main building, a rectangular wooden structure with gables at both ends and a large thatched roof, was no doubt originally derived from a palace (Plate 10). The building rests upon heavy piers which are rammed into the earth without laying any foundation. The floor level is raised above the ground so that there is an open space between the earth and the floor; the walls consist of simple, unpainted boards and are surrounded by an open veranda. The entrance at Ise, in contrast to other shrines, such as the one at Izumo, is on the long side rather than at the gable end, and there is a staircase leading from the ground to the entrance. The building faces south, the direction of the sun, just as the Chinese palaces and temples do.
Perhaps the most beautiful as well as the most characteristic part of the Shinto shrine is the magnificent thatched roof. Here the architect employs two features which are unique to the Shinto shrine, namely the chigi, or rafters crossing at the gable with the ridge lying in the angle of the crutches formed by the rafters, and the katsuogi, or the horizontal logs resting upon the ridge to hold it in place. Both the chigi and the katsuogi are still used in most Shinto shrines today and, together with the torii, enable even the uninitiated to distinguish between a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine, although there are cases when the architectural styles are mixed. This is especially true in later Shinto shrines, which absorb more and more of Buddhist temple architecture. Another feature, typical of Ise Shrine and very ancient, is the additional free-standing pillar at the gable end of the building, which is designed to help support the ridge and suggests that the roof might well have projected much farther in the original structures, as is indicated by the archaic pictures on the mirrors and dotaku. The interior of the shrine is extremely plain, for it was not used as a place of assembly or group worship but was looked upon as a dwelling place of the Sun Goddess, where her symbol, the divine mirror, was kept.
Plate 1. Clay Vessel. Jōmon period..
Plate 2. Head of Idol. Middle Jōmon period.
Plate 3. Head of Idol. Middle Jōmon period.
Plate 4. Clay Vessel. Yayoi period
Plate 5. Haniwa Dancers. Grave Mound period
Plate 6. Haniwa Horse's Head. Grave Mound period.
Plate 7. Haniwa Warrior. Grave Mound period.
Plate 8. Bronze Mirror. Grave Mound period.
Plate 9. Dōtaka. Yayoi period
Plate 10. Honden, Ise Shrine, Ujiyamada. (based on prehistoric design)
Although it is the most ancient and sacred of Shinto shrines, Ise Shrine is undoubtedly only one of many such shrines built at the period. A record of A.D. 737 tells us that there were no less than three thousand officially recognized shrines at that time. Of the ones surviving today, the next most famous is Izumo Shrine located on the Japan Sea coast of Honshu and built in a style known as taisha zukuri, which differs in some respects from the one used at Ise. The main difference lies in the fact that the entrance is at the gable end, but there is also a central pillar in the interior and the floor is somewhat higher above the ground. However, the general design and style are the same in both, although Ise Shrine is believed to be more authentic, while Izumo Shrine already shows some influence of Chinese Buddhist temples. Both, however, are typical of the native tradition of Japanese architecture. They represent the first examples of a truly national art, and it is characteristic of the traditional-minded Japanese society that they have been rebuilt again and again in the style which was first developed two thousand years ago.
2
The Beginnings of
Buaakist Art in Japan
ALTHOUGH Chinese culture had influenced Japan even during the prehistoric period, it was not until the introduction of Buddhism that the entire Japanese civilization became permeated with Chinese culture. The period during which this event took place is called the Asuka period (A.D. 552 to A.D. 645), a name taken from the place where the capital was located, or the Suiko period (593 to 628), after the empress whose rule was the most illustrious of the era. This age, which marked a complete revolution in the civilization of Japan, is important not only because of the introduction of Buddhism but also because of all the other aspects of Chinese culture, especially Confucian learning and the written language, which came in along with the religion. In fact, it may well be said that the history of Japan as we think of it today starts with the events of this period.
The arrival in 552 of a mission from the Korean kingdom of Paikche, or in Japanese, Kudara, is usually considered the starting point of this development. They brought Buddhist images, banners, canopies, and scriptures, as well as a message from their king which said in part:
This teaching (dharma) is the most excellent of all teachings; it brings endless and innumerable blessings to all believers, even unto attainment of Enlightenment (Bodhi) without comparison. Moreover, it has come to Korea from far-off India, and the peoples of the countries lying between are now zealous followers of it and none is outside the pale.
No doubt these gifts made a great impression upon the still backward civilization of sixth-century Japan and they were followed in succeeding years by other images, as well as monks and scholars and craftsmen. Although the origin both of the works of art and the teachings was no doubt Chinese and ultimately Indian, during this early period they all came to Japan from Korea. Records tell of monks and a nun, a temple architect and a maker of images arriving from Korea in 577, and still others followed in the course of the next decade. Among them were not only architects but also experts in casting spires, tile-makers, and all sorts of other craftsmen, who were able to give the Japanese professional training. At first the artists working in Japan were largely foreigners, whose work necessarily reflected a foreign style, but soon the Japanese began to adapt the importations to their own artistic traditions. For a time the fate of Buddhism was uncertain, but by the turn of the century the new religion was so firmly established that in 604 it was incorporated into the state code, which expressly said that the people should revere the Three Precious Things, namely, the Buddha, the Law, and the Priesthood.
This new code was the work of Prince Umayado or, to use the posthumous title by which he is better known, Shōtoku Taishi, or Sage Virtue, who lived from 572 to 621 and served as Prince Regent under the Empress Suiko. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this man, who was not only one of the most remarkable figures in Japanese history but also, along with the Indian ruler Asoka, one of the greatest patrons of Buddhism. His name, which is still revered in Japan today, stands beside that of Hideyoshi and the Emperor Meiji as one of the best known in Japanese history. Although his contributions were manifold, it is the temples he founded, many of which still exist today, that are of concern to us in a work of this nature.
The most ancient of these is the great temple of Shitennō-ji, or the Temple of the Four Heavenly Kings, which