Japan: The Land of Boundary

by Reuel Smith

Eras of Japan

Scholars

Ideas raised

Works, Relics, and Places

Relation to Boundary

Eras of Japan

Scholars

One of the major ideas of any study is the fact that scholars learn ideas from other scholars and find ways to develop their own ideas. These scholars have all developed their ideas through getting teaching from others, getting ideas from others, or disagreeing with others.
Langdon Warner / Sherman Lee / Alicia Matsunaga / Ernest Fenellosa / Seiichi Mizuno

Ideas They Raised

Wave Theory

This is Langdon Warner's idea that states that Japanese culture cannot seem to develop on its own without the aid of outside influence (China). In the 7th century Chinese influence in Japan causes its culture to progress only to have it slide back a bit in the 12th century. Then in the 14th century Chinese influence returns and Japanese culture is allowed to further once more only to slide back in the 16th century. This idea is not only monistic but it is incomplete as well. It doesn't take into account the 200 year gap between the 12th and 14th centuries. This is part of the reason that so many scholars disagree with this idea. The theory also states that Shinto is a result of Buddhism, implying that there was no religion in Japan before the 7th century.

The Importation of Buddhism

Alicia Matsunaga's take on the reason for the import of Buddhism differs greatly to that of the Wave Theory.

Hegel Revisited

First it was important for her grasp that Buddhism was not the first religion in Japan. There are many proofs of this, such as the Ise Shrine which was designed in the same way as the prehistoric Jomon "Sun Dial." This "Sun Dial" was a stone pillar in the center of a box. Taking her studies of the religious development in India, as well as the Hegel Rule, she concluded that Shinto was always part of Japanese culture, it just didn't have or need a name to distinguish it from any other religion. It was only after the import of Buddhism to Japan that Shinto needed distinction. That is to say:

"shinto" + Buddhism = Shinto & Buddhism


Myth to Reality

Since she established that the import of Buddhism wasn't a result of Japan's lack there of, Matsunaga could explore the true reason of why Japan adopted it. The Shinto religion (that is the Shinto religion before Buddhism came) taught of outside forces called marebitos who lived in a land of gods. According to legend, this land was to be located over the horizon line. It was by chance that China was this land over the horizon, this "land of the gods." When Japanese saw these people they found that the Chinese had all sorts of stuff that made them appear god-like, such as magic mirrors and boiling water without fire. They even had their own marebito which was Buddha. This myth all of a sudden coming to pass made the import of Buddhism to Japan a lot easier.

Shinto Elements in Buddhism

Although this importation was more or less flawless, the Japanese couldn't help but employ a bit of their own religion into their newly found religion. First it is important to note that the Ise Shrine and other Shinto shrines that have come before it bear the same design. Now pagodas in China normally have a staircase in the center of the establishment. When pagodas were imported to Japan however, these staircases were promptly replaced by huge pillars of wood. Although they still had balconies people had no way to get to them unless they scaled the walls. Below is a list of other cases of Shinto influence in Buddhism. Perhaps the most glaring example of these is the case of the Yumedono Kannon.
CenturyTempleBuddhistShinto
7thHoryu-jiShaka TrinityTreatment of the Yumedono Kannon
Style of the Pagoda
8thYakushi-jiYakushi (Healing Buddha)
Horyuji wall paintings		2 Pagoda Shinto sketches
9thTodai-jiMahauairocana- Humungous Buddha Figure
Mandara- Chart of all Buddhas		A Thunder god figure (Homdichi) in a Hokkedo (a temple with a multi armed Buddha figure)
10thMuro-jiBuddha on the outsideWarlkagi- hollow Buddha figures with Shinto images inside
Shinto on the inside
11thPhoenix HallAmida- a god who will do anything if one prays with true faithInside this Buddha were the ashes of past family members. It is Shinto practice to revere dead family members as gods.

Mizuno uses the Vanderstappen Analysis

We all remember Harrie Vanderstappen and his analysis of Shang Chinese bronzes. He used the term "tense" to describe the earlier style of bronze making and "flabby" to describe the later style. Seiichi Mizuno had alomst the same idea of think as Vanderstappen when he analyzed the workings of some Japanese sculptures in Horyu-ji temples. He took special note of two figures the Shaka Trinity (dated 623AD) and the Yakushi (dated 607AD). He noted that the drapery on the Shaka Trinity figure was juxtaposed and had a sort of mean (kibishii) look to them. Whereas the Yakushi drapery curves were interflowing and easy (yasashii) looking. If interflowing curves are like the flabby style and juxtaposed curves are like the tense style, then why does the Yakushi predate the Shaka Trinity? Mizuno's answer to this was that it doesn't predate it. He thinks that the date of 607 is false because he notes the same interflowing drapery in an 8th century sculpture at the Tachibana shrine. His second clue was that this was supposed to be a statue in honor of Prince Shotoku. Since he didn't die until 623, it is impossible for the Yakushi to have held this purpose at that time.

