SenchakushuEnglish Translation Project, trans. and ed. Honen’s
Senchakushu: Passages on the Selection of the Nembutsu in the
Original Vow(Senchaku hongan nembutsu shu). Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1998.
JAMESC. DOBBINSHONJI SUIJAKU
The term honji suijaku(literally, “the original ground
and its traces”) refers to a particular interpretation of
the interaction between Buddhism and Japanese local
cults. The term was used in medieval Japan to mean
that Indian and Buddhist divinities constituted the
“original ground” (honji) of their Japanese manifesta-
tions as local kami,defined as “traces” (suijaku).
See also:Shinto(Honji Suijaku) and Buddhism
Bibliography
Teeuwen, Mark, and Rambelli, Fabio, eds. Buddhas and Kami
in Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm.London
and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003.
FABIORAMBELLIHORYUJI AND TODAIJI
Horyuji (Temple of the Exalted Law), located in
Ikaruga Village (Nara) and first founded by Prince
Shotoku (574–622), was rebuilt after a 670 fire under
royal patronage. Long associated with Hosso(FAXIANG
SCHOOL) teachings, the temple owes its survival to its
celebration of Shotoku’s memory. Horyuji’s west and
east precincts contain an extraordinary number of an-
cient buildings, images, and treasures dating from the
seventh, eighth, and later centuries. Several seventh-
century images at Horyuji are associated by inscription
or legend with the prince: gilt-bronze representations
of Yakushi (Bhaisajyaguru) and Shaka (S ́akyamuni) on
the primary altar, a gilded wood image of Kannon
(Avalokites ́vara) in the Dream Hall, and a seated
Miroku (MAITREYA) at neighboring Chuguji. A large
eleventh-century hagiographical painting of Prince
Shotoku drew visitors to the Painting Hall (Edono),
while memorial rites before his portrait were con-
ducted at the Shoryoin.
Todaiji (Great Eastern Temple), located in the for-
mer capital Heijo-kyo(Nara), was begun in the mid-
eighth century by the sovereign Shomu (r. 723–749)
as a state-supported centerpiece to a Chinese-style
provincial temple system. Todaiji served as headquar-
ters of the Kegon school (HUAYAN SCHOOL), but in fact
functioned as the central venue for ordination and
study of Buddhism more broadly. Shomu commis-
sioned for its central icon a colossal gilt-bronze
Rushana (Vairocana) dedicated in 752. After Shomu’s
death, his consort Komyooffered their massive col-
lection of precious and imported objects to the tem-
ple, much of which survives. Burned twice in civil wars
(1180 and 1567), Todaiji has been repeatedly revived.
Several precincts and storehouses preserve sculptures
from the eighth and thirteenth centuries, as well as
temple treasures, documents, and books.See also:Japan, Buddhist Art in; Monastic Architec-
ture; Shotoku, Prince (Taishi)Bibliography
Cunningham, Michael R., ed. Buddhist Treasures from Nara.
Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998.
Guth, Christine M. E. “The Pensive Prince of Chuguji: Maitreya
Cult and Image in Seventh-Century Japan.” In Maitreya the
Future Buddha,ed. Helen Hardacre and Alan Sponberg.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Kurata Bunsaku, ed. Horyuji, Temple of the Exalted Law: Early
Buddhist Art from Japan.New York: Japan Society, 1981.
Mino, Yutaka, ed. The Great Eastern Temple: Treasures of Japan-
ese Buddhist Art from Todaiji. Chicago: Art Institute of
Chicago, 1986.
Sugiyama, Jiro. Classic Buddhist Sculpture: The TempyoPeriod,
tr. Samuel Crowell Morse. New York: Kodansha Interna-
tional and Shibundo, 1982.
KARENL. BROCKHUAYAN ARTThe comprehensive and multidimensional vision of re-
ality as expounded in the HUAYAN JING(Sanskrit,
Avatamsaka-sutra; Flower Garland Sutra) has provided
a wealth of inspiration to Buddhist artists in all the
Asian cultures in which the scripture was received. Not
only is the text filled with exalted visions and holy
themes, but its elaborate descriptions of “ocean-like as-
semblies” and the “jewels of Indra’s Net” fired the
imagination of the faithful. Hence it is no coincidence
that in time an established set of themes associated
with the various chapters of the Avatamsaka-sutrawasHUAYANART