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d Buddhas embossed on its halo.
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(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.@No reproduction or republication without written permission.
fΪΜeLXgEΚ^ECXgΘΗASΔΜRecΜ³f‘»E]ΪπΦΆά·B
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| Rushanabutsu@αΈΙί§ | ||||||
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| CATEGORY:@art history / iconography | ||||||
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| Also read Roshanabutsu. The "Rushana
Buddha." Rushana is an abbreviation of Birushana ©αΈΥί in turn
a transliteration of the Sk. Vairocana, which in the context of Esoteric Buddhism mikkyou §³ usually corresponds to *Dainichi εϊ. The appellation Rushana is normally applied to Vairocana in his role as expositor
of the KEGONKYOU Ψ΅o (Sk: Avatamsaka-sutra; Flower Ornament Scripture)
and related texts, where he is decribed as pervading the entire universe. According
to the BONMOUKYOU Τo (Ch: Fanwangjing; Brahma Net Scripture), for example,
Variocana is said to reside in the "Lotus Matrix World" rengezou
sekai @Ψ ’E, which is surrounded by one thousand petals, each constituting a
separate world with its own emanation of Vairocana in the form of *Shaka ίή; each of these one thousand worlds further contains ten billion worlds, each
again with its own Shaka (that time emanations of the above Shaka)
expounding the BONMOUKYOU. The political implications of this hierarchical
structure were not lost on the rulers of either China or Japan: The Huayan (Jp: Kegon Ψ΅) sect in China, based on the KEGONKYOU, enjoyed the patronage
of especially Empress Wu (Zetian Wuhou, Jp; Sokuten Bukou ₯V@; r. 690-705),
while in Japan Emperor Shoumu Ή (701-56) attempted to reunite a nation that had
become increasingly restless through the construction of a huge image of Rushanabutsu as a symbol of national unity, and he himself subsequently took the religious
name of Rushana. The imperial edict for casting the image was issued in
743, actual casting began in 747 and was completed in 749, and the dedication
ceremony was performed in 752, with donations to pay for the project having been
solicited throughout the land. The finished seated bronze statue, generally known
as Rushana daibutsu αΈΙίε§ or Nara no Daibutsu ήΗΜε§ (Great Buddha
of Nara) and enshrined in the Great Buddha Hall, Daibutsuden ε§a of Toudaiji
ε in Nara, is 14.85m in height, with the left hand placed outstretched on the
left knee and the right hand lightly raised in the gesture of preaching, and the
lotus petals of the base are engraved with figures of Shaka preaching as
described in the sutra. Unfortunately this statue has been twice damaged by fire,
and the greater part of it as it stands today has been restored. This is the most
renowned image of Rushanabutsu; another is the dry-laquer image in the
Golden Hall *Kondou ΰ° at Toushoudaiji ΅η, also in Nara, and dating from the
late Nara period (late 8c), which has a further one d Buddhas embossed on its halo. |
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(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.@No reproduction or republication without written permission. fΪΜeLXgEΚ^ECXgΘΗASΔΜRecΜ³f‘»E]ΪπΦΆά·B |
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