series of reforms led to the establishment of a centralized govern-
ment in place of the individual clans that controlled the different re-
gions of Japan. This marked the beginning of the Nara period
(645–784), when the Japanese court, ruling from a series of capitals
south of modern Kyoto, increasingly adopted the forms and rites of
the Chinese court. In 710 the Japanese finally established what they
intended as a permanent capital at Heijo (present-day Nara). City
planners laid out the new capital on a symmetrical grid closely mod-
eled on the plan of the Chinese capital of Chang’an.
For a half century after 552, Buddhism met with opposition,
but by the end of that time, the new religion was established firmly
in Japan. Older beliefs and practices (those that came to be known as
Shinto) continued to have significance, especially as agricultural rit-
uals and imperial court rites. As time passed, Shinto deities even
gained new identities as local manifestations of Buddhist deities.Asuka and Nara Periods
In the arts associated with Buddhist practices, Japan followed Ko-
rean and Chinese prototypes very closely, especially during the
Asuka and Nara periods. In fact, early Buddhist architecture in Japan
adhered so closely to mainland standards (although generally with aconsiderable time lag) that surviving Japanese temples have helped
greatly in the reconstruction of what was almost completely lost on
the continent.TORI BUSSHI Among the earliest extant examples of Japanese
Buddhist sculpture is a bronze Buddha triad (Buddha flanked by two
bodhisattvas;FIG. 8-7) dated 623. Empress Suiko commissioned the
work as a votive offering when Prince Shotuku fell ill in 621. When
he died, the empress dedicated the triad to the prince’s well-being in
his next life and to his hoped-for rebirth in paradise. The central fig-
ure in the triad is Shaka (the Indian/Chinese Sakyamuni), the histor-
ical Buddha, seated with his right hand raised in the abhaya mudra
(fear-not gesture; see “Buddhism and Buddhist Iconography,” Chap-
ter 6, page 161). Behind Shaka is a flaming mandorla(a lotus-petal-
shaped nimbus) incorporating small figures of other Buddhas. The
sculptor,Tori Busshi(busshimeans “maker of Buddhist images”),
was a descendant of a Chinese immigrant. Tori’s Buddha triad re-
flects the style of the early to mid-sixth century in China and Korea
and is characterized by elongated heads and elegantly stylized drap-
ery folds that form gravity-defying swirls.YAKUSHI TRIADIn the early Nara period, Japanese sculptors
began to move beyond the style of the Asuka period in favor of new
ideas and forms coming out of Tang China and Korea. More direct
relations with China also narrowed the time lag between develop-
ments there and their transfer to Japan. In the triad of Yakushi (the
Indian Bhaisajyaguru, the Buddha of Healing who presides over the
Eastern Pure Land;FIG. 8-8) in the Yakushiji temple of the late
seventh century in Nara, the sculptor favored greater anatomical de-
finition and shape-revealing drapery (FIG. 8-1) over the dramatic
stylizations of Tori Busshi’s triad. The statues of the attendant bodhi-
sattvas Nikko and Gakko, especially, reveal the long stylistic trail back
through China (FIG. 7-14) to the sensuous fleshiness (FIG. 6-13) and
outthrust-hip poses (FIG. 6-8) of Indian sculpture.HORYUJI KONDO Tori Busshi created his Shaka triad for an
Asuka Buddhist temple complex at Horyuji, seven miles south of
modern Nara, but fire destroyed the temple. The statue was rein-
stalled around 680 in the kondo(Golden Hall; the main hall for
worship that contained statues of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas
to whom the temple was dedicated;FIG. 8-9,left) of the succes-
sor Nara period complex (FIG. 8-9,right). Although periodically
repaired and somewhat altered (the covered porch is an eighth-
century addition; the upper railing dates to the 17th century), the
structure retains its graceful but sturdy forms beneath the modifica-
tions. The main pillars (not visible in FIG. 8-9,left,due to the porch
addition) decrease in diameter from bottom to top. The tapering
provides an effective transition between the more delicate brackets
above and the columns’ stout forms. Also somewhat masked by the
added porch is the harmonious reduction in scale from the first to
the second story. Following Chinese models, the builders used ce-
ramic tiles as roofing material and adopted the distinctive curved
roofline of Tang (FIG. 7-16) and later Chinese architecture. Other
buildings at the site include a five-story pagoda (FIG. 8-9,right) that
serves as a reliquary.
Until a disastrous fire in 1949, the interior walls of the Golden
Hall at Horyuji preserved some of the finest examples of Buddhist
wall painting in eastern Asia. Executed around 710, when Nara
became the Japanese capital, these paintings now survive only in
color photographs. The most important paintings depicted the Bud-
dhas of the four directions. Like the other three, Amida (Indian212 Chapter 8 JAPAN BEFORE 13338-7Tori Busshi,Shaka triad, kondo, Horyuji, Nara Prefecture, Japan,
Asuka period, 623. Bronze, central figure 5 91 – 2 high.
Tori Busshi’s Shaka triad (the historical Buddha and two bodhisattvas) is
among the earliest Japanese Buddhist sculptures. The elongated heads
and elegant swirling drapery reflect the sculptural style of China.1 ft.