Coming of Age -

Japanese: 成朝 - せいちょう

Years of birth: unknown. A Buddhist sculptor from the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period. He is said to be the grandson of Kosuke and the son of Yasutomo. He was of the correct lineage of Nara Buddhist sculptors, but after his death, his lineage was cut off and passed on to the collateral line of Kokei and Unkei, father and son. After the burning of Nara by the Taira clan in 1180, he began the reconstruction of Kofuku-ji Temple in June of the following year, and fought with Myoen (En school) and Inson (In school), the leaders of Kyoto Buddhist sculptors, over who would be responsible for the construction of Buddha statues in the main buildings, but perhaps because of his young age, he was limited to making Buddha statues in the dining hall. Later, in 1185, he was invited by the Kamakura shogunate to go down to Kanto, where he worked on the creation of the Amida Nyorai statue, the principal image of Shochoju-in Temple, which was commissioned by Minamoto no Yoritomo, and the Joroku Amida Nyorai statue at Nikaido Eifuku-ji Temple. Seicho's visit to Kamakura is considered important in considering the relationship between the Kei school, especially Unkei, and the Kamakura samurai that followed. In September 1194, he was conferred the title of Hokkyo for creating the Maitreya Pure Land Buddha in the Kofukuji Central Golden Hall. The wooden Buddha head that is believed to be the principal image in the Kofukuji Western Golden Hall, completed around the year 512, is highly likely to have been made by Seicho. <References> Mizuno Keizaburo, "On the Wooden Buddha Heads of Kofukuji" (MUSEUM, No. 108)

(Kazuharu Asai)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
平安末・鎌倉初期の仏師。康助の孫で康朝の子と伝えられる。奈良仏師の正系をひくが,没後その血筋は途絶え,傍系の康慶,運慶父子に受け継がれる。治承4(1180)年の平氏による南都焼討ち後,翌年6月から興福寺の復興造営に当たり,京都の仏師を率いる明円(円派)や院尊(院派)と主要堂宇の造仏担当をめぐって争うが,若年のためか,食堂の造仏のみにとどまる。その後,文治1(1185)年に鎌倉幕府の招きで関東に下り,源頼朝発願の勝長寿院本尊阿弥陀如来像や二階堂永福寺丈六阿弥陀如来像の制作に当たった。この成朝の鎌倉下向は,その後の慶派,特に運慶と鎌倉武士との関係を考える上で重要とみなされる。建久5(1194)年9月には,興福寺中金堂弥勒浄土の造仏により法橋に叙せられた。なお,文治5年ごろ完成の興福寺西金堂本尊に比定される木造仏頭は成朝の作の可能性が高い。<参考文献>水野敬三郎「興福寺木造仏頭について」(『MUSEUM』108号)

(浅井和春)

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