@
raigou-in@—ˆŒ}ˆσ
KEY WORD :@art history / sculptures
@
Lit. welcoming mudra. A mudra or hand gesture *in ˆσ in which the forefinger, middle finger or occasionally third finger is joined to the thumb; it is formed with both hands, with the right hand raised and the left hand pendent. Its name derives from the fact that it was believed to be the mudra displayed by *Amida ˆ’–ν‘Ι when he came to welcome the dead into his Pure Land joudo ς“y called Utmost Bliss (Jp: gokuraku ‹ΙŠy; Sk:sukhavati). Hence this name is not applied to similar mudras used with deities other than Amida. With the growing popularity of the Pure Land faith in Japan during the late-Heian and Kamakura periods, great numbers of images of Amida displaying this raigou-in were produced, and many of them are still extant. In particular, the standing images of Amida with this mudra by Kaikei ‰υŒc (late 12c-early 13c) later came to be looked upon as a standard model for standing images. The systematization of the various forms of the raigou-in during the Edo period resulted in the following three types from among the "mudras of the nine grades of Amida" *Amida kubon-in ˆ’–ν‘Ι‹γ•iˆσ: "mudra of the upper grade: lower birth" joubon geshou-in γ•i‰ΊΆˆσ (thumb and forefinger joined); "mudra of the middle grade: lower birth" chuubon geshou-in ’†•i‰ΊΆˆσ (thumb and middle finger joined); and "mudra of the lower grade, lower birth"gebon geshou-in ‰Ί•i‰ΊΆˆσ ( thumb and third finger joined). It is, however, anachronous to apply these terms to images antedating the Edo period. In addition to the raigou-in with the right hand raised and the left hand pendent, there are also examples of the reverse form (e.g., central image of the Amida triad at Joudoji ς“yŽ› in Hyougo prefecture), and this is known as "the reverse raigou"gyakuraigou ‹t—ˆŒ} or sakate raigou ‹tŽθ—ˆŒ}. This form developed under the influence of Chinese images of Amida dating from the Song dynasty, and examples are found in Japan from the Kamakura period onwards. In images of Amida in China and along the Silk Road, on the other hand, it is this "reverse" form that predominates, and from that point of view it is rather the Japanese raigou-in that ought to be termed "reverse". But these terms have already won wide currency in Japan.
@
@

@
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
@