Lotus Sutra Art

Japanese: 法華経美術 - ほけきょうびじゅつ

This is a field of Buddhist art that was created based on the Lotus Sutra and sometimes on the two sutras, the Sutra of Infinite Meaning and the Sutra of Contemplation of Universal Mannerism. There are many examples, large and small, ranging from the large-scale Lotus Sutra Hensozu, which depicts the meaning of the Lotus Sutra in 28 chapters, to the Lotus Sutra's inside-face paintings and designs for crafts. There are many examples in China, but in Japan there is the ancient Lotus Sutra Setsozu (Hokke Setsozu) (Hasedera Temple), and especially during the Heian period, when Lotus Sutra worship became popular, the walls of temples and pagodas were painted with the Lotus Sutra Hensozu, and aristocrats copied the Lotus Sutra with the inside-face paintings in imitation. Beautiful decorative sutras such as the Heike Nokyo (Heike nokyo) (Itsukushima Shrine) still exist, as well as the Buddhist Merit Makie Sutra Box (Fujita Museum of Art), which features designs from the Lotus Sutra. Furthermore, excellent examples of the "Portrait of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra" (Tokyo National Museum and others) and the "Portrait of the Ten Female Rakshasas of Samantabhadra", based on the "Contemplation of Samantabhadra Sutra", have been preserved, making the Heian period the heyday of Lotus Sutra art. In the Kamakura period, large-scale works of the "Transformations of the Lotus Sutra" were produced, and the Lotus Sutra occupies an important position in Buddhist art of the Heian and Kamakura periods.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

『法華経』，ときには『無量義経』『観普賢経』の開結二経を加えた経典に基づいて制作された，仏教美術の一分野。『法華経』 28品にわたってその経意を描いた大規模な法華経変相図をはじめ，法華経見返絵や工芸品の意匠にいたる大小種々の作例がある。中国には多くの作例をみるが，日本でも古くは『法華説相図』 (長谷寺) があり，ことに平安時代を中心に法華経信仰が盛んとなり，堂塔の壁画には法華経変相図が描かれ，貴族たちはきそって見返絵を伴う『法華経』を書写した。『平家納経』 (厳島神社) などの美しい装飾経が現存し，また『法華経』からの意匠をあしらった『仏功徳蒔絵経箱』 (藤田美術館) がある。さらに『観普賢経』に拠った『普賢菩薩像』 (東京国立博物館ほか) や『普賢十羅刹女図』に優品が伝存し，平安時代は法華経美術にとって最盛期といえる。鎌倉時代に入っても引続き法華経変相図の大作が制作されるなど，平安，鎌倉時代の仏教美術のなかで大きな位置を占めている。

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: by-election

>>: Hokekyoji Temple