The Face of Jizo Image and Cult in Medieval Japanese Buddhism
The Face of Jizo: Image and Cult in Medieval Japanese Buddhism

"Farther on, I find other figures of Jizo, single reliefs, sculptured upon tombs. But one of these is a work of art so charming that I feel a pain at being obliged to pass it by. More sweet, assuredly, than any imaged Christ, this dream in white stone of the playfellow of dead children, like a...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Glassman, Hank (VerfasserIn)
Format: Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: Honolulu University of Hawaii Press [2012]
Schlagworte:
ART / History / Medieval
Buddhism > Japan > History > 1185-1600
Buddhist art and symbolism > Japan
Buddhist dance > Japan
Idols and images > Japan > Worship
Online-Zugang:DE-1046
DE-1043
DE-858
DE-859
DE-860
DE-739
DE-473
URL des Erstveröffentlichers
Zusammenfassung:"Farther on, I find other figures of Jizo, single reliefs, sculptured upon tombs. But one of these is a work of art so charming that I feel a pain at being obliged to pass it by. More sweet, assuredly, than any imaged Christ, this dream in white stone of the playfellow of dead children, like a beautiful young boy, with gracious eyelids half closed, and face made heavenly by such a smile as only Buddhist art could have imagined, the smile of infinite lovingness and supremest gentleness. Indeed, so charming the ideal of Jizo is that in the speech of the people a beautiful face is always likened to his-'Jizo-kao,' as the face of Jizo." -Lafcadio Hearn, Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan (1894)Stone images of the Buddhist deity Jizo-bedecked in a red cloth bib and presiding over offerings of flowers, coins, candles, and incense-are a familiar sight throughout Japan.
Known in China as a savior from hell's torment, Jizo in Japan came to be utterly transformed through fusion with the local tradition of kami worship and ancient fertility cults. In particular, the Jizo cult became associated with gods of borders or transitions: the stone gods known as dosojin. Although the study of Jizo is often relegated to the folkloric, Hank Glassman, in this highly original and readable book, demonstrates that the bodhisattva's cult was promoted and embraced at the most elite levels of society.The Face of Jizo explores the stories behind sculptural and painted images of Jizo to reveal a fascinating cultural history. Employing the methodologies of the early twentieth-century renegade art historian Aby Warburg, Glassman's focus on the visual culture of medieval Japanese religion is not concerned with the surface form or iconographical lineages of Jizo's images, but with the social, ritual, and narrative contexts that bring the icons to life.
He skillfully weaves together many elements of the Jizo cult-doctrine, ritual, cosmology, iconography-to animate the images he examines. Thus The Face of Jizo is truly a work of iconology in the Warburgian sense. Glassman's choice to examine the cult of Jizo through the medium of the icon makes for a most engaging and approachable history of this "most Japanese" of Buddhist deities
Beschreibung:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 16. Dec 2024)
Beschreibung:1 Online-Ressource (320 Seiten) 82 illus., 18 in color
ISBN:9780824860370
DOI:10.1515/9780824860370

Es ist kein Print-Exemplar vorhanden.

Fernleihe Bestellen Achtung: Nicht im THWS-Bestand! Volltext öffnen

Ähnliche Einträge