Zushi

Japanese: 厨子 - ずし

It is a piece of furniture that is placed indoors to store books, stationery, toys, cosmetics and other personal items, and also serves as interior decoration. Its origins can be traced back to China, where it was a container for furniture used in the kitchen. An example of this type of furniture is the shelf cabinet in Shosoin, a surviving example from the Nara period, which has a simple form with a top and two shelves like later bookshelves. Shelves of this shape appear in kitchen scenes in medieval picture scrolls such as "Shigisan Engi," "Kokawadera Engi," "Ishiyamadera Engi," and "Boki Ekotoba," where they are used to hold food and tableware.

As interior decoration and furnishings for organizing and storing personal belongings, these favorite items were passed down through successive emperors from Emperor Tenmu to Emperor Shomu, and a representative example is the Shosoin's Red Lacquer Design Boku no Zushi, which was donated to the Great Buddha by Emperor Kōken. Made of vividly grained zelkova wood boards painted vermilion and then coated with transparent lacquer using today's Shunkei lacquering techniques, the cabinet has double doors with hinged doors and a base made of ivory at the bottom, and there are two shelves inside. According to the Todaiji Temple Donation Book, the details of the contents include books such as the Book of Filial Piety, The Treatise on the Establishment of the Family, and other items used in daily life such as knives, shaku, scepters, shakuhachi, rhinoceros horn cups, and sugoroku games. Other items inherited from the Shosoin include a persimmon altar and a black persimmon double-sided altar, which have basic structures with double doors and a base made of ivory.

That she was used by the general public in the Heian period can also be seen from her appearance in living room scenes in later picture scrolls, "Eshi Soshi" and "Kasuga Gongen Reigenki." In the former case, the upper level is on the third floor, with scrolls, scroll paper, letters and brushes on the top, black lacquered boxes and plain wood boxes on the middle level, and wooden bowls, curved objects and water jars on the bottom level. In the latter case, the upper level is on the second floor, with scrolls, booklets and black boxes on the top level, and two makie hand boxes on the bottom level, with items used in real life arranged in each level, and made of practical plain wood. In contrast, the "Ruijū Zatsuyōshō," which gives us an insight into the actual furnishings used by Heian aristocrats, features a two-story shelf that is beautified with makie decoration. A brocade carpet is laid on the upper level, and a fire-controller and a bowl are placed on top of that, with a spittoon and a striking box placed on the lower level. A two-story altar appeared, which added shelves to the traditional altar, but the lower level was a altar with double doors, and the upper level had two shelves and a brocade carpet laid on it, with kumio threaded around the perimeter and hanging ornaments tied to the agemaki at the four corners. There were two of these in a set, and the stored items also consisted of a pair. A comb box and an incense box were placed on the upper level, and a striking box on the lower level. In this way, not only were items used by Heian aristocrats stored in these altars, but they also came to serve as furnishings to decorate the interior of the main house in the shinden-zukuri style.

[Goka loyal retainer]

Buddhist altar implements

A Buddhist altar implement that holds Buddhist statues, sutras, relics, and Buddhist paintings. It is also written as "mameko" or "butsugan" (Buddhist altar). It has two doors and is decorated with lacquer and foil. It is said that it was originally a piece of furniture used in the kitchen and came to be used as a double-doored container for storing Buddhist implements. Most are made of wood and come in a roofed or cylindrical shape. It is said that the style is based on the altars of Indian cave temples, but the 16th volume of the Chinese "Guang Hong Ming Shu" (Collection of the Compendium ...

Representative examples of ancient Japanese altars include the Tamamushi altar at Horyuji Temple (an Asuka-style altar with a shikorobuki roof; National Treasure) and the Lady Tachibana's Buddha altar (an Hakuho-period altar with a box-shaped roof; National Treasure), both of which feature a 'senji'-shaped 'shumiza' (a stand with a pedestal).Also, there are many different types of altars, including palace-style altars (also called hall-style altars or Japanese-style altars), Kasuga-style altars, Zen-style (Chinese-style) altars, eclectic altars (a mix of Japanese and Zen-style altars), box-shaped altars, quince-shaped altars, portable altars (pocket altars), and shelf altars.

[Akiyoshi Sasaki]

[Reference item] | Tamamushi Shrine

Buddhist altar equipment
This statue contains a horse-headed Kannon. Edo period (around 1620) Height 19.7 x width 8.9 x depth 7.6 cm. Property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art .

