Published On:Sunday, 28 September 2014
Posted by Celebrate Life Style information Blog
Letters link Kaikei to 800-year-old statue
The Yomiuri Shimbun: Seven letters found inside of the Shukongoshinryuzo statue, an important national cultural property owned by Kongobuji temple in Wakayama Prefecture, prove that Chogen, a high priest of the temple during the Kamakura period (1192-1333), commissioned the statue from Kaikei, one of the era’s most famous sculptors of Buddhist images, the Koyasan Society for the Preservation of Cultural Properties (Foundation) has announced.
Kongobuji temple is located on Mt. Koya.
The seven letters, which were written in ink and placed inside the chest of the 149-centimeter-tall statue, were found when the statue was restored at the Nara National Museum.
The letters include such phrases as “March in Kenkyu 8th year (1197)” and “at Todaiji temple’s branch site,” which reveal that Chogen asked Kaikei to create the statue in 1197. Chogen worked to rebuild Todaiji temple, which was burned down by the Heike clan in 1181.
As part of the restoration, noted sculptors of Buddhist images such as Unkei and Kaikei created the Niozo statues of Nandaimon.
The recently discovered letters confirm the relationship between Chogen and Kaikei.
Shukongoshinryuzo and one of the seven letters will be exhibited at “Koyasan 1,200th Anniversary Treasures of the Sacred Mountain,” an event sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others at the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo from Oct. 11 to Dec. 7. [ The Japan News ]
Kongobuji temple is located on Mt. Koya.
The seven letters, which were written in ink and placed inside the chest of the 149-centimeter-tall statue, were found when the statue was restored at the Nara National Museum.
The letters include such phrases as “March in Kenkyu 8th year (1197)” and “at Todaiji temple’s branch site,” which reveal that Chogen asked Kaikei to create the statue in 1197. Chogen worked to rebuild Todaiji temple, which was burned down by the Heike clan in 1181.
As part of the restoration, noted sculptors of Buddhist images such as Unkei and Kaikei created the Niozo statues of Nandaimon.
The recently discovered letters confirm the relationship between Chogen and Kaikei.
Shukongoshinryuzo and one of the seven letters will be exhibited at “Koyasan 1,200th Anniversary Treasures of the Sacred Mountain,” an event sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others at the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo from Oct. 11 to Dec. 7. [ The Japan News ]
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