@
bukkyou setsuwa-zu@•§‹³ΰ˜b}
KEY WORD :@art history / general terms
@
Narrative paintings, relieves, or group sculptures of Buddhist stories (sutras or legends), which were made in great quantities to be used for the propagation of Buddhism. Roughly classified into six groups:

1@Pali; jataka, stories of the ascetic exercises or merciful deeds that the Buddha accomplished as a Bodhisattava in his former life *honjou-zu –{Ά}.

2@Legendary biographies of the Buddha, which describe his birth into this life, his youth as a prince, his becoming a priest, his attaining enlightenment, his preaching, and his death *butsuden-zu •§“`}.

3@Sanskrit, Avadana stories of former and present lives of the Buddha's disciples and followers. See *hiyu setsuwa-zu 栚gΰ˜b}. No examples of this group, however, are found in mainland China or Japan. The stories of these three groups are based mainly on Mahayana sutras and the term, bukkyou setsuwa, sometimes refers only to these.

4@Narrative stories based on Mahayana sutras, often called *hensou •Ο‘Š, hensou-zu •Ο‘Š}, or kyouhen Œo•Ο, which were developed and refined in Central Asia. They seem to have reached their apogee during the 7-10c, as far as Dunghuan (Jp; Tonkou “ΦΰŠ) examples are concerned. The most widely found examples of this group in Japan are *Taima mandara “––ƒ™ΦδΆ—…, the Japanese name for *Kangyou hensou ŠΟŒo•Ο‘Š, and *raigou-zu —ˆŒ}}. Jigoku-e ’n–ŠG (also known as jigokuhen ’n–•Ο), the visualization of the forged sutras referring to Hell, is also included in this group.

5@Biographies, often legendary, of Buddhist monks as holy men, which were developed probably in China and became popular in Japan (see *kousouden-e ‚‘m“`ŠG). Many of these were made to commemorate great deeds of the founders of the new Buddhist sects of the Kamakura period.

6@Paintings of the origin and benevolent revelation to temples and shrines *shaji engi-e ŽΠŽ›‰‹NŠG, which were made in order to enhance the prestige of their sect and to propagate their doctrine. They were developed and flourished especially in Japan, mostly in the form of handscrolls and hanging scrolls.
@
@

@
REFERENCES:
@
EXTERNAL LINKS: 
@@
NOTES
@

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.@No reproduction or republication without written permission.
ŒfΪ‚ΜƒeƒLƒXƒgEŽΚ^EƒCƒ‰ƒXƒg‚ȂǁA‘S‚Δ‚ΜƒRƒ“ƒeƒ“ƒc‚Μ–³’f•‘»E“]Ϊ‚π‹Φ‚Ά‚ά‚·B
@