Pure Land Art

Art created based on Pure Land Buddhism (Pure Land thought). In the narrow sense, it is limited to works related to the Pure Land of Amida, but in a broad sense, it also includes works that depict the Pure Lands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas other than Amida, making it the most diverse of all Buddhist art.

In Mahayana Buddhism, it is said that various Tathagata Buddhas have their own lands, or Pure Lands, and as a result of the development of faith in the desire to be reborn in these Pure Lands, the most Mahayana doctrine of crossing from this shore to the other shore was established. These include the Pure Land of Mount Sacred Mountain where Shaka resides, the Lapis Lazuli Pure Land of Medicine Buddha, and the Tushita Heaven Pure Land of Maitreya Buddha. In particular, when the Western Paradise of Amida was preached, the belief in the Pure Land of Gongu developed, and sculptures centered on Amida appeared, and Pure Land paintings expressing this Pure Land were created, leading to the popularity of a variety of Pure Land art in China and Japan.

In China, the belief in Pure Land Buddhism began during the Six Dynasties, and the three sutras of Pure Land Buddhism, the Large Sutra, the Small Sutra, and the Contemplation Sutra, were considered important, but in the Tang Dynasty, Zendo (613-681) wrote the Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra, and the belief in Pure Land Buddhism reached its peak. It is said that Zendo himself created 300 scrolls of the Pure Land of Amitabha in his religious activities, and the popularity of Pure Land scrolls became well known. Among the remains, the origins can be traced back to the creation of a statue of Amitabha Buddha (Amitabha) at the beginning of the 6th century at Longmen Grottoes, but there are a great number of Jodo Hen from the Sui to Song dynasties in the murals of the Mogao Grottoes at Dunhuang. The early ones are simple group depictions of Amitabha and the two attendant deities Kannon and Seishi, with various bodhisattvas arranged around them, but the Jodo Hen from the Tang period have a diverse and complex form, with the addition of Jodo towers, treasure ponds, mandalas, and the music and dance of heavenly beings. Some of them can be judged to be Kannon Hen based on the teachings of Zendo, and the prototype of Japanese Jodo Hen can be seen. According to records such as "Records of Famous Paintings of the Rekishi (Collection of Masterpieces of Ancient Paintings)," Chang'an and Luoyang are known to have had many excellent Pure Land paintings, some of which were imported to Japan, marking the beginning of new developments.

In Japan, early examples of Amida statues can be seen in the small gilt bronze Buddhas of the Asuka period, but the Tenjukokushucho embroidery screen at Chuguji Temple is said to have been made for a memorial service for Prince Shotoku, and is considered Japan's oldest Pure Land painting. In the Nara period, works strongly influenced by Tang Dynasty art began to appear. The murals in the Golden Hall of Horyuji Temple, with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas such as Shakyamuni, Yakushi, Maitreya, and Kannon on all four sides, make the interior of the hall as magnificent as the Pure Land, and the Amida Pure Land on the No. 6 wall is particularly beautiful. Jodo-hen, which are believed to be direct copies of Buddhist paintings created in the future, can be found in documents, but the three Jodo mandalas, "Chiko Mandala," "Taima Mandala," and "Seika Mandala," are among the relics. The name "mandala" was given after the late Heian period, and all of them are Jodo-hen that depict the scenery of the Pure Land with the Amida Triad at the center. The "Tsuzureori Taima Mandala" at Taima Temple has the six links of the Kannon Sutra in the introductory interpretation, the thirteen contemplations in the fixed good interpretation, and the nine stages of rebirth in the Pure Land in the scattered good interpretation on the left and right sides and at the bottom edge of the Jodo-hen, so it is known as a copy of a Tang-dynasty work based on Zendo's Kannon Sutra commentary, and has been copied in large numbers to later generations as a representative piece of Pure Land art.

