Mokujiki Shonin

We just learned about the Wooden Budda by Enkū.

Another famous Japanese sculpture is the Mokujiki Shonin.

Just like Enkū that we learned about, Mokujiki Shonin was a monk who traveled around and talked to people.
Once when he was visiting a village, he saw a sculpture of Buddha made by Enkū, and decided to become a sculptor just like him.

His sculptures always seemed very free and rough, close to nature and happy.


(from: wikipedia - mokujiki shonin)


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Wooden Buddha - Enkū

We just learned about the Noh Masks.

Another famous ancient Japanese sculpture is the Wooden Buddha by Enkū.

In the 1600s in Japan there was a monk named Enkū who was also a poet and an artist who carved over 100,000 wooden sculptures of Buddha.

Sometimes he made these sculptures as payment for food and a place to sleep as he traveled around Japan.


(from: wikipedia - enkū)


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Noh Masks

We just learned about the The Great Buddha of Kamakura.

Another old Japanese sculpture was the Noh Mask.

For a while some of the people who followed Buddha did not really like sculptures of Buddha, so there were not a lot of sculptures made.

During this time there was a type of musical theater called Noh, where people wore masks and fancy outfits.

There are many Noh masks carved with different types of faces for happy, sad or angry.


(from: wikipedia - noh)


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The Great Buddha of Kamakura

We just learned about the sculpture Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara by Tankei.

Another Japanese sculpture is The Great Buddha of Kamakura, made some time around 1252 AD.

No one is really sure who made the statue, but they think it might have been either Ōno Gorōemon or Tanji Hisatomo who were both famous artists at the time.

The statue is made out of bronze, and was made as a replacement for a wooden statue just like it.
It is over 40 feet tall, and weighs over 100 tons.
It's hollow, and people can actually go inside and look around.


(from: wikipedia - kōtoku-in)


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Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara - Tankei

We just learned about the Seated Yuima by Jōkei.

Another famous Japanese sculpture is the Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara made by famous sculptor Tankei, some time around 1200 AD in the temple known as Sanjusangen-dō in Kyoto, Japan.

Tankei was also in the Kei school, just like Jōchō, Kōkei, Unkei, Kaikei and Jōkei.

Unkei was Tankei's father.

The sculpture is of one of the types of Buddha statues called the Avalokiteśvara who has a thousand arms to try and reach out and help everyone.


(from: wikipedia - tankei)


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Seated Yuima - Jōkei

We just learned about the Amitabha Triad of Jōdo-ji - Kaikei.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Seated Yuima - Jōkei.

Yuima was another name used for Buddha long ago.

Jōkei was also from the Kei school, like Jōchō, Kōkei, Unkei and Kaikei.
He worked alongside Unkei, and some people believe that he may have also been Kōkei's son, just like Unkei was.

Jōkei carved this statue over 56 days out of colored wood, using a type of wood-block sculpture called yosegi.
You can see the chair that the Yuima is sitting in is made out of many small colored blocks.
The sculptures eyes are made out of sculpted crystal.



(from: wikipedia - jōkei (sculptor))


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Amitabha Triad of Jōdo-ji - Kaikei

We just learned about the Japanese sculpture of Six Patriarchs of Hossō - Kōkei.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Amitabha Triad of Jōdo-ji by Kaikei

Kaikei was also part of the Kei school with the famous artist Unkei we already learned about.
Just like the other Kei school artists, he tried very hard to make his sculptures look very real, with lots of fine details.

This sculpture of his is of Buddha with a lot of gold to make it look very bright and shiny.


(from: wikipedia - jōdo-ji (ono))


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Six Patriarchs of Hossō - Kōkei

We just learned about the Japanese sculpture of Byodoin Amitaabha by Jōchō.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Six Patriarchs of Hossō made by Kōkei in 1189.

Hossō is a type of school for people to learn about Buddha, and the six patriarchs were important people who helped teach people.

Kōkei was a descendant of Jōchō, like his grandson or great grandson.
We also learned before about Unkei, and Kokei is Unkei's father.

Kōkei helped lead the school for the type of art called Kei, and he tried to make his sculptures look very real.


(from: wikipedia - kōkei (sculptor))


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Byodoin Amitaabha - Jōchō

We just learned about the Tōdai-ji Nio Guardian Agyō by famous Japanese artist Unkei.

Another famous Japanese sculpture is the Byodoin Amitaabha by Jōchō, made around 1052 AD in Uji Japan.
This was a statue of Buddha made for one of the rulers in Japan.
It is oldest known statue made by Jōchō.

