the donors, among whom we may note: Emperor, Empress, princes, high priests, and high officials. Sometimes we find the names of many persons who had co-operated.
In the Buddhist manuscript called Kwanzeon-bosatsu-juki-kyo the Emperor Shomu writes as follows:
"In the ancient classics and in history, so far as we (the Emperor) know, we find n
othing better than Buddhism, for it offers long life to us and welfare to the nation. Therefore we put our trust in Buddhism, and we have accomplished the work of copying all the manuscripts. Those who read the manuscripts ought to be sincere and to pray that the nation and all living creatures may have long life and happiness. Those who hearken to the precepts of Buddhism will never be degraded to the lives of lower animals but may ascend to the land of enlightenment."
It must be noted that every prayer written at the end of a manuscript sought from Buddha some reward, varying in kind, for the meritorious work of making the copy.
To the encouragement of Buddhism by the government, the country owes the development of architecture, sculpture, painting, and other arts—either pure or applied. Morally, aesthetically, and as a factor in material civilization, the part which Buddhism played was of far-reaching consequence.
Meanwhile, Chinese literature also made a striking advance; and encouragement was given to revere Confucianism and to study Chinese classics. Nor did Japanese classics now flourish less; in fact it was about this period that many poets of the highest order appeared. The immortal collection of poems called "Manyōshū," the oldest anthology in Japan, was indeed the production of this age.
In short, India was now looked upon as a heavenly kingdom, and China as the center of civilization. Politics and religion, art and literature, music and sports, dress, customs, and all other things were fashioned after those of China. At the same time we see in the art of this age that the Japanese genius was expressed consciously in the way it adapted these foreign arts to Japanese ideas.
2. PAINTING
The pictorial art of the Nara Period made remarkable development, keeping pace with sculpture and architecture. There were two styles that stimulated and moulded its development: the original Chinese line composition, which was introduced through Korea and was developed in colors in the reign of the Empress Suiko, and the Indian chiaroscuro style which was introduced from the early T'ang Dynasty in the reign of Tenchi, and which is represented in the precious fresco painting of the Hūryū-ji monastery.
The reign of the Emperor Tenchi is memorable for various kinds of official reorganization intended to patronize and encourage arts and crafts. A special art department was first established in the Court, and four painters and sixty artisans were appointed. This official encouragement stimulated the development of art, pure and applied, that of the latter being especially noteworthy.
In the reign of the Emperor Shōmu, the pictorial art was carried to a high level. The documents preserved in the Shōsō-in treasury at Nara tell of a special art commission being appointed, and of the division of artists and artisans according to strict rules. There are itemized accounts of the cost of painting many images and designs, with the names of more than one hundred artists on the payroll, including those of draughtsmen, colorists, and supervising artists.
The Treasure Lists of the Hōryū-ji, Saidai-ji, and other monasteries attest to the existence in those days of a large number of pictures now irreparably lost. The Donation Record of the Tōdai-ji mentions fifteen folding screens with pictures; the Treasure List of the Hōryū-ji contains standing figures of Buddha and ten disciples, and another standing Buddha presented in 732 by the Emperor Shōmu. The Saidai-ji catalogue mentions over ten Buddhist pictures, some as large as 16 ft. by 10 ft., and the catalogue of the Taian-ji mentions ninety-four Buddhist figures drawn in the year 740 by the same Emperor.
A marked improvement was then reached in the use of colors, the number of which greatly increased. In an old document, kept at the Shōsō-in treasury, as many as seventeen different kinds of colors are mentioned. On the whole the tone of the color of this age was bright and rich.
Although the pictures mentioned in the documents are now nearly all lost, there still remain such important examples as the fresco painting of Hōryū-ji, Kichijō-ten, or Goddess of Beauty, of Yakushi-ji and some other paintings in the Shōsō-in collection at Nara.
The best example of Buddhist paintings of the Tempyō Era is Kichijō-ten, the Goddess of Beauty, from the Yakushi-ji monastery preserved in the Nara Imperial Household Museum. It is painted in colors on hempen cloth and measures 1.8 feet in length. (Fig. 28) The goddess looks like the picture of a noble lady. Her curved eyebrows, full cheeks, and graceful pose suggest beautiful womanhood as conceived by the Chinese of the T'ang Dynasty.
A similar type of beauty of the same period is often met with in fragments of paintings discovered in Central Asia, which are now scattered abroad. A fine specimen of this kind is in the British Museum. Beauties of a similar type are found also among mortuary clay figures discovered in Chinese tombs of the T'ang Dynasty.
Fig.28.Kichijō-ten, the Goddess of Beauty (N.T.)