In the Heian period, the Tendai and Shingon sects emerged and exerted a strong influence on Pure Land Buddhism. Ennin built the square three-ken Jōgyo-sammaido Hall on Mount Hiei, a hall for practicing Jōgyo-sammaido, or the practice of walking around Amida Buddha, and the walls around it were painted with a picture of the nine stages of rebirth. This hall became the prototype for the construction of Amida Halls of almost the same style, such as the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in Temple in 1053 (Tenki 1) and the Golden Hall of Chuson-ji Temple, which look like towers in the Pure Land of this world. On the other hand, from Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, a statue of Amida in the Join mudra, with the fingers of both hands clasped together on the knees, appeared, and there was mutual interaction with the Tendai-based Pure Land Buddhism. The "Ojoyoshu" (The Book of Revelation), written by the Tendai monk Genshin in 985 (Kanwa 1), teaches how to contemplate Amida and pray for his coming to welcome one at the time of death, based on the principle of seeking the Pure Land and hating the impure world, and Pure Land faith spread rapidly from 1052 (Eisho 7), the first year of the Latter Day of the Law. As a result, Amida in the Join Mu (a Buddhist in the Join Seal) for contemplation, such as the statue at Byodo-in Temple, and Amida in the Raigo Mu (a Buddhist in the Raigo Seal) such as the "Amida and the Holy Throne Raigo-zu" (Amida and the Holy Throne Raigo-zu) at Mount Koya, became popular, and many beautiful works were created.

In the Kamakura period, as faith in Amida grew, various forms were seen that depicted the speed, realism, and reality of the coming of Amida, such as the "Amida Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas Raigo-zu" (Early Coming of Age) at Chion-in Temple and the "Yamagoshi Amida" at Zenrin-ji Temple. Paradoxically, in relation to the desire for the Pure Land, Rikudo-e (pictures of the Six Realms) such as "Hell Books" and "Gaki Books" also appeared. These were due to the fact that the Pure Land thought itself became diverse as the new Buddhism of Honen and Shinran was added to the Pure Land Buddhism of the Nara and Heian periods, and Pure Land art also matured and began to show Japanese characteristics.

[Tomoyuki Kawamura]

"The Art of Raigyo" by Sumio Ogushi (1983, Hozokan) "Yearning for Paradise" by Takashi Hamada (1975, Bijutsu Shuppansha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

浄土教（浄土思想）に基づいて造形された美術。狭義には阿弥陀(あみだ)浄土の関連作品に限られるが、広義では阿弥陀以外の諸仏・菩薩(ぼさつ)の浄土を表現したものも含まれ、数ある仏教美術のなかでももっとも多彩な分野である。

　大乗仏教では、さまざまな如来(にょらい)仏がそれぞれの仏国土、すなわち浄土をもつと説かれ、その浄土への往生を願う信仰が展開した結果、此岸(しがん)から彼岸(ひがん)へ渡るという、もっとも大乗的な教義が成立した。釈迦(しゃか)の座(いま)す霊山(りょうぜん)浄土、薬師(やくし)の瑠璃光(るりこう)浄土、弥勒(みろく)の兜率天(とそつてん)浄土などがあるが、とりわけ阿弥陀の西方極楽浄土が説かれると、欣求(ごんぐ)浄土の信仰を発達させ、阿弥陀中心の造形作品が現れ、その浄土を表現する浄土変が制作されて中国・日本において多様な浄土教美術が盛行した。

　中国では六朝(りくちょう)時代から浄土信仰が台頭し、阿弥陀浄土を説く『無量寿経(むりょうじゅきょう)』（大経）、『阿弥陀経』（小経）、『観無量寿経』（観経）の浄土三部経が重要視されていたが、唐代に至り、善導(ぜんどう)（613―681）によって『観無量寿経疏(しょ)』が著され、阿弥陀信仰が大成した。その教化活動には善導自身、300幅に及ぶ阿弥陀浄土変をつくったと伝え、浄土変の流行が知られる。遺品をあげると、6世紀初めの竜門石窟(りゅうもんせっくつ)に無量寿仏（阿弥陀）の造立がみられ、その源流をたどることができるが、敦煌莫高窟(とんこうばっこうくつ)の壁画には隋(ずい)から宋(そう)に至るおびただしい数の浄土変が現存する。初期のものは、阿弥陀と観音(かんのん)・勢至の二脇侍(きょうじ)を中心に諸菩薩を配した単純な群像表現だが、唐代の浄土変は、浄土の楼閣や宝池、曼荼羅華(まんだらげ)、天人の楽舞などが加わり、多彩で複雑な形式をもち、なかには善導の教説による観経変と判断できるものもあって、日本の浄土変の原型がみいだせる。『歴代名画記』などの記録によると、長安や洛陽(らくよう)にはとりわけ優秀な浄土変の多かったことも知られ、その一部がわが国に将来され、新たな展開が始まった。