Jōchō became very famous and earned titles like Hokkyō (Master of the Dharma Bridge), and Hōgen (Master of the Dharma Eye).
Some people said he was the first of a new kind of master sculptor.
Others said that he was one of the most innovative artists Japan has ever produced.
He also was very good at a type of artwork called yosegi, which used a lot of pieces of wood to make a single sculpture.

We learned before about the famous artist Unkei, and he is actually the descendant of Jōchō, many years later.

(from: wikipedia - Jōchō)


(from: wikipedia - yosegi)


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Tōdai-ji Nio Guardian Agyō - Unkei

We just learned about the Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Tōdai-ji Nio Guardian Agyō made by Unkei in 1203.

Unkei was one of the most famous sculptors of his time, and part of a style called the Kei school.
This was a style with famous artists who worked very hard to make their sculptures look as real as possible.

The Agyō sculpture is one of the Nio guardians we learned about, at the Tōdai-ji temple in Nara, Japan.
It is made out of wood, and many people think it was one of the best wooden sculptures in Japan from that time.


(from: wikipedia - tōdai-ji)


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Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple

We just learned about the Kongōrikishi.

Another famous ancient Japanese sculpture is the sculpture of Asura at Kōfuku-ji temple, made around 700 AD in Nara Japan.

Buddhists believe that the Asura is a powerful creature that helps protect the temples.

This sculpture was made using a type of art called kanshitsu, which means dry lacquer.
For this type of art, sculptors first make a model out of clay.
Then they take some cloth that they soak in a special type of oil and sawdust.
After that they wrap the statue in these cloths until it dries.
Last they break the clay out from underneath so it is a hollow statue.


(from: wikipedia - Kōfuku-ji)


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Kongōrikishi

We just learned about the Tamamushi Shrine.

Another type of Japanese sculptures is the Kongōrikishi (金剛力士), also called Niō (仁王).

These are two big mean looking sculptures with big muscles and weapons that were made as guardians for Buddhist temples.

One guard is making the "ah" sound and the other is making an "uhm" sound.
The ah is supposed to be like the first sound you make when you are born, and the uhm is the last sound you make before you die.
So the statues represent all life from birth to death.



(from: wikipedia - nio)


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Tamamushi Shrine

We just learned about the Shaka Triad of Hōryūji by Tori Busshi.

Another ancient Japanese sculpture is the Tamamushi Shrine, made around 600 AD.

This is a 7 foot tall wooden sculpture of a buddhist temple, with statues all over the outside, as well as paintings telling ancient stories.

Inside the temple doors are tiny wooden carvings of buddha.

The outside of the temple used to be very colorful, because the artist used shiny colorful wings from tamamushi beetles to decorate it.




(from: wikipedia - tamamushi shrine)


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Shaka Triad of Hōryūji - Tori Busshi

We just learned about the Haniwa.

Another ancient Japanese masterpiece is the sculpture of Shaka Triad of Hōryūji made in 623 AD by artist Tori Busshi.

Busshi was a famous artist in Japan who started out as a saddle maker.
Working with saddles helped hi learn how to work with wood carving and metal casting, and he learned to be a sculptor.

The Shaka was a sculpture that Busshi made after the death of some rich and powerful people.
Some people believed that this sculpture could help these people in the afterlife where they went after they died.


(from: wikipedia - tori busshi)


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Haniwa

We just learned about the Shakōki-dogū.

Another type of ancient Japanese sculpture is the Haniwa.

These are small figures made out of clay, that were made for special times like funerals.

Some people believed that the soul of the person who had died would go into the haniwa if they put the sculpture on top of the place where they were buried.

Sometimes the sculptures were warriors with swords or other weapons, and sometimes they were bowls, or animals like horses, chickens or fish.
These were all meant to become part of the afterlife of the person who died.


(from: wikipedia - haniwa)


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Shakōki-dogū

We just learned about the Eight Nested Relic Boxes.

Let's learn about some ancient Japanese sculpture.

One type of sculpture is the Shakōki-dogū
The word dogū means "earthen figure" and "Shakōki" means "goggle-eyed", for the large eyes of the sculpture.

The dogū are small clay sculpture like a person or animal, made thousands of years ago.
Other different types of dogū were made, like heart shapes, horned owls or women.

There were many of these sculptures, and people have found about 15,000 of them in Japan.
Some people think they were made as magical objects that people thought could cure diseases or bad luck.



(from: wikipedia - dogū)


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