houkyou　宝篋

KEY WORD :　art history /sculptures

Sk: ratnapeta. Lit. a box for treasures. The treasures referred to are sutras. As a *jimotsu 持物 (hand-held attribute for Buddhist images), the houkyou may be held by the bodhisattva *Monju 文殊, although, instead of the box, he often holds a sutra roll houkyou 宝鏡. *Senju Kannon 千手観音 (Thousand-armed Kannon) may also hold a houkyou as an attribute. According to the *KAKUZENSHOU 覚禅鈔, an iconographic manual written by priest Kakuzen 覚禅 (1143-1213), the houkyou as an attribute of the Thousand-armed Kannon symbolizes the repose of the soul. Similar to the houkyou, the term *bonkyou 梵篋 is used for ancient Indian sutras that were written on long narrow tala leaves and tied together between boards. The bonkyou is also found as an attribute of Kannon and Monju. The term *kyoubako 経箱 is more commonly used when referring to an actual box for sutras and not a hand-held attribute.

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