Enku - Master Carver: Kannon Bosatsu

Showing posts with label Kannon Bosatsu. Show all posts

2013-02-09

Naka Kannon Do Hall

The Museum houses 16 statues and the famous 11-faced Kannon.
羽島円空資料館

. Enku Statue at the Station .

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ema votive tablet with the famous Kannon Statue

source : blog.livedoor.jp/ema_special

. Statue of Daikoku Ten 大黒天 .

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Instead of the Mona Lisa's smile,
Japan has Enku sculptures' smiles !

Enku Gallery
Hashima Enku Museum
Enku Festival August 18

Mino Hashima Guide Book
source : hashimakanko.jp - PDF

- Reference -

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source :　www.kankou-gifu.j

稲荷神像 Inari Fox Deity

Inari Jinja 稲荷神社 Inari Fox Shrine
Hashima town 羽島市, 1686
At the Naka Kannon Do Museum

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. Statues carved by Enku - LIST .

. Enku - Exhibitions - INFO .

. Enku - Museums - INFO .

. Enku - Temples and Shrines - INFO .

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. Buddha Statues and Japanese Deities .

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2013-02-02

Tachikibutsu

MORE photos of Enku statues:
source : jiroh26

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A carver would select a tree in a certain location and carve his statue in the living tree, sometimes using a ladder to climp high up for the head. The tree was often located in a sacred forest on a sacred mountain. They have been carved as long ago as in the eighth century and found oftne in Eastern Japan.
Here Buddhist beliefs and animistic worldviews find their combination.

The simply carved figures were sometimes painted, but more often they are left as nature made the colors. Camphor trees (kusu no ki 樟), the Japanese Judas tree (katsura 桂), firs (momi 樅) and the Japanese cedar (sugi 杉) were most often used.

. Tachikibutsu - 立木仏 .

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西尾市に「円空仏」観音菩薩像

Statue of Kannon Bosatsu

At the temple Jooomyooji 浄名寺 Jomyo-Ji of the Jodo Sect 浄土宗 .
Nishi-O Town

source : kniimi/e

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Buddha statues carved out of living trees

. Tachikibutsu - 立木仏 .

. Buddha Statues and Japanese Deities .

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2013-02-01

Hokkaido - INFO

Kannon Statue at temple Zenrin-Ji
禅林寺所蔵の円空作：観音像

円空仏三体（模造仏）mosoobutsu - Three Statues

source : masaok15.exblog.jp

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Iwaya Kannon 岩屋観音 Kannon in the Cave
near Koboro station 小幌駅
Enku stayed here in 1666

円空の観音ありや窟小祠
Enkuu no Kannon ari ya iwa hokora

the Kannon statues
of Saint Enku -
small cave sanctuary

source : hikyou.sakura.ne.jp

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External LINKS

Iwaya Kannon
http://toya-usu-volcanomeister.net/vm_ando/archives/618

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. Buddha Statues and Japanese Deities .

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Arako Kannon

. Owari shi Kannon 尾張四観音
The Four Kannon Temples of Owari .

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quote
by James F. Goater, 2009

When the famed Buddhist monk, and compulsive wood-carver, Enku , took up residence at the Arako Kannon temple (Kannonji, in today’s Nakagawa Ward) in 1676, this venerable temple was already over 900 years old, having been established in the early Heian period of the 8th century. Housing one of the region’s most important Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) statues, Arako Kannon has retained its pre-eminence in the district to the present day.

Of additional interest is the fact that of the various structures on-site when Enku arrived, one is still in existence. The two-tiered Tahoto (treasure) Pagoda had already been standing for 140 years in 1676, and it is still there in 2008 – a Muromachi Period building designated as a national cultural asset, and by far the city’s oldest structure.

Records indicate that, in 1536, the pagoda was rebuilt by local carpenters, partially from materials from an earlier structure on the same site. Despite the periodic fires which have devastated most temples at one time or another during their histories – as recently as 1994 the main temple building of Kannonji was destroyed by fire – the Tahoto Pagoda has so far remained safe from this scourge for 472 years!