Nara Imperial Household Museum
In the art of engraving we can see pictorial representations of many Buddhist figures. Good examples of such pictures can be found on the bronze petals of the huge lotus throne of the Daibutsu of the Tōdai-ji temple and on the fragment of the bronze halo of the Nigatsu-dō, Nara. The angels on the halo are more excellent for their graceful and rhythmic lines than the Buddhist figures on the petals of the throne of the Daibutsu. The angels, their flying mantles, and bits of floating clouds are delineated with fine cut lines on a gilt bronze surface, and their interstices are filled with fine dotted lines. Our reproduction in Fig. 29, being the impression of the engraving in black and white, gives quite a different feeling from what we get from the halo in the original. But we can see in it the most lovely and delightful lines which are used quite successfully in bringing down the "angelic sphere of another world."
All that we have described above is the pictorial art that was influenced by the new ideas introduced from the T 'ang Dynasty of China. But, besides this, there was an older style; that is, the Six Dynasties style. Its best and only existing example is the Kwako-Genzai-Ingwa-Kyo sutra, parts of which are owned by the Hō-on-in of the Daigo-ji monastery and by the Jōbon-Rendai-ji of Kyoto, and the former is preserved in the Kyoto Onshi Museum of Art.
Fig. 29. Detail of a Bronze Halo (N.T.)
Higatsu-dō, Hara
3. BRONZE SCULPTURE
The style and form of the Nara sculpture is very different from that of the Suiko Period; it has curves much fuller and more rounded,showing the influence of the Gupta school of India, which was introduced into China before it reached Japan. In this period the erection of large Buddhist figures was much more frequent than in the preceding Suiko Period, and a good number of them still remain. Bronze, wood, clay, and dry-lacquer were used as the medium of sculpture, but bronze was used more in the early years. Dry-lacquer and clay were used later.
Fig. 30. Shō-kwannon (N.T.)
Yakushi-ji, Yamato
Speaking technically, all the great bronze figures were cast, and small figures were often represented in repoussé. They were both gilded.
Fig. 31. Shaka-muni (N.T.)
Jindai-ji, Musashi
The bronze statue of Shō-kwannon (Fig. 30) of Tōindō in the Yakushi-ji monastery is an important example of the T'ang style made in Japan in the early Nara Period. It measures 7 feet in height; its posture is stern and majestic. The proportion is beautiful, as well as the realistic form of the body, which has especially beautiful curves around the hips. The thin transparent drapery is so filmy that one may feel the pulsating warmth of the body. Such gracefulness is the most conspicuous characteristic of the T'ang sculpture of China.
The bronze statue representing Shaka-muni Buddha (Fig. 31), example of the bronze statues produced in the second half of the seventh century. Its height is 75 centimeters. Its graceful posture and the rotund form of body owe much to the style of the Gupta School of India, and at the same time it is a representative work of the early Nara sculpture in Japan.
Fig. 32. Shō-kwannon (N.T.)
Kakurin-ji, Harima
The bronze statue of Shō-kwannon (Fig. 32) of the Kakurinji temple in the province of Harima, is also an
excellent example of the bronze statues of the early Nara Period. It measures about 90 centimeters. Although it shows the influence of the Chinese Style of T'ang sculpture, it is highly Japanese in expression.
The statuette of Amida Trinity in the Kondo of the Hōryū-ji monastery is one of the most famous bronze statues produced in the early Nara Period.
The finest and the most representative example of the Tempyō sculpture, that is, of the first half of the eighth century, is the Yakushi Triad enshrined in the Golden Hall of the Yakushi-ji monastery in Yamato.
Examples of Buddhist figures in repoussé work are preserved in the Hōryū-ji monastery and in the Imperial Household collections. Their shapes are beaten out of thin bronze plate on a metal mould, and the whole surface is gilded. Among them are two fine examples, both of which represent Amida triad with two Buddhist disciples. (Fig. 33) They are so exactly similar to each other that they might have been made from the same mould. They measure 38.5 centimeters in length and 31.5 centimeters in breadth. This seems to be the largest size repoussé work of this period. The central theme is the Buddha Amida with both hands brought together in front of the chest in the attitude of the "sacred wheel rotation" which denotes preaching or exposition of the Buddhist doctrine. The rotund body and calm expression of the middle figure, the graceful hip-sway and attentive posture of the Bodhisattvas, Kwannon and Seishi, standing on either side, are typical styles of Buddhist figures of the early Nara Period. The two additional figures of disciples in the background constitute a grouping peculiar to this period. The origin of this grouping can be traced back to the Gadhara sculpture. As such figures in repousé were made cheaply and a number of replicas were produced easily, they may have been quite insignificant at the time when they were made. But this shows us the important fact that this type of figure was popular; and that the faith in the Buddha Amida became much more popular in this period than it had been in the Suiko Period.
A History of Japanese Art Page 7
