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36
HidemichiTanaka
Ill.6.
AmidaParadise(details),
Wall6,Hōryūji,Kondo,
Nara
seventheshikikai,andfourteentheyokukailThe
Japanesearedepictedalongwiththeinhabitants
ofIndiaandChinaabovetheeighthlinefromthe
bottom,butsomeofthemarefallingintothelower
worldsofhell,wildbeasts,orhungryghostsl8
Thelowestofthethreemajorbandsisdivided
intosevencircularareas,eachofthemenclosing
adepictionofthewholeworldarrangedaround
MountSumeru,amightypeaktraditionallysaid
torise160,000yujun(inSanskrit,yojana,15l6
kilometres)orabout1,250,000kilometresabove
andbelowsealevel,whiletheoceanarounditsbase
issurroundedbysevenrangesofgoldenmountainsl
Japan,ChinaandIndiaarerepresentedasaseriesof
islandsfloatinginanotheroceanthatliesbeyond
thesemountainranges,whilethesun,moonand
othercelestialbodiesrevolvearoundthemiddle
slopesofMountSumerulItcouldbearguedthat
thisarrangementaccordswithFicino’sconception
oftheuniverseinasmuchastheuppermostband
isoccupiedbyBuddhas,correspondingwithhis
domainofthe“One”
,whilehisintermediate“Soul”
and“Cosmos”correspondwiththetripartitecentral
bandoftheDaibutsudaisengravings,and“Matter”
correspondswiththelowestbandlEventhough
Buddhismisapolytheisticfaith,itsconceptionof
theuniverse,withsupernaturalbeingsoccupying
ahigher-orderrealmandourownworldassigned
toaphysical,lower-orderrealm,isnotsovery
differentfromFicino’smonotheisticcosmologyl
8Tamura(1999)l
Thisveryspecificmentalorganizationofthe
universeformedthebasisforallTenpyo-period
artisticvisualizationsofthecosmos,anditwouldbe
noexaggerationtosuggestthatbothin8th-century
Naraand15th-centuryFlorencetheexistenceofsuch
comprehensivesystemswasacontributoryfactorin
theemergenceofmajorworksofartthatsought
toembraceeveryaspectofhumanexperiencel
Inpainting,alas,thereisverylittleremaining
fromthisperiodlThegreatwallpaintingsinthe
KondōatHōryūjiwerealldestroyedbyfirein
1949,thoughphotographsofthepaintingstaken
beforetheyweredamagedshowwhataprecious
culturalassetwaslosttotheworldlThepaintings
portrayedthreeBuddhas-Shaka,Amida(illl6),
andYakushi-eachinitsownparadiselWhilethe
sametypeofoutlineisusedforeachoftheimages,
thebrushworkdifferssubtlylAlthoughlinearand
planarinapproach,theyarebynomeanslackingin
asenseofthree-dimensionalplasticitylThefacesof
thetwelvedisciplesofShakaportrayedinthemural
eachexpressintelligenceandintegritylAlthoughthe
basictechniqueseenherecanbethoughtofasan
importfromTangChina,thesepaintingsintheir
entiretyareembuedwithauniquesenseofvitality
thatplacesthemsquarelyintheJapaneseartistic
traditionl
TheinternationalcharacterofNaracultureis
underlinedbythefactthatmanyofitsleadingprac-
titionerswereofforeignbirthororigin,asignof
thespiritofopennessthatisperhapsbestexpressed
