houkei　宝髻

KEY WORD :　art history / sculptures

Also houkei 寶髻. The hair of a sculpted figure tied up on top of the head in a topknot. Found on bodhisattva *bosatsu 菩薩, guardian deities *ten 天, and *Dainichi 大日 images. Hair tied into a single topknot is called *tankei 単髻, and hair divided into two bunches is called *soukei 双髻. The style of houkei varied according to the period, and thus are useful in dating figures. In the Asuka and Hakuhou periods there was no fixed style, but in the Tenpyou period two distinct trends were established. The first tied the hair into a single, high topknot, known as koukei 高髻, as in the standing *ShouKannon 聖観音 (bronze 7c), in Yakushiji Touindou 薬師寺東院堂, Nara. The second used strands of hair, wound round the topknot like ribbons positioned one above the other. This style was derived from Tang dynasty China. A good example is the standing *Ashura 阿修羅 (8c, dry-lacquer) in Koufukuji 興福寺, Nara. A special example of the topknot is found on *Monju 文殊菩薩 statues, according to descriptions in Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou 密教 texts. Monju appears with one, five, six, or eight topknots but most frequently his hair is tied into five round bunches, gokei 五髻, on top of the head. One such example is the wooden Monju seated on a lion in Hannyaji 般若寺, Nara. During the Heian period hanging hairstyles *suihotsu 垂髪, were more popular than the houkei, but the high topknot came back into fashion in the Kamakura period.

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