Un cosmoscape sous le Bouddha : le piédestal de l’icône principale de Yakushi-ji, soutien de l’empire des souverains
Abstrak
The main icon at the Japanese temple of Yakushi-ji is a 254.7 cm bronze “Medicine Buddha” (Yakushi), seated cross-legged atop a 152 cm multitiered pedestal, with two flanking bodhisattvas. Visually accomplished and historically rare as is this colossal early 8th-century triad, it is the Buddha pedestal and its rare and remarkable motifs in relief on all four sides that have long fascinated scholars. The pedestal graphically demonstrates the self-expression of the Yamato rulers who commissioned the triad, situating Buddhism and right rule within an imaginary Chinese-style imperial state in the making, ca. 650-750. The pedestal figures and designs dovetail with constructs expressed in classic contemporaneous literary works. This first study devoted to Yakushi-ji in a non-Japanese language proposes a new interpretation for the pedestal as a cosmograph – a cosmology for an imperial realm imagined by its makers – combined with an omnipresent healing Buddha/righteous ruler atop such a worldview.
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (1)
Cynthea J. Bogel
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 2020
- Sumber Database
- DOAJ
- DOI
- 10.4000/perspective.18208
- Akses
- Open Access ✓