Eliade's Analysis Repeats in Japan

Mircea Eliade's idea of reverence for tradition dropping as the knowledge of that tradition rises comes to pass once again in the case of Japan. When Buddhism first came over to Japan in the 7th century, the Japanese knew little to nothing about how to practice it properly. But by the time of the 8th century they began to learn which Buddha did what when the plague came. Their importation of the Yakushi Healing Buddha is clear proof of this. By the 9th century, Japanese began making Buddha charts called Mandaras to help them fully understand. But by the 11th and 12th century, Japanese had fully come to grasps with how to pray to Buddha through Amidism. In the Phoenix Hall there is an Amida Buddha that lights up when the sun hits it at sunset, thus giving it a majestic look when someone happens to be in front of it. This is an example of how the Japanese Buddhists were begining to manipulate their Buddha to do what they wanted. That is to say, first Buddha had control over Japanese, then by the 11th century the Japanese had control over Buddha.

Tariki and Jiriki

Tariki is defined as a power from outside, whereas jikiri is defined as a power from oneself. The principle of Zen is very important in defining tariki. It is another way of explaining the educational process. For a while one is just doing something and then all of a sudden an idea comes to that person from the outside. This idea of tariki is a way to explain how Chinese works influenced some Japanese works.

Shinto and Hinduism

There are some very clear resemblances between Shinto and Hinduism.
  1. Both started as sun, phallus, and tree worshipping people.
  2. Both have structures in which the central mast represents the phallus. The Shinto Heart Pillar in shrines and pagodas and the Hindu yasti in stupas and chaityas.
  3. Both were forced to identify their religion and gods with names due to the advent of Buddhism.

Works, Relics, and Places

Ise Shrine

This shrine and many others like it are modeled in much the same way. There is a central pillar called the Heart Pillar which is said to be the bridge between heaven and earth. Built around that there is a sort of box that acts as a boundary hiding the Heart Pillar. Tradition requires that the Heart Pillar must never be seen and must remain inside to box for it is their belief that a god comes to earth via that pillar and can only be kept here if a boundary is set up around it. The shrine is rebuilt every 20 years, but the Heart Pillar is the only thing that remains. The rebuilders built around that pillar when they went to work.

Prince Shotoku

He was the ruler of Japan during the 7th century and one of the first to adopt Buddhism. He recieved some criticism at first, but after a plague broke out and killed a lot of Japanese people while leaving the Chinese and Koreans almost untouched, people began to see a need for it, especially the Yakushi Healing Buddha.

Yumedano Kannon

This is a formerly "lost" relic that proves that while Japan adopted Buddhism it still kept some Shinto elements in it. The Yumedono Kannon was a Buddha figure built from a log of wood. It was set up in Horyu-ji Yumedono (Dream Hall) in the center in the same way as a Heart Pillar. Since Shinto practices forbade anyone to look upon a Heart Pillar, the Kannon was wrapped up and locked away inside various eight-sided boxes. Centuries of being shut up led people to believe that it was lost. But later an American scholar Ernest Fenellosa was vacationing in Japan. He ventured inside of this Yumedono and found the wrapped up Yumedono Kannon.

Kudara Kannon

The Kudara Kannon is another kannon that was made in the 8th century in Japan. The drapery of this kannon is of an interflowing nature.

Ten Zen Bulls

The Ten Zen Bulls is a series of ten drawings done by Zen Buddhists. It is about the process of catching, taming, and raising a bull. This is equated as the catching, taming, and raising of the flesh. When Japan adopts Zen Buddhism, Japanese artists paint a series of bull paintings themselves in the style of China. This is an application of tariki in that once an idea comes to someone it is almost impossible to get it out of his head.

Temples and Arts

CenturyTempleContentsPicture
prehistoricIzumo ShrineHeart Pillar
Boundary (hashi)
7thHoryu-jiYumedono Kannon
Shaka Trinity
8thYakushi-jiYakushi (Healing Buddha)
Kichijoten- Tang Lady
9thTodai-jiMahauairocana- Humungous Buddha Figure
Mandara- Chart of all Buddhas
10thMuro-jiHaruja- Hollow Figure
Warlkagi- hollow Buddha figures with Shinto images inside
11thPhoenix HallAmida- a god who will do anything if one prays with true faith

Relation to Boundary

Japan truely is the land of boundary for the most part, and not just because their art and sculpture, but also because of their arcitecture. Shinto shrines consist of a Heart Pillar and a boundary surrounding it. The same holds true for Japanese pagodas and Buddhist temples. Even when they adopted Buddhism, the Japanese never really strayed from their ideas of boundary. However, Chinese influenced Japanese to incorporate some interflow as well. An example of this is the 8th century Kudara Kannon and its interflowing drapery. But no matter how much Chinese culture it absorbed through the years, Japan still maintained its own culture.