Parquet construction - Yosegizukuri

A wooden Buddha statue or structure that uses multiple materials for the main parts. Even in a single piece of wood, additional parts such as the arms and knees of a seated figure are usually made of separate materials, but in a yosegi-zukuri style, the main trunk parts such as the head and torso are constructed by joining two materials to the front and back or left and right, or four materials in a square shape to the front, back, left and right, using a planned and regular method (kiyose method). The seated Amida Nyorai statue (1053) in the Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in Temple, created by the Buddhist sculptor Jocho, who is said to have perfected the kiyose method, has four materials joined to the front, back, left and right at almost the center of the head and body, and only the two materials on the back are split and glued at the nape of the neck, and the knees are made of two materials from the front and back, making it a typical yosegi-zukuri style. The pioneering techniques of inseam construction can already be seen in the Maitreya Bodhisattva statue at Chuguji Temple from the early Nara period (Hakuho period), but it did not come into widespread use until the beginning of the 11th century, after the heyday of single-piece wood construction. In the 12th century, construction became simpler, with smaller pieces of wood being combined, and in the Kamakura period, while up until that point the head and body had been separated by warihagi (split and glued together), a method was adopted in which the head was made of a separate piece of wood and inserted into the body (sashikubi).

Yosegi-zukuri was originally effective for large statues, but in the Muromachi and Edo periods, it was also used for small statues, perhaps to save on materials. Yosegi-zukuri is made by inking the outline of the statue on a temporary assembly of materials, then taking them apart and carving them, then reassembling them to finish them, which makes it possible to use a human-wave approach, with several sculptors in charge of each material, and it is possible to effectively fulfill large orders for statues. Another advantage is that the material can be made very thin, which reduces weight and prevents cracks.

The basis of marquetry is said to have developed from the techniques for making wooden cores used in dry lacquer statues of the Nara period, or it is said to have been derived from Chinese statue-making techniques, but Japanese marquetry techniques have reached a level of development that even China does not match.

[Akio Sato]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

木彫仏の主要部分に複数の材を用いた像、またはその構造。一木(いちぼく)造でも、腕や坐像(ざぞう)の膝(ひざ)などの付加的部分は別材を継ぐのが普通だが、寄木造は頭や胴などの主要な躯幹(くかん)部を計画的な規則正しい用法（木寄(きよせ)法）によって、前後または左右に二材、あるいは前後左右の田の字形に四材を継ぎ合わせて構成したものである。木寄法の完成者と伝えられる仏師(ぶっし)定朝(じょうちょう)作の平等院鳳凰(ほうおう)堂の阿弥陀如来(あみだにょらい)坐像（1053）では、前後左右の四材を頭体のほぼ中央で継ぎ、背面二材のみを首筋で割り矧(は)いでおり、膝は前後二材からなるという典型的な寄木造となっている。寄木造の先駆的技法は、すでに奈良時代前期（白鳳(はくほう)時代）の中宮寺弥勒菩薩(みろくぼさつ)像にみられるが、これが多用されるようになるのは一木造全盛期を経た11世紀初めごろからで、12世紀には簡便化が進んで細かい材を組み合わせるようになり、鎌倉時代には、それまで割矧(わりはぎ)によって頭部と胴部を離していたのを、頭部だけ別材にして胴部に差し込む方法（差首(さしくび)）がとられるようになった。

　寄木造はもともと大像の場合に効果があるが、室町・江戸時代になると材の節約のためか小像にまで用いられた。寄木造は、仮組みした材に像の輪郭などを墨入れしたうえで、いったんばらばらに解いて彫刻し、組み上げて仕上げるという方法をとるため、各材を何人かの仏師が担当する人海作戦も可能で、おびただしい造像の注文にも効果的に応ずることができ、さらに、材の肉をごく薄く仕上げることで重量の軽減や干割(ひわ)れを防止できるという特長がある。

　寄木造の基礎は、奈良時代の乾漆像に用いられた木心(もくしん)制作の技法が発展したものとも、中国の造像技術から得たものともいわれるが、日本の寄木技術は中国でさえ及ばないような極度の発達を遂げている。

［佐藤昭夫］

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