Buddhist altar equipment

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

室内に置き、書物、文房具、遊戯具、化粧品などの身の回り品を収納し、また室内装飾をも果たす調度品である。起源をたどると、中国から入ったもので、厨房(ちゅうぼう)（台所）で使用する調度品の容器をいった。この系統のものは、正倉院の棚厨子が奈良時代の遺例で、後世の本棚のように天板と棚を2段渡しただけの簡単な形のもので、このような形状の棚は、『信貴山(しぎさん)縁起』『粉河寺(こかわでら)縁起』『石山寺縁起』『慕帰絵詞(ぼきえことば)』の中世絵巻物の台所の場面に登場して、食物や食器などをのせている。

　室内装飾を兼ねて調度として、身の回りの品々を整理し収納するのに、天武(てんむ)天皇より聖武(しょうむ)天皇に至る代々の天皇が伝えた愛好品で、孝謙(こうけん)天皇が大仏に献じた正倉院の赤漆文欟木厨子(せきしつのぶんかんぼくのずし)が、代表的な作例としてあげられる。木目の鮮やかなケヤキの板に朱を彩しその上に透明な漆を塗った今日の春慶塗の技法を施し、両開き扉に鏁子(さし)をつけ、下部に牙象(げしょう)の基台を据えるが、内部は2段の棚を設けている。この内容品の詳細は、『東大寺献物帳』によると、『孝経(こうきょう)』『楽毅(がくき)論』『杜家立成(とかりっせい)』などの書物をはじめとして、刀子(とうす)、尺、笏(しゃく)、尺八、犀角盃(さいかくはい)、双六(すごろく)などの日常生活で使用する品々を収納している。正倉院には、このほか柿(かき)厨子、黒柿両面厨子が伝来し、両開き扉付き、牙象の基台といった基本的な構造からなる。

　平安時代には、棚厨子が一般庶民間で使用されたことは、それより後世の絵巻物、『絵師草紙』、『春日権現霊験記(かすがごんげんれいげんき)』の居間の場面に登場していることからもわかるが、前者の場合、3階で、上段に巻子(かんす)・巻紙・書状・刷毛(はけ)、中段に黒塗りの箱・白木の箱、下段に木鉢・曲物(まげもの)・水瓶(みずがめ)を置く。後者は2階で上段に巻子・冊子・黒箱、下段に蒔絵(まきえ)の手箱2合が置かれ、それぞれの実生活で使用されるものが配置され、実用的な白木造りからなっている。これに対して、平安貴族の使用した調度の実際を知る『類聚雑要抄(るいじゅうぞうようしょう)』には、棚厨子を蒔絵の加飾により美化した二階棚が載る。上段に錦(にしき)の敷物を敷き、その上に火取り・泔坏(ゆするつき)、下段に唾壺(だこ)・打乱(うちみだり)箱を配置している。それに従来の厨子に棚を加えた二階厨子が出現したが、下層の部分が両開き扉付きの厨子で、上層には棚板2段、錦の敷物を敷き、周りに組緒(くみお)を通して、四隅に総角(あげまき)に結び垂飾する。これは2基1組からなり、収納品も一対である。上段に櫛(くし)箱と香壺(こうご)箱、下段に打乱箱を配置する。このように平安貴族の使用する品物が納められるばかりでなく、寝殿造の母屋(おもや)の室内を装飾する調度の役割をもつようになった。

［郷家忠臣］

仏具

仏像、経巻、舎利、仏画などを納める仏具。豆子とも書き、あるいは仏龕(ぶつがん)ともよばれる。両扉をつけ、漆や箔(はく)などを塗り装飾したもの。厨房(ちゅうぼう)で使用する調度品が転じて仏教用具を納める両扉の容器に用いられるようになったといわれる。多くは木製で、形は屋形や筒形などがある。その形式はインドの石窟(せっくつ)寺院の龕(がん)に基づくものといわれるが、中国の『広弘明集(こうぐみょうしゅう)』第16には「或(あるい)は十尊五聖は共に一厨に処し、或は大士如来(にょらい)は倶(とも)に一櫃(ひつ)に蔵す」とあるから、すでに梁(りょう)代には尊像を厨子や櫃(ひつ)に安置する制があったことが知られる。

　日本の上代の厨子を代表するものとしては、法隆寺の玉虫厨子(たまむしのずし)（屋根を錣葺(しころぶ)きにつくった飛鳥(あすか)様式のもの、国宝）と、橘(たちばな)夫人念持仏厨子（異形式の箱屋形屋根をつけた白鳳(はくほう)時代のもの、国宝）があげられ、ともに宣字形の須弥座(しゅみざ)を備えている。また厨子の形式には宮殿形厨子（殿堂形厨子、和様厨子とも）、春日(かすが)形厨子、禅宗様（唐様）厨子、折衷様厨子（和様と禅宗様の混合したもの）、箱形厨子、木瓜(もっこう)形厨子、携行用厨子（懐中用厨子）、棚厨子などがあり、多種多様である。

［佐々木章格］

[参照項目] | 玉虫厨子

厨子（仏具）
馬頭観音を納めたもの。江戸時代（1620年ころ）　高さ19.7×幅8.9×奥行7.6cmメトロポリタン美術館所蔵">

厨子（仏具）

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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