Kasuga mandara　春日曼荼羅

KEY WORD :　art history / iconography

Devotional paintings of the deities and landscape of Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 which was founded in Nara in the 8c as the family shrine of the prosperous Fujiwara 藤原 clan. Kasuga mandara may also include the scenery and deities of Koufukuji 興福寺, a Buddhist temple which was closely related to the shrine. There are three main types of Kasuga mandara. 1　*Miya mandara 宮曼荼羅 which show Kasuga Taisha and its landscape. A variation related to this type is shaji mandara 社寺曼荼羅, which also includes the temple Koufukuji, and in particular Koufukuji mandara 興福寺曼荼羅 in which the shrine occupies much less space than the temple. 2　Shika mandara 鹿曼荼羅 shows deer which are the sacred animal of Kasuga and which are often paired with a sacred tree (sakaki 榊; Cleyara ochnacea) and/or a sacred mirror. A variation on this type is the journey of the deity Takemikazuchi no kami 武雷神 (and sometimes other *kami 神) from Kashima 鹿島 (modern Ibaraki prefecture) to Kasuga on a deer. This variation is called Kashimadachi mandara 鹿島立曼荼羅 or Kashimadachi Shen'ei-zu 鹿島立神影図. 3　Honji suijaku mandara 本地垂迹曼荼羅 or *songyou mandara 尊形曼荼羅. This type includes all paintings of Shinto deities, kami and their Buddhist counterparts *honjibutsu 本地仏, and may be divided into four subgroups. (a) Honjaku mandara 本迹曼荼羅 show Buddhist and Shinto deities in relation to one another. (b) Honjibutsu mandara 本地仏曼荼羅 show only the Buddhist deities, either as a group or alone. (c) Suijaku mandara 垂迹曼荼羅, which show individual kami alone. (d) Paintings of *Akadouji 赤童子 (the Red Youth). Paintings also occur outside of these categories showing Kasuga Taisha as paradise, and these are known as Kasuga joudo mandara 春日浄土曼荼羅 and Kasuga Fudarakusen mandara 春日補陀落山曼荼羅. There are four sanctuaries within the main shrine at Kasuga. The first is referred to as Ichinomiya 一宮, and is dedicated to Takemikazuchi of Kashima Jinguu 鹿島神宮. The second sanctuary, Ninomiya 二宮 is dedicated to Futsunushi no mikoto 斎主命 of Katori Jinguu 香取神宮 (Chiba prefecture), the third, Sannomiya 三宮 to Ame no koyane 天児屋根 of Hiraoka Jinja 平岡神社 (Osaka), and the fourth, Shinomiya 四宮 to Himegami 比売神. Amenokoyane is the ancestral deity of the Nakatomi 中臣 clan who were the family of the shrines priests and the clan from which the Fujiwara sprang. The principal subsidiary shrine Wakamiya 若宮 was established in 1135 and is often included in Kasuga painting. All of these shrines and deities feature in Kasuga mandara, accompanied by lesser shrines and deities within the precincts. The identification of honjibutsu at Kasuga vary in the paintings. In the first sanctuary *Fukuukenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 and *Shaka 釈迦 are the usual choices, with Fukuukenjaku appearing more often when the deity is shown alone and Shaka when the deities appear together. In the second sanctuary *Miroku 弥勒 and *Yakushi 薬師 are identified. *Jizou 地蔵 is the prevailing honjibutsu in the third. Himegami (of the fourth sanctuary) was identified with Ise 伊勢 and could have *Dainichi 大日 as her honjibutsu, but she is usually linked here with *Juuichimen Kannon 十一面観音. For Wakamiya the most usual honjibutsu are *Shoukannon 聖観音 and *Monju 文殊, although Juuichimen Kannon is also seen. The uses of Kasuga art can be divided into four groups. 1　As a substitute for the clan god among the Fujiwara nobility. Among the shrine and temple personnel at Kasuga, Koufukuji and related establishments they served as a substitute for the deity and as a symbol of his protection. 2　Occasionally art objects including paintings were used as embodiments of a deity *shintai 神体 and kept within the shrines as the seat of the deity. 3　Paintings were hung in the halls of Koufukuji and other Buddhist temples related to KasugaTaisha during important ceremonies at Koufukuji as a reminder of the shrine's role as the protector of the temple and of the ceremony. 4　Paintings served as a focus of devotion during the meetings of the kou 講. These were confraternities who felt a special connection with the shrine either through geographical ties, being a Koufukukuji monk or a Kasuga Taisha attendant, belonging to an estate owned by the shrine or having served at ceremonies at the shrine. The existence of a large number of Kasuga mandara is due to the backing of the Fujiwara family and of Koufukuji which encouraged the spread of the cult of Kasuga. This patronage also ensured a high standard of artwork which was reinforced by proximity to the court artists of the capital and by easy access to the ateliers of other prominent Buddhist artists in the Yamato 大和 area. Paintings of Kasuga generally lack the folk element and appeal of other comparable sites such as Kumano (see *Kumano mandara 熊野曼荼羅), which reflects the aristocratic nature of the cult. There are no pilgrims shown in the paintings, largely due to production: most major works from Kasuga date from the Muromachi period (15c) or earlier, while sankei mandara (pilgrimage paintings) are of a later date. The date of the origin of Kasuga mandara has been the matter of debate. There is mention of a painting which seems to correspond to Kasuga miya mandara 春日宮曼荼羅 in GYOKUYOU 玉葉 (5/16/1186) the diary of Kujou Kanezane 九条兼実 (1149-1207). He also recorded (9/7/1191) that he offered a Kasuga a painting and prayers on behalf of the empress, and he listed the honjibutsu. By the 14c the retired emperor Hanazano 花園 could write in HANAZONOIN SHINKI 花園院宸記 that everyone had a Kasuga miya mandara. Examples extant from the Muromachi period are common, being of good quality and interesting iconography, although by late in the period the Fujiwara clan became poor and the temporal power of Koufukuji had diminished. Popular devotion at Kasuga was not absent but it was not strong enough to change the aristocratic character of the shrine and thus the art associated with it. In the Edo period all of the different types of painting were made, but their quality became more stereotyped. At the same time calligraphies of The Oracles of the Three Shrines sansha takusen 三社託宣 and of the name of Kasuga Daimyoujin 春日大明神 as well as shika mandara and paintings or prints of Akadouji seem to have displaced some types of the older painteings.

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