Full Description
In this beautifully illustrated book, eminent art historian John Rosenfield explores the life and art of the Japanese Buddhist monk Hozan Tankai (1629-1716). Through a close examination of sculptures, paintings, ritual implements, and primary documents, the book demonstrates how the Shingon prelate's artistic activities were central to his important place in the world of late-seventeenth-century Japanese Buddhism. At the same time, the book shows the richness of early modern Japanese Buddhist art, which has often been neglected and undervalued. Tankai was firmly committed to the spiritual disciplines of mountain Buddhism--seclusion, severe asceticism, meditation, and ritual. But in the 1680s, after being appointed head of a small, run-down temple on the slopes of Mount Ikoma, near Nara, he revealed that he was also a gifted artist and administrator. He embarked on an ambitious campaign of constructing temple halls and commissioning icons, and the Ikoma temple, soon renamed H?zanji, became a vibrant center of popular Buddhism, as it remains today. He was a remarkably productive artist, and by the end of his life more than 150 works were associated with him.
A major reconsideration of a key artistic and religious figure, Preserving the Dharma brings much-needed attention to an overlooked period of Japanese Buddhist art.
Contents
Foreword and Acknowledgments 9 Author's Acknowledgments 13 Notes to the Reader 15 Historical Dates and Places 17 Maps 19 Introduction 23 CHAPTER 1 Birth and Training 39 CHAPTER 2 Sacred Mount Ikoma 55 CHAPTER 3 Head Priest 79 CHAPTER 4 Sculpture 93 CHAPTER 5 Pictures 109 CHAPTER 6 Eminence 127 APPENDIX A Hozanji Archive 143 APPENDIX B Shingon Priests 147 Notes 153 Bibliography 161 Glossary 171 Index 191 Image Credits 199