　日本においては飛鳥(あすか)時代の小金銅仏に阿弥陀の初期造像例がみられるが、中宮寺の『天寿国繍帳(てんじゅこくしゅうちょう)』は聖徳太子の菩提(ぼだい)供養のためという伝えがあり、わが国最古の浄土変と考えられる。奈良時代に入ると、唐代美術に強く影響された作品が出現する。法隆寺金堂壁画は、四方に釈迦、薬師、弥勒、観音などの仏菩薩を配することで金堂の内部を浄土のように荘厳(しょうごん)するが、とりわけ6号壁の阿弥陀浄土は秀麗である。将来された仏画をそのまま模したと思われる浄土変は文献で確認できるが、遺品としては『智光(ちこう)曼荼羅』『當麻(たいま)曼荼羅』『清海(せいかい)曼荼羅』の浄土三曼荼羅がある。曼荼羅の称は平安後期以後の命名で、いずれも阿弥陀三尊を中心に極楽浄土の情景を描写した浄土変である。當麻寺の『綴織(つづれおり)當麻曼荼羅図』は浄土変の左右と下縁に序分義の観経六縁、定善(しょうぜん)義の十三想観、散善義の九品(くほん)往生図を配すので、善導の観経疏による唐代作品の写しと知られ、代表的な浄土教美術として後世に至るまで多数の模本がつくられた。

　平安時代に入ると天台、真言の両宗がおこり、浄土教にも強い影響を与える。比叡山(ひえいざん)に方三間の常行三昧堂(じょうぎょうさんまいどう)が円仁(えんにん)によって建立されたが、これは阿弥陀をめぐって行道(ぎょうどう)する常行三昧を行う堂で、その四周の壁には九品往生図が描かれた。この堂が祖型になって、1053年（天喜1）の平等院鳳凰堂(ほうおうどう)や中尊寺金色堂など、ほぼ同形式の阿弥陀堂建築がこの世の浄土の楼閣のように建立された。他方、真言密教からは、膝上に両手の大頭指を結んだ定印(じょういん)の阿弥陀が出現し、天台系の浄土教にも相互に交渉があった。985年（寛和1）に天台僧源信(げんしん)が撰(せん)した『往生要集』は欣求浄土厭離穢土(おんりえど)によって、阿弥陀を観想する法と臨終における来迎を祈念する法を説き、末法第一年とされた1052年（永承7）を境に浄土信仰は急速に浸透した。その結果、平等院像のような観想のための定印阿弥陀と、高野山(こうやさん)の『阿弥陀聖衆来迎図(しょうじゅうらいごうず)』などの来迎印阿弥陀が流行し、善美を尽くした作品が多くつくられている。

　鎌倉時代になると、阿弥陀信仰の高揚から知恩院の『阿弥陀二十五菩薩来迎図』（早来迎(はやらいごう)）や禅林寺の『山越(やまごし)阿弥陀』などのように、来迎の速度や臨場感、現実感を伴ったさまざまな形式がみられる。また、浄土への希求とは逆説的に『地獄草紙』『餓鬼草紙』などの六道絵(りくどうえ)も出現した。これらは奈良・平安の浄土教に加えて法然(ほうねん)、親鸞(しんらん)の新仏教が加わり、浄土思想自体が多様性をもったためで、浄土教美術も熟成され、日本的特徴を示すに至った。

［川村知行］

『大串純夫著『来迎芸術論』（1983・法蔵館）』▽『浜田隆著『極楽への憧憬』（1975・美術出版社）』

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