During his residence in the temple, Enku completed around one thousand wooden figures, ranging in size from a few centimeters to the huge 3 meter figures which act as temple guardians, situated in the temple’s main gate. Most of these figures, however, were lost to history from the time immediately after Enku’s departure. Amazingly, it was 300 years before they were found – nestling in carefully-packed boxes, covered in dust, located in a recess within the Tahoto Pagoda. In 1972, Arako Kannon’s then chief priest opened these ancient boxes and made the discovery.
A museum was set up within the temple precincts soon after, containing 1,255 wooden figures. It is worth a visit, as is the oldest building in Nagoya nearby.
source : www.centraljapan.jp

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quote
Arako Kannon is one of the four major Kannon temples in the Owari region. This is a temple of the Tendai sect of Buddhism named Kannonji. It is famous for about 1200 Buddhist statues made by Enku in the site.
It was established in 729 and repaired in 1576 by the lord of Kaga, Maeda Toshiie. Its tahoto pagoda was repaired in 1536. The pagoda is the oldest wooden building in Nagoya and is registered as a cultural asset of national importance.
source : www.ncvb.or.jp/en

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quote
It was established by a monk, Taichou-Taishi. in 729.
The main temple had destroyed by a fire many times and rebuilt again of each time.
The latest fire broke out in 1994 and rebuilt 1997.
But the two story pagoda called Tahouto has been kept since the last construction in 1536.
This is the oldest wooden structure in Nagoya City.

In Arako Kannon, they have approximately 1240 images of Budda carved by Enkuu (1632-1696).
We can view them in the afternoon of the 2nd Saturday every month.
Enkuu is a very famous monk who traveled to many places in Japan, from Hokkaido to Shikoku and Kyushu, and carved so many images of Buddha so called Enku-butsu.
He was close to the 10th monk of Arako-Kannon, Ensei.
Maybe, that is why he left such a large number of the images of Buddha there.
source : kikuko-nagoya.com

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. Buddha Statues and Japanese Deities .

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Seki Enku Museum

円空が若いころ修行をした伊吹山の写真が壁一面に引き伸ばされた廊下を通って展示棟へ渡ります。すると、中央には一辺4メートルの方形吹き抜けの中庭があり風情をかもし出しています。展示ケースは作りつけケースが3つと可動式ケース一個からなります。円空の年表、全国の円空仏の分布図などのグラフィックや今の人が彫った円空模造仏に触れるコーナーなどが備えてあります。
関市域には、神社・寺・個人など所蔵の円空仏が約290体あります。
source : www.city.seki.gifu.jp

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空海　弘法大師 Kukai Kobo Daishi

愛染明王 Aizen Myo-O

source : takadajien.hida-ch.com

. WKD : 空海　弘法大師 Kukai Kobo Daishi .

. WKD : Aizen Myo-O 愛染明王 .

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Enku Memorial Museum
関市洞戸円空記念館関市洞戸高賀１２１２番地

平成２１年７月現在、全国での円空の神仏像数は、５，３４２体あると聞いています。その中で愛知県が最も多く３，２３５体、次に岐阜県で、１，６５７体あります。また、北海道でも５１体あるそうです。

善財童子　/ 十一面観音　/ 善女龍王

円空仏の狛犬 Komainu, Koma-Inu

Many statues are made in the memory of his beloved mother.
亡き母を想う心を像に求めたといわれています。

虚空蔵菩薩　　１４９．６ｃｍ Kokuzo Bosatsu

Memorial stone with Waka poems of Enku on his travels
高賀渓谷の駐車場内に、「円空流れ旅」の石碑

１．柿の実熟む奥飛騨の　村を渡りてよむ経は　　祭り雅しに笛太鼓
円空彫のさえを観る　残り火みじかし顔のしわ　今日の除夜も旅で聞く

２．雷鳥の哀し峠坂　谷から木の葉が舞い上がり　切られたわらじの繕いに
たどる縁の尼寺で　　ノミが刻んだ円空佛　　佛のにおいに香りたく

３．雪の舞い散るいなか路　破れ衣とござひとつ　荒れ寺宿にリスのぞき
風が教える行き先に　円空刻みのかれ仏　あわせた両手に数珠をかけ

source and more photos :　seki town / diary

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. Enku - Exhibitions - INFO .

. Enku - Museums - INFO .

. Enku - Temples - INFO .

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. Buddha Statues and Japanese Deities .

