Suribotoke - Suribotoke

A type of Buddhist print, in which images of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Myo-o, and various deities are carved into a board, then inked with ink or vermilion and printed onto paper or silk. It is also read as "shubutsu" and is sometimes called inbutsu. It was originally done in India, and is apparently made by printing clay figures onto paper or cloth. Suributsu became popular in China during the Tang dynasty, and remains can be found in Dunhuang and the Western Regions. In Japan it has been done since the Heian period, and is usually made using simple woodblock techniques and without coloring. There are also images of a single figure or a group of several figures carved into one, but large, full-scale prints are not called suributsu. They are often submitted together to be placed inside the womb of a Buddha statue, etc., to represent the many people who have made connections with the Buddha or their prayers. It is said that suribudo is made by placing paper over the block and printing, while inbutsu is made by pressing it with a stamp, but there are also some that cannot be classified as either, and as far back as the Heian period there seems to have been no distinction, so inbutsu can also be considered a type of suributsu.

[Akio Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

仏教版画の一種で、仏(ぶつ)、菩薩(ぼさつ)、明王(みょうおう)、諸天などの像を板に彫り、墨や朱をつけ、紙や絹に摺り写したもの。「しゅうぶつ」とも読み、印仏という場合もある。古くインドで行われており、泥像を紙や布に印したものらしい。摺仏は中国でも唐代から流行し、敦煌(とんこう)や西域(せいいき)に遺品がみられる。日本では平安時代から行われ、単純な木版技法により、彩色もないのが普通である。一体だけを描いたり、数体を彫った群像もあるが、あまり大型の本格的な版は摺仏とはいわない。仏像の胎内などに納め、多くの結縁(けちえん)者や祈願を示すため、まとめて納入することが多い。摺仏は版の上に紙を当てて摺り、印仏はスタンプ式に押すものともいうが、どちらともいえないものもあり、古く平安時代などには区別がなかったようなので、印仏も摺仏の一部といえよう。

［佐藤昭夫］

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