Up close with images of faith

W ith its current exhibition of National Treasures from Yakushi-ji Temple, the Tokyo National Museum is offering a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see masterpieces of ancient Buddhist and Shinto art. For the first time ever, they are being displayed in a museum so that they can be studied much more closely than they can in their usual temple setting.

Seventh-century bronze bodhisattvas of the moon and the sun that usually flank the main Buddha at Yakushi-ji Temple in Nara © ASUKAEN

Great care has been taken with lighting and installation, and in the case of the two stars of the show, the seventh-century bronze bodhisattvas of the sun and the moon that usually flank the main Buddha image in Yakushi-ji, ramps have been constructed so that the statues can be seen from different angles. (You will have to go to the temple in Nara to see the central Buddha of the triad in situ, although it is well-illustrated in the catalog accompanying the exhibition.)

All three figures are normally backed by gold mandorla — giant free-standing lotus-petals — in the temple, but the two bodhisattvas brought to Tokyo have been separated from these for the purpose of display, so that the graceful lines and details of the backs of the figures can be seen by the public, also for the first time.

The three images were once gilded with gold leaf that burned off during a disastrous fire in 1528, leaving the rich, dark surface of the cast bronze that we see today. It is sobering to consider not only their great age but the highly-advanced technical skill involved in their making. During the late seventh-century Hakuho Era (672-686) exchanges with China rapidly grew, leading Japanese society to adopt and adapt elements of the mainland culture. The most revolutionary was the spread of Buddhist philosophy and the written Chinese characters with which it was recorded, but along with these came more practical crafts, such as methods for working with metals, lacquer, fabric and ceramics. Such skills were quickly mastered and modified to suit Japanese tastes and needs.

Yakushi-ji is one of the great temples of Nara, dating originally from 680 when it was commissioned by the Emperor Tenmu (?-686) following his empress' recovery from a sickness. Appropriately, the central image of the triad in the Kondo (the main, "Golden" hall), is that of the Yakushi Nyorai — the "Buddha of Healing." The temple was rebuilt shortly afterward in the new capital, Heijokyo (present-day Nara), where in modified form it remains today. The usual historic litany of fires and other disasters have taken their toll and all that remains of the original buildings is the Eastern Pagoda. The other old building, the Toindo (East Hall), was rebuilt in 1285 and extensively renovated in 1733, but the rest of the buildings in the temple compound have been rebuilt during the past few decades.

Usually, images of Yakushi Nyorai show the deity holding flasks of medicine, but the Yakushi-ji example is seated in the lotus posture on a symbolic medicine chest covered in a draped cloth similar to those seen in Korean Buddhist sculpture of the same period. Decorative designs on the chest — arabesques and mythological animals — influenced by those found along the Silk Road and as far away as Greece reveal how ideas as well as goods flowed through the great distances of that trade route.

Masterpieces of bronze casting, the flanking bodhisattvas of the sun and the moon in this exhibition both stand over 3 meters high on lotus pedestals, wearing (unlike the simple monk's robe of the Buddha) princely costumes with elaborate jewelry and hair ornaments similar to those of India. Their hands gesture compassionate mudra of symbolic meaning appropriate to their enlightened vocation — that of postponing their own entry into the Buddhist paradise of nirvana in order to stay on earth to help other souls along their spiritual path.

The syncretism of imported Buddhism with the native, animist Shinto belief can also be seen at Yakushi-ji. During the late ninth century, the Yasumigaoka Hachiman Shrine was built in the temple compound to house a Shinto deity meant to protect Buddhist law. One can't help thinking that those who bore us so frequently today with their claims of holding a monopoly over religious truth would find much to learn from premedieval Japan's willingness to embrace all possibilities.

It is said that young monks frequently fell in love with Kichijoten, a Buddhist goddess of beauty, fortune and fertility.

Shinto treasures from the shrine within Yakushi-ji include a superb pair of koma-inu guardian beasts, carved from wood and showing traces of applied colors. Sporting splendid bushy tails, one has its mouth open expressing "om," the first vowel of the Sanskrit alphabet, the other with its mouth closed to indicate the last vowel, "um." They originally protected a triad of 10th-century Shinto figures: the central, male deity of Sogyo Hachiman, flanked by two attendant female deities with long hair and Imperial court robes, all carved of wood that's covered with well-preserved painted colors.

Six of the 13th-century paintings of male and female deities that once decorated the shrine have also been chosen for the Tokyo exhibition.

The other great National treasure exhibited is a small jewel of a painting of Kichijoten on hemp fabric, done during the eighth century. Originally a Hindu goddess of beauty, fortune and fertility before she became a member of the Buddhist pantheon, Kichijoten became popular in Japan during the Tempyo Era (710-794) and later joined the group known in folklore as the "seven lucky gods."

Although otherworldly by nature, the deity is usually portrayed as full-fleshed, young and of such beauty that it is said that monks, probably given the limited choices of their chaste world, were known to fall in love with her. In the painting from Yakushi-ji, her face is shown with delicate features, and she is dressed with a flowered hair ornament and the flowing, diaphanous costume of a Chinese princess of the Tang dynasty court (618-907). Her left hand offers a sacred jewel with auspicious power.

Again, we are struck not only by the great age of this painting but also how, considering the fate of almost all Yakushi-ji buildings, it has survived in such a fine condition to the present day. The artist is unknown, and even though it is almost impossible to imagine the mind of someone who lived over 1,200 years ago, when we look at this painting we feel that there are emotions and sensitivities that we would certainly be able to share.