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2013-01-21

BY MICHAEL DUNN

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Enku:
The Extraordinary Monk of 17th-Century Japan

AFTER EVOLVING SINCE Buddhism first arrived in the 6th century, Japanese religious sculpture reached a peak of skill and artistic expression during the Kamakura period (1185–1333), but then gradually slid into a decline through subsequent centuries, becoming derivative and uninspired. Two later sculptors, Enku (1632-95) and Mokujiki (1718-1810) proved exceptions to the rule by breaking away from the standard ‘carving by numbers’, imitative approach to making religious imagery, and developing their own distinctive styles. Now, following a successful exhibition of Buddhist sculptures in 2006 when these artists’ work was displayed, the Tokyo National Museum will be showing a special exhibition of Enku›s works from the Senkōji Temple and the surrounding area in present-day Gifu Prefecture, during early 2013.

Enku was born in what is present-day Gifu Prefecture and became a monk at an early age to study Mikkyo – the teachings of Esoteric Buddhism much associated with magic ritual, mysticism and various ascetic practices that were handed down from a master to whichever pupils he thought suitable. One of the central teachings of Mikkyo – at odds with those of other sects – was that by following the right path of religious practice, an adept could bypass the usual countless reincarnations and achieve enlightenment with just one lifetime. For most ordinary people this central tenet was sufficient focus for their faith, leaving the bewildering complications of esoteric teaching to temple clerics.

During Enku’s lifetime, Japan was unified under the Tokugawa shogunate whose governance was administered by a powerful bureaucracy known as the bakufu. Under central command, Christianity had been outlawed and various controls were put in place to discourage its revival. One of these was to sponsor and encourage the activities of Buddhist temples whose clerics were best placed to know what was going on in their local community. As the 18th century saw the rise of a merchant/craftsman class and a resultant booming economy, temples found themselves better funded than they had been for several hundred years and were able to restore or rebuild temples as well as commission the production of Buddhist images.

Traditional schools of sculptors descending from a Kamakura lineage supplied the great temples and the households of war-lords and the nobility, while lesser-endowed and small regional temples commissioned works from whatever craftsmen could be found locally. Buddhist images reflected the wealth and patronage of a temple, with those most elevated being able to afford statues finely-carved by master craftsmen in traditional forms, lacquered and covered in pure gold leaf and adorned with bronze or gilt accessories. This time also coincided with an increasing experimentation in Japanese arts, in particular those of painting, ceramic-making and accoutrements of the tea ceremony and the emergence of eccentricity and individuality. Enku was the first in the field of Buddhist sculpture to break away from traditional techniques, achieving widespread fame for his highly-expressive images, simply hewn with axe and chisel from single chunks of wood.

Enku is reputed to have carved over 120,000 images during his lifetime and many were given in payment for lodging on his pilgrimages to temples throughout the mountainous ‘snow country’ of rural Japan. He chose mainly pine wood logs if they were locally available, possibly because they are easily split lengthways with an axe into pieces with a roughly triangular cross-section. Large pieces were used for more elaborate carving while smaller fragments were carved very simply with just a few axe or chisel cuts to indicate eyes, eyebrows and mouth. Even though crude compared to the traditional, naturalistic manner of religious carving, Enku’s works appealed – and still do so – with their warmth and heart-felt sincerity. Flaws, knots, or even naturally interesting shapes, were incorporated by Enku into his works so that even though far from naturalistic, they exude an expressive honesty that no doubt touched the hearts of the faithful far more than aloof images in the great temples.

Almost none of his statues are painted or gilded, and the rustic ‘woodiness’ plus the rough hatchet-marks of his technique hint at the poverty of rural life during pre-modern times. Apart from a few guardian deities, whose fang-in-cheek grimaces frighten no-one, the most noticeable characteristic of his statues is a soft, benevolent smile that surely comforted all who saw them, especially the troubled and dying to whom he gave many of his smaller pieces.

Enku spent some time during his later life at Senkōji temple where he carved over 60 statues. Most of these will be on show at the Tokyo National Museum together with other locally sourced works, some of which are inscribed with the names of mountains climbed by Enku on his travels and pilgrimages. The most important work to be seen for the first time out of its temple home is a statue of Ryomen Sukuna who founded Senkōji temple some 1,600 years ago, shown holding an axe and displaying two faces to underscore his deified nature.

BY MICHAEL DUNN
source : www.asianartnewspaper.com

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