Teaching Gallery Label:
"Compassionate Beings: Japanese Buddhist Art," Sep-2009, Kris Ercums
Fudō Myōō was the most frequently depicted of the esoteric group of Five Kings of Mystic Knowledge (Godai Myōo). All five are wrathful deities whose power is used to defeat evil, earthly passions, and desires. In Buddhism, the making or commissioning of images was considered to be a religious act in itself. The more images made, the more merit or blessings bestowed. Printing provided an inexpensive and practical method of reproducing large quantities of images. This inbutsu (stamped Buddhist image) is one of some hundred identical prints found inside a sculpture at the Tōji temple in Kyoto, which dates to around the thirteenth century.
Teaching Gallery Label:
“Eyes on Icons: Exploring Japanese Buddhism at the Spencer Museum of Art,” Apr-2008, Rachel Voorhies
Ten rows by ten columns of stamped images show Fudō Myōō (Acalanātha Vidyā-rāja), one of the best known and widely worshipped of the five Myōō, or Wisdom Kings, in Japan. Each of the small Fudō Myōō is shown seated and holding Fudō Myōō’s customary attributes: a sword in his right hand to cut down evil and ignorance and a rope in his left to capture and bind the wicked.
Small impressions of Buddhist figures printed with a woodblock, stamp or seal, known as inbutsu, became quite popular beginning in the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Since the tenets of Buddhism hold that making a single Buddhist image would produces merit for the maker, Japanese Buddhists began to produce multiple images in order to increase their merit. Prints like this one, with its one hundred Fudō Myōō, are examples of inbutsu produced to generate merit. This particular print was purportedly found inside a statue of Fudō Myōō, and many patrons of inbutsu made these prints in order to place them inside icons and increase the amount of merit generated for the maker.
Archive Label 2003:
Fudō Myōō was the most frequently pictured of the esoteric group of five Kings of Light. Fudō is easily recognized by his attributes of a sword in his right hand and the lasso in his left. His fierce expression is meant to ward off evil.
In Buddhism, the making or commissioning of images was considered to be a religious act in itself. The more images made, the more merit or blessings bestowed. Printing provided an inexpensive and practical method of reproducing large quantities of images. The monk Yuihan is credited with producing ten thousand images of Fudō Myōō in 1096.
This inbutsu (stamped Buddhist image) is one of some hundred identical prints found inside a sculpture at the Tōji temple in Kyoto. The sculpture is stylistically dated to the 13th-14th centuries.
Archive Label 2003 (version 2):
Fudō Myōō was the most frequently depicted of the esoteric group of Five Kings of Mystic Knowledge (Godai Myōo). All five are wrathful deities whose power is used to defeat evil, earthly passions and desires. In Japan the Godai Myōo were important protective deities and were used in the “five altars” ritual to defend the state against disaster. In this use, the other four Myōo were placed at their respective directional corners with Fudō Myōō (Acalana-tha in Sanskrit) in the center. In this position Fudō was considered a manifestation of Vairocana (J. Dainichi), the Universal Buddha.
Fudō is easily recognized by his attributes. The upraised sword in his right hand combats evil and cuts away ignorance. The lasso in his left hand catches and binds the forces of evil. His flaming halo consumes passions.
This inbutsu (stamped Buddhist image) of one hundred images of Fudō Myōō is one of one hundred identical prints found sealed inside a sculpture at Tōji temple in Kyoto. The sculpture is stylistically dated to the 13th–14th centuries. The prints cannot postdate the sculpture and were probably made to be placed inside it before the consecration ceremony.
The making or commissioning of Buddhist images was considered to be a religious act. The more images made, the more merit accrued or blessings bestowed. Printing provided an inexpensive and practical method of reproducing large quantities of images. Precedents for sets of 10,000 (one man in Japanese) images of Fudō Myōō include one credited to the monk Yuihan, produced in 1096.
Archive Label 2003 (version 3):
Fudō Myōō was the most frequently depicted of the esoteric group of Five Kings of Mystic Knowledge (Godai Myōo), wrathful deities whose power is used to defeat evil, earthly assions and desires. Fudō is easily recognized by his attributes. The upraised sword in his right hand combats evil and cuts away ignorance. The lasso in his left hand catches and binds the forces of evil. His flaming halo consumes passions.
This inbutsu (stamped Buddhist image) of one hundred images of Fudō Myōō is probably one of one hundred nearly identical prints found rolled together and sealed inside a small wooden sculpture of Fudō at Tōji temple in Kyoto. The sculpture is stylistically dated to the 13th or 14th century. The making or commissioning of Buddhist images was considered to be a religious act. The more images made, the more merit accrued or blessings bestowed. Printing provided an inexpensive and practical method of reproducing large quantities of images. Here ten almost identical images of Fudō were carved side by side to make one horizontal stamp that was impressed ten times from top to bottom.
Archive Label date unknown:
Depicted one hundred times on this print is the Buddhist deity Fudō Myōō (The Immoveable One), who protects Buddhist teachings and fights against the evil and ignorance that prevent one from achieving enlightenment. Illustrative of his powerful strength are the sword and the lasso that he uses in subduing and binding malevolence. He sits on a rock that symbolizes his firm position on fighting evil, and the wavy lines that emanate from his body represent flames that are often painted red, yellow or blue in other images.
This deity was particularly popular in the thirteenth century when Japan was threatened twice by the Mongols, who had already conquered China. This sheet is believed to be one of many that were placed inside a sculpture of Fudō in order to empower the image and enhance its religious effectiveness.
